XSlimmer
While the majority of posts here discuss the minimalism possible in the features and appearance of your mac, I believe the same qualities to be important in the code that your applications operate from.
All macs either have an Intel or PowerPC processor, each of which require their own type of code. Many, if not most applications are now made to be “universal”, meaning both kinds of code are present so the app is compatible with both machines. However, if you’re on an Intel machine, why do you need PowerPC code taking up space on your hard drive? Why should your computer have to sift through that useless code when an application is opened?
In addition, many apps come with several language options installed. If you know you’ll never use any language but English, why keep multiple copies of the apps in all these other languages installed?
If you want to be truly minimal, check out XSlimmer. I am in no way affiliated with the company, but I use the product. I just installed iTunes 9.0.1 today, and the app size was about 150MB. I ran XSlimmer. I took out the PowerPC code, as well as the other languages available. The app is now 40MB.
There are other applications out there that serve similar functions. No matter what approach you take, look at ways to slim down code you’ll never use to approach true minimalism on your mac.
(Submitted by Evan Heckert)
I was not familiar with this app. Certainly of interest if you are on an Intel based Mac.
Evan Heckert submitted this to 