While doing this I found countless bits and pieces of programs that I have installed and uninstalled still in the registry.
I have to admit that I have the habit of performing "rd / s" from time to time - so this may have contributed to some garbage left there.
However - I still think that the vast majority of the programs don't clean up the registry properly after uninstall.
This is the reason I am very reluctant to try new desktop programs because I am concerned about this issue.
I think many people feel the same and this is one of the many reasons driving the adoption of the web applications.
The Windows Registry must be the worst idea that Microsoft came up with. Or maybe the worst implementation.
I think Windows itself should be taking care of uninstalling programs.
If I want to uninstall a program Windows must know the directory and just delete the whole directory - there shouldn't be a single piece left after the uninstall process.
I think whoever designed the thing must have been stuck in the old DOS days when programs can exit and still don't return all the memory back to the operating system.
</Rant>



