"This 'users are idiots, and are confused by functionality' mentality of Gnome is a disease. If you think your users are idiots, only idiots will use it. I don't use Gnome, because in striving to be simple, it has long since reached the point where it simply doesn't do what I need it to do." - Linus Torvalds, 2005
Power users accomplish many times what normal users accomplish more efficiently in less time. You don't have to have the latest most expensive equipment to work efficiently. Power user does not refer to users who consume lots of power or resources. It is only in the last decade that computer software with printed manuals have all but disappeared, and software has been designed to be as simple as possible. Knowledge of networking or programming is not necessary to be a power user!
Steps
- Seriously consider using the command-line. You can still tweet, instant message, play mp3 (with mplayer), browse the web (with Lynx or Links2), p2p (amulecmd), torrent (rtorrent), image edit (ImageMagick), read feeds (raggle), chat (irssi), ofm (midnight commander), manage downloads (axel, wget) and everything else. Linux and BSD make it easy to use the command-line, whereas OS X and especially Windows don't.
| action | Windows/DOS | Windows Powershell,
Mac OS X, Linux, BSD etc. | | list directory | dir | ls |
| clear console | cls | clear |
| copy file(s) | copy | cp |
| move file(s) | move | mv |
| delete file(s) | del | rm |
| create directory | md | mkdir |
| remove directory | rd | rm |
| change current directory | cd | cd |
| current directory | cd, chdir | pwd |
| search | find | grep |
| concatenate | cat | cat |
| permissions | chmod | chmod |
| display/output text | echo | echo |
| add user | net user | adduser |
If you must use a GUI read on to the next step. But the efficiency advantages of the CLI are as follows.
- If you need to move all folders ending with "photos" this is easy in the command line but difficult and slow in a GUI.
- Command-line completion is also known as tab-completion and can speed things up.
- Pipe command-line output into other commands if needed.
- Shell aliases can be set in Linux.
- Use a Tiling Window Manager (TWM). Most systems use floating window managers where windows aren't automatically aligned and can overlap one another. If you spend a lot of time moving, resizing, maximizing, minimizing, restoring and generally switching windows then a tiling window manager might be for you. A TWM presents multiple windows on one screen aligned in a tile formation. The following is the manifesto of Ion, a dynamic tiling window manager with tabs for each frame.
"So-called “modern desktop environments” converge on total unusability, and present-day mainstream graphical user interfaces in general are far less usable than they are praised to be. Usability simply does not equal low learning curve, and hiding system details from the user, as the Official Truth seems to be these days."
| Key | Tiling
function | | Alt+k | next tile |
| Alt+j | previous tile |
| Alt+space | switch layout |
- Ditch the mouse. Use the keyboard. Set up key bindings for everything, basic windows operation and browsing . Learn the key bindings. Familiarize yourself with them.
| Key | Operating system
function | | Win+e | Opens My Computer
in Windows Explorer |
| Win+f | Find |
| Win+m | Minimize all windows |
| Win+d | Toggle minimize
all windows |
| Win+r | Open run dialog |
| Ctrl+A | Select all |
| Ctrl+B | Bold |
| Ctrl+O | Open |
| Ctrl+C | Copy |
| Ctrl+X | Cut |
| Ctrl+V | Paste |
| Ctrl+Z | Undo |
| Ctrl+PgUp | Next tab |
| Ctrl+PgDn | Previous tab |
| Alt-tab | Switch open windows |
| Alt+F4 | Quit app |
| Alt+F5 | Restore window |
| Alt+F7 | Move window |
| Alt+F8 | Resize window |
| Alt+F9 | Minimize window |
| Alt+F10 | Maximize current window |
|
.
- Use application keyboard shortcuts (Vimperator[1] and other Firefox add-ons are useful for this).
| Key | Browser Function | | Alt+left arrow | Back |
| Alt+right arrow | Forward |
| Alt+home | Home |
| Ctrl+L | Location/address bar |
| Ctrl+k | Search bar |
| Ctrl+T | New tab |
| Ctrl+W | Close tab |
| Ctrl+PgUp | Previous tab |
| Ctrl+PgDn | Next tab |
| Ctrl+R | Refresh |
| Ctrl+u | View source |
- If you don't want to ditch the mouse totally, Use mouse gestures. Strokeit (Windows), Opera (Cross platform), gMote (Windows), Easystroke (Linux), Mouse Gestures Redox (Firefox) are all applications.
- Write scripts. You won't become a programmer, but scripts help to automate common repetitive tasks. In Windows they're sometimes called batch files.
- If you need to copy photos until you reach a certain number of megabytes, a script is needed.
- Use browser scripts. Greasemonkey, iMacros and Chickenfoot are some on Firefox. Opera supports user javascript.
- Use an Use an Orthodox File Manager (OFM). Also known as Commander-like, Midnight Commander is one for command-line users. Alternatively use something like Directory Opus, as long as you don't use a basic (usually bundled) file manager. Again, it is all about key bindings, so learn the keyboard shortcuts[2].
| Key | OFM Function | | F1 | help |
| F2 | user menu/scripting |
| F3 | view |
| F4 | edit |
| F5 | copy |
| F6 | move |
| F7 | new directory |
| F8 | delete |
| F9 | top menu |
| F10 | quit |
- Turn off any eye-candy that might slow you down.
- In Windows, right-click My Computer, Properties, Advanced, under Performance click Settings, then Adjust for Best Performance.
- In KDE 4+, press Alt+F3, then Configure Window Behaviour, then Desktop Effects then uncheck Enable Desktop Effects.
- Choose appropriate software. Don't just use the bundled software just because it's bundled, unless it's a conscious decision.
- Choose a web browser, don't just use the bundled one because it's bundled.
- Organize your audio and images with appropriate software designed for this purpose.
- Don't use a word-processor where a decent plain text editor will do. Use Regular Expressions[3]. Where you don't need to format documents, Use Plain Text.
- Asterisk * matches any number of what's before it, from zero to infinity.
- ? matches zero or one.
- + matches one or more.
- For chatrooms use IRC. For forums use Usenet.
- Use a job scheduler for regular tasks. In Windows use Task Manager, in Mac OS X use Launchd, in Linux/BSD use cron/anacron.
- Power users in word processing use styles (or even Latex) for formatting documents.
Tips
- Have multiple user accounts on your computer. This is especially true if there are multiple users on a single computer, but it also holds true if you're the only user of a particular computer. It's better (safer) to run as limited user instead of root/Administrator most of the time.
- Use feeds (RSS/Atom) to receive web updates. It's quicker than visiting multiple websites.
Warnings
- Many myths exist about performance[4] including;
- defragging,
- turning off services,
- registry cleaning,
- memory optimization software tools.
Related Articles
Sources and Citations
