I have a stupid question (apps)

[jc0481]

When in installing apps in mac os ten if you put in a new app lets say for example Adium in your downloads or documents or any other folder for that matter will it not run the app or break any connection it has with any other 3rd party apps? How about apps that come with the mac os? Will those have damaging results if you put it in another folder besides the applications folder. I know stupid question but just curious to know. Thank you

JC

[richard.mac]

you can run an app from anywhere you can read/write to on the hard disk. the app will still put its application support files in the application support, preferences folder etc. the only problem is that when you update apps from within the app itself it will install in the the applications folder & youll have two of the same apps. some apple apps such as iwork and ilife will not update if you dont have them in the applications folder. so in short just leave all your apps in the application folder and everything will be neat and tidy :)

[macjack1]

Just to add to richthomas' excellent advice, do not take applications out of their folders in the Applications folder as this will present problems when updating. If you are looking to launch applications from other places make an alias of the app.

-mj

[theBB]

If they are small applications, then yes, you can. Most of these apps don't have an update mechanism. As long as there are no other programs that needs this app and assume it is in /Applications folder, you'll be fine.

[macjack1]

If they are small applications, then yes, you can. Most of these apps don't have an update mechanism. As long as there are no other programs that needs this app and assume it is in /Applications folder, you'll be fine.

Hello theBB,

What do you mean by "small" applications? FontBook is a small application and so is Safari.

-mj

[tdhurst]

Hello theBB,

What do you mean by "small" applications? FontBook is a small application and so is Safari.

-mj

Just leave the Application folder alone.

Seriously.

Make aliases or place applications in the dock if you want to launch from somewhere else.

[Father Jack]

Leave well enough alone .. :apple:

[mustang_dvs]

Pretty much anything that you download via a DMG that has the "drag to /Applications" installation method can be put anywhere on your hard drive (although do bear in mind that other users may not be able to see their installation if placed in a folder that you "own").

Any applications that use an installer (say, "Photoshop" or "Quark XPress") should not be moved from the installation location selected through the installer (some will let you change the installation location -- that's fine), as it will likely break updates, plug-ins, etc.

Any applications installed on the Mac at purchase, installed through a system update or via an Apple installation disc should not be moved from the default location -- it will break Software Update and will likely cause other issues.

As it is, why would you want to keep programs anywhere other than /Applications? It's handy, you can get to it from the keyboard ([CMD]-[Shift]-[A]) and it's viewable by all users. If you need quick access, you can use an Alias, the Finder Sidebar, the Dock and/or the Finder Toolbar. (Not to mention very customizable launchers like Quicksilver and LaunchBar (my personal fave).)

[doowrehs]

Just to extend on the original poster's question - does anyone know if it's ok to delete various apps which come pre-installed with OS X, but which are never actually used? For me, these include:

Address Book
AppleScript (folder)
Automator
Calculator
Chess
Font Book
iCal
Image Capture
iSync
Sherlock
Stickies

I primarily use my machine for audio production work, and while I know I won't reclaim much space by deleting such small apps, it would make navigating my Applications folder easier (esp. when viewed "vertically" via the dock) if I could get rid of them.

Any advice much appreciated.

[Father Jack]

Why not just drag any unwanted apps from the dock .. that way they are still installed but not cluttering up the dock ... :)