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In my experience I’ve seen even technical users (Who were used to windows) struggle with the idea of dragging an .app from an open disk image to the Application

In my experience I’ve seen even technical users (Who were used to windows) struggle with the idea of dragging an .app from an open disk image to the Applications folder. They would end up running the app from the disk image and then getting confused when it disappears after restart.

Wowfunhappy 7y ago
This system worked so much better when the Applications folder was placed in the Dock by default, and everyone used that folder launch applications (which weren't common enough to keep in the Dock directly). It was actually a really beautiful synergy—you install applications by copying them to a folder, and launch them from that folder. Same way you'd acquire and open files. Lovely. Then Apple ruined it in Lion with Launchpad. Their app install flow for anything outside of the app store doesn't make any sense.
- Smoosh 7y ago
  In even earlier days, applications didn't need to be installed at all. You just ran them from wherever they were. Of course, it made sense to store them somewhere together, and you could cause yourself problems if you put applications onto disks you then ejected. But the current system is clearly influenced by the UNIX underpinnings, and I'm not sure that the average user fully "gets it". though preferences files were a bit of a mess. I vaguely remember if early Macintosh System versions you would be prompted to insert the disk (with the correct disk name in the message) if you tried to open a file belonging to an application which was on an ejected disk.
  - int_19h 7y ago
    You can still run them from wherever they are. The problem is that users do that once, exit, and then later forget where the app was.
    - saagarjha 7y ago
      There are issues when running from the downloads folder (translocation).
AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
One wonders why Apple didn't just treat DMGs like Application Folders in the first place. If they had an icon and you could run them directly then there wouldn't be any confusion. AppImage works like that and I think it was a wise decision.
- Wowfunhappy 7y ago
  Developers can distribute .app's inside of .zip files, and many do, but this can result in users just running the .app inside of their downloads folder. And then this causes problems if they ever decide to clean out their Downloads folder. The DMGs are a clever way to (A) make sure the app gets to the proper location while simultaneously (B) teaching the user about what's actually happening on their computer. As I said in a sibling comment, this all made much more sense when users also launched apps from the Applications folder directly.
  - danieldk 7y ago
    Developers can distribute .app's inside of .zip files, and many do, but this can result in users just running the .app inside of their downloads folder. And then this causes problems if they ever decide to clean out their Downloads folder. Some applications offer to move themselves to the /Applications folder when started the first time outside /Applications or ~/Applications. Though in general, it would be better if Apple made it more attractive to publish in the App Store, since it brings other advantages (e.g. mandatory sandboxing).
    - Wowfunhappy 7y ago
      Yeah, and that's a fine solution given the situation Apple has left us in. But it's also kind of a hack, which shouldn't have become necessary. Also, personally, I sometimes purposefully put apps in places other than /Applications—for example, I like to keep games in their own Games folder. And then the dialogs are kind of annoying.
    - kelnos 7y ago
      Hell, why doesn't Finder do this? If you try to run a .app from a .dmg, it should pop up a dialog asking you if you want Finder to move it to /Applications for you and run it from there.

Wowfunhappy 7y ago

This system worked so much better when the Applications folder was placed in the Dock by default, and everyone used that folder launch applications (which weren't common enough to keep in the Dock directly). It was actually a really beautiful synergy—you install applications by copying them to a folder, and launch them from that folder. Same way you'd acquire and open files. Lovely. Then Apple ruined it in Lion with Launchpad. Their app install flow for anything outside of the app store doesn't make any sense.

Smoosh 7y ago
In even earlier days, applications didn't need to be installed at all. You just ran them from wherever they were. Of course, it made sense to store them somewhere together, and you could cause yourself problems if you put applications onto disks you then ejected. But the current system is clearly influenced by the UNIX underpinnings, and I'm not sure that the average user fully "gets it". though preferences files were a bit of a mess. I vaguely remember if early Macintosh System versions you would be prompted to insert the disk (with the correct disk name in the message) if you tried to open a file belonging to an application which was on an ejected disk.
- int_19h 7y ago
  You can still run them from wherever they are. The problem is that users do that once, exit, and then later forget where the app was.
  - saagarjha 7y ago
    There are issues when running from the downloads folder (translocation).

AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago

One wonders why Apple didn't just treat DMGs like Application Folders in the first place. If they had an icon and you could run them directly then there wouldn't be any confusion. AppImage works like that and I think it was a wise decision.

Wowfunhappy 7y ago
Developers can distribute .app's inside of .zip files, and many do, but this can result in users just running the .app inside of their downloads folder. And then this causes problems if they ever decide to clean out their Downloads folder. The DMGs are a clever way to (A) make sure the app gets to the proper location while simultaneously (B) teaching the user about what's actually happening on their computer. As I said in a sibling comment, this all made much more sense when users also launched apps from the Applications folder directly.
- danieldk 7y ago
  Developers can distribute .app's inside of .zip files, and many do, but this can result in users just running the .app inside of their downloads folder. And then this causes problems if they ever decide to clean out their Downloads folder. Some applications offer to move themselves to the /Applications folder when started the first time outside /Applications or ~/Applications. Though in general, it would be better if Apple made it more attractive to publish in the App Store, since it brings other advantages (e.g. mandatory sandboxing).
  - Wowfunhappy 7y ago
    Yeah, and that's a fine solution given the situation Apple has left us in. But it's also kind of a hack, which shouldn't have become necessary. Also, personally, I sometimes purposefully put apps in places other than /Applications—for example, I like to keep games in their own Games folder. And then the dialogs are kind of annoying.
  - kelnos 7y ago
    Hell, why doesn't Finder do this? If you try to run a .app from a .dmg, it should pop up a dialog asking you if you want Finder to move it to /Applications for you and run it from there.