One thing's for sure: there's nothing easier than deleting an application on a Mac. Drag and drop it on your Trash icon and it's gone. Or is it really? Actually by doing that you omit to erase certificates and other preference files associated with the program.
A number of developers have picked up on this issue (it's odd that Apple hasn't) and created applications that will fully delete all files associate with a program. AppDelete is such an app and a very good one at that too. Once AppDelete is installed, all you need to do is drag the program you want to remove onto its icon. Alternatively, you can selects Apps in the top right corner and AppDelete will reveal a list of Applications installed on your system. The search is very quick and takes just a few seconds.
Immediately, AppDelete will reveal the associated files that need deleting with the applications. These are normally receipts and library preference files. You can uncheck the ones you want to keep in the AppDelete window or remove them all. AppDelete also lets you keep a log of what you are removing. Its a good idea to save this file as you can use it for future reference in case of system problems and it turns out you've accidentally deleted an important file. There is an Undo feature in AppDelete too but it seems this only rolls back the last change that you made, not successive ones before that.
My favorite feature in AppDelete was Orphans. Orphans searches for files that are not associated with any applications anymore and have probably been left behind. I discovered a huge number of files using this that AppCleaner had obviously left behind. The only criticism I have is that there is no way to Select All which, if you're dealing with hundreds of files left behind, takes a long time to select them all. Cleaning though takes a matter of seconds.
Note that this trial is limited to a few uses after which you have to pay to upgrade to the full version. However, even if you don't choose to use it regularly, its very useful for removing orphan files as this can be done within the trial limit. Many users also report the developer is extremely helpful and responsive in case of problems.
AppDelete does a great job of removing files left behind when applications uninstall but beware that you may experience some problems with it when you restart your Mac.
