I’m going to start with some of the basic initial setup things: Turn the Mac on, log into the Apple ID, do the thing.

Make sure FileVault is enabled at the open-box phase. Enabling it later means waiting hours to encrypt everything.

After this, I’m going to install some regular applications to get the MacBook work ready. These aren’t Mac-specific.

• Visual Studio Code
  • Free code editing software with all the plugins I need to do my work.
• Microsoft Teams
  • Work uses Teams for instant messaging.
• Microsoft Outlook
  • Outlook for email.
• Arc Browser
  • I want to try it. I have no idea if it’s going to be the right move. I will install Vivaldi if this isn’t the right browser for me.
• Obsidian
  • This is how I take my notes, it also makes getting content from my brain to this site much easier.

Next, Mac utilities. Things to make life easier.

• Dropzone

  • Anything to make my clipboard management more seamless. I can copy/cut multiple things at a time and even shorten URLs and

• Snagit

  • Being able to take screenshots is great, being able to take screenshots with details about who captured them and when is even better.
  • Snagit also allows for capturing videos, annotating and editing screencaps and videocaps.