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How I set up my Windows 10 (coming from Linux)

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chx edited this page May 14, 2017 · 28 revisions

The desktop operating systems I used on the Microsoft side are Windows 2000 and earlier back to DOS, on the Linux side, KDE 3, 4 and 5. This page catalogues how I set Windows 10 so that I can use it. Do note https://xkcd.com/1806/ . Still, some of these might be useful to others especially if they are switching from KDE to Windows 10.

While some will concentrate on keyboard only navigation, I often like using the mouse as long as I do not need to hunt for a small target area, it is quite efficient. Also note my keyboard usage is somewhat limited by the Matias Ergo Pro I use vertically -- I have one hand on one half of the keyboard. For example, Ctrl+F4 is hard to hit.

  1. Chocolatey as one of the diciest thing to do with a Windows box is to download anything it is great comfort to have one centralized, safe location to get stuff from. Automated installs are a great plus. For now, I have an administrator command shell open and whenever I need something I just do a choco install....

  2. AutoHotkey. AutoHotkey is Love, AutoHotkey is Life. I will link to some scripts. (Chocolatey package)

  3. Easy Window Dragging -- KDE style. Much like Alt+some key, this lets you Alt+left click over a window to drag said window. Drawback of not being built into the system: doesn't work with administrator windows. I suspect starting it as administrator would fix it but I do not need that functionality bad enough to have an autohotkey script running as administrator.

  4. StrokesPlus my love for mouse gestures comes from the old Opera browser. Most especially the close gesture is an easy one. When I am reading news or similar, I Ctrl+Click links for further reading and then as I read them I can just press and keep the middle mouse button pressed, yank the mouse towards the bottom and to the right to close the browser tab. (Chocolatey package )

  5. Ditto I set the hotkey to Win+Capslock. This gives me multiple clipboards with an extremely easy to hit keyboard combo. I do not use the hotkeys for specific spots, just bring up the clipboard menu, pick what I want to paste and go on.( Chocolatey package )

  6. Switcheroo allows me to switch windows based on name. AltTabAlternative probably would deserve a test but it works and I am lazy.( Chocolatey package )

  7. More autohotkey. This script does several things: Shift+Capslock operates as Capslock would alone. Pressing and releasing Capslock alone does exactly nothing. Same for the left windows key. This allows me to use them more freely, especially in PhpStorm I use win + n to search for classes. Augments symbol (ctrl + n) and file (shift+ctrl+n) searches very well. Otherwise just idly pressing left win would open the start menu and steal the focus. Arrggggghhh!

  8. Classic shell What can I say, I am ancient and want an old style Start menu.( Chocolatey package )

  9. Notepad++ uses the same editing core as Geany. Hello, old friend! Tabs-as-spaces is hiding under "Language" in Setup // Preferences. (Chocolatey package)

  10. Inside Linux use git config --global core.autocrlf true. Have your git checkouts on /mnt/c instead of the Linux partition so you can use Windows editors on them (harken to Do not change Linux files using Windows apps and tools ). Use daemons, compilers and similar headless tools inside Linux. Use Windows apps when a GUI is needed.

  11. Backgrounding WSL looks very interesting especially in light of Windows Update randomly rebooting the box during the night. I haven't yet set this one up but on first reading it looks like simple enough.

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