Uninstalling Programs

Hey guys I am a new Mac user...

I have noticed that macs come with a lot of unneeded programs (garage band...) How do I uninstall these programs? IS there a add/remove programs function like there is in windows?
What other programs can I remove from my mac, I have a powerbook g4 with 2 gigs of ram, 100 gig hard drive, and all the bells and whistles I could get with it (it is two months old) I noticed in the applications folder there are a lot of programs I will never use, What can I get rid of? (I know if I later need them I can reinstall them with the CDs) I use this computer for school and I do not play games on it, although I do do a lot of programing, math applications with it (BTW I LOVE IGRAPH!!!!) and word.

Mentioning this brings me to my next question.. How do I take care of my mac? Where is the disk de-fragmentor, and where can I get a program that will scan for and delete spyware? How do I check for errors? where do all the viruses go??

THanks A bunch guys

This is perhaps my fave feature of OSX. You just drag the file/folder to the trash and that's it.

No, really. That is it.

If you want to be dead sure, look up the un-needed program in spotlight, and drag all them to the trash.

And Virus'? What Virii? We're hardly affected (99%) by Virus' out there. Enjoy your Virus free mac!

THATS IT??? You mean no hunting down files and remnants of programs? Now what can I delete? I am not in a band, I am not an artist, I dont use my computer for chess, I dont use macs email (I use Microsoft entourage), I dont paint. So can I delete these? what else can I delete..

One Prob I am having with mac is picture organization... IT SUCKS... I had 200 hundred pictures at first, now because of using Iphoto and letting it organize it for me I have 4500+ pictures!

as JSchulz said, all you have to do is drag it to the trash and (if wanted) search in spotlight. As for defragmenting, your mac will do it on its own after a program install or you can make it do it using a program. to check for disk errors is to check the disks permissions. Opening disk utility will let you do this (Hard drive -> Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility). There is no spyware, you CAN get virii, its just that... none of them will affect you. so you get it, but nothing happens because its most likley made for a windows machine. and if you do get it, it will most likley appear on your desktop. I think i covered all of your questions, not sure... :mac:

Sloopy said:

THATS IT??? You mean no hunting down files and remnants of programs? Now what can I delete? I am not in a band, I am not an artist, I dont use my computer for chess, I dont use macs email (I use Microsoft entourage), I dont paint. So can I delete these? what else can I delete..

One Prob I am having with mac is picture organization... IT SUCKS... I had 200 hundred pictures at first, now because of using Iphoto and letting it organize it for me I have 4500+ pictures!

Click to expand...

If you are trying to delete (or in some cases even move) files that will screw up your system, the system will not let you. It will tell you that you are not allowed to move that file, tell you that you don't have sufficient privileges (you would need root access) or that it needs you to authenticate before allowing an action. Any one of those 3 things, don't mess with the file, otherwise, delete away....

cool!

Hey in regards to your question, "How do i take care of my Mac" i found a great application called OnyX. This App lets you do loads of maintenance operations even ones that run in the back ground every month.

Download onyX here

thanks,
Jack

Hi folks, I see this is an OLD thread, but as a fairly new mac user, I'd also like to remove all of the games - tic tac, mancala, reversi, etc. - I never play 'em. The removal question above is neatly answered. My question is, Is it OK to remove them? Or are any of them needed as some sort of shared application?
- Sorry, I'm a novice. I just don't wanna do any damage. Thanks

Should be just fine removing them.

Thanks Mike! A quick & concise answer

OK... Here goes.....

Sometimes there are associated preference files, but I don't think they do anything if the program isn't there

thanks srvmf -
Yepper, I did a spotlight search on anything related & found a bunch of preference stuff ~ All gone.

I've happily freed up a bit of drive space Groovy!

THANKS ALL

yea, no real icky .dlls