Files Remaining After Office Uninstall

[jcan]

Hello,

As explained in a previous post, I decided to ditch MS Office and switch to OpenOffice instead. I did the transition, and I am happy with it.

However, although I uninstalled MS Office through the supplied uninstaller, I found out that several things had remained on my hard disk. Namely:

1. Microsoft User Data in Documents: I deleted this folder manually
2. Microsoft Preferences in ~/ Library/Preferences: Also deleted it manually
3. /Library/Application Support/Microsoft: Also deleted it manually
4. Fonts in /Library/Fonts/Microsoft: Have kept this folder temporarily in place, as I do not know yet whether these fonts will be needed somewhere
5. .bom & .plist files in /private/var/db/receipts: I read somewhere that the .plist files in this folder can be safely deleted, but what about .bom files? Shouldn't they be deleted as well?

I find it quite annoying that the uninstaller has not taken care of these issues... In any case, please tell me whether I did right to delete (1),(2), and (3), and what should I do with (4) and (5). Any other action I should also perform?

Your help will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Giaguara]

You found all that there is to find. While those files would not harm if they were left in place, it will give a nice clean feel of being Microsoft-free.
That .bom file can be deleted too - but generally it's better to leave .bom receipts in place (at least for all Apple apps).
Then.. just keep it Microsoft-free

 

[jcan]

Then.. just keep it Microsoft-free

Microsoft-free feels nice, indeed!

 

[MisterMe]

...

However, although I uninstalled MS Office through the supplied uninstaller, I found out that several things had remained on my hard disk. ...

Fonts are fonts. A font is a good thing. Just because you deleted Office doesn't mean that you will not have to deal with Office documents. That's why you installed OpenOffice.org, isn't it? In all probability, those Office documents will have been created using the fonts in the Microsoft folder. You need them to properly handle most of your Office documents.

As for the other files left behind, they are nothing to worry about. The .bom file extension stands for bill of materials. .bom files are just file lists. None of the files left behind are executable.

Having only this week had to reinstall Office 2008, I am relieved beyond words that the uninstaller left behind as much as it did. I understand that you don't intend to reinstall Office. In your case, no harm will be done in manually deleting the left-behind files [except the fonts]. However, keeping them will also cause no harm.

 

[jcan]

Fonts are fonts. A font is a good thing. Just because you deleted Office doesn't mean that you will not have to deal with Office documents. That's why you installed OpenOffice.org, isn't it? In all probability, those Office documents will have been created using the fonts in the Microsoft folder. You need them to properly handle most of your Office documents.

Oops! Your post came a bit late for me, as I just emptied the Trash after having deleted everything MS-related, including the Fonts folder... :-(

In Windows, if e.g. Word opened a document containing unknown fonts, it could do font substitution. OpenOffice for Mac doesn't have a similar feature?

 

[MisterMe]

.... OpenOffice for Mac doesn't have a similar feature?

Font substitution is not the same as using the actual font. Often, it is not even close. Perhaps you are aware of how upset some can be over even minor formatting glitches on web pages. Web pages are not intended to substitute for InDesign publications. Imagine the trouble that you will have now that Gloucester MT Extra Condensed is no longer installed on your computer. Think.