Installing applications in Mac OS X
It’s not only about the operating system, one uses. What makes a computer great is the software you can run on it - and for Macs there is a lot of great software out there.
In the next two post we will have a installing-software roundup. We will cover all forms, software for your Mac can come in, how to handle different file types and how to install applications. In the following post we will look at how to remove software from your Mac again.
At the end of this post we have a list of great sites to get (mostly freeware) applications for your Mac.
Obtaining applications from the internet
Basically, there are two forms in which applications for Mac OS X are distributed. As compressed files or as disk image files. Let’s look at both in detail.
.zip files - compressed files
This is a set of files, compressed into one. It’s compressed to reduce the file size (for faster download times) and to make distribution of multiple files easier (so you only have to download one instead of multiple files). They look like this:
Mac OS X has built-in support for .zip files (and other compressed file formats). To extract its content (read: decompress) simply double click them and Mac OS X will create a folder with the same name as the .zip file and put all the files, which the .zip file contains, in there. If the .zip file contains only one file, it probably ends up in the same folder as the .zip file.
.dmg files - disk images
These files are disk image files. You can see them as “virtual CDs”. They look like this:
Double clicking this file, mounts it (the same as putting in a real CD) and the mounted disk image shows up in the Devices section of your Finder sidebar, looking like this:
Access the content of the mounted disk image by opening it like any other folder. Sometimes these images pop open a window, displaying their content after you mounted them.
Installing applications
So, you either open up a folder (as a result of an extracted .zip file) or display the content of a disk image. Basically there are, again, two different types - installer or application package.
It’s pretty easy to tell if it’s an installer or an application package.
Installers always look like this:
Application packages always have their own icon. Such as the multi-purpose tool Butler, which we covered here before.
Installer
The Installer will guide you through the setup, with instructions on the screen. In most cases it copies the application to the Applications directory on your Mac and sets up everything, for the new application to work.
Double click the icon to start the installation process.
Application package
An application package is one single file, containing all information a program needs to run. This might be a bit strange for users coming from other platforms.
Anyhow, everything you need to do is to drag the icon to the Applications directory.
Once you run the application (from the Applications directory) it takes care of itself in terms of setting itself up. You don’t need to worry about anything.
Running an application
In Mac OS X all your applications should be in the Applications folder. Some programs might not work correctly if they are not in this particular folder. So, just keep all your applications there and you’ll be fine.
A common mistake new users make is not to copy an application to the Applications folder on their Mac, but run the program directly from the disk image.
While you can do this, users get confused why they can’t eject the mounted disk image (as described above).
So, if you deal with an application, coming as single icon, make sure you copy it to your Applications directory, switch over to the Applications directory and run it from there.
If you want to keep an application in the Dock (for quick access), please read this post.
Cleaning up
After you successfully installed and ran an application you can get rid of disk images and compressed files. Everything you need is right there in the Applications folder in Finder.
Ejecting disk images
In order to be able to delete a .dmg file you need to eject (=unmount) the disk image first. To do so, click the eject icon in the Finder sidebar.
You can also drag the mounted disk image to the trash bin. Note, how the trash bin changes into an eject icon, to indicate that you eject something rather than delete.
Deleting unnecessary files
After you ejected the disk image, you can delete the associated .dmg file as well.
Deleting .zip files is straight forward. After you decompressed it (as described above) you don’t need it any longer and can delete it at any time. Just drag it to the trash bin.
Exotic file types
In case you download a screen saver or an additional System Preference pane, you simply double click it and Mac OS X will take care of the rest.
In case the installation is more complex the software developer should provide a text file, describing the installation process.
You’re welcome to drop us an email at mackindergarten@gmail.com in case you need support installing software.
Finding good software
So now you know how to handle everything that comes you way, so let’s go and find some quality stuff. We can recommend the following pages to find good (freeware) applications:
www.myosxfreeware.com
www.coolosxapps.net
www.freemacware.com
Tomorrow we will be back on how to uninstall applications.
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Tags: dock, freeware, installing, trash bin
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