Any Windows user getting his feet wet with Mac OS X might get a little confused when it comes to installing software. It is not complicated. Just different.
There is no start menu, and things do not tack onto the Dock automatically. So, it is easy to install something on the Apple and not be able to find the program you just installed. The Windows start menu is actually a really good idea, and I’m not sure why Apple didn’t put something similar into Mac OS – a place where ALL installed programs go no matter what. And then from there you can choose to dock it, put it on the desktop, etc. That’s not the Apple way, however.
A Newbie’s Experience
For example, I installed Netscape 9 on the Mac. Here is my story that I wrote as I was experiencing it:
I downloaded a DMG file. I double-click on the DMG and MacOS mounts the image and begins to run the installer. Cool. I run the installer and install Netscape 9. Since Netscape 9 is powered by the same engine as Firefox, I head on over to the Firefox Add-ons page and grab the FoxMarks extension – in my opinion one of the most valuable extensions available. Works like a charm. I then close Netscape. Now, I have this window open with the Netscape icon within it. This is the mounted disc image. I close that. Here is where the confusion was for me.
In Windows, when you install a program, it installs wherever you tell it to. Then, you can delete the original installer should you wish to. So, I wanted to remove the DMG disc image. I highlight it on my desktop and press the Delete key. Doesn’t work. OK, I guess Apple doesn’t think permitting the delete key on a desktop icon makes sense. To me it does. However, I drag it to the Trash icon in the Dock. OK, gone. Problem is now I have no visible trace of Netscape 9 being installed on my machine. Where the hell did it go? I use the Finder and look in Applications. It isn’t there. So, I end up going back to the installer and running it again. This time when I open Netscape, the icon appears in the Dock as usual when the program is running. I hit CONTROL and click on the icon and tell it to stay in the dock. I then back out and do everything I did again. Now, when I click that icon in the Dock it looks like it is re-mounting the image and bugging me about it. Why won’t the damn thing just run?
At this point, I am caught between thinking MacOS users are in a different frickin’ world and thinking I have a ways to go before I can use this. As a long-time Windows user, I’m sitting here feeling like a total newbie with Mac OSX Leopard.
I am happy to report that as I publish this post, I have installed enough to my Mac where I am now more or less used to this. Again, it’s not that the Mac is difficult to install stuff to. It most certainly is not. However, when a Windows user first tries it, it is likely to confuse them at first.
How To Install Programs
Now that I have installed several more apps to OS X, I am more used to what is going on. Again, it is definitely different than Windows and, quite frankly, not quite as user friendly. Here is the basic process:
- Download the software you wish to install from the internet. Chances are it is going to be either a ZIP file or a DMG file. A ZIP file is a compressed file and a DMG file is an image file.
- Double-click on the file you just downloaded. If it is a ZIP file, it will automatically decompress. If it is a DMG file, it will mount the disc image.
- If an installer does not run automatically, run it by double-clicking on it. Some programs do not have installers. They simply decompress and you can just run it from there.
- With ZIP files, usually it is going to decompress into the same folder as the ZIP file was in. And there the program sits. It will not tack itself to the Dock and this is where many people new to OS X might get confused in thinking the program did not actually install. What you need to do is drag and drop the icon for the program into the Applications folder in the Finder. Also, to allow for quick access to the application, run it so that it’s icon appears in the Dock. Then, hit CONTROL and click on the icon in the Dock and select “Keep in Dock”. It will then stay there as a shortcut even when the program is not running. You can also drag-and-drop any application to the Dock for creating a quick shortcut.
- The same process is used for DMG files. The program is likely to be runnable directly from the disc image. However, in order to install the application and be able to run it without the image being mounted, you need to drag and drop the program from the disc image to the Applications folder. Some DMG downloads actually provide a little interface for dragging it to the Applications folder, but if it doesn’t you will need to remember to do it. After that, you can unmount the disc image by choosing “Eject” and still run the software. Use the same techniques above to make the program more accessible if you don’t feel like hunting it down in the Applications folder every time.
Creating a Desktop Icon
Aside from adding a program’s icon to the Dock or dragging it to the Applications folder, you can also create a desktop shortcut. In OS X, a shortcut is called an “alias”. To create an alias of one of your programs, for the following:
- Open your Applications folder.
- Find the application you want to make a shortcut for.
- Right-click on it and select “Make Alias”. It will be created right there as a copy.
- Drag and drop the alias from the Applications window onto the desktop.
- From now on, double-clicking the icon on your desktop will launch the program.
Note that all of this is based on Leopard, OS X 10.5. I am assuming it is the same for Tiger, but I honestly do not know at this point.
My Opinion
With Windows, the fact that you install a program and it automatically appears in the start menu just makes sense. Even with Linux, an installed program ends up on the top menu automatcally. So, I was suprised to see that this was not the case for OS X. Installing software on the Mac seems to have the easy tendency of resulting in programs scattered all over the computer with no central way of getting to them. And in order to make a central way of getting to it, the user has to do it themselves.
The Start menu in Windows was and is a really good idea – one that Apple should consider implementing in OS X. It doesn’t necessarily need to be done the same way, but the idea would be to have one CENTRAL repository for all installed software that is automatic and does not require the user to drag-and-drop anything in the Finder.
I admire the simplicity of OS X in this regard. You can drag and drop whole applications and not break anything. If you try that in Windows, most likely the entire application will break due to the Windows registry. So, there are definite benefits to having no registry. The issue is that there is a lack of continuity when you install programs to OS X and it leaves a little more to the user. There is no manual for OS X that comes with a Mac, so the least they can do is make the OS hold your hand a little bit so that you can’t lose an application that you just installed.
David Risley is the founder of PCMech.com. He is the brains, the thinker, the writer, the nerd.
I’m really glad that you are running through these steps in your articles. Is there a possible “Getting Started with OS X” DVD on the horizon?
*Some* applications *do* have installers — e.g., Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, various printer drivers, etc., etc.
But in most cases, installers are not needed, since what you see as an icon is actually a bundle containing both the executable and its support files. (Right-click on something in /Applications and choose “Show Package Contents” to see inside.) Since everything is there, all that’s needed is to drag-and-drop the bundle from the disk image to where it belongs.
Additionally, some careful users prefer to install third-party software in ~/Applications rather than /Applications. Or they put stuff that will only be used by them in there, where it will be out of the way of other users of the machine. With a disk image, it’s easy to make that choice.
Actually, many users would get angry and upset, write the developer and tear him off a strip if he used an installer without needing to. People get worried when developers use installers — particularly ones that request one’s admin password, because they don’t know where the installer is going on the machine and what it is doing. (That’s not insurmountable, since the Apple installer — if that’s used and not some other installer — will present a bill of what’s being installed, if the menu option for that is selected. And there are other ways of keeping tabs.)
Personally, I think other OSes should be so lucky as to have the simplicity of drag-and-drop installs. Unfortunately, their architectures tend to make it problematic.
Sounds to me like you’re running into a common issue: overcomplicating things. On one hand, it seems like an extra step to copy the app yourself. On the other hand, this is because it’s a much simpler setup to start with. Just toss it where you want it (though /apps is obviously the nest idea many people make subfolders in there to organize things.) The whole idea of a disc image seems a little alien at first but when you think about it it’s more consistent with everything else. It’s a disc; copy the contents where you want ‘em, just like any file. As a side benefit, apps will run from any disc, like a USB key containing your favorite game to play at work. Just for example.
And… Clicking the Finder, then Applications in the sidebar is hardly much work once you know to do it, but you can also put /Apps in the Dock as a stack. Instant Start menu substitute. You can also drag things into /apps that way without browsing for the folder.
As long as we’re at it, a lot of Mac users don’t even know that system stuff like screen savers, fonts and dashboard widgets can be double-clicked for install. (I assume you’ve checked out the thousands of widgets at apple.com/downloads/dashboard.) They just assume they should copy them to the appropriate /library folder. That works too but it’s unnecessary.
BTW: CMD-OPT drag will create an alias. Also, simply moving an icon in the Dock will make it stay on the assumption that you’ll run something new and immediately drag it to a Dock position that suits you. And… especially in the Finder, experiment with holding CMD, OPT, SFT and various combinations of these while a menu is open. Lots of options there. Also try holding keys while dragging things. There are a ton of hidden features accessed this way throughout the system. Example: option-click a window close button and all windows for that app will close. Same with opt-minimize. Here’s a cute one: hold shift when minimizing or un-Docking a window; ultra-slo-mo animation. (Unless that’s been removed from Leopard. Haven’t upgraded yet.)
While I agree that it can be confusing to people from other operating systems, suggesting that Apple have something like the Start menu is kinda void. The reason that Apple doesn’t need to have anything like the Start menu is that the file system is simple and logical. The Start menu is like a rug that was bought to cover up the stain on the floor that is the file system layout. Rather than fix the problem they added a layer of abstraction to make it a non issue
Martin, I disagree. The start menu is actually a good idea and I hardly see it as an attempt to cover up. The point of it is to make it dead easy to access the apps you install. Even every version of Linux I have tried does the same thing. OS X is the first OS that I have used where this doesn’t occur. And, that’s my point, there simply ARE some ideas inside of Windows that I believe are better than OS X.
The Windows file system is perfectly logical, just different. You might not like it because you are used to OS X, but there is nothing complicated about it any more than OS X is complicated.
Just because OS X does something doesn’t mean it is necessarily perfect.
I know saying OS X could benefit from a few Windows ideas is kinda hammering on the fifth rail of computing, but I just call it like I see it.
I’m not saying it’s a bad idea on Windows, I’m simply saying that the necessity to have a start menu in order to access applications quickly does not exist on OS X. I can just go to my applications folder on my Mac and see all my applications listed there, which is impossible to do on Windows due to the lack of bundles.
I’m not saying what you are suggesting is wrong, but a lot of common suggestions I see for “improvements” to the Mac are simply people not wanting to change their habits. Two of the most common are wanting the green button to maximise (which it has never done on the Mac, because an application rarely needs that much screen space) and wanting applications to close when you close a windows (which as the Mac is application centric and not document centric like Windows would kind of go against one of the main design ideas). Both methods are valid and have their benefits as well as their pitfalls but many of the things people who switch to the Mac ask for are things that have been done that way long before Windows was release, or at least before most modern Windows concepts arrived with Windows 95
The problem there is that not all apps get loaded into the apps folder. That was the problem that was mentioned earlier. If there is a chance that you might have to hunt for a program, a start menu or app menu is a wise choice. I really enjoy Ubuntu’s app menu…everything is laid out in perfect categories.
“The problem there is that not all apps get loaded into the apps folder. That was the problem that was mentioned earlier.”
Nope, and that’s what I mean by overcomplicating it. The user assumed that some installer magic would necessarily happen and stash everything somewhere and then he couldn’t find it. In fact, FireFox was being run from the disc image and when the image was unmounted it went away, and references to it broke.
The system did the one simple thing it appeared to do, it mounted a disc image and showed the contents. That’s it. The confusion was borne of being accustomed to something more complicated needing to happen. Now, many developers are thoughtful enough to put a background picture in the DMG’s window (as you can do with any folder or disc window just to decorate them) which will say “Drag this to your Apps folder” with a big arrow.
And I still maintain that a Start menu is no simpler than clicking the Finder and then the permanent Applications icon in the sidebar, especially when install and uninstall utilities have a habit of borking the thing from time to time. It might be helpful if Apple put the Apps folder in the Dock by default as many people do anyway, but a disconnected, separately configured menu just complicates things. As it is, Apps is just a folder and can be organized, referenced, Docked, aliased or whatever just like any other folder. That consistency and direct manipulation of the system is a strength, not a weakness.
To launch an application, regardless of where it’s stored, invoke Spotlight (built-in) or Quicksilver (third-party freeware), type in the first few characters of the program you want to launch, up pops a list of matches, find the one you want, click on it. Simple. The typical user should not have to know where an application program is stored. And while dragging a program icon to the trash and emptying the trash will indeed uninstall most programs, if you want to uninstall everything associated with each program, such as its preference files, local caches, etc., there’s AppZapper (shareware).
I would read the ‘Read Me’ file in all installer images. It usually tells you how to install the particular program you downloaded.
agree with above comments, you were expecting installation of apps to be more complicated than it is and got it a bit off. dont run from the disc image…
there’s really no need for a start menu in OS X. it’s things like the start menu in windows that really make you lose apps, pieces of which tend to land all over the system and still be in the start menu and elsewhere after being uninstalled.
“The Windows file system is perfectly logical, just different. You might not like it because you are used to OS X”
Oh, please. I use Windows for more hours in a day than MacOS X. I’ve used every version of Windows since 3.1 (1.0 and 2.0 were just too primitive to bother with). The Windows file system (and the registry) is a hairball. Even the idea of drive letters is retarded — cruft from the DOS days.
I don’t think you guys are reading this article correctly. It’s not a tutorial, it’s not a FAQ, it’s a personal experience. He tried what he thought was logical in installing programs and, coming from a totally different operating system, he realized that if a certain, simple something was added in, it would make OSX a lot easier to use.
Nothing like a Start Menu makes no sense to me at all.
“I can just go to my applications folder on my Mac and see all my applications listed there, which is impossible to do on Windows due to the lack of bundles.”
I don’t know what you mean here Martin. Any PC user has the ability to create an applications folder and put all of their shortcuts inside. Heck, it’ll be on the desktop instead of in the hard drive folder in the OSX environment. I for one use Launchy to launch programs on my PC. I don’t think there’s a Mac counterpart, but if there is, you all should try it.
“Any PC user has the ability to create an applications folder and put all of their shortcuts inside.”
But the thing is the Applications folder on the Mac isn’t a bunch of short cuts. It’s the actual applications, which all appear as single files. And launchy looks just like something like Quicksilver or the built in Spotlight
Actual applications, so you might misplace an entire application (not likely, but what’s the point of having one file in the first place?), and single files, so the user is blocked out from editing program-level files? I like my .INFs and other modded files, thank you very much. I wouldn’t be able to run some games on widescreen or do many other things without access to those files.
The point of a shortcut is to launch a program, what else do you do with the single program files on a Mac? Shortcuts are safer, and the fact that Windows adds a shortcut to each installed program into the Start Menu automatically is even better.
Oh yes, and Launchy is MUCH more lightweight and customizable than Spotlight and Quicksilver. I only have it look in one folder – my “program shortcuts” folder. I’ve added the “run” and “add/remove programs” shortcuts too. With Spotlight and Quicksilver you’re given every result imaginable and every time I’ve tried it and spend too much time looking through the gigantic list just to find what I’m looking for.
“Actual applications, so you might misplace an entire application (not likely, but what’s the point of having one file in the first place?), and single files, so the user is blocked out from editing program-level files?”
No, I said that they appear as single files. If I was to send you a Mac application it would appear as a folder, but because it is a bundle, it appears as a single file on the Mac. You can right click on it and select “Show package contents”, to see inside of it, but if you double click on it it will open. Think of a bundle as a folder that acts as a file. It’s used all over the OS for applications, file formats, frameworks etc.
“With Spotlight and Quicksilver you’re given every result imaginable and every time I’ve tried it and spend too much time looking through the gigantic list just to find what I’m looking for.”
Except for the fact that with spotlight the applications matching the string are one of the top 3 or 4 items in the list, if not the top item in the list which is already selected, plus the fact that with Leopard applications are likely to be the first thing that actually appears in the spotlight menu.
“With Spotlight and Quicksilver you’re given every result imaginable and every time I’ve tried it and spend too much time looking through the gigantic list just to find what I’m looking for”
Perhaps that’s because you haven’t let QuickSilver learn your preferences. It’s more than a program launcher, and it knows based on my past interaction behaviour what the most relevant items are, and ranks them accordingly. If a program launcher is all you want, see http://www.stuntsoftware.com/Overflow/
“No, I said that they appear as single files. If I was to send you a Mac application it would appear as a folder, but because it is a bundle, it appears as a single file on the Mac. You can right click on it and select “Show package contents”, to see inside of it, but if you double click on it it will open. Think of a bundle as a folder that acts as a file. It’s used all over the OS for applications, file formats, frameworks etc.”
I see. That does make a lot of sense. It’s like having the program folder be the shortcut. Windows makes a shortcut on its own anyway, so there isn’t much of a difference on this front.
Perhaps that’s because you haven’t let QuickSilver learn your preferences. It’s more than a program launcher, and it knows based on my past interaction behaviour what the most relevant items are, and ranks them accordingly. If a program launcher is all you want, see http://www.stuntsoftware.com/Overflow/
I’m not looking to spend $15 on a closed-source program that only launches programs. I’ll stick with Windows and, in turn, Launchy. I can do math calculations within Launchy and lots of other things with a plugin. Really simple and effective; I use it all the time. Just have to press “ctl+shift” and I get a little skinnable Window. Honestly, Overflow just looks like a pretty Windows Explorer.
“I’m not looking to spend $15 on a closed-source program that only launches programs.”
You don’t have to. You can just drag the MacOS X Applications folder into the Dock, and it will automatically create the required shortcuts.
“I can do math calculations within Launchy”
Spotlight can do the same thing.
“I’ll stick with Windows”
I’ve been using Windows far longer than I’ve been using MacOS X, and switching back and forth everyday is not mentally taxing at all.
“You don’t have to. You can just drag the MacOS X Applications folder into the Dock, and it will automatically create the required shortcuts.”
But now you’ve missed the point of a program launcher completely. I want to use my keyboard to launch things. I don’t want to have to aim for stuff to open it. Using a keyboard is faster.
“Spotlight can do the same thing.”
I can get what a Mac user gets with a combination of Spotlight/Quicksilver, and Overflow with just Launchy, for free. Period.
“I’ve been using Windows far longer than I’ve been using MacOS X, and switching back and forth everyday is not mentally taxing at all.”
If you’re switching between two different computers, then I’d urge you to take a look at your energy bill, or at least consider the time it takes to shut down/boot up between OS’s. If you’re using Boot Camp, be glad that Microsoft didn’t make a fuss about having their OS run on a Mac while Apple keeps their OS all to themselves. Of course, the Boot Camp download has been pulled, so you have to spend $130 on Leopard to get it if you haven’t downloaded already. Plus technically your beta license has expired. Ouchy.
“If you’re switching between two different computers, then I’d urge you to take a look at your energy bill, or at least consider the time it takes to shut down/boot up between OS’s.”
At work I have a PC and a Mac, both provided by my employer because our Macs are all pre-Intel; if I had an Intel Mac I could run Windows in Parallels or VMWare Fusion and not have to reboot at all. At home I have a Dell PowerEDGE server with Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition, but it’s switched off more than 90% of the time because I don’t really use it much anymore. Most of my Macs at home are notebooks, which draw very little power. As for boot times, Leopard is much faster than Vista, see
http://tinyurl.com/2sdz2a
I detect a note of contrarian smugness in your tone. If I am mistaken, I apologise. Perhaps you truly believe that Windows is superior to Mac OS X, and no amount of rational discussion will convince you otherwise. That is sometimes called zealotry, which is usually more applicable to Mac users than to Windows users. Personal preferences are not to be dismissed out of hand, but ignorance is sometimes the root of much misunderstanding; civil discourse about the relative merits of operating systems should mitigate this, but only if participants are willing to learn.
“I want to use my keyboard to launch things. I don’t want to have to aim for stuff to open it. Using a keyboard is faster.”
I agree. That’s why I use Quicksilver, which can do much more than just launch programs. If I invoke Quicksilver (on my Mac, Ctrl-space) and type ‘news’ it takes me to Google News. It I type ‘bob’ it shows me the contact information for my friend Bob, and so on.
“can get what a Mac user gets with a combination of Spotlight/Quicksilver, and Overflow with just Launchy, for free. Period.”
On Leopard, Spotlight alone should suffice — plus it now searches across the network and through backups.
I don’t use Vista. I’m not touching it until my computer can blast through it. This probably involves 4GB of RAM. Easy decision, and it’s different from Tiger to Leopard (more like OS9 to OSX). Of course, you’ll still see a performance drop going to Leopard.
If I loved Windows that much, I wouldn’t have recommended an iMac to my father. I’m only explaining some of the reasons why I’ve stuck with Windows. The main one is that I play games and use Autodesk 3ds Max and Inventor, both of which just aren’t as good on Mac, or on some sort of counterpart.
All of that stuff with contacts and backups and everything…you can do it with Launchy with the right plugins. Vista’s search is closer to Spotlight anyway.