Mac OS X Lion to Bring iOS-Like Uninstall Process for Mac App Store Apps

[0815]

I got a another newbie question
I am planning on moving out of Windows (7) and onto MAC OS X, but I want to wait for Lion since its close to a finished product. Now my question is, if Lion comes out, would that mean every Mac (Mac Pro, iMac, iMac mini, Macbook, MB Pros, etc) would have Lion installed/packaged or is there a specific mac that will have Lion on its first day and the other macs would have to wait???

All the (new) Macs will have it right away, Macs purchased shortly before the release get a cheap upgrade option (if I remember right) and most of the older macs should be upgradable (I would suspect every intel one, but I wasn't following the minimum spec)

 

[paradox00]

I got a another newbie question
I am planning on moving out of Windows (7) and onto MAC OS X, but I want to wait for Lion since its close to a finished product. Now my question is, if Lion comes out, would that mean every Mac (Mac Pro, iMac, iMac mini, Macbook, MB Pros, etc) would have Lion installed/packaged or is there a specific mac that will have Lion on its first day and the other macs would have to wait???

All macs sold after launch will come with Lion either pre-installed or with an upgrade disk (if they shipped before Lion launched).

Edit: Lion should also be compatible with any mac with a Core 2 Duo or newer (my Core Duo MBP will, sadly, be obsolete).

 

[maflynn]

the iPadification of OSX continues.

 

[HiRez]

WTF? This is a computer, with a real mouse/trackpad. Click and hold til it wiggles, then click the x?

RIGHT-CLICK. COME ON APPLE, THIS ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE.

Hi! How does it feel there in 1997? Tip for you: don't bet on the Cleveland Indians.

(And how do you know there's not a menu option for the same thing when right-clicking anyway?)

 

[G4DP]

V-Tech OS anyone?

Shake it till it wobbles children.

 

[KnightWRX]

With so many people using iOS nowadays, making the deletion process consistent throughout all hardware can ultimately be more logical and intuitive. This is Apple leveraging the ecosystem in a way to make PCs easier to use through familiarity. And this is a strong selling point for non computer users or for Windows users to switch to Mac. People who just never "got" computers or only familiar with Windows but know how to operate their iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad (and there are MANY people like that) would benefit greatly from this direction.

Too bad it hurts usability in the end. Let's face it, Apple themselves have said that what works on laptops/desktops doesn't on tablet/smartphones and vice versa and now it seems they are making the same mistakes Microsoft did trying to cram Windows on touch tablets, except they are doing it on their laptop/desktop OS.

The touch UI paradigm (and UIKit) doesn't work on a laptop/desktop where you have a trackpad/mouse.

 

[ssdeg7]

Works will all apps

If you click on Show Content on any app and replace the first three files from an app downloaded from the app store it will happen with any app you want.

Right Click -> Show Package Contents -> Contents

Copy:
_CodeSignature
_MASReceipt
CodeResources

Then select and app not from the Mac App Store and Right Click -> Show Package Contents -> Contents

Then paste the three files. After you reboot your Mac it should work.
(This has been working since the past DP)

 

[Don Kosak]

I wonder if this means MacOS will end up with iOS-style "multi-tasking."

iOS style multitasking features (benefits) are indeed in Lion.

Applications written for Lion can "suspend and resume" without having to "save and close" documents. The reason the little light below running apps on the Dock was removed is that "running" is now more of a decision between the App and OS -- not so much the user. (APP - "Am I idle right now? Can I resume from this point very quickly? If so, I'll just suspend myself till the user or an event wakes me back up. No need to burn RAM or CPU, the user won't even notice I'm not here.)

There is no reason with modern computer architecture for humans to do memory management by getting involved with which programs are actually physically in memory/active. We have 7200rpm SATA3 or SSD drives, multicore processors with Gigahertz speeds, and Gigabytes of RAM...

The way we interact with Multitasking in Windows 7 and OS X Snow Leopard is based on the hardware limitations imposed by 640K RAM, 4.7 Megahertz single core processor, and Floppy Disks. Apple took the first brave step away from that with iOS. It's good to see it moving forward in Lion.

 

[Yamcha]

Whatever happened to Command-Delete?

....this is starting to look like Aero in Windows Vista.

See any similarities?

Image

Image

lol true, infact the new buttons look similar to the ones found on Windows 7.. Anyway one thing that is annoying about Launchpad is that you cannot remove applications from the grid, sometimes you end up with uninstallers, and it just becomes a huge mess, would be nice if we could remove applications from Launchpad, not necessarily uninstalling them but just removing them from the grid..

 

[dethmaShine]

If you click on Show Content on any app and replace the first three files from an app downloaded from the app store it will happen with any app you want.

Right Click -> Show Package Contents -> Contents

Copy:
_CodeSignature
_MASReceipt
CodeResources

Then select and app not from the Mac App Store and Right Click -> Show Package Contents -> Contents

Then paste the three files. After you reboot your Mac it should work.
(This has been working since the past DP)

Im on DP 2 Update 3. This un-installation process applies to all external apps, not just MAS apps. No code, no change required.

 

[scottsjack]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

Although love my iPhone its OS, including the jiggling icons for deletion selection, seems more like a toy's OS. When I sit down at my MP the OS seems like an one made for actual grown-up, serious adults.

 

[dethmaShine]

i think I'm horribly wrong here.

You can drag and drop the app (any deletable) in the trash and it will come up with the same pop up. There's no need to hold down on the app to enable deletion. Fair enough on apple's side.

/rant.

 

[Erwin-Br]

No, Microsoft have not got it right. There should be no need for a specific tool to uninstall applications. applications should be self-contained and be deletable with the press of a button…

Many applications work this way on Mac, some developers still put related files into various other locations though unfortunately...

Uhm, not every app can be self-contained, and it's even in Apple's documentation that you need to store your plists OUTSIDE of the App container and in the Library folder instead.

And that makes sense, because for example, there are apps that need to save settings. If you store these settings inside the app, the next time your user updates it the settings are overwritten.

I hate it how dragging a Mac App to the trashcan leaves plists and other files scattered around.

 

[KnightWRX]

iOS style multitasking features (benefits) are indeed in Lion.

Applications written for Lion can "suspend and resume" without having to "save and close" documents. The reason the little light below running apps on the Dock was removed is that "running" is now more of a decision between the App and OS -- not so much the user. (APP - "Am I idle right now? Can I resume from this point very quickly? If so, I'll just suspend myself till the user or an event wakes me back up. No need to burn RAM or CPU, the user won't even notice I'm not here.)

There is no reason with modern computer architecture for humans to do memory management by getting involved with which programs are actually physically in memory/active. We have 7200rpm SATA3 or SSD drives, multicore processors with Gigahertz speeds, and Gigabytes of RAM...

The way we interact with Multitasking in Windows 7 and OS X Snow Leopard is based on the hardware limitations imposed by 640K RAM, 4.7 Megahertz single core processor, and Floppy Disks. Apple took the first brave step away from that with iOS. It's good to see it moving forward in Lion.

So you're saying we should go back to Mac OS Classic cooperative multi-tasking ?

Hello ?

The 80s called, they want their computing paradigms back. Cooperative multi-tasking makes sense on ressource limited architectures. Even the iPhone/iPad like devices are far from "ressource limited". We had pre-emptive multi-tasking on much less capable devices (think 386s with 8 MB of RAM).

 

[Popeye206]

I got a another newbie question
I am planning on moving out of Windows (7) and onto MAC OS X, but I want to wait for Lion since its close to a finished product. Now my question is, if Lion comes out, would that mean every Mac (Mac Pro, iMac, iMac mini, Macbook, MB Pros, etc) would have Lion installed/packaged or is there a specific mac that will have Lion on its first day and the other macs would have to wait???

I wouldn't worry about the OS... all new Macs will run Lion and depending on the specifics, you'll probably get the upgrade for free or very cheap. Also, unless Apple chances something, past upgrades can be easily installed on multiple machines. Where MS has Windows licensed to a CPU, Apple does not care. They don't make that much money on the OS sales, they make the money on the hardware.

So, if you're going to wait for anything, I would wait for the World Wide Developers Conference in June and see what's announced there, then make your purchase. Then you'll have a good idea of what's new and be ready for Lion.

Welcome aboard!

 

[blondepianist]

i think I'm horribly wrong here.

You can drag and drop the app (any deletable) in the trash and it will come up with the same pop up. There's no need to hold down on the app to enable deletion. Fair enough on apple's side.

/rant.

That's good! Thanks for sharing before more people went on about Lion being a toy OS.

And if I've said it once, I'll say it again: MacPad cometh.

 

[blondepianist]

So you're saying we should go back to Mac OS Classic cooperative multi-tasking ?

Hello ?

The 80s called, they want their computing paradigms back. Cooperative multi-tasking makes sense on ressource limited architectures. Even the iPhone/iPad like devices are far from "ressource limited". We had pre-emptive multi-tasking on much less capable devices (think 386s with 8 MB of RAM).

I think what he is saying is that programs that are actually doing work in the background can continue running, while those that aren't can suspend iOS style. That is how Lion works. It brings the benefits of both iOS & Mac OS.

 

[Vegasman]

iOS style multitasking features (benefits) are indeed in Lion.

Applications written for Lion can "suspend and resume" without having to "save and close" documents. The reason the little light below running apps on the Dock was removed is that "running" is now more of a decision between the App and OS -- not so much the user. (APP - "Am I idle right now? Can I resume from this point very quickly? If so, I'll just suspend myself till the user or an event wakes me back up. No need to burn RAM or CPU, the user won't even notice I'm not here.)

Uh? Don't our apps and operating systems already do this automatically already?

 

[Popeye206]

So you're saying we should go back to Mac OS Classic cooperative multi-tasking ?

Hello ?

The 80s called, they want their computing paradigms back. Cooperative multi-tasking makes sense on ressource limited architectures. Even the iPhone/iPad like devices are far from "ressource limited". We had pre-emptive multi-tasking on much less capable devices (think 386s with 8 MB of RAM).

LOL! Yeah... and I remember crashing faster than you click your mouse on those systems. Windows 3.0 and 3.1 were a mess. But of course... most things were back then. how far we've come.

 

[MShock]

Interesting… after the new GNOME 3.0 release, I'm convinced we will move farther way from the typical menu layout to a more minimalist, more web interactive interface. iOS is probably the closest to that, but I see windows looking more like FireFox 4 for Windows with the Firefox pop down menu and elimination of File, Edit, View etc. at the top. Mac OS 10.8 or 11 will probably follow suit, except have more webOS like functionality, and will converge several apps into 1…

 

[MattSepeta]

Another iOS feature implemented in a desktop OS.

Fan-frickin-tastic

 

[bobsentell]

iOS style multitasking features (benefits) are indeed in Lion.

Applications written for Lion can "suspend and resume" without having to "save and close" documents. The reason the little light below running apps on the Dock was removed is that "running" is now more of a decision between the App and OS -- not so much the user. (APP - "Am I idle right now? Can I resume from this point very quickly? If so, I'll just suspend myself till the user or an event wakes me back up. No need to burn RAM or CPU, the user won't even notice I'm not here.)

There is no reason with modern computer architecture for humans to do memory management by getting involved with which programs are actually physically in memory/active. We have 7200rpm SATA3 or SSD drives, multicore processors with Gigahertz speeds, and Gigabytes of RAM...

The way we interact with Multitasking in Windows 7 and OS X Snow Leopard is based on the hardware limitations imposed by 640K RAM, 4.7 Megahertz single core processor, and Floppy Disks. Apple took the first brave step away from that with iOS. It's good to see it moving forward in Lion.

But my iPhone is far more limited than my first Windows PC in that regard. Even with Windows 95 I could go from one app to another while letting the other on load in the background. iOS freezes everything. If I want a video to upload on Facebook, I have no choice but to keep the app open until it's done. On my PC, I can start the upload and then move on to other things while the process is completing.

I find moving to non-true multitasking as a step backward, not a step forward. As you said, out systems capabilites are able to do so much more. I can be playing a computer game, hit the Windows key, and open a media player and never see a drop in performance. Why limit your computer to one task at a time? Kind of defeats the point of multi-core processors.

 

[lowbatteries]

Whatever happened to Command-Delete?

....this is starting to look like Aero in Windows Vista.

See any similarities?

Image

Image

That Windows dialog is horrible. Why is there so much info? Are the file size and image dimensions really helping me decided whether or not I want to delete it? And it has the classic Windows "Yes" and "No" buttons (instead of having something useful like Cancel and Delete). If that dialog pops up, you have to squint your eyes and look all over until you see "Delete ..." in the upper left corner, then take a second to make sure "Yes" actually means "Delete". And if you want to cancel, should you hit "No" or the X in the top right?

That OS X dialog IS NOTHING like that Aero dialog.

 

[bobsentell]

Man that Windows dialog is horrible. Why is there so much info? Are the file size and image dimensions influencing whether or not I want to delete it? And the classic Windows "Yes" and "No" buttons (instead of having something useful like Cancel and Delete. If that dialog pops up, you have to squint your eyes and look all over until you see "Delete ..." in the upper left corner, then take a second to make sure "Yes" actually means "Delete". And if you want to cancel, should you hit "No" or the X in the top right?

Man, that OS X dialog IS NOTHING like that Aero dialog.

Well, considering the dialog box says "Are you sure you want to delete xxxx?" I think a "Yes" or "No" are the best possible choices.

 

[tinman0]

But my iPhone is far more limited than my first Windows PC in that regard. Even with Windows 95 I could go from one app to another while letting the other on load in the background. iOS freezes everything. If I want a video to upload on Facebook, I have no choice but to keep the app open until it's done. On my PC, I can start the upload and then move on to other things while the process is completing.

I find moving to non-true multitasking as a step backward, not a step forward. As you said, out systems capabilites are able to do so much more. I can be playing a computer game, hit the Windows key, and open a media player and never see a drop in performance. Why limit your computer to one task at a time? Kind of defeats the point of multi-core processors.

I doubt that the Mac is getting the type of multi tasking that you see with the iPhone, more likely it's getting the option to suspend something in the background, but for everything else, life goes on as normal (eg I can batch stuff in an application whilst I continue surfing, reading mail, watching porn etc).

As for the crippled multi tasking on an iPhone - it's a phone for heavens sake. The BIGGEST problem that all smartphones are suffering from is battery - batteries are not able to cope with the demands of the modern phone.

If you let people multi task properly, the phone would eat its battery alive. And we've all seen bad programming (cough...flash) which given half a chance will kill your battery in 15 seconds stone dead just to show you some crappy ad.

So a phone does need a sensible trade off when it comes to multi tasking, and both Apple and Google (with Android) made a very sensible choice to put battery before true background multitasking.