Software Management

From Mac vs. Windows

It's safe to assume that sooner or later a user will install additional software on their computer. Most software on Mac OS X is installed and uninstalled via drag and drop, while on Windows Vista, "wizards" are the primary method.

Installing Software

Mac OS X Leopard

Most applications for Mac OS X use a "package" design. A package (indicated with the file extension .app) is really just a folder that contains all the required files necessary for the application to work, but the Finder presents it as an application that launches when you double-click it. This package design offers several benefits:

• Drag and Drop Installation - Installing an application is as simple as moving its package to the user's Applications folder. There are no further steps required (yet, some apps could trigger a setup wizard the first time they are run). In fact, users are free to "install" applications wherever they wish, because all the files needed for the application to run are stored together in the package. However, Apple does recommend placing applications in the Applications folder, if only as a means of keeping things more organized.

Example of Mac OS X's drag and install process. Some applications, like Mozilla's Firefox web browser, include custom folder backgrounds that show how to install the application.

• Easy to relocate - The package design allows a user to move an application (even after they have installed it) to a new location without breaking it and causing it not to run. Applications can even be moved while they're running! One caveat - Apple warns against doing this with its own bundled software (such as iLife) because it will prevent software updates from being installed properly.

• Easy to update - Want to update an application to a new version? Just replace the old package with the new version, in the same way that you would replace an old file with a newer copy. There's no need to uninstall anything first.

• Run multiple versions of applications without conflicts - Although most average users probably wouldn't have a need for this, an additional benefit of the package design is that it allows for multiple versions of the same application to coexist on the same system. Because the files needed to run each version of the application are self-contained in the package, they can be installed side-by-side and don't conflict with each other. You can even run different versions of the same application simultaneously! A web developer, for example, can test a website in two different versions of the same browser.

Despite how easy packages make it to distribute applications, some Mac applications still require an install wizard. Generally, an installer is used only when there are files that need to be placed in specific locations for the application to function correctly (such as drivers for hardware). Apple provides a standard install/uninstall wizard for developers to use with their applications.

Windows Vista

Nearly all Windows applications are installed using some type of install wizard. The default location for installing software is C:/Program Files/. Applications are usually placed into subfolders that contain the executable (.exe file) and any necessary files required to run. This is one reason why the Start Menu is encouraged over Windows Explorer for launching applications, as it generally will only list a shortcut to the main executable (and occasionally additional features, such as help files and/or an uninstaller).

It is not recommended to move an application once it has been installed. This can cause serious problems with the application and possibly even prevent it from launching.

It is also possible to "install" a program by copying it to the hard drive in any directory or unzipping the program folder from an archive. These programs do not need to make any changes to the registry. In some ways these are preferable as they don't make changes to the system that can cause compatibility issues, but they also lack convenience in not showing up in the start menu unless you manually create the shortcuts and folders for it. If a program is installed into C:/Windows/System32 it can be launched directly from the search bar in the start menu or from the run dialog box.

Example of install wizard on Vista. Most of the time, the process consists of choosing "Next" a couple of times.

Launching Software

Mac OS X Leopard

There are three places users can launch applications from on Mac OS X: the Finder, the dock, and Spotlight.

Finder
The Finder provides a couple of shortcuts for opening the Applications folder. Along with appearing under "Places" in the Finder sidebar, users can access it from the Finder's menu bar (Go > Applications) or CMD+SHIFT+A on the keyboard. Some applications are placed in Utilities, which can be accessed using Go > Utilities or CMD+SHIFT+U.

Dock
While launching applications from the Applications folder is fairly straightforward, frequently-used applications can be placed in the dock for quick access. Dragging any application from the Finder to the left side of the dock will create an alias. Clicking the application's alias launches it.

Another quick way to launch applications from the dock is to drag the Applications folder to its right side. This will create a stack that with one click will spring open a grid of icons for all the applications.

Launching applications from the Applications folder stack in the dock

Spotlight Menu
If you want to quickly launch an application that you don't have an alias for in the dock, you can perform a Spotlight search for the application. Spotlight will search through application names first before it begins searching the rest of the system, so matching results appear almost instantly. In addition, if a matching application is found, it will be deemed the "top hit," which is selected by default. As a result, you can launch an application through Spotlight in mere seconds, simply by typing the first few letters of its name.

Launching applications from the Spotlight menu

Mac Keeper
mac undelete software scans the hard drive (or i.e. USB storage device) for all "undeletable" files. Then you have to locate the file and preview its contents.

Windows Vista

Start Menu's shortcuts
Windows Vista encourages users to launch their applications from the Start Menu as opposed to directly from Explorer. The "All Programs" submenu contains shortcuts to applications installed on the computer. Nearly all applications add shortcuts to the Start Menu after being installed. Vista alerts the user that new software has been installed from the Start menu. It even highlights the part of the "All Programs" menu where it's located. This is a nice touch as it walks the user through the steps of launching their software for the first time.

The "All Programs" menu and icons can be organized in any way the user chooses by navigating to that folder in Windows Explorer and placing each icon or subfolder into user-defined folders. Using the "All Programs" menu is what most users of older versions of Windows might be used to, however the new search box method of launching applications is far superior.

Start Menu's search box
Windows Vista includes a search box on the bottom as a time saver. Instead of browsing the "All Programs" menu for the application the user wishes to launch, they can just hit the Windows key on the keyboard, then type its name into the search box and select it from the results that appear. If the first result listed is the one you want, the user can press enter to launch this item. This makes it extremely easy to launch applications using the keyboard and negates the need to organize the Start Menu's "All Programs" listing into a logical heirarchy. Pressing the Windows Key and R at the same time brings up the older Run dialog box that does not offer predictive application launching.

Most Used Applications list
Windows Vista adds the applications launched through the "All Programs" menu or the search box to a list in the Start Menu. Most used applications are on top of that list, so if you've used more applications than there is room on the list, the least used applications will not be shown. You can also pin applications to the list that will be shown on top. By default, the default web browser and email applications are pinned to the list.

Explorer
Any program can also be launched by navigating to the directory it is installed in and launching the .exe file. This is sometimes necessary for programs that do not make themselves accessible through the Start Menu during installation - particularly programs that are designed to launch automatically at boot time. Also, some programs add a shortcut to the user's desktop, so they can launch the app from there.

Quick Launch bar
Another common place used to launch apps in Windows is the Quick Launch bar. This one has the advantage of being visible all the time (if the taskbar is not set to autohide) so the Quick Launch bar comes handy for very common used applications. Each Quick Launch icon is assigned a keyboard shortcut based on its sequential order from left to right. For example, the first icon on your Quick Launch bar can be opened by typing Windows key + 1, the second by Windows key + 2, and so on.

Windows Quick Launch bar

Key Shortcuts
Users can launch applications by pressing key combinations, given they have previously assigned one on the "properties" panel of a shortcut to the application.

Managing and Uninstalling Software

Mac OS X Leopard

Applications on Mac OS X are easy to uninstall due to their self-contained package design. To remove an application, just drag it to the Trash (and empty it).

However, this will not uninstall everything. Additional files that were created by the application after it was initially run - such as preference files, caches, etc. - are left behind in the user's Library folder, and will have to be manually deleted. Generally, however, these files take up minimal amounts of disk space and do not need to be deleted.

Requiring the trash to be emptied as part of another OS function defeats the purpose of the trash itself, which is to hold copies of files in case the user needs them back. As a result, uninstalling applications in OSX forces the user to delete all other files in the trash, even if they don't belong to the application going to be removed.

Windows Vista

For management of currently installed applications, Windows Vista offers a centralized location in the "Programs and Features" pane. Here, the user is able to find wich applications, drivers, updates and OS features are currently installed. Some applications provide here options to modify or repair the installations; for example, individual MS Office features could be added or removed from this pane.

OS updates can also be removed from the "Programs and Features" pane, and OS features could be enabled-disabled here.

The majority of applications that can be installed on Windows Vista come with some type of an uninstaller. The uninstaller can usually be found either in the application's subfolder in Start Menu > All Programs or in the Programs pane in Control Panel. Programs that haven't been installed with a Windows installer, such as those installed from a self extracting archive or manually extractable archive will have to be deleted manually.

Odds & Ends

Mac OS X

• When the user first runs an application, it creates a preference file to save any settings they configure within the application. These files are saved outside the application and in ~/Library/Preferences.. If a user reinstalls an application they previously had uninstalled, all of their previous settings are remembered. This design also makes troubleshooting easy - if an application is crashing or exhibiting other problems, deleting its preference files is often an easy fix. When the application runs next, it will create new preference files, just as if it were running for the first time.

Windows Vista

• Certain programs which are designed to start automatically with the system will either do so through the Startup Programs folder in the Start menu (this is the preferable method and the least obnoxious), through the registry, or on occasion as a system level driver.

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