Removing Applications
In Windows to remove an application one goes to the Control Panel and selects Add/Remove programs. Hopefully the program you want to remove is there. If it is, then you click on the Remove button and hope for the best. Even then, any data stored with the application will usually not be removed (because it wasn’t in the installation log file). And there may be crud left in the repository or system folders. If the program isn’t found then you will look to see where it is installed (usually in C:\Program Files\ but not always) and look for an uninstall program. Or maybe it is on the original installation CD. Basically, it’s a mess.
On the Mac it’s generally a lot simpler but not perfect. Pretty much all the applications are in the Applications folder which is easy to find in the left side panel in the Finder. This is not that different than on Windows. The party line is that all you need to do to remove an application is to drag it to the Trash. This is a lot easier and more consistent than on Windows but you still may be left with some files that were stored in different places (e.g. preferences, caches).
The solution is a program called AppZapper. All the Mac experts seem to use this program so I think it is probably worth the $13 to buy. It can be found at appzapper.com. It is really simple to use. Just drag the application into the appzapper window (instead of the trash) and it will show you where all the associated files are located. Just click on the Zap button and after the sound effect the program and all its files will be gone.
AppZapper allows you to demo the product for 5 zaps/uninstalls. So if you really can’t afford it, you could download it and drag applications into it to see where all the files are located (I haven’t tried this so don’t know if that is disabled in the trial version) and then delete them manually. However, for the price I think the program is worth it. However, I have to admit that I got it as part of the MacHeist bundle so didn’t pay full price.
Update: I just learned about a free alternative to AppZapper called AppCleaner. I haven’t tried it out but it looks like it will do the job.