Install and Uninstall on Mac OS X
Till date, I've convinced over 30 people to get a mac and they all seem to ask one question to me: "How do I install and uninstall applications on OS X?" The answer depends on the application, but the good news is that both tasks are fairly simple. Unlike on Windows, Mac OS X has no strange
registry or
.dll files, and programs usually install everything they need to run within the application itself (excluding some settings files in your user folder). As a result, what is almost always a painful process on a Windows PC is a very quick operation on a Mac, and you don't usually have to go through the boring
"Next | Next | Next" loops.
How to install:
If you’re installing software that came on a CD or DVD, insert the disc into your Mac. A Finder window will open showing the contents of the disc, and most commercial software will have some form of "Read Me" file or simple instructions visible in the disc’s window. Usually, all you’ll need to do is drag a folder from the disc’s window to the desired final location on your hard drive -- typically the top-level Applications folder. If you’re installing a more complex program, say,
Adobe Photoshop, you might need to double-click on an installer to start the process. Once the installer launches, follow its on-screen instructions. The installer will place all of the program’s files in the right places for you.
Software you download from the Internet, unfortunately, requires a few more steps. These programs are almost always compressed, so you’ll need to double-click on the file to de-compress it. Most downloads will expand into something called a disk image, which uses the extension
.dmg. This is like a virtual disk, and is a convenient way to place a number of related files together for installation. Double-click on the disk-image file,and it will show up in the Finder just like another hard drive, CD, or DVD. Now you can drag the program you want to install out of the disk image’s window onto your Applications folder. This is a critical step because you don’t want to run the program from the disk image! Eject the disk image, and then trash the downloaded archive and disk-image file.
How to uninstall:
Installing Mac programs is truly a piece of cake. But what about uninstalling them? For many Mac converts, this is one of those "ah" moments -- uninstalling applications is as simple as it can get.
To uninstall most programs on a Mac, go to the
Applications folder, drag the program’s folder to the
Trash, and empty the Trash. That’s it -- you’re done. Really. Okay, there will still be some small bits related to the application left over. If you really want to make sure you delete everything, look in your
user folder | Library | Application Support for any references to the program. Also check in your
user folder | Library | Preferences for the program’s preferences. If you find something related to the uninstalled program, you can drag it to the Trash. But there’s really no need to -- the files you find won’t cause any damage if they’re simply left alone. If you had to double-click on an installer to install a program, try re-running the installer first. In most cases, after you launch it, you’ll see an uninstall option that will automatically remove all the program’s files. Run this. If you don’t see such an option, check the program’s documentation or online help for uninstall instructions.
Install and Uninstall Applications
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