> Same for uninstalling. Move to Trash and poof, unistalled.

That removes most of the program files, but there is no chance for the program to run any cleanup process in the mean time. Library Support, .cache, and all other kinds of remnants remain and have no way of getting cleaned up without manual user intervention. It's like hunting down broken uninstaller files in Windows 98 all over again.

The places that need cleaning up after uninstalling a program:

    ~/Library/Application Support/
    ~/Library/Preferences/
    ~/Library/Caches/
    ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

    /Library/Application Support/
    /Library/LaunchDaemons/
    /Library/LaunchAgents/

I do like the "folder as an executable" approach macOS has, but the way the ecosystem goes about program management isn't great. Storing caches and data inside of the app directory for applications installed to a user folder (not the global Applications folder, which would require administrative permissions) would go a long way. Entries in all the other folders could just be symlinks that don't take up any space after you trash a program.

As for installers, macOS comes with its own native install wizard format, akin to Windows' MSI installers. This seems to be the default way of installing programs that need things like drivers to function correctly.

>as a Mac user it is surreal to click Next Next Next to install a program on Windows.

macOS has similar multi-step prompts for some programs such as Microsoft Office, Python, FUSE-T, VeraCrypt, etc:

click [Continue] [Continue] [Agree] [Continue] [Install] enter password [Install Software] [Close]

Then deal with the various popups in the upper right portion of the screen relating to Login Items & Extensions Background tasks. Dismiss them by clicking [x] several times or drill into them to adjust App Background Activity sliders etc.

I also never understood why some apps put the x.pkg inside of a x.dmg which makes people perform another click. Seems redundant to do that. I can only guess is they just want the customized background image of the .dmg instead of the plain skeuomorphic cardbord box icon of the .pkg.

Ideal solution: download .app inside .zip. Double-clicking expands it into /Applications, deletes the zip, and opens the app, which is not far from what regular zips do. Or xip if they want signing.

The Windows way is inherently clearer than what Mac does now. You always open what it gives you, and you don't need to be told to do anything else. Also, move to trash doesn't exactly uninstall a Mac app right now.

Hmm but a lot of macos uses the familiar cancel/next wizard flow, doesn't it?

I don’t believe they meant surreal in a negative way

Mac stuff can leave stuff ghosting around. Launch agents, helper tools installed into the Unix filesystem, configuration and cache files.

A myriad of „uninstallers“ exist but these are all third party and rely on crowd wisdom.

At least with Windows it's always clear what to do. Mac can dump you in a finder window with two icons. Very unclear. You may have forgotten how unclear this can be for the first time.

That stupid nezt next elevate confirm page workflow on macos has always annoyed me for some reason.

Its so idk redundant