Xslimmer: Thin down your obese Mac programs

Filed under: Utilities, Macintosh, Shareware

Xslimmer: Thin down your obese Mac programs

by Simon Kerbel Jan 30th 2008

Xslimmer is a program for the Mac that reduces the space claimed by Universal Binary applications and their language localizations on your hard disk. The programs remain fully functional, and you reclaim some coveted hard drive space. It's a win-win. Now you're beginning to see why we call this program "phat" (pun certainly intended and hopefully understood).

So how does Xslimmer work? By removing the variations of a program's code that does not apply to the architecture of your machine. When a Universal Binary application is created, it contains several versions of the code: a version intended to run on PowerPC machines (like G4 or G5 Macs), another one meant for the more recent Intel machines. This ensures universal platform support, but it bloats the application size. Xslimmer will remove the pieces of code that will never be run on your machine. Voila! More hard drive space, same programs.

If the explanation of how Xslimmer works worries you, fear not, young padawan: the developers have designed Xslimmer to be completely safe and reversible:

Xslimmer has a database of "blacklisted" applications, that is, applications that have their own integrity check and who rebel if anything is modified. Xslimmer will never modify these applications.
You can create a full backup of all your applications prior to the liposuction.

Xslimmer's execution is simple. Drag and drop any application onto the Xslimmer interface, click slim, and you're done. If you're feeling lazy, the built-in genie will automatically scan all of your applications, and you can slim all or a selection with one click.

You can try Xslimmer for free and slim up to 50 MB, and register the software for $11.95. That's less than a visit to Starbucks, for crying out loud (well, if you get a Venti Mocha Frappucino with extra shots and one of those delicious little sausage, egg and ham muffins. Mmm...muffins...).

Tags: mac, shareware, utilities, xslimmer

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Joey said 12:05AM on 1-31-2008

I emailed the developers but does anyone know what the blacklisted applications are. They have a trial download that limits 50MB usage. But prior to installing this it would be nice to know which apps would/would not benefit from this.

Pedro said 5:26AM on 1-31-2008

Hi Joey,

I just saw the email you sent us, but thought it could be useful for others to answer here.

I'd recommend you do download Xslimmer. Once you have it installed, you can open the Blacklist window (using the Applications menu) to see te most current set of applications that have been blacklisted.

You may also drop all your apps onto Xslimmer's interface (or use the Genie to have them found for you): Xslimmer will analyze them and will tell you which ones cannot be slimmed down and the reason why. It will also estimate the space savings you'll have. You can also play around with the language settings to tell Xslimmer how many app localizations you want to keep, and you'll immediately see the impact on the space that can be freed.

If you download Xslimmer you don't need to buy a license to have the analysis performed, and you'll get a chance to see if Xslimmer's beautiful interface is to your liking ;)

peehskcalba said 1:37AM on 1-31-2008

Why pay for XSlimmer when you can have Trimmit (www.lipidity.com/software/trimmit/) for free?

Sure, it doesn't have blacklisted apps, but it's fast, and it has more configuration options than XSlimmer does.

If you're looking for a slimmed down version of XSlimmer, I'd try Trimmit.

And you can't beat the price can you?
(Unless you got XSlimmer from Macheist, that is.)

DagMX said 3:41AM on 1-31-2008

IMO the blacklist is important, otherwise you'll keep having to go revert programs if they get messed up

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters