Pre-Installed Mac Applications

[' r i S e n]

I plan on doing a fresh install of Mac OS X in the near future and I only want Applications on there that I am going to use. It's not that I am pressed for space but there isn't much sense in leaving an Application on my computer that I am never going to use. I need help as I have not used most of these Applications before and while I could open them up and see, I am unaware of what most are capable of.

I know that I want to keep App Store, Automator, Dashboard, iSync, iTunes, Mail, Preview, QuickTime Player, Safari, System Preferences (really), TextEdit, and Time Machine.

*I am speaking of Address Book, Calculator, Chess, Dictionary, DVD Player, Font Book, Front Row, Garage Band, iCal, iChat, iDVD, Image Capture, iMovie, iPhoto, iWeb, Photo Booth, and Stickies.

-> I figure I don't need a book of contacts, don't need a basic calculator, am balls at chess and it is awkward filler, could use the internet for a dictionary, don't really watch DVDs on my Mac, am not an aspiring musician or have any business attempting to associate myself with music other than listening to it, I'm not important enough to even act like I need an organized calendar, do not take photos often, and can use TextEdit instead of stickies.

*Is there any reason to keep these installed in opposition to what I have listed? This is kind of a wild request, but I appreciate any responses.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I also hardly use any of the applications you listed as "unwanted", but I always include them in my installation process (as they can't be excluded anyway, only deleted after the fact). There is really no need to delete them, but if you want to get rid of them, just delete them, but make sure to have a working backup of your installation.

 

[GGJstudios]

I'd be cautious about removing apps that came with OS X. It may cause problems with Software Updates. Also, you'll likely find uses for some of those in the future, and then you'll be posting here, asking how to reinstall them. You won't save a huge amount of space (only about 1.7GB for the .app files) by removing them. I'd leave them alone.

 

[' r i S e n]

Also, you'll likely find uses for some of those in the future, and then you'll be posting here, asking how to reinstall them.

Funny guy.

Thanks for the replies, sim and GGJ.

 

[GGJstudios]

Funny guy.

Thanks for the replies, sim and GGJ.

I can't begin to count the number of such threads I've seen! Here's just a small sample:

I accidentally deleted Activity Monitor
HELP! I accidentally deleted my System Preferences.
Accidentally deleted TextEdit!
My macbook 10.5.8 mail.app and preview.app got deleted
Need Image Capture App, Deleted It.
Help, dock.app was deleted.
Deleted Mail App can i get it back
I accidentally deleted Safari app
Terminal.app deleted, no access to CD/DVD
Deleted garageband.app
Accidentally deleted preview app...
Mail App deleted :S
Deleted Mail.app and need to reinstall it.
Deleted mail.app and address book.app. how can I get them back?
Deleted Terminal.app on accident
I deleted my calculator app for mac os x
deleted dvd player app!​

 

[Randizzledante]

-> I figure I don't need a book of contacts, don't need a basic calculator, am balls at chess and it is awkward filler, could use the internet for a dictionary, don't really watch DVDs on my Mac, am not an aspiring musician or have any business attempting to associate myself with music other than listening to it, I'm not important enough to even act like I need an organized calendar, do not take photos often, and can use TextEdit instead of stickies.

Probably the most honest thing I've read in a forum

 

[PatrickCocoa]

Relax, don't overthink it

I plan on doing a fresh install of Mac OS X in the near future and I only want Applications on there that I am going to use. It's not that I am pressed for space but there isn't much sense in leaving an Application on my computer that I am never going to use.

Without being antagonistic, my response to your first sentence is: Why?

Your second sentence has the answer to my question, but I disagree with your answer. There is, in fact, a great deal of sense in leaving an Application on your computer that you're never going to use:
1. You may want the Application back some day;

2. Cost/Benefit: The time you've already spent considering what Applications to delete is much greater than whatever it is that you're saving.

3. You've removed serendipity from your life - you've cut out the chance that you may enjoy creating music or ring tones in Garage Band, or that you can learn chess and teach it to a troubled neighborhood youth and turn his life around.

 

[Ruahrc]

At least the dictionary application in particular, is pretty useful IMO. Not by launching it and looking up a word, but I believe OS X uses the dictionary app to give you the definition when you right click on a word and select "look up in dictionary" (which puts up a small tab under the word you looked up with the definition). This works nearly OS-wide (at least basically any text in a browser window will work) making it even faster and more convenient than typing it into Google. Also, dictionary.app probably gets used when you type in a word into the spotlight search and get the definition. I have to admit I have learned a number of new words by just looking them up on the fly like this whenever I came across them while browsing the internet, etc.

Regarding other stuff, I have a similar feeling on unused apps as well, I ended up moving a lot of them into the "Utilities" folder or into a "rarely used" folder of apps. It reduces the number of applications in the root \Applications folder, which in turn makes the pop-up grid less cluttered when I go to launch a program.

As for other programs like iphoto, etc. I believe those are installed via a separate process, (i.e. an option in the system restore disc, or a separate executable) and you can just elect not to install those.

Ruahrc

 

[d0ster]

3. You've removed serendipity from your life - you've cut out the chance that you may enjoy creating music or ring tones in Garage Band, or that you can learn chess and teach it to a troubled neighborhood youth and turn his life around.

LMAO at the troubled youth. To the OP, I felt the same way you did, perhaps too accustomed to bloatware with PC's but on the Mac, I just leave it as is.

 

[GGJstudios]

Regarding other stuff, I have a similar feeling on unused apps as well, I ended up moving a lot of them into the "Utilities" folder or into a "rarely used" folder of apps. It reduces the number of applications in the root \Applications folder, which in turn makes the pop-up grid less cluttered when I go to launch a program.

Be aware that moving some apps can cause them not to function or may interfere with software updates. A better approach is to leave them all in the /Applications folder and create a new folder that contains aliases to your frequently used apps. Drag that folder of aliases to your Dock in place of the /Applications folder.

 

[' r i S e n]

There is, in fact, a great deal of sense in leaving an Application on your computer that you're never going to use:
1. You may want the Application back some day;

That doesn't make sense. It's just a preference sort of thing, I suppose - I would rather not have things "just there" if I don't use them even occasionally.

I thought about Software Updates myself before it was mentioned, and honestly the slightest mention of it being messed with without the proper software has me convinced to leave these applications alone.

Thank you to everyone that took the time to respond.

 

[davidg4781]

I could probably do without Garage Band, iPhoto, and iMovie, but for the rest, I'm not even sure you have a choice during installation. I just reinstalled SL after getting a new hard drive and wasn't asked which ones I wanted installed.

Chess you could probably just throw in the trash. As for the rest, there may be some connections to other part of the OS.

I noticed you want to keep Mail. Where do you keep your email addresses of people you write? Mine are kept in Address Book and it makes it so much easier to use that when i switched to Macs I stopped using Thunderbird.

Also, things like DVD Player I'd keep around. I would hate to be put in a situation where a friend or family member wants to check out a DVD and you're unable to play it because you removed the app. Certainly wouldn't look good if you're trying to convince them how great Mac OS is.

 

[' r i S e n]

I noticed you want to keep Mail. Where do you keep your email addresses of people you write? Mine are kept in Address Book and it makes it so much easier to use that when i switched to Macs I stopped using Thunderbird.

I don't really keep in touch with people via email - I simply use an email to register for stuff, etc. Either way, Mail saves email addresses iirc.

 

[Gregg2]

If you're getting rid of Garage Band and iDVD, then go to HD/Library/Application Support and get rid of their folders. That will save you about 1.1 GB of space, although I understand that's not your motivation. (This was recommended in MacWorld this month.)

 

[maflynn]

Outside of iLife that comes with new computers I'd not be all that aggressive in removing unused apps. Its not like you'll recoup a large amount of space and as others posted you may find a need for them down the road.

 

[one1]

You can usually spot the windows converts as they tend to have been taught to run minimalistic and always delete stuff since bloatware is so common and it DOES slow the windows machines down. This is untrue on a Mac however. You may fall into this category of individual who was trained on a different OS and are trying to use old habits on a new system.... I don't know. What I do know is that eventually Mac users go exploring and find that if they allow their Mac to help them they find that these things integrate more seamlessly than they think (whereas on a Windows machine everything is separate).

If you want these programs out of sight/out of mind then create a folder in the applications directory and drop everything you want to get rid of into it. Now make the folder invisible. You don't have to look at them and they are there if you need them.

 

[' r i S e n]

Outside of iLife that comes with new computers I'd not be all that aggressive in removing unused apps. Its not like you'll recoup a large amount of space and as others posted you may find a need for them down the road.

I'm on board with you as far as not freeing up much space by getting rid of them - it was just a preference driven thought - as I'm the kind of person that doesn't really like to have unnecessary stuff lying around.

However, as stated, I will be leaving them alone come the time in order to avoid issues with Software Update - and the use of another folder for less used applications is a great idea. Thank you to everyone who posted.

 

[GGJstudios]

and the use of another folder for less used applications is a great idea.

Moving apps to another sub-folder can also create problems with updates. Instead, read my suggestion in post #10.

 

[' r i S e n]

Moving apps to another sub-folder can also create problems with updates. Instead, read my suggestion in post #10.

Okay, I will make aliases instead - thank you.

 

[davidg4781]

You can usually spot the windows converts as they tend to have been taught to run minimalistic and always delete stuff since bloatware is so common and it DOES slow the windows machines down. This is untrue on a Mac however. You may fall into this category of individual who was trained on a different OS and are trying to use old habits on a new system.... I don't know. What I do know is that eventually Mac users go exploring and find that if they allow their Mac to help them they find that these things integrate more seamlessly than they think (whereas on a Windows machine everything is separate).

If you want these programs out of sight/out of mind then create a folder in the applications directory and drop everything you want to get rid of into it. Now make the folder invisible. You don't have to look at them and they are there if you need them.

You're making me want to reinstall Garage Band along with extra languages and printer drivers.

Seriously though, I know I started taking those out when I had a 60GB HDD and about 40GB of data. Not a good ratio so I tried to cut out as much as possible. I guess it's a bit different with my new 750GB.

 

[maflynn]

You're making me want to reinstall Garage Band along with extra languages and printer drivers.

Seriously though, I know I started taking those out when I had a 60GB HDD and about 40GB of data. Not a good ratio so I tried to cut out as much as possible. I guess it's a bit different with my new 750GB.

Agreed, that's wacky. I specifically mentioned iLife because iLife is so bloated. I saved several gigabytes removing garageband, iMovie and iDVD. The same goes for the printer drivers.

Other then that, it makes little sense to remove some of the small apps that OSX includes as they don't consume much space and they could be useful in the future.

 

[' r i S e n]

I intend on leaving them on now for sure - but if I am pressed for space then I may have to get rid of some of the more bulky applications before upgrading storage space.

Thanks for your insight everyone.

 

[nrajack]

I intend on leaving them on now for sure - but if I am pressed for space then I may have to get rid of some of the more bulky applications before upgrading storage space.

Thanks for your insight everyone.

If you get that pressed for space the gig or two that you'd get back from deleting the relatively small programs you're talking about (or even others) won't amount to a hill of beans. You should never, EVER let a drive get that full. I try not to let a drive get more than 75% full, and with large drives as cheap as they are you're running a fool's errand with your thinking.

Like someone said earlier in this thread this sure sounds like it's coming from a Windoze convert.

 

[' r i S e n]

Like someone said earlier in this thread this sure sounds like it's coming from a Windoze convert.

It is. What's the big deal?

 

[nrajack]

It is. What's the big deal?

The big deal is there's no need for what you're talking about. You HAVE to get out of the Windoze mindset when you move to a Mac. It's so incredibly easy to add & drop hard drives that space isn't an issue. No sweat on drive letters and all the rest of the crud that goes with Windoze.