It is billed as the uninstaller that Apple forgot to bundle with Snow Leopard.
It didn't find as many fragments to remove from applications that I wanted to remove as did Cleanapp or Appzapper.ĪppZapper - again, not freeware I'm afraid but I found its detection of things to remove second only to Cleanapp. More on that below.ĬleanMyMac - I couldn't tell you exactly why but it makes me nervous.
I liked it's simple and fast duplicate file finder for removing duplicate photographs. Some people on their forums were calling it a virus, which it isn't. I don't want to say anything bad about MacKeeper, it seemed like a competent suite of tools but I found I wasn't the only person who had trouble removing it. There is a risk element there but I was desperate to rid myself of MacKeeper. Along with pointing out what new things had been installed and modified, Cleanapp also listed suggestions from the community users database of other things I might like to try to remove. The reason I tried it out was that I was having problems removing MacKeeper! CleanApp logs any additions to your computer that are installed by new software, in theory allowing a 100% clean uninstall which, with big applications, dragging that application to the trash can leaves a lot behind, though usually harmlessly so I figured if I got Cleanapp to monitor a fresh (re)install of MacKeeper I could then use CleanApp to fully remove it. Of the applications for fully un-installing applications I have a grudging respect for CleanApp, though you need to use it carefully.
I previously used the free Monolingual, carefully I thought - and had to reinstall Leopard. I first used it years ago and the worst that happened was that I had to re-install an application that it slimmed.
I am generalizing, there, I know but it was hard to escape that feeling, especially during the Vista years.Īside from Onyx, Xslimmer made a difference with applications opening faster - there seem to be a lot of tools out there for stripping out unwanted languages and unneeded PowerPC code but Xslimmer apparently is one of the better ones for keeping its database up-to-date with what is and isn't safe to remove.
I then developed that dreaded MS Windows obsession of 'how can I tweak my laptop to make it run faster?' On the whole I would say that is a waste of time and to just go back to using your Mac as a productivity tool tweaking and removing parasites from Windows is like inadvertently owning an allotment that you periodically have to weed and tend to keep it running nicely. If you have good grasp of basic terminal commands you can get almost everything it does done without the app. Placebo effect? Auto suggestion? It genuinely seemed a little faster. Aside from freeing up a lot of space on my small hard drive on a laptop, the laptop zipped along with that like new feeling. It is one of those Swiss army penknife tools of useful features.
I am a big fan of Onyx which is free and stable and safe - mileage may vary on the last two but I haven't personally had any problems or read of many instances where people have had problems. A mixed bag of gardneing tools for a garden that might exist only in the user's mind