Well afriqueart you certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons with this topic. As you can see there are some strong feelings about any application that meddles with system files in the Mac OS.
I agree completely that most "cleaning" applications for Mac OS are often worse than useless with the insidious and invasive Mac Keeper being case in point but at the end of the day it's up to the consumer to decide, it is our role to merely advise based on our pooled knowledge.
miz_mdk, I am a Clean My Mac 3 user myself and have been since inception with absolutely no problems but I also promote OnyX. You will note that most of our members advise using OnyX to run the "maintenance" scripts at their default settings. I have not seen anyone advise changing these settings nor advise on the use of of the "Automation" or "Utilities" scripts. All contain preference options and I would not advise using or changing these without research or advice first.
So Onyx is potentially harmful and the developers are the first to admit this and include a detailed disclaimer which appears as a window prior to use including this statement;
"Back up your data:
Before using OnyX, back up your data.
OnyX is not problem-free, and no user is infallible. Back up your data using Time Machine or any third–party backup utility".
I might add that OnyX has never caused a problem for me and I have tried all the scripts but not without first understanding what they would do.
In the same way I do not use CMM 3 without first understanding what it is about to do and in my mind it's only fault is, unlike Onyx, it does not include a disclaimer display and backup advice prior to use.
When I started using CMM I was not a member of this forum and had I been I probably would not have invested the money although it was much cheaper then and subsequent upgrades have been at a discounted rate.
I don't think the two applications can really be compared, Onyx is really a better form of Disk Utility and is very valuable in that role. CMM 3 is a System Cleaner, it removes things
that it decides you don't need and therein lies the danger. It is perhaps too easy to just use Smart Cleanup without knowing the what will happen.
You may not want it to remove your email attachments, temporary files or unused binaries and localisations from apps but the preferences to prevent that are easily accessible.
Some things it does do (that OnyX does not) are complete Uninstallation or Reset of applications, an easy to use Extension Manager, a Large Old Files scanner that lists files by name, type or last time opened which I find particularly useful for getting rid of forgotten, unused or redundant files and a Shredder for securely removing files.
All of these functions can of course be found in other apps but CMM 3 puts them all together in one easy to use interface and that's where it shines.
BUT and it's a big but, all applications like this need to be used with care and discretion and only after some research and a complete backup.
...and money out of your pocket to make your computer slower!
