cleanmymac x any good

[chabig]

Well I guess short answer (maybe) is I like to keep my SSD clean (ish)

OK.

I am sure you know they all leave traces behind, doing a clean install gets rid of them all.

They create data on your data partition, but the system volume is immutable. Reinstalling the OS is a total waste of time, as it accomplishes nothing at all. That said, you're not causing harm, and your time is yours, so keep doing it if you want to. Just know that you're not accomplishing anything.

 

[gilby101]

I do a clean install of my OS every month, although I am planning on extending that to maybe two months.

By that, do you mean boot to recovery, your erase your system disk, install macOS, install all your apps, and finally copy your documents, etc. from backup?

If you don't erase your disk, or you use Migration Assistant to restore data then it is not a clean install.

 

[Chozun]

To each there own, I don't run blindly into the abyss, I try to stay on top of things, might be why my 2012 MBP runs circles around my daughters 6 month old windows 10 laptop. And to really show my stupidity I do a clean install of my OS every month, although I am planning on extending that to maybe two months.

No stupidity! I see nothing wrong with what you are doing, as I do similar things (will describe them below). Unfortunately, there are some folks who will "bash" you and me, thinking they are right, and their way is the only way. Too bad, as it seems to be best if all of us behave in a mature fashion and respect one's views/tasks, etc. I do see nothing wrong with being corrected for doing something risky and/or potentially harmful, but seems like for you and I, that is not the case.

I myself have always, and will always, keep my Macs lean, mean, and clean. That includes 1) keeping all my applications up to date, 2) using Onyx and TechTool Pro once a week for cleanup and maintenance, 3) getting rid of items I do not need ASAP (like a prior version of an application), 4) of course do weekly backups with SuperDuper! (actually make 2 of them to separate external SSDs, and 5) permanently removing deleted EMails. I use Thunderbird as my EMail client, and it is easy to do that. But I know that most folks do not do such a task, and as it builds up, it can take up quite a lot of space (and maybe causing other issues). Bt following such practices, I rarely, if ever, have any issues with any of my Macs I have owned.

For macOS, I always do a clean, fresh installation for each new macOS I move to. Ventura is not there yet, but when it becomes stable and just about error free (suspect that won't be until at least V13.3), I will do a clean, fresh installation. There are also times where I will do a clean installation "between" versions of the same macOS. For example, from OS 12.5 to OS 12.6.1. Again, I see nothing wrong with that.

 

[Chozun]

By that, do you mean boot to recovery, your erase your system disk, install macOS, install all your apps, and finally copy your documents, etc. from backup?

If you don't erase your disk, or you use Migration Assistant to restore data then it is not a clean install.

Myself I do the Erase and Clean installation from one of my (weekly) SuperDuper! backups. (That process might change with Ventura). And given how much cleanup I do with my machines, while using Migration Assistant to migrate all my apps, settings, etc. from the SD backup is not a true "clean installation" (Setup Assistant will offer me the opportunity to do that), the installation of the OS is a clean installation. So, to use your characterization, the installation of the OS is a clean one, but migrating apps, settings, etc. is not. Fine, but again since I make the effort to keep my machines lean, mean, and clean, my process is fine as is.

From what I understand, for Ventura, the process I would need to follow would be 1) restart the machine from a bootable Installer flash drive containing Ventura, 2) install Ventura onto the internal SSD (after using Disk Utility to Erase and Format the internal SSD), and 3) migrate all my apps, settings, etc. from my most recent SuperDuper! backup. Earlier this week, I did exactly that in installing V13.0.1 of Ventura onto an external SSD, and have been testing it with all my apps, settings, etc.

 

[HDFan]

As @gilby101 correctly said, macOS runs from a signed and sealed image. Every macOS installation (of the same version number) is bit for bit identical. Reinstalling the OS replaces a fully working operating with a bit for bit identical copy. That's a waste of effort.

Is it? Admittedly my earlier post about reinstalling was before they introduced the sealed volumes. There are a lot of fixed system files whose replacement would make no difference. However there are also a lot of other system ephemeral files, such as caches, what happens to them? If you are reinstalling I would think that /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches, for example, would be cleared.

Haven't found any documentation in MacOS Support Essentials or developer forums that details exactly what happens.

Since app, driver (such as SoftRaid), and other user installed system extensions become part of the running OS then every running MacOS installation using the same version is not identical.

My experience has been, even with sealed volumes, a reinstall can fix system problems. Just this week had a problem where file system access was for some reason sometimes delayed with lots of beachballs. Default Folder X pulldown would take a minute or more to activate. Reinstalled OS and the problem went away. Don't know why.


Would be interested in seeing detailed documentation of what exactly happens during a reinstall.

Edited: Found a reference to a users' system extension cache which sounds as if it is different than the system kext cache. Would it be cleared during a reinstall?

 

[gregmac19]

The only attraction I have to Mac clean up applications is the potential ability to do something about System Data problems. Of the 251 GB of flash storage on my iMac, 111 GB is currently taken up by System Data. Frustratingly, I cannot figure out what is taking up so much space. Fortunately, I still have 73 GB of available memory left, so I don’t have to solve this issue right away. However, for the first time, I think I will have to do a clean install to reclaim this space.

 

[Chozun]

The only attraction I have to Mac clean up applications is the potential ability to do something about System Data problems. Of the 251 GB of flash storage on my iMac, 111 GB is currently taken up by System Data. Frustratingly, I cannot figure out what is taking up so much space. Fortunately, I still have 73 GB of available memory left, so I don’t have to solve this issue right away. However, for the first time, I think I will have to do a clean install to reclaim this space.

Are you sure the 111 GB is "due" to the "System", or is that a combination of both the System and Data Volumes? Here is the amount of storage I am using on my 3 "devices"/machines:

M1 MacBook Air, 252 Gig SSD, OS: Monterey V12.6

System - 16.61 Gig
Data - 56.79 Gig

Total - 74.5 Gig

M1 MacMini, 256 gig SSD, OS: Monterey V12.6.1

System - 16.41 Gig
Data - 92.75 Gig

Total - 108.17 Gig

External Samsung 1TB SSD: OS: Ventura V13.0.1

System - 8.82 Gig
Data - 70.13 Gig

Total - 84.51 Gig

All of those amounts are from Disk Utility. I use my MacMini the most, but from Monday through yesterday afternoon, I used that external SSD to test Ventura.

Besides my own cleanup efforts, as I mentioned above, I use Onyx and TechTool Pro for cleanup and maintenance. I believe Disk Utility can also be used for such tasks, but I prefer the combination of Onyx and TechTool Pro (plus my own efforts). I suspect that for myself, a clean installation of either Monterey or Ventura will not result in a gain of much space. If there was any gain, it would come from migrating my "Data" volume items (Apps, settings, etc.), and I can manage most of that myself.

As I mentioned above, deleted EMails can take up a lot of space, and if one does not make the effort to permanently remove them, that could be one reason why the space used seems to be so much. Also, when one removes an application they no longer need, besides the application itself, there can be a number of "support" files installed and used by the app. I have an excellent freeware program called AppCleaner that I use to remove an application I no longer need, and in just about every instance, AppCleaner "catches" a number of additional files. In some cases, it does not catch everything, so I use another excellent freeware program called EasyFind to catch the remainder.

What OS are you running?

 

[gregmac19]

Are you sure the 111 GB is "due" to the "System", or is that a combination of both the System and Data Volumes? Here is the amount of storage I am using on my 3 "devices"/machines:

M1 MacBook Air, 252 Gig SSD, OS: Monterey V12.6

System - 16.61 Gig
Data - 56.79 Gig

Total - 74.5 Gig

M1 MacMini, 256 gig SSD, OS: Monterey V12.6.1

System - 16.41 Gig
Data - 92.75 Gig

Total - 108.17 Gig

External Samsung 1TB SSD: OS: Ventura V13.0.1

System - 8.82 Gig
Data - 70.13 Gig

Total - 84.51 Gig

All of those amounts are from Disk Utility. I use my MacMini the most, but from Monday through yesterday afternoon, I used that external SSD to test Ventura.

Besides my own cleanup efforts, as I mentioned above, I use Onyx and TechTool Pro for cleanup and maintenance. I believe Disk Utility can also be used for such tasks, but I prefer the combination of Onyx and TechTool Pro (plus my own efforts). I suspect that for myself, a clean installation of either Monterey or Ventura will not result in a gain of much space. If there was any gain, it would come from migrating my "Data" volume items (Apps, settings, etc.), and I can manage most of that myself.

As I mentioned above, deleted EMails can take up a lot of space, and if one does not make the effort to permanently remove them, that could be one reason why the space used seems to be so much. Also, when one removes an application they no longer need, besides the application itself, there can be a number of "support" files installed and used by the app. I have an excellent freeware program called AppCleaner that I use to remove an application I no longer need, and in just about every instance, AppCleaner "catches" a number of additional files. In some cases, it does not catch everything, so I use another excellent freeware program called EasyFind to catch the remainder.

What OS are you running?

I am running 12.6.1 and am getting my disk usage figures from: About this Mac > Storage.

I knew about Onyx, but have not downloaded it yet.

Thanks.

 

[Chozun]

I am running 12.6.1 and am getting my disk usage figures from: About this Mac > Storage.

I knew about Onyx, but have not downloaded it yet.

Thanks.

Again I ask, how much of the 111 gig is for the System volume, and how much for the Data volume? Disk Utility can tell you that. It's much faster than About this Mac > Storage.

Onyx will clean some "stuff", but don't expect a significant improvement. Can you identify any unneeded file, folders, apps, documents, etc. that you no longer need nor use? And again, a viable culprit could be deleted EMails that are still around. What EMail program do you use?

 

[hoo-man-b-ing]

Well I guess short answer (maybe) is I like to keep my SSD clean (ish), I use iCloud and a NAS on my home network to store most things, except programs and a couple of folders. I am a retired engineer so I overthink things. I like to reasherch and I try out a lot of programs, more than not I delete them, but as I am sure you know they all leave traces behind, doing a clean install gets rid of them all. I even go as far as having a running file of apps I keep and setting I use for when I reboot. I keep copy’s of my he but never restore from them, do it all manually, I know waste of time, but it’s just me and dogs so that’s all I have.

It seems like you’re doing an exceptional amount of routine maintenance on your Mac and I’m wondering why. If you simply enjoy the act/routine of scorching the earth and starting fresh, then hats off to you.

However, if you don’t particularly enjoy that effort and you’re just trying to minimize/mitigate attack vectors from software you install, you might consider several other options (including those leveraged by security researchers like having an air-gapped box or VM, separate installation with no sensitive data, lockdown mode, etc.)

Also, I know a lot of folks focus on (and sometimes obsess over) cleaning files leftover from lousy uninstallers. From what I’ve seen, rarely (and never in my personal experience) does that have a significant impact on storage space. And deleting cache files (unless you have a very specific use case) would likely be counterproductive since cache is intended to save on compute/bandwidth. If it’s a space issue, you may want to consider a more conservative size for cache storage.

It sounds like you have some free time and might want an outlet, which I completely understand. Since you’re a retired engineer, you might consider seeing how you can automate some of this work (if that sounds fun, of course) using Automator/script/custom code. You’d still get your super clean environment back, but you’d also get to play around with and learn something new along the way. Plus, since you have all these backups, you have nothing to lose. 😁

Happy cleaning!

 

[HDFan]

It seems like you’re doing an exceptional amount of routine maintenance on your Mac and I’m wondering why.

Have the same question. I have carryovers from at least 3 previous older systems spanning well over a decade which are benign other than the disk space they take. Don't see why one would worry about it unless there was a problem. Do clean them up when I stumble on them. A wipe and reinstall from scratch isn't practical in my case given the number of apps with data that I have.

 

[Fishrrman]

The question:
"cleanmymac x any good" ?

The answer:
Not really...

 

[ct2k7]

Interestingly Apple has curated some content related to this: https://apps.apple.com/gb/story/id1470434412

CleanMyMac X has made it to the curated list.

 

[John Frahm]

It seems like you’re doing an exceptional amount of routine maintenance on your Mac and I’m wondering why. If you simply enjoy the act/routine of scorching the earth and starting fresh, then hats off to you.

However, if you don’t particularly enjoy that effort and you’re just trying to minimize/mitigate attack vectors from software you install, you might consider several other options (including those leveraged by security researchers like having an air-gapped box or VM, separate installation with no sensitive data, lockdown mode, etc.)

Also, I know a lot of folks focus on (and sometimes obsess over) cleaning files leftover from lousy uninstallers. From what I’ve seen, rarely (and never in my personal experience) does that have a significant impact on storage space. And deleting cache files (unless you have a very specific use case) would likely be counterproductive since cache is intended to save on compute/bandwidth. If it’s a space issue, you may want to consider a more conservative size for cache storage.

It sounds like you have some free time and might want an outlet, which I completely understand. Since you’re a retired engineer, you might consider seeing how you can automate some of this work (if that sounds fun, of course) using Automator/script/custom code. You’d still get your super clean environment back, but you’d also get to play around with and learn something new along the way. Plus, since you have all these backups, you have nothing to lose. 😁

Happy cleaning!

I have just (last night) started playing with Automator, I am long time diabetic and found program that import data from the health app on my phone to my Mac. Got it working manually, still trying to figure out how to automate. And fine tune reports, right now I open in numbers and have semi useless graph and pages of data, and all I export/inport is my blood glucose data, I am on a continuous glucose meter.

 

[Chozun]

The question:
"cleanmymac x any good" ?

The answer:
Not really...

The problem is most folks would only use that application (or something similar) to perform cleaning. That is certainly not enough.

From my perspective, the act/task of cleaning occurs everywhere. And how one deals with it in one respect permeates over to cleaning anything. I am a cleaning"nut", no matter what that entails. When I clean our cars (and I do it often when the weather is nice), I definitely make a concerted effort to clean everything, both inside and outside (good exercise, too). When I clean our townhome, bathrooms, other household chores, etc, that same attitude and effort is there. Cleaning and maintenance are in my DNA. So that same attitude carries over to keeping my Macs lean, mean, and clean (I've actually been doing it since my Apple IIE days). And because it is in my DNA, it is neither a burden nor that time consuming. In fact, it is actually quite easy. The old expression "apply some elbow grease" applies here, and I follow that.

As it is, I am actually doing cleaning just about every day, whether it is in our place, or with my Macs. I don't mind at all, and I actually feel better doing it. For my Macs (my Mac Mini primarily), I am always permanently removing deleted EMails. It is real simple: delete EMails, then navigate to the Deleted folder in Thunderbird (my EMail client), right click on that folder, click on the first deleted message and click Command-A (Select All), select "Empty Deleted" from the ensuing menu, and viola, it's done. Takes all but 5 seconds. As James Whitmore said in "The Shawshank Redemption", Easy-peasy, Japaneasy. Yes, simple and quick.

Also, when I download a new version of an application, I make sure to delete the prior version from a folder I maintain called "Useful Applications" (for a couple of them, I keep the prior version, so I get rid of the one before it). I've also mentioned the use of AppCleaner and EasyFind for completely removing both an application and all its "pieces". Does not take long at all.

I suspect that by doing all that frequently (daily in some cases, as I mentioned), by the time I perform my weekly cleaning and maintenance tasks on Saturdays using Onyx and TechTool Pro, there might not be very much to clean and/or maintain. But again, so what. I want my Macs as lean, mean, and clean as possible. And while those tasks are going on, I am not just "sitting on my thumbs". I am actually cleaning our place. Multitasking, a valuable concept!

So, at least for me, the benefits of my cleaning DNA are 1) a happier life, 2) for a number of such tasks, getting exercise (which is always good), and 3) for my Macs, rarely, if ever, having an issue/problem.

I realize my way is not for everyone, nor am I preaching that people need to do it. Whatever works for oneself is fine. I am just relaying my thoughts, perspective, etc. on this. I know this cleaning and maintenance "business", at least for Macs, has been discussed MANY, MANY times in the past, and suspect it will continue. That's actually good, but it is important that one does not get "bashed" for their practices. Respect needs to be there.

 

[John Frahm]

Have the same question. I have carryovers from at least 3 previous older systems spanning well over a decade which are benign other than the disk space they take. Don't see why one would worry about it unless there was a problem. Do clean them up when I stumble on them. A wipe and reinstall from scratch isn't practical in my case given the number of apps with data that I have.

I don't even store much data on my system, I use iCloud and a NAS to store most all my data, and files. But that doesn't negate my desire to maintain a "clean" system. I am currently using 7% of my 500gb SSD. I am actually at setting up a VM to my drive for working off of.

The problem is most folks would only use that application (or something similar) to perform cleaning. That is certainly not enough.

From my perspective, the act/task of cleaning occurs everywhere. And how one deals with it in one respect permeates over to cleaning anything. I am a cleaning"nut", no matter what that entails. When I clean our cars (and I do it often when the weather is nice), I definitely make a concerted effort to clean everything, both inside and outside (good exercise, too). When I clean our townhome, bathrooms, other household chores, etc, that same attitude and effort is there. Cleaning and maintenance are in my DNA. So that same attitude carries over to keeping my Macs lean, mean, and clean (I've actually been doing it since my Apple IIE days). And because it is in my DNA, it is neither a burden nor that time consuming. In fact, it is actually quite easy. The old expression "apply some elbow grease" applies here, and I follow that.

As it is, I am actually doing cleaning just about every day, whether it is in our place, or with my Macs. I don't mind at all, and I actually feel better doing it. For my Macs (my Mac Mini primarily), I am always permanently removing deleted EMails. It is real simple: delete EMails, then navigate to the Deleted folder in Thunderbird (my EMail client), right click on that folder, click on the first deleted message and click Command-A (Select All), select "Empty Deleted" from the ensuing menu, and viola, it's done. Takes all but 5 seconds. As James Whitmore said in "The Shawshank Redemption", Easy-peasy, Japaneasy. Yes, simple and quick.

Also, when I download a new version of an application, I make sure to delete the prior version from a folder I maintain called "Useful Applications" (for a couple of them, I keep the prior version, so I get rid of the one before it). I've also mentioned the use of AppCleaner and EasyFind for completely removing both an application and all its "pieces". Does not take long at all.

I suspect that by doing all that frequently (daily in some cases, as I mentioned), by the time I perform my weekly cleaning and maintenance tasks on Saturdays using Onyx and TechTool Pro, there might not be very much to clean and/or maintain. But again, so what. I want my Macs as lean, mean, and clean as possible. And while those tasks are going on, I am not just "sitting on my thumbs". I am actually cleaning our place. Multitasking, a valuable concept!

So, at least for me, the benefits of my cleaning DNA are 1) a happier life, 2) for a number of such tasks, getting exercise (which is always good), and 3) for my Macs, rarely, if ever, having an issue/problem.

I realize my way is not for everyone, nor am I preaching that people need to do it. Whatever works for oneself is fine. I am just relaying my thoughts, perspective, etc. on this. I know this cleaning and maintenance "business", at least for Macs, has been discussed MANY, MANY times in the past, and suspect it will continue. That's actually good, but it is important that one does not get "bashed" for their practices. Respect needs to be there.

I agree, have to check out onyx and easyfind, because now I do manually.

 

[Chozun]

I don't even store much data on my system, I use iCloud and a NAS to store most all my data, and files. But that doesn't negate my desire to maintain a "clean" system. I am currently using 7% of my 500gb SSD. I am actually at setting up a VM to my drive for working off of.

I agree, have to check out onyx and easyfind, because now I do manually.

I assume, John, you know that EasyFind is a replacement for Spotlight!. There's actually another very good program, Find Any File, that works well (from reports I have seen). That one, though, is not free (costs $7.99 from the Apple Store).

I am using about 40% of the space on my MacMini (has a 256 gig SD). I don't use iCloud, but do store a good amount of information on external SSDs.

 

[Queen6]

@John Frahm KnockKnock is good enough as long as you're not poking about at the fringes of the web. It connects to VirusTotal that scans file signatures with up to 70+ AV engines If further concerned Bitdefender has a free on demand app on the Apple Mac store.

Q-6

 

[Queen6]

To each there own, I don't run blindly into the abyss, I try to stay on top of things, might be why my 2012 MBP runs circles around my daughters 6 month old windows 10 laptop. And to really show my stupidity I do a clean install of my OS every month, although I am planning on extending that to maybe two months.

My stock 2011 15" could likely give it a good run for its money and last it was clean installed was when Apple manufactured it LOL (10.7.1 - 10.13.6). Don't get me wrong as it's a personal choice and I've done similar due to contractual obligations.

As said, each to their own. Between Find Any File & Terminal you can clean up vast majority of the garbage and what little is left has zero impact. After some years with my daughter the SW was pretty much trashed. a clean install would have likely been quicker, however time on the hands no thx to COVID and being also in engineering I like a challenge. Admittedly it took a few weeks, equally if there's any extraneous files, I'd be surprised.

Cleanmymac x is useful to run once on a heavily clogged up system, then uninstall it. Overall Onyx is the better tool for system maintenance.

Q-6

 

[Chozun]

My stock 2011 15" could likely give it a good run for its money and last it was clean installed was when Apple manufactured it LOL (10.7.1 - 10.13.6). Don't get me wrong as it's a personal choice and I've done similar due to contractual obligations.

As said, each to their own. Between Find Any File & Terminal you can clean up vast majority of the garbage and what little is left has zero impact. After some years with my daughter the SW was pretty much trashed. a clean install would have likely been quicker, however time on the hands no thx to COVID and being also in engineering I like a challenge. Admittedly it took a few weeks, equally if there's any extraneous files, I'd be surprised.

Cleanmymac x is useful to run once on a heavily clogged up system, then uninstall it. Overall Onyx is the better tool for system maintenance.

Q-6

Well stated! Seems like you have used Find Any File and Terminal with success. I guess if I was a terminal "guru", I would expect the same results using EasyFind and Terminal. But alas, I am not, so I rely on EasyFind only (along with my own efforts). And like you said, what it doesn't find is, most likely, very little and hardly any impact at all.

Kudos what you said about Onyx! I've been using it for so, so long (in combination with TechTool Pro), and I would not be without it.

 

[John Frahm]

My stock 2011 15" could likely give it a good run for its money and last it was clean installed was when Apple manufactured it LOL (10.7.1 - 10.13.6). Don't get me wrong as it's a personal choice and I've done similar due to contractual obligations.

As said, each to their own. Between Find Any File & Terminal you can clean up vast majority of the garbage and what little is left has zero impact. After some years with my daughter the SW was pretty much trashed. a clean install would have likely been quicker, however time on the hands no thx to COVID and being also in engineering I like a challenge. Admittedly it took a few weeks, equally if there's any extraneous files, I'd be surprised.

Cleanmymac x is useful to run once on a heavily clogged up system, then uninstall it. Overall Onyx is the better tool for system maintenance.

Q-6

I am a retired Engineer, disability, and I didn't go cleanmymac route, I got the find my files and totalav, for now, am trying out. My computer is sooped up and super fast. And most importantly I love it. Right now I have 445.4gb empty on my Samsung EVO870 500gb SSD, like I said I keep it lean and mean and am going to keep it that way.

 

[Queen6]

Well stated! Seems like you have used Find Any File and Terminal with success. I guess if I was a terminal "guru", I would expect the same results using EasyFind and Terminal. But alas, I am not, so I rely on EasyFind only (along with my own efforts). And like you said, what it doesn't find is, most likely, very little and hardly any impact at all.

Kudos what you said about Onyx! I've been using it for so, so long (in combination with TechTool Pro), and I would not be without it.

Been with OSX/macOS since inception so familiar. Not genius by any means, took some searching online, equally confident as if Find Any File & Terminal can't find, it's not on the drive. Now it's back in my hands it's a very clean install.

EasyFind & TechTool Pro might have a look, but mostly on a clean system macOS takes care of itself. Onyx is the gold standard for the Mac IMO, I always keep an OS revision behind and then some. Monterey brought low power mode (on the M1) and that's worthwhile on a portable. Ventura I'll wait and see, right now its a NO.

I've an M1 MBP for serious use. The 2011 15" I just kept as didn't want to dump or sell as they are well known to auto destruct the dGPU. Credit where credit is due this 15" has seen off several Retina Mac's. I used it profeshially (engineering) and my daughter turned it into a PlayStation LOL.

It sat dead in a box for close to two years. Today in November of 2022 I think it actually runs far better than the day I bought it. It doesn't throttle and seems oblivious to abuse. In its heyday it ripped countless hundreds of DVD's, engineering it would run a 100% flat out running simulations for multiple days on end.

That all said I think it's more the exception than the rule, it can still hit 100C in a heartbeat 100% remains stock as shipped by Apple

Q-6

 

[Queen6]

I am a retired Engineer, disability, and I didn't go cleanmymac route, I got the find my files and totalav, for now, am trying out. My computer is sooped up and super fast. And most importantly I love it. Right now I have 445.4gb empty on my Samsung EVO870 500gb SSD, like I said I keep it lean and mean and am going to keep it that way.

I've an M1 Mac for the fast work. The 2011 remains stock, spinner and all. Similar mentality but a different approach as I too prefer to keep my systems lean as practically possible. I'm a QA/QC engineer in the Oil & Gas industry, I generally roll with a W10 notebook and a Mac, belt and braces.

My 2011 15" MBP will remain stock until something fails, if I can fix it I will. It's just at a point where I think to alter it will spoil it. The 2011 is retired yet remains a very functional notebook and only restarted if we move house...

Q-6

 

[John Frahm]

I've an M1 Mac for the fast work. The 2011 remains stock, spinner and all. Similar mentality but a different approach as I too prefer to keep my systems lean as practically possible. I'm a QA/QC engineer in the Oil & Gas industry, I generally roll with a W10 notebook and a Mac, belt and braces.

My 2011 15" MBP will remain stock until something fails, if I can fix it I will. It's just at a point where I think to alter it will spoil it...

Q-6

I was Project manager specializing in healthcare and food service, I used a windows desktop and windows laptop, both of which have been in storage for about 5 years, wish I had my Macs back then, don't miss windows a bit. Like I said mine is heavily upgraded, and more on plan. Am getting into cyber security and web development and it has been working fine, so far.

 

[Chozun]

Been with OSX/macOS since inception so familiar. Not genius by any means, took some time, took some searching online, equally confident as if Find Any File & Terminal can't find, it's not on the drive. Now it's back in my hands it's a very clean install.

EasyFind & TechTool Pro might have a look, but mostly on a clean system macOS takes care of itself. Onyx is the gold standard for the Mac IMO, I always keep an OS revision behind and then some. Monterey brought low power mode (on the M1) and that's worthwhile on a portable. Ventura I'll wait and see, right now NO.

I've an M1 MBP for serious use. The 2011 15" I just kept as didn't want to dump or sell as they are well known to auto destruct the dGPU. Credit where credit is due this 15" has seen off several Retina Mac's. I used it profeshially (engineering) my daughter turned it into a PlayStation.

It sat dead in a box for close to two years. Today in November of 2022 I think it actually runs far better than the day I bought it. It doesn't throttle and seems oblivious to abuse. In its heyday it ripped countless hundreds of DVD's, engineering it would run a 100% flat out running simulations for multiple days on end.

That all said I think it's more the exception than the rule, it can still hit 100C in a heartbeat 100% remains stock as shipped by Apple

Q-6

Enjoy your perspective!

I have been with Apple's OS ever since my Apple IIE days, starting in 1982. Been through every version of the OS for the Apple II line, with the IIGS being the highlight (but the IIE was so, so dependable). Moved to Macs back in 1996 (had actually used the original Mac where I worked in 1984), and have been there ever since. Through all my years as a COBOL developer, I was always able to be very effective using my machines for application/on-call support.

From what I have read, Find Any File and EasyFind are equally capable at what they do, with the only difference being EasyFind is free. It is definitely effective when I first use AppCleaner to remove an application and as many of its "pieces" as it finds, and then run EasyFind to find the rest. Works like a charm.

But yeah, Onyx, as you said, is the gold standard for the Mac. However, to rely on it exclusively is not an effective strategy, IMO. That is why I use TechTool Pro also, along with my self-cleaning efforts. All of that together pays off.

And yes, Ventura is not mature enough yet. In fact, after testing V13.0.1 last week, I have gone back to my Monterey-based system, and will not start testing Ventura again until at least when V13.1 arrives (I might even wait until V13.2).