Can macupdate.com be trusted?

[2012Tony2012]

Can macupdate be trusted to be used as a reliable and clean website that offers clean and save apps, seeing everytime I visit there I am bombarded with that "MacKeeper" Malware App?

Am I safer and better to use mac.softpedia.com ?

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

Can macupdate be trusted to be used as a reliable and clean website that offers clean and save apps, seeing everytime I visit there I am bombarded with that "MacKeeper" Malware App?

Am I safer and better to use mac.softpedia.com ?

The macupdate site is pretty reliable. The MacKeeper ads are everywhere, unfortunately. If you have it installed, I highly recommend you completely remove it from your system. Such apps have a reputation for causing problems.

[SuperCyborg]

Nope. Its a spam website that just clones download links.

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

The macupdate site is pretty reliable. The MacKeeper ads are everywhere, unfortunately. If you have it installed, I highly recommend you completely remove it from your system. Such apps have a reputation for causing problems.

I did install it as I am new to iMac, but it didn't take me long to realise that MacKeeper was malware and goodness knows what else. Thank goodness I had created backup with Carbon Copy Cloner.

----------

Originally Posted by SuperCyborg

Nope. Its a spam website that just clones download links.

Would you mind elaborating please?

And what is a safe and reliable and trustworthy website to download mac apps?

[ChrisMan287]

I've never had any issues downloading from there FWIW.

[SuperCyborg]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

And what is a safe and reliable and trustworthy website to download mac apps?

Click on the Apple logo on your screen. There is a button labeled "App Store...".

[Intell]

Macupdate.com is one of the best run Mac software sites. The staff is very diligent in keeping the entries up to date and the developers of some of the software also post in the comments for their apps. In some cases Macupdate.com hosts hard to find software on their own servers. In my opinion, Macupdate.com is much better than mac.softpedia.com.

[old-wiz]

The site is full of ads for Mackeeper, which is malware. In my book, if the site hosts or advertises malware, they are not to be trusted.

[ihuman:D]

Originally Posted by SuperCyborg

Click on the Apple logo on your screen. There is a button labeled "App Store...".

App Store = Walled Garden IMO.

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by Intell

Macupdate.com is one of the best run Mac software sites. The staff is very diligent in keeping the entries up to date and the developers of some of the software also post in the comments for their apps. In some cases Macupdate.com hosts hard to find software on their own servers. In my opinion, Macupdate.com is much better than mac.softpedia.com.

If that's true, WHY are they constantly promoting that malware app called MacKeeper?

----------

Originally Posted by old-wiz

The site is full of ads for Mackeeper, which is malware. In my book, if the site hosts or advertises malware, they are not to be trusted.

I am new to Apple and iMac, and I wonder the same thing, why would macupdate advertise MacKeeper so much on their website, and how on Earth has MacKeeper managed to pop up everywhere? Don't people know it's a bad bad app?

[Intell]

MacKeeper is not malware. While I don't like the software, it has gotten five stars from many review sites. The similarly named malware, MacDefender, is what got it that bad reputation. They may not have much control over the ads their site displays, much like MacRumors. I've read threads where people have seen adult like ads on MacRumors in the past. They don't have much control over them. Instead they're pulled from a large general pool of ads.

[NewbieCanada]

You do realize, don't you, that sites don't sell their own advertising and have little-to-no control over what appears there?

[theSeb]

http://www.cultofmac.com/170522/is-m...really-a-scam/

Good article.

By the way, Macupdate is a perfectly trustworthy site. I have bought various software from there with no issues.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

If that's true, WHY are they constantly promoting that malware app called MacKeeper?

First, like many sites (including this forum), they subscribe to a pool of rotating ads. They don't individually select which ads run. Second, MacKeeper is not malware. It's simply useless software that can create problems for novice users. You don't need it to keep your Mac running well.

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

First, like many sites (including this forum), they subscribe to a pool of rotating ads. They don't individually select which ads run. Second, MacKeeper is not malware. It's simply useless software that can create problems for novice users. You don't need it to keep your Mac running well.

I though it was a nasty(malware) app seeing so many people say it is and so many websites and comments warn against it, even Apple forum website warns users to NOT install it.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3691

GGJstudios, do YOU have MacKeeper installed? If yes why? If no, why not?

[Intell]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

I though it was a nasty(malware) app seeing so many people say it is and so many websites and comments warn against it, even Apple forum website warns users to NOT install it.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3691

That is a user created document and is not an official stance by Apple. Apple has never posted anything about MacKeeper.

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by Intell

That is a user created document and is not an official stance by Apple. Apple has never posted anything about MacKeeper.

Do YOU have MacKeeper installed? If yes why? If no, why not?

[Intell]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

Do YOU have MacKeeper installed? If yes why? If no, why not?

I don't have it installed because I know how to take care of my machine and clean it up if I ever feel it gets clogged. The people that do install it are the same people that install CC Cleaner or Onyx. Basically people that are Windows converts that think Mac's need constant cleaning like older Windows computers.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

GGJstudios, do YOU have MacKeeper installed? If yes why? If no, why not?

Did you read the 2nd post in this thread? No, I wouldn't install such an app.

You don't need to "maintain" your Mac and you don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well. Some of these apps can do more harm than good. Some can even degrade, rather than improve system performance.

Some remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space, with the risk of deleting something important in the process. These apps will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space.

Some of these apps delete caches, which can hurt performance, rather than help it, since more system resources are used and performance suffers while each cache is being rebuilt. Caches exist to improve performance, so deleting them isn't advisable in most cases.

Many of the tasks performed by these apps should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance.

Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Among other things, it has its own maintenance scripts that run silently in the background on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without user intervention. You can use Maintidget to see the last time these scripts were run.

Five Mac maintenance myths

[Michaelgtrusa]

Macupdate can be trusted! Mackeeper is junk software not malware.

[2012Tony2012]

Is this a good free alternative to MacKeeper?

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/38124/iboostup

The more apps I am installing, the more my iMac seems to slow down and get sluggish, what can I do to clean it up and clean up the apps, and show me what's auto runing etc that may be slowing down the iMac?

----------

Originally Posted by Intell

I don't have it installed because I know how to take care of my machine and clean it up if I ever feel it gets clogged. The people that do install it are the same people that install CC Cleaner or Onyx. Basically people that are Windows converts that think Mac's need constant cleaning like older Windows computers.

Can you give me some hints and advice on how to clean up my iMac from getting clogged?

----------

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

Did you read the 2nd post in this thread? No, I wouldn't install such an app.

You don't need to "maintain" your Mac and you don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well. ...

If you instal a ton of apps etc, how do you then keep the iMac clean and running well? I installed an app that now also loads whenever I boot the iMac and I don't know how to stop it?

[Intell]

There isn't anything that you need to do to keep your machine running well. Just use it as Apple designed it to be used and stop worrying about it.

[Jazwire]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

Can you give me some hints and advice on how to clean up my iMac from getting clogged?

Best thing you can do , leave it the hell alone.

Tweaks, tunes ups, reg hacks everything you learned from Windows, forget it.... If you have messed it up , reformat it, start over , and never attempt to "tweak it" ever again.

[2012Tony2012]

So it seems I need to rid myself of the MS Windows Mentality

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

Is this a good free alternative to MacKeeper?

You don't need MacKeeper and you don't need any alternative software. Mac OS X takes care of itself, without your interference. You don't have to install every app out there.

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

The more apps I am installing, the more my iMac seems to slow down and get sluggish, what can I do to clean it up and clean up the apps, and show me what's auto runing etc that may be slowing down the iMac?

Based on your post history, you're installing way too many apps. You seem to be determined to install apps whether you need them or not. Only install what you need to do what you're doing. Don't install apps just because they exist.

Delete any occurrences apps that you don't want to automatically start on boot up from the following locations:

• System Preferences > Accounts > yourusername > Login Items
  (Lion and ML users: System Preferences > Users & Groups > yourusername > Login Items)
  
  
• /Library/LaunchAgents/
  (Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)
  
  
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
  (Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)
  
  
• /Library/StartupItems/
  (Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)

The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:

Best way to FULLY DELETE a program

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

Can you give me some hints and advice on how to clean up my iMac from getting clogged?

Yes. Stop installing apps that you don't absolutely need or that you don't completely understand what they do.

If you're having performance issues, this may help:

Performance Tips For Mac OS X

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

If you instal a ton of apps etc, how do you then keep the iMac clean and running well? I installed an app that now also loads whenever I boot the iMac and I don't know how to stop it?

See the instructions above. Don't install a ton of apps. Only install what you know you need to do whatever you're trying to accomplish.

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

So it seems I need to rid myself of the MS Windows Mentality

Absolutely! Stop thinking like a Windows user. With Mac OS X, you don't need to "monkey around under the hood" or "tinker" or "tweak" or "clean" or "maintain" or "optimize" or otherwise bother yourself with the operating system. Just read your email, surf the web, play your music, watch videos, etc. Let your Mac take care of itself.

And stop looking for apps to install, unless you absolutely know you need them.