What can I uninstall?

[Bubba Scruggs]

Hi everyone. Happy owner of a new Macbook, my first laptop computer. I've been using a PC since 93, and before that an Atari ST and Amiga. It's nice to be getting off the windows boat again.

I bought the 80 gig model and before I do too much with it, I was hoping to get a list of seldom used/useless apps that are preloaded on the machine.

I want to set up a windows xp bootcamp partition, so it would be nice to know how much space I can actually play with.

Thanks for your tips.

 

[yellow]

Well, for starters, a Mac isn't like a PC from Dell or Gateway or Lenovo that comes with a ******** of pre-installed junk to lower the price.

I'd suggest trying everything out for starters. See what you like. See what you don't like. Go from there.

You can also try an app like Monolingual (READ THE READMES) to remove the language installations that you won't be using. Be sure to read all documentation that comes with it.

 

[epochblue]

Hi everyone. Happy owner of a new Macbook, my first laptop computer. I've been using a PC since 93, and before that an Atari ST and Amiga. It's nice to be getting off the windows boat again.

I bought the 80 gig model and before I do too much with it, I was hoping to get a list of seldom used/useless apps that are preloaded on the machine.

I want to set up a windows xp bootcamp partition, so it would be nice to know how much space I can actually play with.

Thanks for your tips.

First thing I would do is reinstall the OS and free up space by not installing language translations and printer drivers.

Some of the bigger space offenders are Garageband (and all of its effects loops) and iDVD's extra themes. I'd start there, and that should free up about 8GB for you to play with.

 

[yellow]

Since he's new to the Mac, I heartily suggest trying everything out before nuking any apps.

 

[0007776]

Since he's new to the Mac, I heartily suggest trying everything out before nuking any apps.

I second that. but if you will not be using any of the extra languages reinstall the OS and remove the languages that you will not use.

 

[Bubba Scruggs]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll give everything a fair shake first. It's good to know at least that everything has it's merits and isn't completely useless.

 

[GodBless]

I second that. but if you will not be using any of the extra languages reinstall the OS and remove the languages that you will not use.

For programmers I strongly disagree--otherwise it might be OK but I still have them installed. Foreign languages are useful at times. If someone is interested in doing programming it is essential that the languages are kept for checking the consistency of word choice (especially on menu items).

My advice to the original poster:
I personally would format the hard drive (from the OS X install disk) and install OS X (and all the software that came with the computer) from scratch--yes, install everything that came with your computer. The only pieces of standard OS X software that I haven't had a good use for are Sherlock (9.9 MB) and Stickies (3.3 MB) but I wouldn't recommend deleting them since they don't take up much space on the hard drive at all. I have a 40 GB hard drive and I have always had enough room for what I've needed to do (I have lots of 3rd party software and am storing a few really big projects on my hard drive) but for you--maybe you will need more space for what you want to do.

I agree--don't delete anything until you've tried out all of the main things that an Application can do for you. Welcome to Mac OS X. You will be happy (as I was when I switched).

 

[PlaceofDis]

unless you're hurting for space, no reason to get rid of anything just yet.

you can get rid of the other localizations and yellow pointed out, and some printer drivers too if you'll never use 'em. but other than that i'd give everything a try first.

 

[ricksbrain]

You can get rid of unnecessary languages using Monolingual.

 

[Aniej]

Of course when you do eventually decide to get rid of some items you do not need, monolingual is, as suggested, very useful, but a word of caution: make sure that you do not select items under the Architecture tab in monolingual that you will be utilizing, namely anything with Intel in the name since you are using a MacBook.

A second, and very useful application, is AppZapper, which is about ~$10. It is easy to drag and drop or just hit the gene bottle and let it auto populate for you and select what you want deleted. It takes care of the application and all its associated files, something simply dragging into the trash will not. There is another utility out there, I think it is is called Clean App, that does the same thing and people tend to like that also; I am sure some helpful MR member will correct the name if clean app was wrong.

Prior to running these two applications you might want to download Disk Inventory X, it graphically lists every item taking up space on your hard drive. It is amazing and will wow you to see how many things are on the hard drive and where your space actually got eaten up.

Enjoy your new toy, I am sure you will soon realize just how great of a switch you made.

 

[roland.g]

I would keep Garageband, all the Apps and iLife stuff. You can easily delete the trial versions of iWork and other stuff since all the Apps are bundled, no dlls and other stuff to hunt down.

But as others have said, reinstall and get rid of the additional languages that you won't boot into, as well as their extra fonts, and all the print drivers. Any printer you buy will come with a disk, so you can easily load only the drivers you need.

 

[synth3tik]

OS X comes with printer drivers for almost all printers. I have 3 printers which is more then the average user, but still no where near that amount that OS X has drivers for. Uninstall the print drivers you know you will not use.

 

[Grakkle]

Since he's new to the Mac, I heartily suggest trying everything out before nuking any apps.

I'd suggest keeping the printer drivers too - it's extremely useful to be able to plug into any printer, anywhere and be able to easily print with no driver installation required.

 

[Bubba Scruggs]

Well, I did run monoligual and that cleared out 2.2 gigs, nothing to sneeze at that's for certain.

Thanks for the tips so far.