Software failures on MacOS
Software failures on MacOS
Hello, I see you're just starting with MacOS and installing programs. You're right about partitions being created for non-Play Store apps. After an update, those partitions usually vanish. To recover them, you can check your system settings or use a recovery tool to restore the old partitions.
MacOS apps are generally placed in the /Applications folder without needing extra partitions. The directories you see are actually folders (right-click > Show package contents), but those are where you can open them. The Play Store is part of Google’s ecosystem, so it’s likely you’re referring to the Apple App Store. Some system tools may appear elsewhere, or if you use Homebrew for installations, they’ll have their own paths. For future guidance: Time Machine is helpful. Connect an external drive and configure it as a backup source. You can recover your Mac to any previous state or even reinstall it entirely from a Time Machine backup.
I located everything in the Applications folder. They vanished after the desktop update and when I right-clicked an item in the context menu. It’s not a major issue. But when I run the diskutil list command, I see this: /dev/disk4 (disk image): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme +706.7 MB disk4 1: Apple_HFS Slack 706.7 MB disk4s1 Any clue why Slack appears in a disk image?
When you set up the software yourself, its archive gets placed in your Applications folder. You simply drag and drop the app there to complete the installation. This process mainly involves copying the app’s files into your main applications directory. Afterward, you can remove the archive if needed. Some programs offer installers that do more than just copy—often seen with system-level tools or virtual environments like VirtualBox, which also require drivers and other setup steps. Removing typical apps is usually as simple as deleting them from the Applications folder.
It looks like you're mixing up a few concepts here. Most apps are actually installed as dmg files, which are disk images. You open them, mount them as virtual drives, and then drag the app into your Applications folder to run it. Many tools suggest moving these apps to a dedicated Applications folder for easier access. This method works in most cases, but it's not the original way they were designed to be used. The actual dmg files are usually kept in your Downloads folder.
It seems the update eliminated the virtual disks while keeping the applications intact.