Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Saving space on the MBA - Can Xslimmer be dangerous ?

T

Terwal

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 29, 2008
179
0
Question from a newbie (about to get back in the apple world after more than 10-yrs spent on the "other" side):

Xslimmer seems to help reducing the space of some apps by "cutting and deleting useless code".

That sounds scary... :eek:

Has anyone had bad experience in the past with Xslimmer ? Any danger of non-reversible damage ?

Thanks...

w.
 
not sure but no problems yet

I rally don't know the answer to this one but I have used the program on all my installed applications and have 39GB free still. I haven't had any issues as of yet but I would like to know the answer.
 
I think it works from the standpoint that an application compiled as a universal binary has both a PowerPC compilation and an Intel compilation.

If you're on an Intel machine, you should be able to remove the Power PC compilation without ill effects from the universal binary.

If the application is Power PC only, ideally it shouldn't touch it as you'll have to run it in emulation (depending upon OS).

It should only affect 3rd party apps (not system software). At least that seems how it should work.

I'm not a customer or employee of xslimmer.
 
Apple switched from IBM's PPC PCUs to Intel about 18 months ago. Since then, most applications are distributed as so-called "universal binaries" meaning that they contain the binaries for both platforms.

Xslimmer and others remove the version that you don't need, in this case the PPC part. The premise is perfectly sound, but it's a little like removing a kitney: you are usually able to live with just one, but if the surgeon accidentally cuts into a main artery, you'll die.

You should check if Xslimmer has been updated in the last few months, if their are known bugs etc. The risk isn't huge, however. Any problems should manifest itself the first time you run the affected application, so you should notice right away. You probably don't have any important data on the Air yet.
 
Xslimmer actually has a blacklist of applications that shouldn't be slimmed down. I just use Xslimmer on the applications that aren't highly important to me if it got messed up, such as Firefox, Adium, etc. I leave apps like 1Password, Cha-Ching, and the like "unslimmed". I also don't slim down any of Apple's applications just to be on the safe side.
 
I don't doubt that Xslimmer can save you some drive space by excising code segments that will never be used from certain applications, but I have to wonder what could happen if you install a program update that actually patches executable files, rather than just replacing them.

That right there is enough to make me not want to mess with my apps' files. Either delete them, don't install them, or leave them alone.
 
Save your money. Most really big apps, like all those fat-pig Adobe apps, are black-listed. So are Apple apps and Skype, etc. From the apps that it can slim down, it shows me that I'll save about 100MB, which is not significant enough to really matter.

Next space-saving tip! :D
 
Thanks all for your replies. Very insightful... Basically: margin better with xslimmer, but with a potential unknown risk...

I think I am going to stay away from now (folllow the advice above of simply not installing the apps I don't need) and think about the day my MB-R is getting full...
 
I have not had any issues w/ XSlimmer. 90% of my apps were trimmed w/o any issues and I saved alot of space. After reinstalling OS, installing apps (Office 2008, Aperture, and a few others) I had over 43GB free
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back