Am i doing this right? File relater

Ok im new to macs so bare with me

When i download a file i save it to the desktop, then unually unzip it if its that type of file, then put the short-cut in the applications folder and then delete the installation files from the desktop.
Is this correct?

What if i want to remove the program later? Delete the Shortcut icon from applications, then?

The icon you see when you "unzip it" is not a shortcut... It is THE application... So yeah.. just open the zip, or mount the .dmg, or what ever.... then drag the Application (icon) to the applications folder. Close the windows, Eject the Mounted file, then Trash the .dmg (You CAN save the .dmg somewhere if you want to keep it for later, maybe for the readme files, instructions, etc.)

To remove the program..... Open the Applications folder, drag the app to the trash... Viola!

Wait, all the files for that particular program are in that one icon? Is this why people love macs so much?

So let me make sure i have this correct.
I download a program, unzip it.
open the .dmg "is that what most program files are called?
eject the file after install.
drag the icon to apps
delete everything else if i don't want the readme or anything

uninstall, delete the icon i dragged to apps?

yep.

(.dmg files are disk image files used for various purposes like downloading applications)

Awesome.

much cleaner than the windows registry....lol