Final Cut Studio Missing Piece
The (less than) humble Mac is much lauded for it's simplicity and the word 'intuitive' is often bandied about when conversing in 'MacSpeak'. The examples of this 'intuitiveness' are of course obvious and rational - throwing a 'CD' into the 'TRASH BIN' is a perfectly Rational and Intuitive way to EJECT a disc from a CD drive
..
But it seems the endless quest for simplicity and the mythical grail of utmost ease of use often leads Apple to rather problematic software design cul-de-sac.
On a Windows system the process of uninstalling an application is often much derided for the relatively complexity of the operating systems registry, registry keys and dedicated Uninstaller system.
As alternative (and perhaps marketing driven deliberate point-of-difference) the Mac OS has championed the perceived logical simplicity of simply tossing the application in the bin; just drag and drop the app in the trash and its gone
or at least thats the plan.
The truth is that for just about anything other than simple utilities, this process of bin-tossing is a profoundly ineffective method for uninstalling. It may remove the core application but none of the associated applets, files, folders and general detritus that goes along with the software. The uninstall system (or lack there of) on Mac OSX is profoundly ineffective and a sure fire way to a polluted system of orphaned files.
One can only assume that Apple software engineers are not stupid people, that they are in fact very smart people. So the conclusion one is forced to come to when encountering this problematic uninstall pollution on the Mac is that Apple seemingly persist with the dysfunctional toss it in the bin approach out of an indignant desperate to not be Windows mindset. Style over substance perhaps? Surely not
Fortunately, the DIY ethic prevails and Digital Rebellion have come to the rescue for Final Cut Studio uninstalls by creating a dedicated uninstaller app that allows for a clean and total purging of FCS.
If Apple wish to counter the perspective that they are focused on the experience of uninstalling rather than the effectiveness of the uninstall process, they would by this little app from Digital Rebellion and bundle it in the FCStudio
Not bloody likely. But one can hope.
Download our copy of FCS Remover here.
For more on the idea of 'Intuitive Software' check out this micro-essay - The Myth of Intuitive software
Posted at 12:00AM Mar 12, 2008
by Mike Jones in video |
