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TUAW's Daily Mac App: TrashMe
Deleting unused programs to make some space for Lion? You need an app like recently updated TrashMe. It's an app uninstaller with both drag-and-drop to uninstall and application listings that will handle any program you have installed, widgets, Preference panes and even plugins, moving them to the trash with their associated files. TrashMe will also scan user configurable folders for applications, places like the Downloads folder, from which you might have fired up a program once, but never really used it and forgot about it. You can set certain apps as protected, with the Apple default apps protected as standard, just so you don't accidentally delete something important. Like AppCleaner and AppTrap, TrashMe also supports intelligent Trash monitoring (Smart Detection), allowing you to just delete an application the way Apple intended. It will then detect the trashing of an application and offer to find any files that might be associated with it. With the help of a little add-on that can be downloaded from the developers site, TrashMe can also delete files and applications that you don't have write access for. There are also some "hidden" OS X preferences TrashMe can change too, which include the suppression of .DS_Store files on network volumes, a setting to show or hide hidden files and folders and also the ability to disable the warning that OS X pops up when you launch downloaded applications for the first time. TrashMe version 2 is a highly polished uninstaller app that is currently available for US$4.99 from the Mac App Store. Thanks to topherrjames for the suggestion.
TUAW's Daily Mac App: AppTrap
With the imminent release of Lion, perhaps it's time to clear out all those apps you don't need anymore. AppTrap is an app up to the task, which integrates nicely into the OS X way of uninstalling apps. We all know that the Mac way of uninstalling apps is just to delete them. The size of the preference files, settings and other cruft left behind is so small in comparison to modern disk sizes that you shouldn't have to worry about them. But what happens when you want to clear out your hard drive properly after each uninstall? Installed as a Preference Pane, AppTrap runs in the background watching for when you trash an application from your Applications folder. It will then locate any files associated with that application and ask you whether you want to trash them as well, removing the need for you to hunt them down manually. Other uninstaller apps that we've featured on the Daily Mac App before primarily work along the Windows way of uninstalling. Select the app you want to uninstall from a list of installed programs and hit delete. But AppTrap enables you to continue deleting apps the way Apple wants you to, without leaving all that cruft behind. It's fast, effective and free. If you install and delete loads of apps the Apple way, then the free AppTrap is a must. It's downloadable from the developer's site and supports Snow Leopard and the soon to be released Lion. Thanks to hispidignoramus for the suggestion.
TUAW's Daily Mac App: AppCleaner
Last week on the Daily Mac App we featured the infamous uninstaller AppZapper. Today we've got a fully-featured free alternative, AppCleaner. Available from FreeMacSoft, the freeware (donations accepted) AppCleaner does what it says on the tin. Just like AppZapper, you can drag-and-drop the offending application onto AppCleaner to locate and delete all the associated files. Alternatively you can hit the Applications, Widgets or Others tabs to find and delete things directly from AppCleaner. "Others" thankfully includes Preference Panes, so you can get rid of any unwanted additions to your System Preferences with ease. So far so good, it does exactly what AppZapper does, but it's free. AppCleaner does have one unique feature, however, and that's "SmartDelete." An option in the preferences, SmartDelete allows you to carry on deleting apps the way Apple intended by just sending them to the trash, but with the added benefit of trashing all the associated files automatically. While SmartDelete is running, AppCleaner is supposed to detect that you've trashed an app and offer to find the associated files for you. I couldn't get it to work, but free's free right? If you want to get rid of some applications you've installed but never use, AppCleaner does the job fine. It may not be the most comprehensive Mac cleaning app out there, but as uninstallers go, AppCleaner is free and works great. Perhaps with Lion landing soon, now is the time to start clearing out the cobwebs and get your Mac ready for the shiny new OS X 10.7. Thanks to brijazz for the suggestion.
TUAW's Daily Mac App: AppZapper
Uninstalling apps on a Mac is easy -- just delete the program from your Applications folder. But what about all the garbage of ancillary files that gets left behind? Zap 'em with AppZapper. AppZapper is an uninstaller that does everything for you and makes sure nothing is left behind. It'll find things like Services menu entries, preference files and any other small files not stored in the .app file. Simply drag-and-drop the application you want shot of, AppZapper will then show you what it's found and move it all to trash when you hit the "Zap!" button. AppZapper also has a more advanced program finder feature that lists all the programs you have installed that are ready for removal. It doesn't stop short of programs either -- Preference Panes, Dashboard widgets and plug-ins are all fair game. For those apps you want to keep, AppZapper also includes a "My Apps" feature. Simply drag-and-drop apps into a collection pane, and it will then create app "cards," on the back of which you can store license information and other things. Handy for keeping all your registration information in one place for those apps not in the Mac App Store. If you're constantly installing and uninstalling applications on your Mac, an app like AppZapper is a Godsend. It's quick, easy, and most of all, effective. There's a free trial available on the AppZapper website that gives you five free Zaps, so it's certainly worth a try. Once you've tried it and liked it, the app will set you back US$12.95.
Mac OS X Lion to feature iOS-like 'jiggling' app unistaller
New features of Mac OS X Lion are slowly leaking out after the last Lion Developer Preview was released. The latest find, noticed by AppleiGuide.co.uk, is a built-in uninstaller function, reminiscent of the way you remove apps in iOS. The Lion app uninstaller works through Launchpad, Mac OS X's app launcher "home screen" layer. When Launchpad is displayed, a user can click and hold the mouse cursor on an app's icon; after a brief pause, all the app icons will begin jiggling. An X will appear in the upper left-hand corner of the icons, and clicking it will cause a dialog pop-up to appear asking the user, "Are you sure you want to delete the application?" Clicking Delete will move the app and any associated files to the Trash. Currently, this uninstall feature only works with apps purchased through the Mac App Store. New Mac users are commonly confused about how to delete Mac apps. Coming from a PC, they are used to uninstallers and don't realize that one can (usually) simply drag any app to the Trash to delete it. The new uninstall feature in Lion is another sign that Apple wants to take the simplicity of iOS and apply it to the Mac in hopes of making OS X more familiar and intuitive to anyone using a Mac for the first time. [Thanks, Sam]
Apple post server-related updates for Xsan and Mail Services
Apple yesterday posted a few new server-related updates for Xsan and Mac OS X Server. The first, Xsan 2.2.1, improves file system reliability and cvfsck repair utility. This update is available for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. There's also an updated version of the Xsan uninstaller. Next, Mail Services Update 1.0 addresses issues affecting overall mail service reliability and performance. This update is available and recommend for all users on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. These updates are available in Software Update, or from Apple's Support Downloads page.
Friday Favorite: AppZapper
Every so often I'll go through my Mac's hard drive and delete stuff that's just sitting around. The downloads folder fills with junk especially fast. I also download lots of software out of curiosity, and after a few months my applications folder is bulging.While installing Mac software is often as easy as a click, uninstalling takes a bit more work. Rather than hunt around for preference files, etc. I use AppZapper. By simply dropping an app onto the cute raygun icon, AppZapper finds all of that application's related files -- preferences, caches, etc. -- and lists them in a window. With a click, it "zaps" them (you can disable that sound effect) to the trash. Fortunately, they aren't deleted for good, so you can recover something zapped by mistake. Once you're ready, simply empty the trash to reclaim all of that precious hard drive space. Pro tip: Move it to your Finder Window's sidebar for easy drag-and-drop access.AppZapper requies Tiger or Leopard and the $12.95US pricetag includes free upgrades for life. There are other apps that do this, yes, but AppZapper works perfectly for me.Update: Some readers are reporting that AppZapper doesn't work properly under Leopard. It's never given me any trouble, but if you want an alternative, Hazel is a good one.
Mac 101: uninstalling applications
This time around in Mac 101 I thought it would be good to talk about uninstalling applications on the Mac, especially for the recent switchers out there. Unlike Windows, Mac OS X does not have a native utility for uninstalling applications. Most (though not all) applications are installed just by dragging and dropping them into the Applications folder, and most are similarly got rid of by dragging them to the trash. However, when you do that you often leave behind preference and support files, especially in your user Library folder hierarchy (/Users/yourname/Library, as distinct from /Library which is "owned" by Mac OS X). While you can root these files out yourself, it's sometimes far from obvious where they are. To resolve this, a new class of uninstallers have appeared on the scene to address the problem. One of the first was AppZapper ($12.95), but many more have arisen like AppDelete (donations requested), SuperPop ($15), and CleanApp ($10). With most of these you choose the application you want deleted by dropping it on the uninstaller (or choosing it from a list); hit a button and the application plus its support files are sent to the trash. Taking a slightly different approach, Yank ($19.95) actually monitors your system while you are installing applications and creates a "Yank File" that records the location of everything created by the application. You then uninstall by running the Yank File. Finally, there are uninstallers that integrate with the Trash itself, requiring no separate interface. Into this class fall Hazel ($21.95), which also does other automatic file management tasks, and AppTrap (donations requested). What's great about these last two is that you can just drag an application to the trash and they will automatically look for and offer to delete the support files. Indeed, this seems to me to be the most Mac-like and elegant approach. For my own part I mostly just use Hazel, though I still throw things at AppZapper now and again.
Spring Cleaning now Universal
Spring Cleaning, the system optimization, cleaning, and uninstaller utility from Smith Micro is now a Universal Binary. Completely rewritten from the ground up, version 9 introduces a wealth of new features and tools, such as a Task Scheduler, Permissions Fixer, a Housekeeping Scripts Runner, Spotlight Index Rebuilder, System Cache Cleaner, and others, in addition to a reworked interface. $49.99 for the package, or $19.99 for upgrades. Requires OS X 10.4. Although I can't vouch for this application, I will recommend OnyX for folks looking for something similar, and for free. I usually make sure to crack OnyX open every month or so for a bit of housekeeping of my own.(via Macworld)
