Apps freeze on Startup fix, but why?

[charlieegan3]

I have recently had these apps freeze on startup:
-Sketchup 8 (free)
-Photoshop cs4
-Pixelmator

I have every time resolved the issue by deleting the corresponding application support folder in the library.

Why does this happen and can I stop it from happening? (it has happened 2x for sketchup)

Any ideas much appreciated.

(rMBP 2.6/16/512 10.7)

 

[charlieegan3]

I have also found that using the discrete GPU makes apps not freeze on startup.