safe to move applications?

it depends on the the application you're moving...I wouldn't recommend moving Photoshop

 

I think it should be safe, but why would you move them? Because there are alot of apps in your applications folder? I would first try moving some other apps first..

 

Some applications do not like it, e.g Word however you can always move them back if they do not launch for example.

One thing to note that when it comes to updates the updater might not be able to find the applications if you have moved them from the default location .

I hardly ever go into my applications folder, spotlight/namely/quicksilver/launchbar etc. are all so much quicker at launching applications.

 

mmmmhh, quicksilver..!!

 

I leave all applications in the Applications folder (some are in the Utilities subfolder), then I create my own folders to organize subsets of them to suit my purposes. I copy aliases of the real apps into these folders. So I don't have two copies, but I can have just the sets of apps I want. And I can drag any of these folders into the dock or Finder sidebar.

You can make an alias of an application by selecting its .app file and then using File->Make Alias, or by dragging the .app file to another folder while holding command and option.

Some applications have a folder in the Applications folder instead of a single .app file. For those, open the folder and find the actual application.

One other advantage to using aliases of applications: you can rename them. For example, the web browser application is named Firefox.app, but in my folder of applications I can call it just Firefox, or maybe FF.