4 ms·

As a Mac user (and someone who spends most of the day in Xcode), I feel lucky to have a machine that generally works most of the time and I don't need to defrag

by lpsz 12y ago

As a Mac user (and someone who spends most of the day in Xcode), I feel lucky to have a machine that generally works most of the time and I don't need to defrag it, virus-scan it, memory-clean it, watch running processes for free RAM, and so on and so forth. So, I feel really bad for users who feel duped into downloading things like this -- they get a subpar computer as a result, and they totally don't have to.

atmosx 12y ago
I run Claxmav[1] on all my macs because one way or another malware will reach my computer, so I'd better be prepared. I never had problems since 2004, never had a mac virus or anything but that doesn't mean they don't exist. I think to be sure you need a combination like: ClaXmav (monitors predefined dirs and incoming mails), LittleSnitch (monitor outgoing connections) and SpamSieve to manage spam with Mail.app. [1] http://www.clamxav.com http://www.clamxav.com
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
coldcode 12y ago
Never run a virus checker (there are none) and I don't download stuff I don't know (to avoid malware of some kind). I have no clue why people think they need something, especially one with such a scummy background. I wish Apple would simply block the app from running to save those who fall victim.
- oneeyedpigeon 12y ago
  Well it doesn't appear to be on the App store, so I suspect that most inexperienced users won't be able to install/run it in the first place, due to OSX's default security permissions.
revelation 12y ago
How exactly do you think they get duped into downloading this in the first place? It's certainly not because they "feel lucky to have a machine that generally works most of the time and I don't need to defrag it, virus-scan it, memory-clean it, watch running processes for free RAM, and so on and so forth".
- mikeash 12y ago
  It's FUD. They don't see anything wrong, but they don't know much about computers. Something could be wrong, so better download this too just to be sure.
- soneil 12y ago
  Quite easily. I almost did quite recently as 'mackeeper' was offered with sf.net's 'installer' for Filezilla. It's almost impressive, in a sad sad way. They've pretty much cornered the market on mac malware. Unfortunately they are the malware, not the solution.
- acveilleux 12y ago
  Scare tactics, the same way unethical car mechanics sell useless tune ups and repairs to the clueless. Or the Indian call centers claiming to be ms/dell/hp support and that the callee as a virus they'll remove for 99$. Some of my elderly relatives actually fell for that and then shame delayed getting help. It's despicable.
abalone 12y ago
The #3 app in the mac app store is "Memory Clean", and apparently it was featured by Apple as an "invaluable utility" and won a Macworld award. This is really strange to me because, like you, I thought OSX's native memory management ought to be optimal and tools like this are just placebos.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- akhatri_aus 12y ago
  I've tried to observe how this app works. It actually forces OS X's native memory management to kick in. It does this by using an obscene amount of memory for a very short amount of time. This forces OS X to clean up the existing RAM in use as the RAM used by Memory Cleaner builds up dramatically. In this way its partially cosmetic since your RAM would be cleaned up if you used more of it anyway.
  - kenrikm 12y ago
    There are tricks that iOS Devs (including me) use to make iOS cleanup after itself, for example iOS can take its sweet time releasing memory from MKMapViews even after the controller is gone so a trick is to switch the Map Type just before the controller is released as it forces iOS to drop the cache for the current map type. So yeah, I've not used that program but I assume it's using similar tricks in OSX.
    - lpsz 12y ago
      But that's talking about memory usage tricks within a process, which is a totally different beast from what this app claims to do.
    - abalone 12y ago
      So what exactly is the problem with it taking its "sweet time"? Isn't that just a way of saying it will wait until it actually needs the memory to drop the cache? Perhaps if there was a significant performance hit incurred when dropping caches you may want to do it more eagerly.. but is there?

by lpsz 12y ago

atmosx 12y ago

I run Claxmav[1] on all my macs because one way or another malware will reach my computer, so I'd better be prepared. I never had problems since 2004, never had a mac virus or anything but that doesn't mean they don't exist. I think to be sure you need a combination like: ClaXmav (monitors predefined dirs and incoming mails), LittleSnitch (monitor outgoing connections) and SpamSieve to manage spam with Mail.app. [1] http://www.clamxav.com http://www.clamxav.com

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

coldcode 12y ago

Never run a virus checker (there are none) and I don't download stuff I don't know (to avoid malware of some kind). I have no clue why people think they need something, especially one with such a scummy background. I wish Apple would simply block the app from running to save those who fall victim.

oneeyedpigeon 12y ago
Well it doesn't appear to be on the App store, so I suspect that most inexperienced users won't be able to install/run it in the first place, due to OSX's default security permissions.

revelation 12y ago

How exactly do you think they get duped into downloading this in the first place? It's certainly not because they "feel lucky to have a machine that generally works most of the time and I don't need to defrag it, virus-scan it, memory-clean it, watch running processes for free RAM, and so on and so forth".

mikeash 12y ago
It's FUD. They don't see anything wrong, but they don't know much about computers. Something could be wrong, so better download this too just to be sure.
soneil 12y ago
Quite easily. I almost did quite recently as 'mackeeper' was offered with sf.net's 'installer' for Filezilla. It's almost impressive, in a sad sad way. They've pretty much cornered the market on mac malware. Unfortunately they are the malware, not the solution.
acveilleux 12y ago
Scare tactics, the same way unethical car mechanics sell useless tune ups and repairs to the clueless. Or the Indian call centers claiming to be ms/dell/hp support and that the callee as a virus they'll remove for 99$. Some of my elderly relatives actually fell for that and then shame delayed getting help. It's despicable.

abalone 12y ago

The #3 app in the mac app store is "Memory Clean", and apparently it was featured by Apple as an "invaluable utility" and won a Macworld award. This is really strange to me because, like you, I thought OSX's native memory management ought to be optimal and tools like this are just placebos.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
akhatri_aus 12y ago
I've tried to observe how this app works. It actually forces OS X's native memory management to kick in. It does this by using an obscene amount of memory for a very short amount of time. This forces OS X to clean up the existing RAM in use as the RAM used by Memory Cleaner builds up dramatically. In this way its partially cosmetic since your RAM would be cleaned up if you used more of it anyway.
- kenrikm 12y ago
  There are tricks that iOS Devs (including me) use to make iOS cleanup after itself, for example iOS can take its sweet time releasing memory from MKMapViews even after the controller is gone so a trick is to switch the Map Type just before the controller is released as it forces iOS to drop the cache for the current map type. So yeah, I've not used that program but I assume it's using similar tricks in OSX.
  - lpsz 12y ago
    But that's talking about memory usage tricks within a process, which is a totally different beast from what this app claims to do.
  - abalone 12y ago
    So what exactly is the problem with it taking its "sweet time"? Isn't that just a way of saying it will wait until it actually needs the memory to drop the cache? Perhaps if there was a significant performance hit incurred when dropping caches you may want to do it more eagerly.. but is there?