[Macworld]

Post your comments for Don't wait for Snow Leopard?slim down, speed up Leopard now here

[bigh]

I am happily amazed that Apple has openly stated that Snow Leopard is all about the coding rather than new features. I sure wish other developers would follow suit. I'd mention specific names, but just about all major developers would have to be included. Nearly every package I use is much more prone to crashing than it was a half-dozen years ago.
Aside from that, I think the steps outlined in this article are only marginally useful. Reducing fonts is the only one that some might not have already heard about (too many fonts can keep Word from even opening). The others are either well-known by now or marginally useful.

[Buffyzdead]

Because removing "code" from installed software can have disastrous effects on other applications that depend on that code/language, one should always proceed with caution.
With that said, I swear by Xslimmer. It has never let me down once and part of the application (using the Genie Mode) is to BlackList those applications/code which should never be tampered with. Excellent!! Today, my iMac's run super stable and lean, running ONLY Intel specific code and one language.

[bigpoppa]

Be careful of step one! If you go to upgrade Microsoft Office, it will complain about not finding a valid install when you remove those extra languages and you'll be forced to re-install the whole thing in order to add the update.

[spacest]

some of these tricks are very dangerous. 99% of the mac problems are due to tweaking the os. basic rule: leave os x alone

[hmurchison]

Methinks it's time for a "Pro" or advanced option during future OS X installations where I can make configuration decisions that will yield a lean and mean OS X install.
Also don't forget to look at your Printer driver folder and delete all printers that you don't own. I had an Epson folder that was nigh a gigabyte of data. I don't have a printer so I got rid of them all.
Also a large part of Leopard apps have a file called designable.nib that can be removed. It's a leftover from Xcode that should have been removed. I removed them to the tune of an 800GB saving in space. They're trickier to remove but there are some tips on how to cull them via the Terminal.
A typical OS X install should be a third smaller than it is. I like the easy installer of Leopard but it ain't that easy if I have to go back and strip out 2-3GB of useless data. My time and HDD space costs money...I want them both working for me not against me.

[bynkii]

I can make this a list of 5 things by 1-5 and 9 with "Get a bigger hard drive".

[Schneb]

There was an earlier article about emptying your iPhoto trash also.
I wish OSX was based on an Extension Model where I can turn off features I never use. Applications should be smart upon boot in that if a particular extension is not loaded, it would ask if you would like to start them, then reboot. The default, of course, would be "all on".
All large applications should be extension-based as well. But there ya go.

[Interrupt19]

This article has more to do with gaining disk space rather than actual system performance.
On an older machine, some non dangerous tweaks I'd recommend include shutting off Spotlight and the Icon Previews.
In System Preferences, choose Spotlight.
Click the privacy tab then add your Macintosh HD and your User Folder.
In the Finder, choose view options and uncheck the Show icon preview box. Do this for the desktop and the root of your drive. (Make sure you click "Use as defaults".)
Here's some more performance tweaks I'd recommend doing especially for an older machine.
David

[wheat]

You can save about 6GB of space if you decide you'll never use GarageBand's libraries of instruments and loops, along with the Themes in iDVD, iMovie and iPhoto. Most people will never use them.
root/Library/Audio/Apple Loops/
root/Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Instrument Library/
root/Library/Application Support/iDVD/Themes
etc.
Then there's root/Library/Desktop Pictures, where you can save 100MB or so.

[ARM]

Actually, OS X has had an Advanced option during install since, forever. You could have easily disabled all of the printer drivers from installing, for example.

[snej]

More than half of these tips are simply about saving disk space. That's not going to have any effect at all on performance unless your disk was nearly full.

[nwatts]

edit: wrong thread

[dtammaro]

keeping english, german, and italian in address book, it went from 55 to 22 mb. ichat went from 144mb to 26mb. doing this makes a difference in storage. thanks for the tip