Starting Over (on my MacBook)
Well inevitably, Apple let me down. A standard Sequoia 15.3.1 update basically bricked my installation of MacOS and created a boot loop at login. After about 8 hours of my own troubleshooting to no avail (repairing the OS install, and putting it into DFU - Device Firmware Upgrade - mode) and then a trip to the Apple Store, it appeared that nothing could be done except to wipe the installation and start again.
Luckily my backups were fairly solid, lots of iCloud backups including photos, so I wasn't too worried about most of my data, although I did do a last minute share disk (formerly target disk mode) and copy across some recent files not backed up (read: stored in the downloads folder :S).
So the silver lining is that this is a great time for me to start my MacOS install from scratch and only install the necessities after a few years of software installs and data hoarding. Here's a running list of what I installed, in order:
- Login into my Apple ID which brought in my email accounts (exclusively hosted on iCloud+ with custom domains), iCloud Files, Photos etc.
- Logi Options - I had just bought a new mouse and keyboard with the Logi Bolt receivers, the MX Ergo S and Signature K855 TKL Mechanical Keyboard. I really needed to unify my keyboard and mouse solution for my desk at home (which is to remain on my desk at home) so I can control my MacBook when plugged into the dock and my Windows desktop that is also connected to the same monitor. I seldom use them at the same time, but having two mice and keyboards or plugging and replugging when I moved between them was a clunky mess. I also wanted a mouse that could stay on my desk and not get bashed around on the road!
- 1Password - being able to install my password manager and then know from then on that I will barely have to fill in a login manually is a game changer, speeds up the onboarding process immensely
- CleanShot X - Absolute favourite screenshot app - yes the inbuilt Mac utility has become quite good, but I still prefer the functionality of CleanShot, and its amazing how many times you can use it in a day (and miss it if its not installed!)
- Vectorworks 2025 - I'm currently deep into plan drawing for a few events this month (which is what I was about to dive into more of before my Mac got bricked, hence why the hurry to get everything back online).
- Dropbox - Those .VWX Vectorworks project files have to be stored somewhere, and Dropbox is mostly that place (hence why I wasn't too worried when we had to wipe the machine).
- Readdle Calendars - I've only got onto this app recently as I fell in love with one of the views on the iOS app (the weekly horizontal box view) and I generally want consistency between my Mac and iOS app selections.
- CuePoints - a specific production/lighting industry application which I use to start my timecode workflow by plotting cues to video and audio tracks - they're now up to version 1.5 and now even have a Windows version.
- Raycast - this is going to be replacing Alfred (which was replacing Spotlight), had used this for many years but recently hear about it being far more powerful than Alfred, I'll give it a shot!
- Paragon NTFS for Mac - Every time I got back to Windows, it astounds me of some of the most basic features that don't work out of the box, like reading drives in any other format other than Fat32, Exfat and NTFS. Which is while I often have T5 and other hard drives formatted in both APFS and NTFS. While out of the box MacOS can read its own drives, plus Fat32, Exfat, it can also at least read NTFS which is great - but if you want to write to them, this is where Paragon NTFS for Mac is worth the money for the ability to read and write to NTFS.
- Capture - Another specific lighting industry application, this time a lighting visualiser, which can allow you to design and conceptualise lighting rigs in 3D and even program them with lighting consoles.
- GrandMA for Mac - Speaking of lighting consoles, GrandMA is my console of choice, and with the version 3 of the system, MA Lighting have brought out a native Mac application (previously it was only Windows-based, despite the consoles themselves running a base system of Unix/Linux). This has been a game changer for me because now I can just carry around my MacBook Pro and prep shows on the go, running the laptop as a tracking backup for the main console, and even running a command wing directly with the MacBook directly.
- WhatsApp - Needed to chat with family on the group chat, so WhatsApp it is!
- LibreOffice - Ever since I went full-time freelance back in 2023 and losing my work-provided Office 365 subscription, I've been actively avoiding purchasing an 365 subscription for myself. I can basically get by most word document applications by creating files on Basecamp, but one thing I do still need often is a spreadsheet application. Yes, Google Sheets does exist and I have access to a Legacy Workspace account, but even in an increasingly connected world with internet fairly consistently available, I still like being able to work offline in a native application. I had used OpenOffice which has been discontinued, but LibreOffice works great for what I've needed to do so far.
... more to come!