Is there any reason not to delete all the pre-installed Apple cruft from Apps folder?

[Loccy]

Specifically, things like iWeb*, iTunes**, GarageBand, iDVD, iMovie, all that *****, that I will never ever use? Or are there dependencies that aren't immediately obvious?

PS. Before anyone says "but you NEED these programs!"

* the only acceptable web editor is vi
** iTunes is an abomination, as are iPods. Any media player that doesn't just show up as a removable device and lets you dump MP3s onto is simply as files is doing it wrong. Very wrong.

 

[richard.mac]

http://guides.macrumors.com/Complete_Steps_to_Perform_a_Clean_OS_X_Reinstall_on_Your_MacBook_Air

iTunes doesnt take up that much space. you can delete it if you want but there are probably other iTunes system files around the hard disk that you would have to delete like the iLife apps and Safari.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Delete it all. As with iTunes, you obviously cannot teach an old dog new tricks. Manually dropping and dragging MP3s with collections of thousands of songs is so 2001.

But it's your Apps folder, do as you please. All the apps are on the installation disc that came with your Mac, anyway.

 

[KettyKrueger]

Specifically, things like iWeb*, iTunes**, GarageBand, iDVD, iMovie, all that *****, that I will never ever use? Or are there dependencies that aren't immediately obvious?

PS. Before anyone says "but you NEED these programs!"

* the only acceptable web editor is vi
** iTunes is an abomination, as are iPods. Any media player that doesn't just show up as a removable device and lets you dump MP3s onto is simply as files is doing it wrong. Very wrong.

Not a fan of iLife are we?

See your point, why keep them if you're never going to use them.

 

[lag1090]

* the only acceptable web editor is vi

I think your mentioning of this is more geared towards the Slashdot crowd, rather than MR.

BBEdit is surely a great text editor for most users. As you may already know, not everyone wants to manually code everything, so some use a visual composer like iWeb.

I personally use Emacs, but that's just me.

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

Just don't delete Quicktime. Quicktime and its plugins are used by all kind of software. There are probably other bits of software that could cause instability and loss of features if deleted, I'm pretty sure that Safari is also one of them.

 

[Loccy]

BBEdit is surely a great text editor for most users. As you may already know, not everyone wants to manually code everything, so some use a visual composer like iWeb.

I personally use Emacs, but that's just me.

I was actually exaggerating for emphasis - my weapon of choice is TextWrangler. Anyone who genuinely edits websites in vi must also enjoy being beaten up in their spare time.

http://guides.macrumors.com/Complete...ur_MacBook_Air

Nice link. Thanks muchly, the manual removal bit is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for (even though not for an Air - it's a whitebook used predominantly as a media player I need to grab a few gigs of breathing space back on)

All I really wanted to ascertain is any OS dependencies on bundled apps (i.e. Microsoft/Windows-style IE-type integrations) that'd break other important things. I figure I could free up a good gig if I deleted the larger apps that I'll never use (that's four episodes of Fawlty Towers, far more useful!). Doing a sort out in my apps folder to get rid of some of the junk I've accumulated, I never realised how big some of the "useless" bundled apps are.

Manually dropping and dragging MP3s with collections of thousands of songs is so 2001.

And all the DRM-type stuff in iTunes, not just the app but the whole setup, where you can't just shift your own music from platform to platform and device to device, plus the hoops it makes a user jump through just to play a single MP3 for the first time, the pairing concept between iPod and computer, and the constant nudging towards Apple's own shop for music, is so 1984. In the Orwell sense rather than the Anno Domini sense. Never was a fan of it even in my past Windows-using life before Mac. Mind you, others in this thread are right, it isn't really worth me bothering with space-wise.

 

[miles01110]

** iTunes is an abomination, as are iPods. Any media player that doesn't just show up as a removable device and lets you dump MP3s onto is simply as files is doing it wrong. Very wrong.

Rockbox

 

[edesignuk]

* the only acceptable web editor is vi

maddox?

 

[kuwisdelu]

You're fine. Other than other obvious utilities, just make sure you don't delete Quicktime.

All of iLife can be deleted fearlessly. Go to your Application Support folder to delete a few gigs of Garageband loops.

 

[Consultant]

There are NO OS dependencies. It's not windows.

Can you find a particular song by name if you forgot who made it? What about different versions of songs made by different artists? Sorting it by folders is pretty last century. Instead, iTunes allows realtime search and smart play lists. Guess what? A lot of DJs use iTunes to catalog their library because it's very powerful.

Also there is NO registry in OSX. You can have 1000 things installed in OSX and the system won't slow down if you don't run any of those apps.

 

[SummerBoy]

why bother buy mac ? Get a windowsbwithout shts you font likejhhjvvuvu

 

[synth3tik]

why bother buy mac ? Get a windowsbwithout shts you font likejhhjvvuvu

yeah, because the only reason one would ever have to buy a Mac over a Windows PC is iLife.

To the OP.

These programs have support files and folders. Usually located in Library. as well as some in your home folder. Usually these are easy to find. However app like Appzapper help find all support files so your computer is not bogged down with support files for applications that do not exist.

Of course you can't use Appzapper to zap itself

 

[GimmeSlack12]

And all the DRM-type stuff in iTunes, not just the app but the whole setup, where you can't just shift your own music from platform to platform and device to device,

iTunes just dropped all DRM. Ultimately it does automate a number of things that I can't be bothered with. Syncing does have its benefits. But, in the end, the Mac (or any PC) is just a tool. Do with it as you wish.

 

[ihabime]

I hate to be the only naysayer, but you as I recall, there have been problems with system updates for people who've moved or deleted Apple apps from the Applications folder. System updates often contain tweaks for Preview, Textedit, etc and may fail or cause unpredictable behavior if the updater can't find them.

The iLife apps can all be deleted safely, but you might want to back the others up somewhere and drop them back in before big updates.

YMMV, of course

 

[solaris]

sudo rm -rf /

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

There's ~2GB of printer drivers lying around. You might want to delete the ones that you don't need.