This is bass-ackwards. Apple supplies an "uninstaller" that works perfectly well for apps that obey the rules. The "uninstaller" is to click on the app and drag it to the Trash. The only reason to use a separate uninstaller utility is for apps that do not follow the rules. There is no way that Apple can anticipate which rules a developer will choose to violate or how he will choose to violate them. The uninstaller utility for a rules-violating app is specific to the app and can be written only by the app's developer or by an third-party familiar with the app.
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Uninstalling software on the Mac is a nightmare!!!
- Thread starter chelsel
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I think that an app should ask you if you want to keep the preferences files when dragging an app to the trash. If all the apps files are already being recorded it shouldn't take too much effort to delete them when deleting an app.
Except on the Mac it really doesn't, because the preference files the apps leave behind have absolutely no bearing on anything except the program they were associated with. For all intents and purposes, your system is 'clean' once the app is removed.
Srsly.
That's what I have and it works like a champ. It's well worth the money to support the developers who wrote it.
Same here. Appzapper is a great program to uninstall applications and it removes all the things associated with the application that's being deleted.
Everything you wrote is actually a condemnation of Apple's approach to uninstallation.
Particularly hilarious is the statement: "Apple supplies an "uninstaller" that works perfectly well for apps that obey the rules"... talk about not understanding software design. Here's a software design concept 101: FAULT TOLERANCE. Every software designer understands that users (in this case "users" are third party developers) will make mistakes - this is human nature and inevitable. WHICH IS WHY YOUR DESIGN TAKES THAT INTO ACCOUNT. It is designed to be tolerant of the faults of users - in this case, that app developers will not "obey the rules".
This is true in engineering and design in general. You don't design an airplane cockpit in such a way that it's easy for a pilot to make catastrophic mistakes. You don't design security in software so that it works only if users "obey the rules" - you design it so that even malicious hackers can't mess up the system. How stupid would it be for Microsoft to say "our software is very secure if hackers obey the rules". Same here. The fact is that Apple has provided NO uninstaller - if they had, or there was no need for one WE WOULD'NT BE HAVING THIS DISCUSSION. Clearly, uninstallation is a problem under OS X - too many apps are having serious problems. And YES, it is a MESS what Apple did. I like what this poster wrote:
danny_w wrote:
"Uninstalling applications under Mac OS X is in many cases not as simple as many people would have you believe. What is most annoying and even scary to me (and especially when I first switched) is that, while MOST applications can simply be dragged to the trash, SOME apps absolutely require their own uninstaller to be run, and it is often not clear which apps these are. Sometimes when you install an app it will also install an uninstaller; sometimes there is an uninstaller in the disk image for the app; and sometimes the original installer must be run again to do an uninstall. In other words, there is no standard way of doing things. What am I supposed to do, keep a note of every app that I install and write down whether there was an uninstaller listed? Should I try to rerun the installer to see if there is an uninstall option? Why can't there be some kind of standard?"
Hear, hear! Fact is: Apple has provided no consistent standards or reliable way for user uninstallation. If Apple was really serious, they'd have designed app installation under OS X in such a way, that developers wouldn't be able to write installers which mess up the uninstallation system.
Meanwhile, this is just nuts:
"There is no way that Apple can anticipate which rules a developer will choose to violate or how he will choose to violate them. The uninstaller utility for a rules-violating app is specific to the app and can be written only by the app's developer or by an third-party familiar with the app."
Huh? What you need is a journalling feature - as CleanApp or Yank have - which makes a record of each and every file an app installs - that way, you can remove them all. Unfortunately, CleanApp and Yank are both poorly coded (massive memory leaks), and have other limitations - these could be corrected with more manpower and skills (which Apple has). But what's really wrong about this whole thing is that Apple should design their software in such a way that installation and deinstallation is so standardised that developers CANNOT make mistakes - or their app won't install. That's common sense.
Fact is: uninstallation of apps (and installation for that matter) under OS X is BROKEN. Apple should fix it... and I have no doubt one day they will. Meanwhile, let's not spread disinformation about how "easy" it is to uninstall apps under OS X - the truth is there is a million ways in which it can be done, there are no consistent standards, and it's a mess. Let's not accept sub-par performance, even from companies whose products we otherwise love.
Pocketmac
I agree with corpse. A perfect example of this is the program pocketmac pro. I installed the 3.0 version. Then, when I wanted to switch to Missing sync, I deleted pocketmac manually using finder. BIG MISTAKE. I deleted the pocketmac 3.0 file (which had an uninstaller in it) Then when I realized Missing sync wouldn't install because I had pieces of pocketmac still installed on my computer I tried to find those pieces. Impossible. The pocketmac version on the web is 3.52 now, and I've dlded that and tried to use it to uninstaller. None of it works. I basically have to reinstall osx if I want to use missing sync.
For shame pocketmac and Apple. For shame.
I agree with corpse. A perfect example of this is the program pocketmac pro. I installed the 3.0 version. Then, when I wanted to switch to Missing sync, I deleted pocketmac manually using finder. BIG MISTAKE. I deleted the pocketmac 3.0 file (which had an uninstaller in it) Then when I realized Missing sync wouldn't install because I had pieces of pocketmac still installed on my computer I tried to find those pieces. Impossible. The pocketmac version on the web is 3.52 now, and I've dlded that and tried to use it to uninstaller. None of it works. I basically have to reinstall osx if I want to use missing sync.
For shame pocketmac and Apple. For shame.
Couldn't you just re-install PocketMac, then uninstall it?
You can also run cleaner programs and do a more in depth search to delete the files manually. Maybe also try to check their web site. See if they have any tips, if they have a FAQ or forum or something. Re-installing OS X should be your last step if nothing else works.
You can also run cleaner programs and do a more in depth search to delete the files manually. Maybe also try to check their web site. See if they have any tips, if they have a FAQ or forum or something. Re-installing OS X should be your last step if nothing else works.
sad times
Unfortunately I've done all of those things. I think the problem is that I installed a few different versions of the software. (Pocketmac lite, pocketmac 3.0, pocketmac 3.52) but only have an uninstaller for 3.52. The 3.0 and Lite versions are no longer available.
It'd be nice if every file that was attatched to a program was reqiured to have a 'tag' of some sort so you could dig deep into the comptuer and remove it completely but I guess that's just not possible.
If ANYONE has ANY ideas on how to 'trick' Missing Sync into installing on my system, that'd be awesome.
Unfortunately I've done all of those things. I think the problem is that I installed a few different versions of the software. (Pocketmac lite, pocketmac 3.0, pocketmac 3.52) but only have an uninstaller for 3.52. The 3.0 and Lite versions are no longer available.
It'd be nice if every file that was attatched to a program was reqiured to have a 'tag' of some sort so you could dig deep into the comptuer and remove it completely but I guess that's just not possible.
If ANYONE has ANY ideas on how to 'trick' Missing Sync into installing on my system, that'd be awesome.