Uninstalling the “default” Mac OS X apps

Question

I'm using Mac OS X 10.6.4 and it comes with a lot of Applications that I never use such as iWeb, iPhoto, iDvd ... I was wondering if I could delete those apps safely without causing too much trouble. Thanks for your help

Answer 1

Dragging them to the Trash should work in most cases. Some of these apps leave some trails behind (like video samples and templates). Have a look at /Library (not ~/Library !) and sort it out for yourself (Tip: the files are usually stored in a folder named after the App!).

Using tools such as AppCleaner oder PackageAssistant may help you with this, too.

Answer 2

The apps you mentioned are all part of iLife, which is an optional package. So yes, it would be safe to delete them, the system will work fine. I would suggest using AppCleaner or similar app to clean all of the apps' files.