Mac Optimizer Safe, Useful???

[Mr. D]

Is the app "Mac Optimizer" safe, useful?

 

[harryb2448]

Looks like another CleanYourMac Mackeeper etc. Why pay $29 US to use these when Onyx, which is free, is highly recommended here?

 

[lclev]

Yes +1 for what Harry said. Download Onyx - it is free and works well.

http://www.titanium.free.fr/onyx.html

Lisa

 

[MacInWin]

+1 for Onyx.

 

[Mr. D]

Thanx again guys! I find you very useful! (Smile) What's the smile symbol around here?

 

[harryb2448]

When you do a post see the smiley emicon next to the colour icon, the capital A in black :Blushing:

 

[Rod]

I have to say it, the app claims to manage apps with an App Manager, remove duplicate and large files, detect view and clean unused and "junk" files. I am obliged to say OnyX does virtually none of those things.
OnyX is however an exceptionally good application for repairing and maintaining the operational health of the Mac OSX system especially when you consider it's free. It is probably all you will ever need and all of the tasks that Mac Optimizer claims to do can easily be done manually.
For example an Application Manager usually is just a viewer that lists applications grouped by; Size, Access date (modification date) and name. This can be done in the normal Finder window view and the Apps removed entirely by dragging to the Trash using another free utility AppTrap.
Startup boot time is largely reliant on the number of login items that open on booting up, something that can be easily managed from the System preferences>Users and Groups> Login Items window and so on.
The strength of Applications like Mac Optimizer and why they sell at all is that they partly automate a number of processes that can be done manually and parcel them all into a nice tidy package. It really is an exercise in dumbing down the Mac user but it is easy and convenient. The danger is that by automating the process the user has less control over what is done thereby increasing the chance of error.
So we as a forum can empower people with the knowledge to carry out these simple maintenance tasks without the use of fancy expensive, resource hogging automated applications but the information must be accurate and true.

 

[IWT]

@Mr. D

I am in total agreement with what Rod says in post #7, above.

If you read his last 2 or 3 sentences — then look at your question: "Is the app "Mac Optimizer" safe, useful?" — the answer becomes "Is Mr D safe, useful?"

No offence, Mr D. I'm really just pointing out that complex cleaning/managerial Apps are really only as good or safe as the person using them.

You can do most, if not all, of what that app does — if you feel you must, in your own time and, you are always in charge. Moreover, if you do get into difficulty, we have vastly more chance of helping you! LOL

Ian

 

[Sawday]

Love the way it states that it will remove large files. Hang on a moment, those large files might actually be something I want to keep !!!

 

[MacInWin]

clip....remove duplicate and large files, detect view and clean unused and "junk" files...The danger is that by automating the process the user has less control over what is done thereby increasing the chance of error....

I disagree with you, Rod, because of those two statements from you. Products like Mac Optimizer sound good, but you are paying money for things that can be done easily manually and you run a huge risk that what the developer thinks is "junk" turns out to be critical, and just because I haven't used something recently doesn't mean it isn't important to me. It's the lost of control that is the HUGE risk here, particularly for novice users. Remember "Omnilinqual?" Offered to delete "unnecessary" language fonts but ended up breaking the system because it turns out some of those fonts were, in fact, critical. Maybe Mac Optimizer is smart enough to avoid those kinds of mistakes, but I'm certainly never going to turn it loose on my system(s).

 

[IWT]

You're right, Jake, but in fairness, Rod did qualify his statement in the concluding sentences. And that's also why I took it further with my jokey comment to Mr D about these apps being only as safe & trustworthy as the person using them!

Personally, I never touch anything but OnyX, and even then, only the basic functions which I think I understand.

Ian

 

[MacInWin]

True, but I took the general sense of Rod's post to be that the software in question was OK for Mr. D to use, which I would disagree with because of the perils. Even Onyx is not a really "safe" tool unless you either leave the defaults alone or really know what you are doing. I recommend Onyx, but generally follow that recommendation with a suggestion to leave the defaults as they are and not to mess with them. You can do a lot of damage with Onyx if you don't know what you are doing and go mucking about with the defaults.

All I was trying to say was that Rod's endorsement of the product in question could get a novice in trouble if they didn't read his post carefully. Maybe the warning needed to be a bit bolder?

 

[Rod]

I would like to make it clear that I was not endorsing this product or similar products at all. I do not approve of expensive applications that perform operations that can be done manually and easily if you know what you are doing and if you don't, well that's what this forum is for.
I had hoped to point out that my opinion of these types of "cleaner" apps are that they are both unnecessary, often resource hogging and expensive gimmicks who's only selling point are the parceling a number of simple maintenance tasks into convenient bundles. That is not meant to be an endorsement, just an observation. No one can deny that these app do sell.
If you take any one of Mac Optimizer's functions and Google it, like Manage Startup Boot Time you get great articles like this one http://osxdaily.com/2012/04/25/4-tips-to-speed-up-reboot-start-up-time-in-mac-os-x/ on how to do it manually.
Or Manage Large Unused Applications which is covered in this article http://osxdaily.com/2012/11/11/tips-free-up-disk-space-mac-os-x/
So to sum up I actively promote empowering users to perform simple maintenance themselves thereby learning how the OSX System works, which was always the beauty of Mac OS over Windows.

 

[harryb2448]

CleanMyMac all over again.