I like MacOS. It has its flaws, but overall, as a productivity operating system, especially when paired with Apple's ARM chips, nothing really compares. However, there are a few things I find I need to do to get it just right. These are those things. Take the ones you value, leave the rest.
macos shouldve come with a package manager, but for some reason, doesn't -- so the community made one called Homebrew. Go to https://brew.sh, and copy the 1-liner installation script, then paste that into Terminal, type in your password once or twice, download the xCode developer tools, and eventually you'll be good to go. The following all use brew, the cli tool.
Done? OK, let's continue.
tiling window manager -> brew install rectangle
clipboard history -> brew install maccy
screenshots with easy markup editor -> brew install shottr (bound to cmd + shift + 2)
fix the menu bar -> brew install jordainbird-ice
the terminal i use (not ai terminal) -> brew install iterm2
the terminal i also use (not ai terminal) -> brew install kitty
the third terminal -> brew install warp
bluelight filter based on time of day -> brew install flux
stats (menubar or otherwise) -> brew install stats (its free, the old iStatMenus is dead)
archiver (though mac's default is also fine, its a little slower) -> brew install keka
note taking / markdown stuff -> brew install obsidian
just text -> brew install vim (fuck u bitch) (i also use sublime text but objectively its not very good so brew install emacs)
convert / filter images -> brew install imagemagick
docker desktop -> brew install docker (this will install docker desktop, which i recommend for mac. you will inevitably end up fiddling with the settings to give it more disk space / ram / cpu, but be cognizant that it will take up that amount of space / ram all the time (mostly, there are some settings to fiddle with that kinda help, but not that much) + brew install docker-compose (which installs docker compose plugin not the old docker-compose, confusingly)
and like, brew install virtualbox if you so desire
fix scroll direction while using an actual mouse but don't invert the trackpad at the same time -> brew install scroll-reverser
fix mouse acceleration (you tell me why this needs to exist) -> brew install mac-mouse-fix
i use rustdesk (but i host my own rustdesk server (easy) so the latency is super good, thats why i use rustdesk) -> brew install rustdesk
several options. I prefer brew install balenaetcher, theres also unetbootin
brew install transmission
definitely try this out! the m4 chip + apple's Metal architecture is pretty impressive.
brew install ollama
also obviously i use brew install chatgpt claude-desktop
brew install localsend
ffmpeg -> brew install ffmpeg
basically a gui for ffmpeg -> brew install handbrake
watch mkvs -> brew install vlc
brew install audacity
the best free one i've found is brew install grandperspective
brew install daisydisk looks a lot better and works a lot better but it costs money
brew install cyberduck
brew install android-platform-tools
brew install multimc
brew install yaak 😉