Posts Tagged "zip"
JetLinked: Installing applications on the Mac still broken
Lukas Mathis has posted some thoughts on the issues Mac newcomers have with .dmg files. I also talked about this issue a while back in a post on the most common issues switchers have, but it’s worth noting it again. I agree with his followup post that adding another file format isn’t really the way to go either – DMG files are a great feature to have – once you’ve understood them. But from a usability and customer support perspective, a simple zip file seems to be the better choice.
I’d still be interested to see what kinds of customer support issues you run into with zip files though:
- Do people using alternative browsers, that don’t automatically open “safe” files like Safari does, struggle with them?
- Do users who prefer to manually download updates have several versions of the same app sitting in their Downloads folder?
- Are there any issues if users have a 3rd party archive tool installed (I’m looking at you StuffIt)?
But despite those questions, I think there is a valid reason to reconsider whether .dmg files should still be considered “best practise” for app distribution.
Read MoreDear Stuffit: Stuff it.
If anyone happens to read this who still think using .sitx archives to distribute things over the internet is a good idea, please don’t.
OS X no longer ships with Stuffit Expander and downloading the free version requires you to give Smithmicro your email address to receive their download link.
Luckily most knowledgeable Mac developers don’t use Stuffit any more, but occasionally you’ll come across the odd printer driver or Icon set that presumably someone who mainly uses Windows has thoughtfully archived in a “Mac friendly” format. The hapless user will then install Stuffit, which of course promptly hijacks all your file associations.
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