Grokking OS X: getting rid of the little annoyances in 10.8 and 10.9

kunai · Sep 3, 2013

I'm working on a free, short guidebook called "Grokking OS X." It deals primarily with tweaking your OS X install to the way you want it, and covers topics such as the Finder, Spaces management, Exposé, Mission Control, Autosave, Mail, and Preferences. In addition, it also shows system-wide OS X defaults like customizing toolbars.

Essentially, it's a guidebook to make newer versions of OS X feel like 10.5 and 10.6 again.

It's a PDF and licensed (c) 2013 Kunai from MacRumors, all rights reserved currently, but I will change the licensing to CC Attribution once I'm finished with the first edition.

I've attached a beta copy that deals mainly with the Finder sidebar. It's still at a very early stage, so don't hesitate to tell me if something is wrong. If you found it useful, please leave a comment and tell me that you liked it. Thanks for the feedback.

Shrink · Sep 3, 2013

kunai said:
I'm working on a free, short guidebook called "Grokking OS X." It deals primarily with tweaking your OS X install to the way you want it, and covers topics such as the Finder, Spaces management, Exposé, Mission Control, Autosave, Mail, and Preferences. In addition, it also shows system-wide OS X defaults like customizing toolbars.

Essentially, it's a guidebook to make newer versions of OS X feel like 10.5 and 10.6 again.

It's a PDF and licensed (c) 2013 Kunai from MacRumors, all rights reserved currently, but I will change the licensing to CC Attribution once I'm finished with the first edition.

I've attached a beta copy that deals mainly with the Finder sidebar. It's still at a very early stage, so don't hesitate to tell me if something is wrong. If you found it useful, please leave a comment and tell me that you liked it. Thanks for the feedback.

I'm sure you'll be hearing from Robert Heinlein's estate!

Bear · Sep 4, 2013

Shrink said:
I'm sure you'll be hearing from Robert Heinlein's estate!

The word "grokking" is in a lot of dictionaries now. I am not sure that that is something that would(could?) be sued over.

Shrink · Sep 4, 2013

Bear said:
The word "grokking" is in a lot of dictionaries now. I am not sure that that is something that would(could?) be sued over.

First...I was joking and do not expect a law suit over the use of the word.

Second...the word was invented by Heinlein in the book "Stranger In A Strange Land", but has since become part of the lexicon...thereby making it public property, I would assume.

benwiggy · Sep 4, 2013

"Grokking OS X" -- I would expect a book of that title to be a guide to understanding my way around OS X, rather than a fix-list of subjective "annoyances".

I think you need to explain about the Download options for colouring-in the sidebar in a little more detail. Just saying "Download the necessary injection code" is perhaps bit off-hand for what appears to be a significant task.

I would suggest a bit more leading in your body paragraphs, to improve legibility, too.

Other than that, it seems fine!

Bear · Sep 4, 2013

kunai said:
I'm working on a free, short guidebook called "Grokking OS X." It deals primarily with tweaking your OS X install to the way you want it, and covers topics such as the Finder, Spaces management, Exposé, Mission Control, Autosave, Mail, and Preferences. In addition, it also shows system-wide OS X defaults like customizing toolbars.

Essentially, it's a guidebook to make newer versions of OS X feel like 10.5 and 10.6 again.
...

I don't care if it's like 10/5/10.6, but the idea of the tweaks being in one spot instead of buried in many forum threads and all over the web is a great idea.

Shrink said:
First...I was joking and do not expect a law suit over the use of the word.

Second...the word was invented by Heinlein in the book "Stranger In A Strange Land", but has since become part of the lexicon...thereby making it public property, I would assume.

First... not enough caffeine yet when I responded, so the humor wasn't showing through.

Second... Yeah, I knew that and the link I provided clearly stated the source. And as for lawsuits, they're getting sillier and sillier in the US so who knows what will be the next silly lawsuit.

kunai · Sep 4, 2013

benwiggy said:
"Grokking OS X" -- I would expect a book of that title to be a guide to understanding my way around OS X, rather than a fix-list of subjective "annoyances".

I think you need to explain about the Download options for colouring-in the sidebar in a little more detail. Just saying "Download the necessary injection code" is perhaps bit off-hand for what appears to be a significant task.

I would suggest a bit more leading in your body paragraphs, to improve legibility, too.

Other than that, it seems fine!

Thanks for the feedback. I'm only a high-school student with limited time, so I'll get around to fixing these problems when I can.

For now, the book is really only going to be about tweaks. OS X is the second easiest-to-use operating system in the world, so most people who buy Macs are not likely to have problems with them (unlike average users of Windows and Linux). There are already dozens of books on how to use OS X, my purpose was to delve a little deeper and give some insight and perspective into how you can customize the OS to be more productive and conducive to work.

Most of the tweaks are things that long-standing MacRumors members have complained about (I've lurked for years and years here), so I thought having them all in a single, well-written and explained book would make it easier for newer users to tweak the system.

I will add more general information in the future, but only after I get all of the tweaking information added, because that's what most longtime Mac users (and me) tend to complain, whine, and groan about.

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Grokking OS X: getting rid of the little annoyances in 10.8 and 10.9

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