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Do macs have a software/program remover the same as for a PC's if i have to buy can you recommend one .
thanks macshack2
Sometimes the installer for the software has an uninstall option, but usually you can just drag the software to the trash.
...JER
> Do macs have a software/program remover the same as for a PC's
The short answer: No.
The longer answer is a little more complicated. If you look, you'll find third-party apps like CleanApp or AppZapper, which are designed for the job; the problem is that they don't do a good job, and you're usually better off without them. (They don't do a good job primarily because of one Mac OS X's biggest shortcomings -- the lack of a system to track what's installed and where.)
Read a couple of short reviews, Do uninstallers work? and The OmniFocus Project and make up your own mind.
I tried myself CleanApp and AppDelete, and my opinion aligns fairly closely to that of Rixstep. I believe you're better off doing the uninstalling yourself. (MacRumours has some basic advice.)
If provided, use the app's own uninstaller or uninstall function; or, if installed with Apple's installer, check the respective 'receipts' left by the installer (Pacifist can help you with that); or, check the log files to see if it left behind a record of what was installed (Console.app can help there); or, use Find Any File or Find File or just the find command (don't waste time with Spotlight) to locate files to remove.
IMO none of the so-call uninstallers can do a complete job of removing all the potential stuff that can be installed and/or created by some apps, prefPanes, etc.
The way I track what something installs and creates is to use fseventer. It graphically shows file system changes in real time. So I run it during installs and first executions of stuff and keep a record of all the stuff that the gets installed or created. Then, if I later need to uninstall it I can clean it all out. It still takes some understanding of the system however to be able to know what's pertinent in the fseventer display and what is not.
In general, Applications get installed by one of two ways - either by running an installer package or by simply depositing just the app into the /Applications folder. The second method usually involves either a manual drag-copy from a downloaded .dmg, or a purchase from the App store.
Those apps that require running an installer package often scatter functionally active pieces in a number of places, and it is important that they be disposed of properly if the app is uninstalled. You can otherwise be left with defective background processes that are still active and can cause problems. Developers know this, and most such products come with a custom uninstaller for this purpose. Be sure to use it rather than just trashing the app file.
As for the apps that were installed by just being copied into the /Applications folder, they can generally be functionally inactivated just by trashing them. My own view is that whether or not anything further needs to be done depends a little on your personality style! Most apps will indeed leave behind some flotsam - generally "preference files" and often some "application support" files in your home library and possibly in the main HD library as well. However these items generally take up very little disk space and don't use RAM or CPU resources - they just sit there inert. That doesn't bother me and I usually just forget about them. If you are a tidier person, you can go after them, either manually or with the utilities that were mentioned.
The way I track what something installs and creates is to use fseventer.
Similar file system monitoring tools are DaemonFS, Uninstaller by MacMagna, and Tracker by Rixstep. The problem is that, as you pointed out, to be used effectively, they do require a bit of expertise; and that they have to be run before installing the app, as well as before its first run, and, I would add, before its second run.
> Applications get installed by one of two ways
Alas, if only it were that simple.
Some apps which are "simply deposited" in </Applications> install stuff on their first run; some even on their second run.
> these items generally take up very little disk space and don't
> use RAM or CPU resources - they just sit there inert.
Well, yes. And no; again, if only it were that simple.
Let's take a specific example: VueScan 9 by Ed Hamrick. This is not some fly-by-night here-today-gone-tomorrow operation. VueScan has a well-earned good reputation; it supports a great many scanners, some of which no longer supported by the manufacturer; and it provides capabilities usually superior to those of the bundled scanning software; quite a few professionals use it.
VueScan is one of those apps which is "simply deposited" in </Applications>; to un-install, it should suffice to trash it. Except that it doesn't.
When it runs first, VueScan 9 creates the following files:
Now, you can forget about the first 5, they are exactly what you say -- inert and take up next to no space. But the last two are not. Delete the app and leave those two behind, and the PS plug-in causes VueScan to continue to appear in PS's Acquire sub-menu; on my system, PS crashes if I choose it. The Image Capture plug-in causes a VueScan TWAIN item to appear in Acrobat's Create PDF > From Scanner dialog. Granted, neither of these are catastrophic, but you must admit they are annoying.
VueScan is frequently updated, and I've no doubt its developer will take care of this one way or another. But, until then, the user is on his own -- there's no uninstall script, no list of files installed, nothing.
I had said
As for the apps that were installed by just being copied into the /Applications folder, they can generally be functionally inactivated just by trashing them.
As far as I know, apps that are "deposited" in /Applications via the Mac App Store are not allowed to behave otherwise. And of the apps that people download as .dmgs and copy over, I think that very few of them leave behind active components such as those that you described for VueScan. Would you venture to estimate a percentage of apps that do this? What are some other popular apps that behave this way? And as for VueScan itself, just how is the "average user" supposed to deal with it? The developer really needs to provide an uninstaller for this.
jsd2 wrote:
I think that very few of them leave behind active components such as those that you described for VueScan. Would you venture to estimate a percentage of apps that do this?
Of course not. I'm not a reviewer or Mac tech expert, and I download and install only apps I need. I know about VueScan because I came across those issues when I removed it (having decided that Image Capture was enough for my current needs). But let me give you another example. EndNote, OmniOutliner, and AppDelete, installed by the copy-to-Apps method, each put an item in <~/Library/Services>. Deleting the app, naturally, doesn't delete the service. EN has an un-installer, but the manual says you can also do it manually -- w/o, however, mentioning the service. AFAICT, OO does not have such a utility, nor does it mention uninstalling in the manual. AppDelete doesn't come with a manual, but it does mention the item -- on the bottom of the web page.
I'm not trying to suggest that these apps are poorly designed (they're not), nor that the developers are careless or lazy (they're not), but that developers are not provided with a consistent framework to handle uninstalling, and that, IMHO, it's the OS's who should provide it.
Remover
