App Installer

Pros

• Cleanly removes programs after installing them
• Deletes old registry entries
• Warns if installation of a new app will cause problems
• Adds little overhead to the installation process

Cons

• Doesn't do anything that Windows doesn't already do
• Can damage the registry if used incorrectly

App Installer is a simple utility that allow users to add or remove programs from their computer. It essentially does the same job that the classic Control Panel item would, though it provides an additional layer of protection in case something goes wrong. When users are sure that they no longer wish to have a specific program on their computers, App Installer will purge it completely and take all of its configuration files with it.

The most basic functionality comes in the form of a tool to scan packages and then install them into the Program Files directory on a hard disk. App installer will automatically detect if a particular package is meant for the x86 or x86_64 architecture and install in the right place.

Once programs are no longer necessary, App Installer can remove them with a single command. This is often easier than running Windows' normal removal tool, and it usually gets the job done a bit faster. Users who have to remove a large number of programs will want to use the included registry cleaner after they're done. This gets rid of any excess or obsolete registry keys that may have built up over time.

Inexperienced users could damage their Windows installation by deleting things that they need, but this shouldn't be a problem for power users who have at least a basic knowledge of which components are important. Bundled software builds up, especially on computers that shipped with a number of packages that nobody uses any longer. In these situations, careful use of App Installer can significantly improve performance.

In fact, the program even comes with an automatic system optimizer that can be used after the registry cleaner has worked its magic. This component can compress certain system properties that might have gotten bloated in the course of normal usage. When users first run this, it could take some time since it has to scan a large number of Windows components. Future usage shouldn't take much more than a few moments, provided the system is kept otherwise clean.

Other features, like File Organizers, may prove a tad esoteric for those who aren't computer technicians. These don't do anything that Windows Explorer doesn't already do, which might make them look useless. Professionals who want quick access to the underlying on-disk structure of a file system will definitely appreciate these options, especially if they plan on doing any work on outside machines that they're not otherwise familiar with.

Those who aren't interested by the advanced features may still find that App Installer saves them a lot of disk space by getting rid of old applications that they never needed to begin with.

Pros

• Cleanly removes programs after installing them
• Deletes old registry entries
• Warns if installation of a new app will cause problems
• Adds little overhead to the installation process

Cons

• Doesn't do anything that Windows doesn't already do
• Can damage the registry if used incorrectly