11 replies to this topic

[mountaintree16]

http://lifehacker.com/384545/superior-alternatives-to-crappy-windows-software

[laserjet]

well thats great stuff there and boy ain't it the truth Lol !!

[GT500]

I want to slap them for some of the stupid things they say in that article. I mean seriously, Windows Command Prompt? Crapware? And Notepad? I admit that there are better utilities with more features, however to call Notepad and Command Prompt crapware is going way to far. These guys got on a soapbox to complain about trivial stuff, and then recommended crapware that is worse that AIM and WLM put together as a replacement for AIM and WLM? OK, so they recommended Pidgin as well, however that does not excuse recommending Digsby in the same sentence...

[laserjet]

I do not agree withe the entire article but some of it is true regarding a few of the applications being discussed but I also agree that crapware designation is going a tad overboard. Itunes is fabulous i use that everyday.

[GT500]

Seagull said:

Also Windows Media Player, funny thing is it does what its meant to do and it works great, and I think the interface is just fine.

I forgot to mention... When VLC Media Player and SMPlayer start having trouble playing a video (I've noticed issues on my old PC with 1080p videos where the video and audio get out of sync in VLC and SMPlayer or where the video gets choppy or the performance degrades in some other fashion), Windows Media Player will play the video without any problems. Granted I have codecs installed for just about everything, so Windows Media Player will play just about everything. I can see people having problems if they don't know that they need to install codecs for other video and audio formats.

I'm not fan on Windows Media Player, however it does do what it claims to, and as far as playing media it actually does that quite well. Better, in fact, than VLC media player does. VLC just supports a plethora of formats and doesn't have all of those annoying features that WMP has...

[mountaintree16]

I don't necessarily agree with all of the things on there either.

I was like what the... when I saw Notepad on the list. Whether or not many people realize it, that can be a very VERY useful tool... (batch files anyone or HTML coding?) and iTunes... I like it just fine... we have an iPod too so have to have it! Also that's where I purchase my music from when I buy music online in digital format (using pre-paid gift cards).

As for Skype, I don't have any issues closing it or it running in the background, at least that I've noticed. And with WLM? My hosts file blocks the annoying ads

And really, command prompt? That has no business being on the list in my opinion.

& I like WMP just fine

[mountaintree16]

@Seagull
I was wondering why it didn't include QT anymore You only HAVE to have it with iTunes if you watch videos with iTunes, I think (not positive).

[fivealive]

mountaintree16, on 11 March 2012 - 09:52 PM, said:

@Seagull
I was wondering why it didn't include QT anymore You only HAVE to have it with iTunes if you watch videos with iTunes, I think (not positive).

nah from what i recall you could open the file with another media player provided it has the codecs needed to run the video. personally i think quicktime is horrible always took like 5 minutes to open just on its own never mind loading a video

[noknojon]

mountaintree16, on 11 March 2012 - 08:42 PM, said:

I was like what the... when I saw Notepad on the list. Whether or not many people realize it, that can be a very VERY useful tool... (batch files anyone or HTML coding?) and iTunes... I like it just fine...

I agree with Notepad. I find it a very good part of Windows, and use it all the time -
Although if you search BleepComp, Grinler lists a good 2nd Notepad version to use.
Mine currently has some 20 or so items in there, and the only thing wrong is the need to BBCode the items.

I have one other Text Editor (Blueline), that has another 20+ items saved, that I got at G2G malware school.
Since I use these 2, I find very little use for Wordpad or any other text savers / editors these days.

All other items can be saved in a spare folder (just named Spare Docs) -

EDITS -
Application to Avoid: Adobe Reader
Then 3 lines later it is qualified with - -
"Notes: Adobe Reader isn't great, but you may find that some PDFs—particularly those with watermarks, editable form fields, or other special features—work better in Adobe Reader than in other PDF readers."

This guy says one thing and shoots himself in the foot in the next few lines - -

Application to Avoid: Adobe Flash
Superior Alternative(s): None, sadly.
Notes: It's pretty hard to go without Flash these days.

The only good part is "Application(s) to Avoid: Browser Toolbars"

Only a few of the misfired shots - -

Edited by noknojon, 12 March 2012 - 05:22 PM.

[Haleo]

I can see how they could say that Windows Media Player is not good as it is kinda hard for the normal user to know that they need to download but Itunes does not belong in that list.