What do I do to maintain my MacBook?

OS X runs daily, weekly and monthly self-maintenance, which pretty effectively covers most system cleanup tasks. You can also run those scripts manually if you want. I recommend Onyx or Maintidget for doing so. Onyx will also let you adjust hidden settings and perform other maintenance if you want, though it's not really necessary and you should do so with caution. You can clear internet history and caches in Safari and Firefox from within the browsers. OS X doesn't have a direct equivalent to the Windows registry, though you can clear PRAM on occasion (like annually or less) if you're noticing system slowdowns. Google or some forum searches will find you more info on any of the things I mentioned as starting points.

overanalyzer said:

OS X runs daily, weekly and monthly self-maintenance, which pretty effectively covers most system cleanup tasks. You can also run those scripts manually if you want. I recommend Onyx or Maintidget for doing so. Onyx will also let you adjust hidden settings and perform other maintenance if you want, though it's not really necessary and you should do so with caution.

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This is true, however, I believe the system is set to do this at some obscure time, like 3:30 am. If the computer is not on at that time, the maintenance tasks don't run.

Onyx, Maintidget or Cocktail will all do it, although I believe the first two are freeware or donationware.

And while maintenance is good, it's not a good idea to be overzealous about it. The code gurus chose these intervals and systems files/logs for a reason, and being overly judicious about it can result in problems.

MacDann

Maintenance 3.8 works very well for everything you computer does not take care of automatically. Link

MacDann said:

This is true, however, I believe the system is set to do this at some obscure time, like 3:30 am. If the computer is not on at that time, the maintenance tasks don't run.

Onyx, Maintidget or Cocktail will all do it, although I believe the first two are freeware or donationware.

And while maintenance is good, it's not a good idea to be overzealous about it. The code gurus chose these intervals and systems files/logs for a reason, and being overly judicious about it can result in problems.

MacDann

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You're right that it's an arbitrary time, and I think it is something like 3:30am. You can actually change that through the terminal or some of the maintenance programs, though, in case you always sleep/turn off your computer overnight...there have been directions for that on TUAW and/or MR forums that I've seen before. Maintidget is useful for monitoring that too since it's right on your dashboard, and if you see that one or more of the scripts hasn't been run as recently as it ought to have been you can just have it run them.

You mentioned the macbook will get grimy, I use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser periodically and let me tell you, you'd believe it actually is magic. My Macbook looks as good as the day I bought it, and while others can't get the black wrist spots out, the Magic Eraser can.

(wtf? I sound like an infomercial!)

I also recommend Onyx for keeping everything clean and updated.

overanalyzer said:

Maintidget is useful for monitoring that too since it's right on your dashboard, and if you see that one or more of the scripts hasn't been run as recently as it ought to have been you can just have it run them.

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I've used Maintidget before as well. It works great!
However, I currently use Cocktail on my MB. It's payware, but I really like it.
YMMV.

bamaworks said:

You mentioned the macbook will get grimy, I use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser periodically and let me tell you, you'd believe it actually is magic. My Macbook looks as good as the day I bought it, and while others can't get the black wrist spots out, the Magic Eraser can.

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I second the Magic erasers! They're really the only way to keep your white MacBook white. Just don't use 'em on the shiny exterior or screen since they're mildly abrasive and will scuff the glossy surfaces.

Cocktail or onyx are all you need to keep your mac as fast as the first day. When I fist switched to mac I was amazed that this was all I had to do. Mine still is as fast as day 1. Enjoy!! Then go out and spread the word!