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by yan 6163 days ago
A few more of my tips through the years:

Windows: Alt+space, [n, x, s, m] (n for minimize, x for maximize, s to change size. s, then arrow for which side of the window to drag, then move with arrows. m for move, also with arrows). Ctrl+esc, menu bar. windows key+e = explorer, windows key+r = run dialog. alt+print screen = system preferences. (Haven't used windows in years, so not sure if these shortcuts persisted through Vista and 7. I hear they did)

OS X: First, get Quicksilver. Seriously. Other then command+tab to switch apps which everyone knows, command+` (tilde key) switches windows within apps. I'm surprised how many people don't know that. Also, an awesome shortcut is Command+tabbing to a minimized window, then before releasing command, press down option, then let go of command while holding down option. That restores the minimized window and switches to it, really not bad after you get the hang of it. command+m minimizes. ctrl+f2 (might need to add 'fn' on laptops) puts the selection in the menu so you don't have to use the mouse to select it.

bash: ctrl+r is invaluable. that will do a reverse search through history on whatever you type next. only caveat: once you leave the search mode, you'll actually be in that place in history, hitting up will go back even further. I usually run an empty command (like echo) to get back to the bottom. Hitting meta (esc in my case), then dot inserts the last argument of the previous command. Great for edit,execute cycle. i.e. $ vi script.py $ ./[esc, .] running '^str^strb^' in bash will run the previous command, replacing str with strb. !! is previous command, !!:0 is first token of previous command (usually the binary running), !!:1 is first arg, etc.

6 comments

Better than win+r for run is just hitting windows which brings up the start menu. With the new start menu, this is similar to Quicksilver and Katapult and all those other things.

If you use zsh (and you really should. It is better than bash in almost every way), you can just ctrl-C to get out of searches.

zsh is rather amazing. Only so if you are familiar with how it is better than bash (besides the fundamental ways) and how to configure it for maximum ownage! Much like complicated editors like Vim, it helps to try to dedicate effort to imprinting a new command in your mind per-week (or so), such that it becomes second nature to use.

Some good stuff: http://grml.org/zsh/zsh-lovers.html

If you get a good zshrc, it Just Works, without much additional effort.

Admittedly, I mostly use those parts of zsh which are similar to most other shells, but which it does better (argument completions, some directory stack, etc).

Namely is a less complicated alternative to Quicksilver on OS X. It only works for applications. http://amarsagoo.info/namely/

Enso is interesting alternative to launchy on Windows. It's no longer in active development. http://humanized.com/enso/launcher/

I really like Enso for Windows. Half of their dev team went to Mozilla to build Ubiquity, which is a similar idea for web services instead of apps: https://ubiquity.mozilla.com/
In bash, just press ctrl+c to get back to the bottom. Also, 'cd -' to get back and forth between your current directory and last directory is great for the edit/execute cycle.
One more for OS X that's relatively unknown is the 'Go To Folder' shortcut in file dialogues. It's accessed via ~ and supports tab-completion — opening something in ~/Documents something becomes: cmd+o, ~, ~/D[tab]<enter>, filename<enter>
Command+Shift+G shows the "Go To Folder" prompt as well, with the added benefit of working in the finder as well as open/save dialogs.
I have 12 virtual screens attached to the function keys and run every application full screen in one of these screens. I never need to cycle through anything but just jump directly to whatever I need.
Thanks a million for mentioning the keyboard shortcut for restoring minimized windows on OS X! I looked everywhere for that!