Mac OS X Lion to feature iOS-like 'jiggling' app unistaller

New features of Mac OS X Lion are slowly leaking out after the last Lion Developer Preview was released. The latest find, noticed by AppleiGuide.co.uk, is a built-in uninstaller function, reminiscent of the way you remove apps in iOS.

The Lion app uninstaller works through Launchpad, Mac OS X's app launcher "home screen" layer. When Launchpad is displayed, a user can click and hold the mouse cursor on an app's icon; after a brief pause, all the app icons will begin jiggling. An X will appear in the upper left-hand corner of the icons, and clicking it will cause a dialog pop-up to appear asking the user, "Are you sure you want to delete the application?" Clicking Delete will move the app and any associated files to the Trash. Currently, this uninstall feature only works with apps purchased through the Mac App Store.

New Mac users are commonly confused about how to delete Mac apps. Coming from a PC, they are used to uninstallers and don't realize that one can (usually) simply drag any app to the Trash to delete it. The new uninstall feature in Lion is another sign that Apple wants to take the simplicity of iOS and apply it to the Mac in hopes of making OS X more familiar and intuitive to anyone using a Mac for the first time.

[Thanks, Sam]