Question about launch pad

[mathmad]

Hi,

I am new to mac os. I just download Xcode and after it was installed, there is an entry called "Install Xcode" in the launch pad. However, there is a Developer group in the launch pad also. I am guessing is that the "Install Xcode" is the file that Mac downloaded it down before installation. Can i delete it???

One more thing. I download skype, double click on it thinking that it will install skype, but no. Nothing installed, it acted as if the file .dmg is a disk image, it mounted that file. When i clicked on the mounted drive named skype, inside it, there is a skype icon, an arrow and an application folder icon (the arrow point from the skype icon to the application folder icon). If i just click on the skype icon, i run skype. Is it the normal way you guys run skype? Or how do you install it correctly so that i show up in launch pad or on the dock???

, forgive my ignorance. Just bought a mac this morning.

 

[Makosuke]

Question 1:
Yes, that's the installer you downloaded. Once you're finished installing, you can safely delete it, and redownload from the app store in the event you need to reinstall for whatever reason. Other than wasted disk space, there's no harm in keeping it on hand, though.

Question 2:
That's the standard way Mac apps (outside the app store) are distributed. The file you download doesn't just look like a disk image, it is--when you double clicked on it, it mounts the disk image as a virtual disk. Within that disk is the Skype application; when you double clicked on it it opened the Skype application off the disk image.

What the arrow image pointing to the alias of the Applications folder was trying to tell you to do is to copy the Skype application from the disk image to your Applications folder. You can do this by dragging it to the Applications folder alias on the Skype disk image, or by dragging it to the Applications item in the Finder sidebar.

Once you've done that, the Skype application will have been copied to the Applications folder, which is all that's necessary to "install" it on the Mac (the same is true of most applications). At that point you can unmount the disk image (click the eject icon next to it in the sidebar), and, if you want, throw the disk image file (the .dmg) away--it's no longer necessary unless you need to reinstall for any reason.

Many people unfamiliar with this process do the same thing you did--try to run it directly from the disk image. Which does technically work, but is awkward. Well-written applications will detect if you're doing this and offer to copy themselves into the Applications folder for you, but Skype is not one of those.