DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

As I am not a Mac user, I don't know whether this would apply to Apple products or not.

I recently had to reset my Win10 desktop. A real PITA but I got it done. Of course a large numbers of apps were deleted in the process and I had to restore them. In the process I looked at the apps that were installed to see if there was anything I had installed in the long distant past but didn't need any more.

Looking through the list of stuff installed I saw a large number of apps that I had no idea what they did or why they were there. Some of them are installed because other apps use them but there is no indication of what they do.

So I spent a lot of time trying to search for information on them to see if they were still necessary. It would help if there were some site that we could trust that would let us know if a given app is needed or what will happen if it's deleted. For example, there's something called "Mixed Reality Portal" and it says the publisher is Microsoft. I'm all in favor of reality for the most part but I don't want it mixed up.

If anyone knows of such a site, it would be nice to hear from you.

azdustdevil

I would be careful about any Microsoft applications.

cedymock Loc: Irmo, South Carolina

What are you basing you statement on?

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

And - it depends upon where you purchased the machine. Years ago, the last time I went to Best Buy to look at computers, I decided to go directly to Dell. Best Buy loaded their computers with so many extra Aps and "free" stuff (often meaning free for 90 days - you will need to pay for it later) that they actually were charging $50 to remove their crap for you!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I've been through that. I used Google to search for those programs/apps. If there was any indication that they were important, I kept them. Better have a small program taking up space on your drive than having to figure out whey the computer isn't working right.

CaptainBobBrown

Hmmm. I remember back in my Windows days about the manufacturers adding all kinds of software I didn't want or care about and while Apple itself adds things I don't care about it's mostly their own products, not every Tom,Dick & Harry piece of crap. I can get that kind of stuff on the App Store and if it's got a charge I can pay up front although a lot of the programs available on the App Store have "In App Purchases" features.

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

Mixed Reality Portal is a part of a Windows 10 installation. If you have no need for virtual reality stuff you can certainly delete it,,,right click on it on Start and choose Uninstall. just like several other MS apps that are superfluous. There are, unfortunately, some junk default apps that are not easily removed, so ignore them.

On the other hand, you can find apps that snuck their way onto a system that are total mysteries as to how and when they got there. Installing legit apps often brings along crap that someone is getting paid to put on your computer. If you don't know what they are, delete them.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

At least on the Mac, you can choose which apps to include in the Dock. Standard installations of software on Macs place all apps in the Applications folder, and Utilities get installed in the Utilities folder inside the Applications Folder. Then you drag an alias from the Applications folder to the Dock. From then on, you can just click the alias in the dock to start the app. (A Mac Alias is roughly equivalent to a Windows Shortcut.)

However... The Mac System folder contains tons of goodies used by those apps. That's because many of them are shared with other applications or system components.

This is one reason why you might want to buy the biggest possible startup drive you can afford. It's also why you might want to replace that drive and all the software on it every three years or so. Building a fresh system and applications installation gets rid of a TON of orphaned files, conflicting code, and other crud.

When I do that, I buy a new drive, FORMAT it for the Mac (now APFS), install a virgin copy of MacOS, download all my apps from the Apple App Store, Microsoft, and Adobe, download third party apps like Firefox, Graphic Converter, Handbrake, VLC, Epson scanner drivers... THEN, I grab my old drive and use Mac Migration Assistant to transfer all my data files to the new drive.

Yeah, that takes a few days to complete, but I can always start up from the original drive, if needed in the interim. The result is WELL worth the effort.

A year ago, I did this and moved everything from a 1TB, 5400 RPM conventional hard drive to a 2TB SSD. It accelerated everything that is input-output intensive (i.e.; nearly everything!). It also got rid of lots of little glitches I had in the previous build.

Amielee Loc: Eastern Washington State

Amen to that. I just bought a new laptop and downloaded some documents and photos to it. Last night when I tried to access the photos all I got and can get is an add for One Drive for a monthly fee. If anyone knows how to fix this I would be most thankful.

Amielee Loc: Eastern Washington State

My last comment was for and about AZDUSTDEVILS comment.

edrobinsonjr Loc: Boise, Idaho

Bill,

The only "Apps" on the dock of my Win-10 PC are the ones I put there. All programs on a pc are in the Programs folders - one for 64 bit and one for 32 bit. Like the Mac, the system folder on the PC contains a mass of files used by the OS and the programs running on it.

I have never in all of these years needed to buy a new drive and do a transfer...

As for the OP's original question about finding what programs are about, I usually fine the m by googling the program executable name.

Ed

TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

My last order from Dell specified, "Only the Operating System" in the Software section. And that is how it arrived, no bloatware, no trial software such as Office 360, nothing except Windows 10.

djet Loc: Burbank, CA

This program may be of some help: https://www.shouldiremoveit.com/

bobbyjohn Loc: Dallas, TX

cochese

Get Linux. There is no bloatware at all.