Uninstalr - Batch uninstall software in Windows

[FileHandler]

Just type "con" and it will show only all apps whose name or publisher name contains

Does not work here. The list remains the same, no filter is applied, it does not even jump to the first entry that starts with the letter I typed.

The standard way to do this in Windows in Display Settings > Scale and layout.

Yes, I know. But depending on the Windows version, this only applies to text, not to interface elements like menus, tooltips, list boxes. In older Windows versions, you could tweak all these elements separately, to your liking. Not anymore. Since Win11, the scale affects text only. Text typed by the user, not text of menus etc. And it is global, you cannot target individual elements. By scaling it up for the whole machine, other apps will become inoperable, their dialog boxes unable to contain the blown-up content, checkboxes will move out of sight.

This is not your fault. Yet, many apps take care of it, allowing me to counter Windows shortcomings with their own font settings.

Your app, your call. I am just letting you know my user experience. Other users may have no problem at all and spot your tiny hamburger menu right away. To me, your logo looked like the title, the header. I expected to find menus and user interaction underneath it, not above. Compared to the logo, the hamburger is so small, I missed it.

Compare my two screenshots, both taken on the same machine. Geek looks terribly old-fashioned, but operating it is a no-brainer, you immediately find your way around. Your interface is much more modern, yet I found it less functional. Granted, once you know your way around, you get used to it. But an Uninstaller is not something you work with every day.

[jv16]

Just type "con" and it will show only all apps whose name or publisher name contains

Does not work here. The list remains the same, no filter is applied, it does not even jump to the first entry that starts with the letter I typed.

To confirm: Are you typing to the "search" field within Uninstalr? It's the bar at the bottom of the screen, under the results list.

Edit: From user experience point of view, I think the search should happen when typing even if the search field is not active (in focus). I shall add this improvement to the next version: if user starts to type anything, this is interpreted as input to the search field.

[FileHandler]

To confirm: Are you typing to the "search" field within Uninstalr? It's the bar at the bottom of the screen, under the results list.

No, I did not. You are right, now it works great, even better than with the competition, thanks to your "hide matching" field.

Guess, my main problem is with the design and layout. I find it hard to distinguish captions from less important, purely informative text. Unless you really read over all the small print scattered throughout the window. Just like I missed the main menu, I also missed the Search-field. Although I did wonder at some point, why the Filter dropdown was located way out to the far right. Now I know.

You may want to wait for other users' feedback. I might just be too old-fashioned, expecting editable fields to jump out at me, set off with borders and color difference, screaming "click on me".

Thanks to your help, I am a happy user now. Great functions, works like a charm.
Ease of use could be improved, imo. The list got a bit better, since I enabled grid lines. But I still find it hard to multi-select. Ctrl-click does not work, and the checkboxes sit next to the rather meaningless type column.

It were nice if the unfolded filter state were remembered, or could be enabled in settings. To be aware of any filter-leftovers from last time around that may still be in effect.

[jv16]

Guess, my main problem is with the design and layout. I find it hard to distinguish captions from less important, purely informative text. Unless you really read over all the small print scattered throughout the window. Just like I missed the main menu, I also missed the Search-field. Although I did wonder at some point, why the Filter dropdown was located way out to the far right. Now I know.

Just to be clear, are you using the dark mode or the light mode version of the user interface?

You may want to wait for other users' feedback. I might just be too old-fashioned, expecting editable fields to jump out at me, set off with borders and color difference, screaming "click on me".

Thanks to your help, I am a happy user now. Great functions, works like a charm.
Ease of use could be improved, imo. The list got a bit better, since I enabled grid lines. But I still find it hard to multi-select. Ctrl-click does not work, and the checkboxes sit next to the rather meaningless type column.

You can do a Shift-click. Click one item to select it, then press down Shift and click another item to select it, and those two items and all items between them are selected.

It were nice if the unfolded filter state were remembered, or could be enabled in settings. To be aware of any filter-leftovers from last time around that may still be in effect.

I agree, this is a good idea!

Thank you very much for your great feedback! You have offered a lot of outside of the box ideas for me. I will implement improvements for the next version.

[FileHandler]

I use Dark Mode.
I did not mention my scary experience with Shift-selecting. But since you mention it, this is what happens:
Shift-clicking does NOT highlight the lines in between. Which makes you think it does not work, just like Ctrl-clicking does not work, either, so you think nothing much about it. However — and this the really dangerous part — even though you may not realize it, it does tick the checkboxes to the far left, way out of your field of vision, while your eyes were focused on the app names.
If you proceed to uninstall, you will do so for many apps you have inadvertently selected.

[jv16]

I use Dark Mode.
I did not mention my scary experience with Shift-selecting. But since you mention it, this is what happens:
Shift-clicking does NOT highlight the lines in between. Which makes you think it does not work, just like Ctrl-clicking does not work, either, so you think nothing much about it. However — and this the really dangerous part — even though you may not realize it, it does tick the checkboxes to the far left, way out of your field of vision, while your eyes were focused on the app names.
If you proceed to uninstall, you will do so for many apps you have inadvertently selected.

This is how shift selecting should work: it selects all items between the two items. If this is not what you expected to happen, what did you expect it to do? This functionality is how lists like this usually work.

[FileHandler]

what did you expect it to do? This functionality is how lists like this usually work.

Well, on every computer I have worked on the last 20 years, shift-clicking highlights all lines in between, no matter whether inside a spreadsheet or file manager or any kind of list that consists of rows. MS Explorer also works this way.

Maybe it is just me. I like the functionality of your app, but the interface keeps throwing me off, I find it confusing, non-standard, not intuitive to operate. Sorry, but that's my honest feedback.

[jv16]

what did you expect it to do? This functionality is how lists like this usually work.

Well, on every computer I have worked on the last 20 years, shift-clicking highlights all lines in between, no matter whether inside a spreadsheet or file manager or any kind of list that consists of rows. MS Explorer also works this way.

If you enable checkboxes in the Windows file explorer (View menu > "Item check boxes") and then click any row, then Shift click any other row, it checks the checkbox of these two rows and all rows in between. Which is what Uninstalr also does. If the list doesn't have checkboxes, then the default action would be to just highlight the rows, which is how spreadsheet editors would work.

[FileHandler]

If the list doesn't have checkboxes, then the default action would be to just highlight the rows, which is how spreadsheet editors would work.

Don't know what you mean by it "just" highlights the rows. Highlight = Select, it is the same thing, these are the rows that will be operated on, the boxes are optional, in fact, they may have scrolled out of sight, depending on window size and row length.

With or without checkboxes, the rows get highlighted. Throughout Windows. To make it crystal clear that you just made a selection. That something is going to happen with these rows.

This is your app, and of course you will design it the way you see fit and appropriate. I find it non-standard, but again, just my opinion, others may have no problem with it.
Let me get out of the way for a while and make room for other users to voice their experience.

[jv16]

Don't know what you mean by it "just" highlights the rows. Highlight = Select, it is the same thing, these are the rows that will be operated on, the boxes are optional, in fact, they may have scrolled out of sight, depending on window size and row length.

With or without checkboxes, the rows get highlighted. Throughout Windows. To make it crystal clear that you just made a selection. That something is going to happen with these rows.

Here is how Windows 10 and Windows 11 file explorer behaves with the checkboxes option enabled: Click one row, Shift click another row and all rows between are selected (checkmark in the checkbox):

https://webmshare.com/RJW5A

(Windows file explorer also applies additional effects, such as hiding of the checkboxes when rows are not selected, and highlighting all selected rows, but these are additional effects, not relating to the logic of what is the standard Windows action of Shift + Click in this type of data list)

[FileHandler]

Looks like you are proving my point instead of yours: in your video Windows does highlight selected rows.

... and highlighting all selected rows, but these are additional effects

I disagree. It's the checkboxes that are an additional effect. Which is why they are optional. Whereas highlighting is not optional at all. It is the warp and woof of any selection method, imo.

But hey, no one says you have to follow the old-fashioned Windows way. Nor do I insist on having it my way. It may well be, that your method is more en vogue in today's world of touchscreen and tablets, where Ctrl and Shift selecting may become obsolete.
Allow me to step back and give others a chance to comment on it.

[Andrew Lee]

This discussion reminds me of why I decided earlier on I cannot work on frontend. My default response is to ignore UI inconsistencies and work around them, as long as it gets the job done. It would take something really screwy in the UI to catch my attention

On this, I have to agree with FileHandler personally. Ticking the checkboxes but not highlighting the lines themselves is just odd to a Windows old-timer like myself. I mean, I don't think it's as dangerous as FileHandler has made it out to be, but it's just... odd.

[Midas]

A propos, JV16PowerTools.com (humorous) blog entry about Windows uninstallers and the rationale behind Uninstalr:

• jv16powertools.com/blog/comparing-windows-uninstallers-and-making-uninstalr/

[jv16]

On this, I have to agree with FileHandler personally. Ticking the checkboxes but not highlighting the lines themselves is just odd to a Windows old-timer like myself. I mean, I don't think it's as dangerous as FileHandler has made it out to be, but it's just... odd.

Automatically highlighting or somehow selecting rows whose checkbox is ticked has never been standard Windows UI behavior as far as I know.

The reason why this is important to state is that since it's not standard UI behavior, it is also not offered by the standard Windows list control that I use within the app. Therefore, implementing such functionality would require quite a bit of additional work and would add unneeded complexity to the UI.

[jv16]

A propos, JV16PowerTools.com (humorous) blog entry about Windows uninstallers and the rationale behind Uninstalr:

• jv16powertools.com/blog/comparing-windows-uninstallers-and-making-uninstalr/

Thank you for including that, too! Fun fact: I wrote that thing on one sitting