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Windows and Linux users what are your must have apps/programs when you set up MacOS for the first time? (kbin.social)
submitted 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) by to c/apple_enthusiast@lemmy.world
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For me these have entered into my must haves

  • BetterDisplay: For better scaling support for external monitors
  • Rectangle: To be able to use a mouse to drag and snap windows
  • Pixea: To be able to double click an image with a mouse in any folder and then use arrow keys or scroll wheel to proceed to the next file in the folder. Replaced the stock preview with this.

Something I'm looking for now is the ability to use the forward and back buttons on my mouse when I'm in Finder and want to go back to the previous folder I was in. Doesn't work in Safari either. Works in good old dependable Firefox though.

And separate volume controls for each applications.

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[–] 6 points 3 years ago (11 children)

As a Mac user it is a bit of a shame that we need to depend on apps like this... Despite this app is awesome lol.

Sometimes getting rid of certain programs is like getting rid of malware lol.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 3 years ago* (10 children)

    Does Mac not cleanly uninstall programs? Is this needed for programs installed from the official Mac store too?

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  • [–] 7 points 3 years ago (6 children)

    I can't speak for all the programs but I think almost all the programs I have ever used let a lot of undesired files everywhere, in theory moving the app to the thrash bin should be enough, but why let all that crap hanging around there?

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 3 years ago (5 children)

    Yeah, I do like the option of if I uninstall something to get rid of everything so it is back to the state it was before instead all these random misc and now unneeded files. I did some searches and lot of users were wondering why this functionality isn't present already.

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  • [+] 5 points 3 years ago* (4 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (3 children)

    But if it was a default functionality from Apple, presumably apps would be packaged, installed, and run in such a way that the OS is aware of what files it's creating and use that context to clean up after themselves properly when uninstalled.

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  • [+] 1 point 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (2 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

    the os doesn't create the files, the application does

    When an application wants to create a file, who does it ask for permission? Who facilitates finding a spot on the disk for the new files to go?

    Frankly I can't speak to the overhead for managing it but the OS is aware and could very much keep track of which applications own what. As for shared directories if they know the specific app owner obviously just remove files from app A but keep the directory if app B also uses it.

    As for configuration files and save data, these are generally located in consistent places but ultimately that's going to be a responsibility of the app developer to keep with standards for where those config files go so they can persist through reinstalls.

    'Do you want to delete this application completely, or would you like to keep configuration files and save data?'

    But Apple doesn't really care, they want everything to feel seamless and look pretty. Actual functionality is a second thought.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago*

    It has permission via certificates and writes/copies either via bin commands (cp) or the user does it (drag app to applications). Applications don't own files within macOS. It's UNIX methodology where it's a user/group/everyone situation. Often files will be owned by "system" or the logged in user that installs them. The OS would need to snapshot what is done during installation (which is actually done by packaging utilities like composer) but this is also prone to error because it tracks all changes during installation, so if you're modifying files with other apps while the current installer is running in the background it will capture that. And I think you'd be surprised how many apps keep files in non-traditional places.

    It's just not as straight-forward as you think it is and no OS really does this will. Windows uninstaller often misses a lot of registry keys and programdata/appdata files. Linux will only uninstall what it install during the apt/dnf/whatever process. Even iOS leaves things behind like folders in Files.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    Most Mac apps don’t have an uninstaller (or installer) you’re meant to just toss the app in the trash. The problem is this leaves in place your preferences files, any “application support” files it may have downloaded, maybe a cache, etc

    That said, I’ve been migrating the same Library folder from Mac to Mac since around 2003 and have never used an app cleaner. It really isn’t an issue 99% of the time.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I can imagine a very edge use case for an app cleaner, but for most purposes - 99% of users - there's really no reason for it. Macs don't have a Registry. If you remove the application itself, all of its ancillary files in Application Support and elsewhere will just... not do anything. And they won't interfere. They won't interact in any way with anything else on your computer. And in most cases, they're tiny files. There's functionally no reason to care that they're still around.

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