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by gamblor956 72 days ago
On Windows, you run the uninstaller, click once, and a few seconds later everything is uninstalled. You reboot to remove any remaining files immediately, or you can just wait until the next time you naturally reboot and it happens then.

This has been how it works in the Windows world for several decades. Surprising that Apple still hasn't figured this out yet.
2 comments
streetfighter64 72 days ago
Not to enter another OS ** measuring contest, but on linux systems you can both install and remove programs with a single command line. No need to search the web for the installer, no need to install the MSVC runtime (dependencies are handled automatically), no reboots needed pretty much ever, etc.

And no, on windows not "everything" is removed by most uninstallers. At least it wasn't back when I was using windows 7. Though I doubt it's really changed, unless you count those "windows store apps", but that's also equivalently available on mac. Both are a poor imitation of a proper linux package manager.

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tuetuopay 72 days ago
Ever tried to uninstall an antivirus on windows? Or any program that does not want to be uninstalled? I've had programs whose uninstall.exe was no different than /bin/true.

On this point, Windows is no better than macOS: the OS relies on the goodwill of the developers to provide working uninstallers. The only protection is a world where the OS provider does the application packaging: Linux repositories, Mac App Store, Windows Store. And even then, apps are still free to litter your filesystem at runtime, unless they're heavily sandboxed. Then FlatPak it is, or iOS apps or Android apps. Not great.

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gamblor956 72 days ago
Yes, I have uninstalled antivirus. The uninstaller removed most of the files, except those in memory. I turned off the computer at the end of the day, and after startup the next morning the remaining files were gone.

The only remaining files were the "user space" like custom preferences or files created by the user using the program. The uninstaller rightfully leaves it up to the user to decide what to do with those.

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