Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Community > Feedback > Uninstalling Programs Sticky

Uninstalling Programs Sticky
Thread Tools
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Dec 2000
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Mar 16, 2005, 06:11 PM
 
"How to uninstall programs" should be a sticky in the Applications forum. It's one of the easiest things ever, yet it has got to be one of the top 5 questions asked by switchers, since if you were used to a Windows environment, you'd expect this stuff to be complicated. You just might not think of something so simple as dragging the app to the Trash.

I notice that MacNN's sister site, AppleInsider, does this:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/forum...&forumid=6

Ticking sound coming from a .pkg package? Don't let the .bom go off! Inspect it first with Pacifist. Macworld - five mice!
     
Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Irvine, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Mar 19, 2005, 02:12 AM
 
Good idea. Write one up and I'll make it a sticky!
{{{ mindwaves }}}
     
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Dec 2000
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Mar 21, 2005, 11:43 PM
 
Due to the tongue smiley, I'm not sure if you're serious enough or not, but regardless, I'll get something started:

Subject: How to Uninstall Software

One of the things that is beautiful about Mac OS X is the application bundle format. On OS X, most applications, although they look like single files, are actually folders. These folders which look like files, or "bundles" as they are called on OS X, contain not only the program itself, but all of the support files and resources it needs to run. If an application is self-contained in this manner, then chances are no installer will be needed to install all its separate parts on your hard drive. The upshot of all this is that the majority of applications on OS X can be installed simply by dragging them to your Applications folder, and can be uninstalled by dragging them to the Trash and emptying it.

Of course, there are some legitimate exceptions to this rule (and some poorly written applications which use an installer even though it's not necessary). In these cases, however, the author of the application will usually distribute an uninstaller along with the application. For some applications, the installer you used to install the application also has the ability to uninstall it. In general, though, if you didn't have to run an installer to install an application, you won't need an uninstaller to remove it.

If you really want to remove all traces of an application, you can check the Library/Preferences and Library/Application Support folders inside your home folder. There may sometimes be a file inside one or both of these folders which contains application settings, support information, etc. for the app. However, it is generally not necessary to delete these files as they usually take an insignificant amount of space on the disk, and will not cause any problems or conflicts just from being there. Plus, should you ever decide to put the application back on your hard drive and start using it again, your settings will be just how you left them if you didn't delete the preference files. Therefore, it's usually best just to leave these files alone.

In summary, in the majority of cases, all you will need to do to uninstall an app on the Mac is drag it to the Trash. It really is that simple.


--


Of course, feel free to modify this as you like, to make it clearer or whatever. I'm sure there are parts that could be cleaned up - I am admittedly not the best of documentation writers.
(Last edited by CharlesS; Mar 26, 2005 at 12:15 PM. )

Ticking sound coming from a .pkg package? Don't let the .bom go off! Inspect it first with Pacifist. Macworld - five mice!
     
Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Irvine, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Mar 26, 2005, 09:23 AM
 
Added. Thanks. Please post if you would like anything to be changed/added.
{{{ mindwaves }}}
     
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Dec 2000
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Mar 26, 2005, 12:17 PM
 
Hey, thanks!

One thing I just noticed after looking at it again is that I used "leave alone" too frequently at the end of the last paragraph, making it somewhat redundant. I made a minor edit to the last few sentences to make it hopefully sound better.

Ticking sound coming from a .pkg package? Don't let the .bom go off! Inspect it first with Pacifist. Macworld - five mice!
     
   
Thread Tools
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:26 PM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2011 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.7 © 2000-2011, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd., Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.3.2