Mac OS X Tweaks
Simple changes for a snappier feel.
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Some tweaks to get rid of a few Mac OSX window animations for a snappier feel.
Copy and paste these into your terminal (# lines are ignored comments).
# disable new window animation
defaults write -g NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEnabled -bool NO; killall Dock
# disable toolbar in fullscreen
defaults write -g NSToolbarFullScreenAnimationDuration -float 0
# scrolling Finder column view
defaults write -g NSBrowserColumnAnimiationSpeedMultiplier -float 0
# rubber band effect when scrolling
defaults write -g NSScrollViewRubberbanding -int 0
# Dock animations
defaults write com.apple.dock expose-animation-duration -float 0
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifer -float 0
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0
# hide sidebar when opening PDFs
defaults write com.apple.Preview PVPDFSuppressSidebarOnOpening trueThese and more can be found on StackExchange.
The OS X Yosemite Security & Privacy Guide has an extensive list of tweaks to disable some unnecessary background services that can save some CPU.