These days with gigabytes of RAM and terabytes of hard drive space inside our computers it can be all too easy to give in and install anything and everything without much regard for the impact upon the performance of your system. Furthermore, it is still fairly common to receive new laptops and desktop machines full of bloatware from the manufacturer.
One guiding principle that you might like to keep in mind with any computer that you own is that you should avoid installing or retaining software for which you have no further need. For instance, most users probably won’t need Java and removing it from your system frees up space, lessens the number of programs taking up memory and eliminates an attack vector for nasty Java packages out on the Internet. This principle is usually enforced on corporate computers which are locked down and users are unable to install software without administrative rights to prevent a rising number of software faults being logged.
The same goes for other software such as Safari which Apple Software Update notoriously nags you to install as “optional software” whenever it finds an update for iTunes. Unless you really have a need for Safari or actually want to use it then don’t install it in the first place. Like other browsers, Safari has its fair share of bugs and exploits so removing it from your computer again closes another potential avenue for security exploits to take over your system.
Coming at things from another angle, you might like to go through the list of installed programs on your computer and check out everything that is installed. Whilst some things may be obvious there are bound to be a number of items that may not be so obvious and require a little research to work out the purpose and relevance of each piece of software. Google is your friend here as can be your friendly neighbourhood geek (if you are on good terms with them of course).
The bottom line here is “if in doubt, leave it alone” as you can always remove the software later on once you have made a proper determination of its function. Similarly, “if you don’t know what it is, don’t install it” also holds true. Doing your homework and asking yourself whether or not you really need something can make a difference even on high performance computers.
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