Melon's Computer Setup 2023!

[Melooon]

See the 2023 updates here!

Melon's Computer Setup 2022!

Aha! So I took some time off away from web development this month, partly to repair an old bag that needed a lot of work, but also to revise my computer setup! My last big computer setups were in 2016 and 2019, so it was time for a revamp!

I put a LOT of effort into my setups (prob too much..), so I figured Id share it here, maybe there something I use that would help you, or maybe you have some suggestions for me! This is the result of a lifetime of using Mac OS, so I think its gonna be intense! Also Id love to hear about some of the setups you guys use!

This was prompted because I'm selling my old computers (A Mac Mini with an eGPU and a Macbook Air) and switching over to a new Macbook (I needed to make my life more portable ) So lets get started!

Hardware:

• Macbook Pro 14" (with M1 Pro cpu)
• 27" Asus ProArt Display
• Vortex Race 3 Keyboard (cherry clear keys)
• Logitech MX Master 2s Mouse (its OK but not ideal)
• Wacom Intuos Pro graphics tablet (an older one I got cheap on ebay)
• KORG nanoKeys midi keyboard
• A mix of LaCie and G-Drive hard drives

Internet Applications:

• Firefox - Main browser: (Addons: uBlock, SponsorBlock, Enhancer for Youtube etc)
• Safari & Chromium - for site testing!
• Raindrop.io - for bookmark management, the free option is fine
• 1Password - for password managment, its paid but great
• NetNewsWire - a great RSS reader for long articles
• RSS Bot - for forum and guestbook notifications
• Lagrange - Gemini Browser
• Thunderbird (May change to Outlook as they ruined it!) for email (Fastmail is my email host!)
• Ripcord - Discord client (I also have normal apps for other chat services)
• Transmit - the best FTP/WebDAV client ever!
• Transmission - bittorrent downloader!
• NZBVortex - usenet downloader
• LittleSnitch - it lets you see and filter all incoming and outgoing web data, its cool!
• ProtonVPN - a VPN.. its fine, but not great, may change later!
• SiteSucker - downloads entire websites!
• Downie - youtube downloader that also extracts audio

Web Development:

• Nova - all main site development
• TextMate - Auxiliary text editing and file viewing
• Sip - a colour snapper and colour library for managing colours you like!
• ImageOptim - Compresses and optimizes images for the web so they load better
• iOS Simulator (Part of xCode) - I use it to test sites on mobile
• Audiacy - for compressing and editing audio for sites
• Sequel Pro - SQL editor for checking the forum database!

Graphics and Art:

• Pixelmator Pro - My main image editor
• Acorn - Auxiliary image editor, it does text and gifs better
• Eagle - a library for scrap booking images and reference material
• PicArrange - sorts images by colour (Used on TextureTown)
• FinalCut - for making movies (Recently Switched from Davinci Resolve)
• Krita - for any digital drawing
• LogicPro - for complex audio work and custom sound making

Game Design:

• Blender - for any 3D creations (had to switch from 3DSMax recently)
• Unity - Most big game projects
• Rider - For editing c# in unity
• WebStorm - a text editor, for complex Javascript games using MelonEngine

Utilities:

• Alfred - Its a search bar that sorta does everything, I use it instead of Spotlight
• iStat - Systems stats, calendar, weather and stuff in your menu bar
• HazeOver - it does a cool dimming effect on non focused applications so easier to see!
• iTerm - a nice lil Terminal app
• PasteBot - a clipboard manager, it also makes all copies plain text so they paste better!
• TinkerTool - lets you edit secret settings in MacOS :O
• Displaperture - restores the rounded corners apple took away in 2007 rrrrrrr
• EasyFind - Faster than Finder for searching for files
• Moom - Window snapping and arrangement, much better than the weird apple split screen
• CheatSheet - a hotkey that shows all hotkeys in a program
• AppCleaner - a good application uninstaller
• The Unarchiver - unzip and unrar and uneverything
• OnyX - System cleaner and maintenance, run it once every few months!
• Tot - a cude lil notepad I keep open at all times for notes and pastes (syncs to iphone/ipad too)
• IconChamp - lets you change the icons of apps easily
• Lungo - Toggle app to keep the mac awake if neeeded
• Gemini - Finds duplicates, useful if you downloaded 100,000 gifs!
• DaisyDisk - helps find large files eating up your harddrive
• Front and Center - Makes finder windows function like they did in Mac Classic
• CarbonCopyCloner - backup drives and folders!

Writing & productivity: :omg:k:

• MS Office - I have a lifetime copy I got cheaply, its good to have
• Pages - I write most documents in this, I like the way they look
• OmniFocus - Todo list, mainly for project tasks
• OmniOutliner - for planning things
• OmniGraffle - for planning interactions and flows, mainly in game projects
• OmmWriter - for writing moody things

Media

• Photos & Music - I just use the default apps
• XLD - A really amazing music converter, its free too!
• IINA - all around media player
• Triode - Internet radio player for the menubar
• kid3 - audio meta editor
• MUNT - Roland MT32 emulator for playing midis
• SheepShaver - Mac Classic Emulator
• Boxer - DOS Emulator (there is an updated fork here)
• OpenEmu - many old game console emulators in a nice ui

OOOOPH thats took like an entire movie to write... I hope someone enjoys it! (I'll prob enjoy it in 10 years when I read this, HELLO FUTURE ME )

[Icey!]

A bit of a stretch? Also, have you tried LibreOffice or Godot? There is so much stuff on here that it's kinda hard to say anything at all. But what I will say is that I wished I invested into a drawing tablet, the electric piano and graphics tablet I have is no use.

[Melooon]

LibreOffice Iv used in the past, and its good if you have nothing else; but its slow and clunky and generally not nice to use (I do like that it has a retro drawing app though).

Ooo thanks for reminding me about Godot, Iv been meaning to give it a proper try!

The tablet was a great deal, I got it on ebay for 80 euro with no stylus. Then a family member gave me their spare stylus, but it was too old for my tablet, so I sold it and got the right one for the same price. Anyway all and all with some trading, I got a super professional tablet for 80 euro!

[Icey!]

The tablet was a great deal, I got it on ebay for 80 euro with no stylus. Then a family member gave me their spare stylus, but it was too old for my tablet, so I sold it and got the right one for the same price. Anyway all and all with some trading, I got a super professional tablet for 80 euro!

Took me a while to realize but turns out I mixed up the names of graphics tablet and drawing tablet. THEY ARE MEANT TO BE IN REVERSE! But I am glad that you found a good deal.

[Onio]

LibreOffice Iv used in the past, and its good if you have nothing else; but its slow and clunky and generally not nice to use (I do like that it has a retro drawing app though).

Ooo thanks for reminding me about Godot, Iv been meaning to give it a proper try!

The tablet was a great deal, I got it on ebay for 80 euro with no stylus. Then a family member gave me their spare stylus, but it was too old for my tablet, so I sold it and got the right one for the same price. Anyway all and all with some trading, I got a super professional tablet for 80 euro!

I'm nearly a year late, but have you tried Godot yet?

I started messing with it in November-December, I really like it! I need to start working on that project again.

P.S. Nice set up

[SilkSkull]

This was a really interesting read! I might make a similar thread! If you had to pick one digital and one physical thing off this list to recommend what would they be?

[Melooon]

Almost a year ago! A few things have changed but most is the same - Ill post an update in April!

If you had to pick one digital and one physical thing off this list to recommend what would they be?

Easy  I love that Macbook Pro! After 15 years of disappointing laptops from Apple they finally made one that just feels great! It reminds my of how the old Titanium G4 macs felt in 2001! And for software, Nova, 100% - its a joy to use every time I open it - without Nova I don't think half of the site development Iv done over the last 2 years would have happened!

[brisray]

That's an interesting list. It made me look at what I use most. I really don't use much that doesn't come as standard with Windows except for the full Adobe Creative Suite that work pays for and which I use at least two of the apps, sometimes more, every day. The nice thing about that is you can use two copies, so one for work, one for home.

There are some utilities I like, some I can use the Adobe programs for but these can be quicker to open and use:

Apache Web Server - I'd hate to use something else after all the years I've been using this
Audacity - one of the best, free or otherwise, audio editors ever made
Bulk Rename Utility - because I keep changing my mind about what I call files and get files from all over the place that need renaming
Edge, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera - to check what I write looks good for almost everyone
Dia - diagramming software
InkSCape - handy to have even if I do have Illustrator
OpenShot - video editor for when I don't need to open Premiere. Even quicker is the original Microsoft Movie Maker which is difficult to get hold of now but still works on Windows 11.
WinSCP - File transfer utility

Apart from that, a working knowledge of batch files and PowerShell. For repetitive tasks, like splitting rotating Apache's log files, looking after the SSL certificates, backups (I use Windows RoboCopy from batch files). 

One piece of software that I have never found, at least that works properly, is the equivilent to Google Reverse Image Search for personal use. That would be so useful and I miss their online version. Lens is mostly linked to buying things.

[tofu]

Super cool to read! I'm really interested to know if you're still with ProtonVPN, I've been using Proton for like a year now and it just renewed, but for where I'm at with computer stuff right now (fairly entry level!) it seems decent - would definitely love to hear your thoughts if you have the time

[Melooon]

I'm really interested to know if you're still with ProtonVPN

I stayed with it for a year, but I left it when my renewal came up - there were no big issues, it was kinda expensive if I recall.. but I found the client on mac didn't really work that well, and it had a lot of disconnection issues. These days I use IVPN - its about the same price and it seems to work much better for me
Proton is totally fine though and if it does what you want it to then theres nothing wrong with using it

I might make a similar thread!

Hope you do! Id love to seee more of what other people use!

[tofu]

I stayed with it for a year, but I left it when my renewal came up - there were no big issues, it was kinda expensive if I recall.. but I found the client on mac didn't really work that well, and it had a lot of disconnection issues. These days I use IVPN - its about the same price and it seems to work much better for me
Proton is totally fine though and if it does what you want it to then theres nothing wrong with using it
Hope you do! Id love to seee more of what other people use!

Thanks for replying! Fair enough, yeah at the moment I make it affordable by splitting it between a few friends but it is a bit pricey! Ooh cool I've never heard of IVPN, I might check it out when this next year is up

[Melooon]

UPDATES for 2023

Instead of listing everything again, Im gonna just list what has changed, been added or removed!

Hardware:

• Added: Extra Laptop - Dell G15 - Ryzen 7 5800H & RTX3060 - used for games and 3D Modeling and Windows Testing (super cheap from the Dell refurb store!)
• Added: CalDigit Thunderbolt HUB 3 - main hub for the Mac setup
• Added: extra 4TB G-Drive, 5TB LaCie Drive and 1TB Sabrent SSD
• Added: iPad Pro 2018 and Apple Pencil for drawing
• Added: Magic Trackpad alongside existing mouse
• Removed: Wacom Tablet

Internet Applications:

• Added: ClearVPN - It's a VPN that comes with a SetApp subscription so its basically free (IVPN is still better)
• Added: Microsoft Edge - used for the Bing AI
• Added: Vivaldi - Chrome browser for testing
• Removed: Chromium
• Removed: RSS Bot - replaced by forum notifications
• Removed: Ripcord - I just use the default client now
• Removed: ProtonVPN

Web Development:

• Added: WorldWideWeb - a simple local webserver for testing sites
• Added: MAMP - Used for testing local versions of the forum
• Added: Sequel Ace - a fan-made version of Pro with extra features
• Added: DevUtils - handy tools like generating unix timestamps
• Removed: Sequel Pro - abandoned and replaced by Sequel Ace

Graphics and Art:

• Added: Affinity Photo, Design & Publisher - Just fantastic alternatives to the Adobe Suite - they also work on iPad
• Diminished: Pixelmator and Acorn - Mostly replaced by Affinity suite
• Removed: Kirta - I use an iPad now, so I mostly use Procreate!

Game Design:

• Added: Godot with  C# - I hope this will become my main game engine
• Diminished: Unity - Im phasing this out of all future games
• Diminished: Blender - I ended up going back to 3DSMax, but I use a much older abandoned version now.

Utilities:

• Added: SetApp - A subscription to MANY mac apps
• Added: iClip - A cool kinda retro clipboard manager
• Added: Yoink - Its like a handy shelf for dragging and moving files
• Added: Bartender - hides icons in the menubar
• Added: BetterZip - its like 7Zip for mac
• Added: CleanShotX - better screenshots
• Added: Synergy - universal mouse and keyboard over ethernet for mac and windows
• Added: AdGuard - this is a systems-wide ad blocker that affects all browsers!
• Added: NetSpot - wifi scanning!
• Added: Meld - program for comparing and merging code or text files
• Added: dotBeat - Swatch time in the menubar!
• Added: Replacicon - for changing application icons!
• Added: coconutBattery - a great tool for testing your device's batteries!
• Added: Blackmagic Disk Speed Test - for testing disk speeds on HDDs and SSDs
• Removed: PasteBot - replaced by iClip
• Removed: Displaperture - dunno why!
• Removed: CheatSheet - not used enough
• Removed: IconChamp - replaced by Replacicon
• Removed: Front and Center - it seemed to cause issues

Writing & Productivity:

• Added: Grammarly Desktop - System-wide spellchecking and writing helping
• Added: Freeform - it's an included Apple program, but it's handy and I use it for planning projects!
• Added: MarsEdit - used for writing and publishing my blog
• Added: Numi - for keeping track of subscriptions and expenses
• Added: TextSniper - can pull text out of ANY image or video
• Added: Renamer - it renames files.. what more do you want!!

Media:

• Added: Jellyfin - open source program for streaming media in your home!
• Added: VBAN Talkie - for syncing audio between mac and windows over ethernet