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Macro Express - MiniReview

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cranioscopical:
It's a gem!
-goggin (March 29, 2009, 04:07 PM)
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Thanks for the input, goggin!

pmcg:
I've also been using Macro Express since the 90s. It's one of the ten apps I wouldn't want to live without. I'm another who always makes sure this app gets installed right away on new builds. And then I import my saved macros. I use this program umpteen times a day...especially for text input. I have shortcut keys for most of my frequent web sites, phone numbers, email addresses, street addresses, etc.

Plus its *fun* to set up a complex macro and watch it work. I got hooked on macros back in my Kaypro days. When I switched to DOS I ran Borland's Superkey TSR which did the same thing basically. Macro Express will reproduce text, mouse movements, and allow you to introduce delays as well as wait for specific or general user input. It will also recognize when specific windows open. And that's just scratching the surface. If you wanted to, you could immerse yourself in the depths of this program for weeks. Definitely a keeper.

The only complaint I have is that it occasionally loses it's keyboard hook and then I have to try to 'restore keyboard hook' from its tray menu or shut the program down and start it again. This happens *very* rarely and so is not a big deal.

Peter McGovern

cranioscopical:
Borland's Superkey TSR
-pmcg (April 06, 2009, 11:54 PM)
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Made life a lot simpler, didn't it? :)

wraith808:
I use Direct Access which seems to be in the same category, but not in the same category, as MacroExpress and its ilk seem to be a superset of Direct Access and similar products.  Am I seeing this the correct way?  Could I replace DA with ME, and then take advantage of the advanced functionality also?

cranioscopical:
Could I replace DA with ME, and then take advantage of the advanced functionality also?-wraith808
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The interfaces are quite different.
ME doesn't do text completion/substitution in the same way as DA, so you have to set up keys and know what they are in advance.  Nor does ME offer lists of alternatives like some other text-completion tools.
If you're a DA addict, and are satisfied with what it can do, and rely heavily on its methods, you might not feel comfortable switching to ME.
I strongly recommend your giving the trial version a run, though. It should be possible to run them together, btw. (In the early days of DA it would conflict with ME but Andrea fixed that long ago.)

So much depends on habit and personal likes and dislikes. I ran DA for a while -- when it was relatively new -- but found myself reverting to ME because the latter is more powerful and can do a lot more for me. It is also my personal view that ME offers better value for money. (That's not to criticize DA, I think that DA offers good value for money, but feel that ME gives even better value.) Within reason, however, value for money probably matters less than a style of working with which one feels comfortable (or perhaps that is, in and of itself, a highly important value factor).

Not a very clear answer, I fear, but it depends on how much, and how, you use and rely on DA. That's one reason why I didn't mention DA in the list of competitors, I think it's really in a different category.

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