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As noted by Apple iGuide (via TUAW), the latest developer build of Mac OS X Lion seeded last Friday brings a new iOS-like mechanism for deleting applications installed via the Mac App Store.
Invoking the new iOS-like "Launchpad" in Mac OS X Lion for managing applications allows users to click and hold on an icon to bring up the "jiggling" icon mode familiar to iOS users as the mechanism for organizing and deleting applications. Mac OS X Lion now allows users to delete Mac App Store application in the same way as in iOS, by clicking on an "X" button at the top left of the application's icon.
In Lion a user simply needs to invoke the Launchpad, click and hold on the icon of the application they wish to delete, and when the icons begin to wiggle a cross appears on icons of apps installed via the Mac App Store. Clicking this cross brings up the message "Are you sure you want to delete the application...?", and clicking 'Delete' confirms and removes the app.
This only works with applications installed from the Mac App Store, but will be a welcome addition to many, and makes removing applications easier for users familiar with iOS devices.
Those familiar with the Lion developer builds note that it is clear than the feature was coming in earlier releases, but is finally functional in the latest build.
Apple has of course stressed the "Back to the Mac" nature of Mac OS X Lion, bringing a number of the user interface aspects of iOS to the Mac OS X platform, offering a more consistent experience with the goal of making it easier for users to move between platforms and making Mac OS X more intuitive.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)Whatever happened to Command-Delete?
....this is starting to look like Aero in Windows Vista.
SEE ANY SIMILARITIES?
Image (http://thecustomizewindows.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/How-to-remove-the-confirmation-prompt-to-delete-any-file-in-Windows-7-2.png)
It's a dialogue box for christ sake. :rolleyes:
This concept might seem alien to a lot of MacRumours users, but being a 'switcher', the method of deleting any app on OS X currently seems very ad hoc. I've been a mac user now for about 4 years and yet the idea of having to delete an app by dragging it to the trash seems very... strange. You never know if you've deleted ALL of that program.
No, Microsoft have not got it right. There should be no need for a specific tool to uninstall applications. applications should be self-contained and be deletable with the press of a button…Microsoft have managed to get one thing right in Windows. A specific tool (Add/Remove Programs) to delete a program. That's something that I genuinely feel is lacking in OS X and this idea of clicking and holding in LaunchPad makes sense. It's imple enough: most users who own an iPhone will have no trouble in adopting this method. And what's more, it makes it instantly accessible to anyone who uses a mac. In addition, it goes a step further than Microsoft. It avoids making more novice users from having to delve in to a complex window of settings. A step in the right direction? I think so!
So personally, I think this is a very simple yet very effective change to make to OS X and should be a welcome sign of the things to come in Lion!
Many applications work this way on Mac, some developers still put related files into various other locations though unfortunately...
Hold down for 2(ish) seconds
click 'X'
click 'ok'.
OR
Drag to trash...
Seems like change for the sake of change. Hardly a groundbreaking new feature.
This concept might seem alien to a lot of MacRumours users, but being a 'switcher', the method of deleting any app on OS X currently seems very ad hoc. I've been a mac user now for about 4 years and yet the idea of having to delete an app by dragging it to the trash seems very... strange. You never know if you've deleted ALL of that program.
Microsoft have managed to get one thing right in Windows. A specific tool (Add/Remove Programs) to delete a program. That's something that I genuinely feel is lacking in OS X and this idea of clicking and holding in LaunchPad makes sense. It's imple enough: most users who own an iPhone will have no trouble in adopting this method. And what's more, it makes it instantly accessible to anyone who uses a mac. In addition, it goes a step further than Microsoft. It avoids making more novice users from having to delve in to a complex window of settings. A step in the right direction? I think so!
So personally, I think this is a very simple yet very effective change to make to OS X and should be a welcome sign of the things to come in Lion!
When I switched (back in 2002), the hardest thing in this respect was getting it through my head that that one icon sitting in the /Applications folder really is the whole app (*for well-behaved drag-install apps). Yes, you have "tools" like AppCleaner which delete all the prefs and user files for an app as well, obliterating any trace that the app was ver on your system, but those are just prefs. If the app itself is removed, the prefs are just text (or sometimes binary compressed) files sitting on the hard drive. They don't matter.
This is in absolute contrast to Windows where any app worth its salt comes with an installer, which spreads unknowable components throughout the hard drive and changes various settings everywhere in the system. Of course you need another automated tool to (sometimes) undo all those changes.
Since 2002, the trend in Mac software has been a lot of large installers (the majority are well-behaved drag-install apps, but I see installers on apps which really shouldn't need an opaque installer at all). OS X doesn't have a good answer for those kinds of apps, and it is indeed messy.
The App Store, however, essentially moves us back to a compartmentalized app workspace which can be removed as automatically as it is laid down.
* Hover the mouse pointer over an app in launchpad.
* Right click -> contextual menu OR popup with get info and delete options.
OR
* Hover the mouse pointer over an app in launchpad.
* Delete and info buttons appear below the app. Click to apply.
Both sound more logical and intuitive than this.