[cosmic_cheese]

Furthermore, the OS can pick up the extensions, services, etc the app carries within its app bundle and offer them to the user to enable this way. No need to copy files to obscure directories (be it manually or with an installer), and when you trash the app bundle they’re all gone.

This is why merely having a copy of an app is enough to make QuickLook able to preview the filetypes the app is capable of opening. The system picks up the QuickLook extension in the app bundle and enables it.

It’s not perfect since small .plist config files get left behind, but it’s a whole lot more clean by default compared to the Windows approach.

[DidYaWipe]

This is just not true, and hasn't been for decades. Many, if not most applications create subdirectories and store stuff in the Library/Application Support directories. Trashing the app bundle leaves all that stuff behind.

[cosmic_cheese]

It comes down to each individual developer, and generally speaking indie devs are much better behaved than cross platform giants like Adobe. It’s another reason why Mac users often have a preference for native AppKit apps, which are what indie Mac devs tend to build.

Either way, the end result is still better than under Windows because at least macOS doesn’t go out of its way to keep the Application Support folders (user and global) hidden with magic URLs and such. Tick the checkbox to not hide the Library folder in your home folder’s Finder inspector window and the only thing making access harder is gone.

[hobs]

>Either way, the end result is still better than under Windows because at least macOS doesn’t go out of its way to keep the Application Support folders (user and global) hidden with magic URLs and such. Tick the checkbox to not hide the Library folder in your home folder’s Finder inspector window and the only thing making access harder is gone.

The way to access your folders in windows is literally exactly the same -> show hidden folders - the "urls" (%APPDATA%) are just shortcuts because of the historical moving around of stuff. Most devs leave all sorts of trash in OSX application support, check it out, its jam packed. Some apps are now running from there.

[cosmic_cheese]

It’s not the same because macOS has a setting for Library folder visibility specifically. Keeping that folder easily accessible doesn’t require turning on visibility for all hidden folders/files and then having to wade through a ton of normally invisible junk. ~/Library/Application Support/ is just a plain old path too, no need for magic platform specific keywords.

And yeah, Application Support is full, but as noted the worst offenders are consistently cross platform apps that don’t care to adhere to convention. The Application Support folders for Mac-first apps are usually pretty lightweight/clean, with exception to apps like Logic which use it as a place to keep downloaded assets.

[DidYaWipe]

Actually, it does. A few OS versions ago, Apple started hiding the user Library directory. And then obnoxiously RE-hiding it with each OS update if you had cleared its "hidden" attribute.

I think they finally stopped the re-hiding behavior.

None of that compares to the mess that is Windows's user directories. I mean... WTF is all of this stuff? There are two or three copies or shadows of the user-directory structure, and everything is "forbidden..." Windows is just painful and infuriating to use at this point.