[nuggetman]

how can i slim down os x? can i do things like deleting unused printer drivers, etc? or am i thinking too much like a windows user

[fisherKing]

a couple of things:
go to versiontracker.com & download "delocalizer"; will remove (by your choice) foreign language files...almost a gig right there).

you can delete unused desktop pictures, for instance.
apps you'll never use (i back them up first).

you can look thru your user library, and the rootlevel library...but be careful.
don't mess with the system folder!!

just some ideas...

[Millennium]

Don't touch anything in /System; that's as bare-bones as you can possibly get. Anything outside /System you might be able to experiment with, but be warned: we can make no guarantees.

[mitchell_pgh]

Languages are the first things to go... big aplications, then the music library... then photo library...

There is no sense deleting unused fonts and desktop images when you have two versions of Internet Explorer that you never use sitting in your Applications folder.

[mitchell_pgh]

I cleaned up my system by weeding out crap music and archiving it...

Best thing I ever did.

[Randman]

Delocalizer is very good. iPhotoDiet works well. Extra printer drivers can eat up space as well. I also usually go hunting for ReadMes and eulas and whatnot. Extra screenshots and screensavers can be sacked.
If you don't often use iDVD, kill it or move it to an external and that will save plenty of space. Or at the very least show package contents and delete/move the themes you're not likely to use (much).
Go through plist and receipts and delete unwanted/outdated stuff.

Delete what apps you don't need from Classic or have duplicated in OSX.


If you have GarageBand and JamPack, check out macosxhints for a thread on deleting duplicated sounds. Also, for the Garageband demos, trash/move the ones you don't like/need or can't use.

If you have digital movies on your hard drive, move to an external or burn the raw footage to dvd/cds to save a ton of space as well.

If you have an iPod, or external drive, you can move your music there and manually manage it, thereby keeping it off your hard drive (but keep a backup somewhere).

Move/delete apps you rarely need, but again have backups. If you have games, just keep the ones you are playing the most right now.

If all else fails, get an external drive. Prices are super low for quality drives that'll fit your needs, regardless of what Mac you own.

[sambeau]

If you store videos and a load of MP3s on your machine there is absolutely no point in cleaninng out your system apart from bloated apps like anything from M$.

The rest will make a few 1% difference at most - not worth bothering with..

Clean out your videos and Mp3s first.

[Superchicken]

Keep at least 10% of your HD open and you're fine.

If you need to cram more on your disk, buy a bigger and probably faster HD.