Mac OSX Tweaks

Update: I’ve decided to maintain a repo here instead.

General UI

# Disable Dashboard
defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -bool true

# Don’t show Dashboard as a Space
defaults write com.apple.dock dashboard-in-overlay -bool true

# disable automatic spell checking
defaults write -g NSAllowContinuousSpellChecking -bool false

# don't treat period or colon as part of words
# en_US_POSIX corresponds to the "United States (Computer)" setting that was shown in System Preferences in 10.8 and earlier
defaults write -g AppleTextBreakLocale en_US_POSIX

# Disable the sound effects on boot
sudo nvram SystemAudioVolume=" "

Disks

# Disks: disable Time Machine prompts
defaults write com.apple.TimeMachine DoNotOfferNewDisksForBackup -bool true

# Disks: disable local Time Machine backups
hash tmutil &> /dev/null && sudo tmutil disablelocal

# Disks: disable disk image verification
# defaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify -bool true
# defaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify-locked -bool true
# defaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify-remote -bool true

# don't save .DS_Store files on network volumes
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores -bool true

# Expand save panel by default
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool true

# Don’t automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use
defaults write com.apple.dock mru-spaces -bool false

Keyboard

# Set a blazingly fast keyboard repeat rate
defaults write NSGlobalDomain KeyRepeat -int 0

Finder

# Disable automatic termination of inactive apps
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSDisableAutomaticTermination -bool true

# Finder: disable window animations and Get Info animations
defaults write com.apple.finder DisableAllAnimations -bool true

# Finder: show all filename extensions
defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true

# Disable the warning when changing a file extension
defaults write com.apple.finder FXEnableExtensionChangeWarning -bool false

# Save to disk (not to iCloud) by default
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSDocumentSaveNewDocumentsToCloud -bool false

# Finder: disable window and Get Info animations
defaults write com.apple.finder DisableAllAnimations -bool true

# Finder: show the ~/Library folder (in OS X Lion)
chflags nohidden ~/Library

# Finder: empty Trash securely by default
defaults write com.apple.finder EmptyTrashSecurely -bool true

Dock & hot corners

# Autohide the Dock
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true

# Magnify Dock icons on hover
defaults write com.apple.dock magnification -bool false

Panels

# Panels: expand save panel by default
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool true

# Panels: expand print panel by default
defaults write NSGlobalDomain PMPrintingExpandedStateForPrint -bool true

# Panels: disable the “Are you sure you want to open this application?” dialog
defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices LSQuarantine -bool false

# Panels: enable full keyboard access for all controls (e.g. enable Tab in modal dialogs)
defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleKeyboardUIMode -int 3

Screen

# Screen: save screenshots to the desktop
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location -string "$HOME/Desktop"

# Screen: disable shadow in screenshots
defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true

Misc

# Misc: only use UTF-8 in Terminal.app
defaults write com.apple.terminal StringEncodings -array 4

# Misc: disable Dictionary results
defaults write com.apple.spotlight DictionaryLookupEnabled -bool false

# Misc: disable auto-correct
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled -bool false