Exactly 100 people were surveyed in a desert dungeon. Each was asked, "In your own words, what defines minimalist software?" 93 said the User Interface, five said User Interface and Installation Size, just one complained about the hand forged medieval iron shackles, and one muttered incomprehensible sounds.
Window title bars, menus, dialog boxes, tool bars, status bars, buttons, etc. are kept to a reasonable limit both in quantity and in complexity. Once in a while Minaware might splurge visually if an element adds something special, something that matches the spirit of the app.
Thanks to an exquisit combination of excellent compression and intelligent design and no bloat, Minaware packs eight apps into a tiny download. Storage size, while most apparent and obvious, is only one aspect of an application's footprint. The number of files, folders, registry entries, etc. are also kept to a reasonable limit much like the UI elements. Unlike some other software, Minaware won't sling filthy mud all over your file system and registry. Storage size, storage quantity, disk read/write, memory consumption, processor load, and network bandwidth are all treated like family.
To avoid pesky bugs and undesirable behavior, Minaware keeps code simple to read and modify and execute, as simple as possible with a few exceptions either for popular standard formats like ZIP/DEFLATE or for big speed boosts where suitable.
When stranded in a hot sandy desert, items for survival might include water, food, clothing, medicine, weapons. A hair dryer would not make the short list, neither a regular nor an industrial strength hair dryer. Minaware gives you only what you need and truly desire.