DonationCoder.com Forum
Special User Sections => Other Stuff => General Review Discussion => Topic started by: mouser on March 13, 2005, 10:55 PM
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Here are the categories we plan on reviewing next:
Best File/Folder Comparison Tool.
Best Web Change Monitor.
Please let us know what you think we should review next.. Once we get enough members we can use a weekly poll to decide what categories we should judge, that way members can get reviews that are most useful to them.
we could also investigate getting more reviewers to increase the quantity of reviews.
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I vote for Best File/Folder Comparison Tool :)
A couple of ideas for future reviews:
- Best Programmers Editor
- Best E-mail Client
- Best Process Explorer
- Best Archiver
- Best FTP Client
- Best Image Viewer/Browser
- Some smilies for this forum ;)
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very good suggestions.
we should have an award for tools that people didn't even know they needed.
speaking of best editor, i made another macro for ultraedit, im thinking of making a place for them; the more i make ultra edit macros though, the more i see that this is the achilles heel of ultraedit.. it's macro support is HORRIBLE.
smiley's enabled :)
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Groovy :Thmbsup:.
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will there be any distinction between free and non free software or is this already catered for in how the reviews will be done.
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our idea is when we pick a category, we will first try to find the very best software in that category.
if that program is a free or open source program, then we will just review that program, and of course note that it is the best and is free.
however if the best program in a category is shareware, then we will often try to also find the next best program that is free or open source, and present awards to both, and describe clearly what we liked about each.
this way, those who prefer open source or free software, or think that the commercial app does not justify its price will still have a clear choice about best free program.
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that sounds great to me. :)
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i'm sure this is on the cards but i'll ask anyway...
will there be a virus scanner review and more importantly is nod32 going to feature?
i'm currently using the free version of avg but every serious review i read seems to favour nod32. there doesn't appear to be a free edition of nod though. just wondering how they compared - if anyone has any experience of using both these programs or maybe has tried a wide variety of virus checkers.
i've no complaints about avg - the latest version is a decent improvement over No. 6.
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there absolutely is an av review planned.
and we will for sure award best free and best commercial.
nod32 is def. in contention for best.
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nod32 is a very good av, but its not perfect;
it has some problems with certain files - but i hear they are planning a major engine overhaul in hear future that may fix some of these things.
a really nice free one that i like is
Antivir Personal
http://www.free-av.de/
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well if you say antiver is good then i'm going to have to give it a try. if it looks better than avg then that will probably be enough to sway me. i like the idea of it having a commandline option - i'm assuming that this means it will work in dos, say, from a boot CD with dos on it. has anyone had experience of the commandline version?
i'm surprised to hear that nod32 has some issues - i suppose i've always believed the hype that it was the pinnacle of antivirus software. if it's not perfect then i'm not interested :)
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well i should say that, despite the issues, nod32 is on my system right now :D
some issues:
it freaks out with some files - there are a few files that seem to really cause it to scan very slowly.. some dll's that have copy protection and some small .html files. and combined with a flaw in it's ability to cache crc values for files, the weel-renowned speed of nod32 can literally slow down to molasses at certain times.
it took me many days of frustration to figure out that this was the reason that my right click in explorer was taking 10 times longer to pop up than normal, and why my dictionary program suddenly went from opening instantly to taking 20 seconds to open. truly bizarre behavior, and the only solution is to manually exclude these files/folders from scanning. a bug in the exclude dialog makes this even more annoying.
nod32 also has a heuristic engine on by default which can false alarm on some files, and when it alerts on them it doesnt tell the user "hey i'm just guessing about this", which has resulted in some confusion wrt some very harmless programs being accused of having viruses.
with all that said you might think i don't like nod32, but in fact it's really mostly a very nice antivirus with a very efficient feel to it in most respects. i used antivir for a long time and i sometimes go back and forth between antivir and nod32. i just couldn't get used to the interface of avg and some other antiviruses i've tried. i also liked f-prot. mcafee seemed quite nice to me too but i had the feeling it might be using a lot of system resources..
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by the sounds of it, nod32 is going to give me plenty to play with - trying to configure it correctly. normally this i would enjoy but as i've never had to do this with avg (now trying antivir: seems fine so far) it seems like a backward step.
can't remember if i tried f-prot. i'll have to look into it.
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Kaspersky (http://www.kaspersky.com/) might also be worth a look.
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How about a good program to handle Favorites!!
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can't think of a standalone favorites manager off the top of my head but you might find these useful...
am-deadlink http://www.aignes.com/ great for checking deadlinks in your favorites list (also can download the webpage address icons for you if they are broken).
favourites to html http://www.jonessoft.co.uk/ will create an html page for you with all your favorites set out with a nicely formatted folder structure.
ie favorites extractor http://belkasoft.com/?fe similar to the above but outputs to different file formats.
these are all free too. :)
quick edit - just looked at Belkasoft - they have a program called 'LinksManager' which looks like it would do what you are after. i've not tried it though.
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A bit late, I'll admit, but I wanted to mention one thing about AntiVir Personal vs AVG ...
I had AntiVir Personal installed on a relatives machine for some time, and while it was quite nice (even though the GUI could need an upgrade from the Win3.11 look), it had a really silly update procedure. They were connected by 28.8k modem, and AntiVir Personal insisted on downloading a complete 4.5mb installer and reinstall itself each time it was updated :wallbash:.
After switching to AVG, it's usually a 400k virus definition update, which is much better :up:.
Of course if you're on a cable connection, it doesn't matter much ;).
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point of clarification:
antivir updates are of 2 types
1 type is small download that just updates with 1 click
the other type actually redownloads the entire installer and reruns it
requiring you to step through the installer steps all over again.
it doesnt do the full download every time, but i agree it happens enough to be annoying and a big download.
but its not on every update. hopefully they'll address this one day.
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Thanks for the clarification .. I guess I never experienced the smaller download because it only got updated when I was visiting -- probably about once a month or so. Either way, as you say, it's a pretty bad method of doing auto-update in AV software ::).
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tried antivir - now gone back to avg. and like a fool i can't even remember what the reason was now - it was only a couple of days ago.
ah yes, just remembered - i noticed that whilst antivir was running there was extra network activity going on. i assumed it was downloading in the background even though i'm sure i hadn't selected it to do so.
it was definately antivir that was doing it as i kept turning it off and on to check the difference. it's not a big thing but i just found it annoying.
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Here are a couple other things you could cover:
- BitTorrent Client
- Newsreader
- Archiver (e.g. WinZip, WinRAR, WinAce, etc.)
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Some others...
- Best File Manager/Explorer Replacement
- Bookmark Manager (already stated as favorites manager I believe)
- Bandwidth Monitor
- Image Viewer
- Registry Cleaner
Perhaps a section on useful utilities that may not fit in a category but may be beneficial.
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best file manager/explorer replacement is DEFINITELY in the cards soon. should be contentious award - i expect some real disagreements here.
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should be contentious award - i expect some real disagreements here.
-mouser
I'll probably disagree with anyone who doesn't choose Xplorer2 Pro on that. :mrgreen:
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lol, it is a touchy subject.
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OK, I'll suggest something near and dear to my heart, though I realize there's probably only 3 other people in the home-computing world that give a rip... Backup software. (Ohmigawd, did he just say BACKUP?!!!)
Yeah, I know there's a backup tool built into Windows since version '95. And OK, so if you actually USE the thing (refer to my previous comment about the 3 other people in the world), you CAN recover some files, assuming you know what files to recover.
One VERY bad thing about the Windows backup is, well actually, two are, it cannot backup a file from disc if it is open, and it cannot overlay a file on disc if it is open. So, for example, just TRY to recover your registry file (or files, as is the case now in XP). Go on, try. I'll wait... :drinksmiley:
Neither does it let you backup files from another computer on your home network. For example, you can't connect your laptop to the network and run the backup from your desktop, expecting to get a nice tape or DVD copy of your laptop's content. As should be obvious, you can't restore that way, either.
I've been using TapeWare for several years. It came with my HP Insider tape backup unit. It does in fact backup and restore across the network (you'll need a "feed" engine running on the laptop that communicates with the main backup engine on the desktop). And yes, it DOES backup files that are open, and it DOES restore files that are open (but you have to tell it to, and even then, it requires a reboot to recover busy files).
TapeWare is serious networking adminitrators' stuff, though, and the interface isn't all that wonderful for non-admins like myself. I end up backing up the same file several times. For example, it backs up the registry by polling the registry interface and extracting the current values from either memory or disc, as is appropriate for a value at the time. Then it procedes to back up the disc files, which on XP are multiple. So I get 2 copies of my registry. Same thing happens with my shredder - one copy comes from reading the contents of the shredder, another comes from reading the actual file off of disc.
Result: my desktop, with some 14gb of files, creates a tape with about 19gb. I use 24gb tapes, so size is not a problem, but the length of time to backup and verify is.
A strong point, and VERY strong, is this: TapeWare creates, on every tape, the system bootup sector and partition information. That's important, in combination with my HP drive. In the event of "I can't boot" or "Blue screen of death" I can power-off, hold the eject button on my drive, and power back on. The drive makes itself look like a bootable CDROM and starts a DOS recovery session. Data is taken off the tape (make sure you do an incrimental every day) and laid onto the disc. Just enough to get a bare Windows system running and the TapeWare software running on it. Then it reboots from disc and loads windows, where the full TapeWare commences to put back everything up to whatever incrimentl backup date you like. Done. Recovered. Completely.
So what other high performance, auto-error detecting, full backup/restore is available for the home user? I'm afraid to stop using TapeWare, but I sure wish there was something not so cryptic in its GUI that made me feel more comfortable about tweaking what it backs up...
Ric Naff
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i am a very big backup fanatic,
and i have some def. views on best backup software.
i was actually thinking of doing a special kind of review for backup, in the form of a guide.
so i would layout my guide to backing up your computer and files, in terms of a complete guide w/ associated best recommended software.
to me backing up involves having a couple of different systems for dif. purposes, so its not just a matter of recommending one piece of software.
next week i have a real special app that i am really looking forward to awarding..
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ric,
the new wave of drive imaging software is good at making a complete clone of your hd, while windows is still running - it backs up your registry and all open files.
True Image is my current favorite for this - it does a remarkable job and its very fast.
i recommend buying an external usb drive and using such a program, instead of tapes.
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i started off using ghost but now use drive image 2002. i know there is a newer version but i don't like how the new hard drive cloners work - all the new ones i've tried require you to boot from a CD to restore the image (maybe i've missed something) whereas drive image 2002 allows you to start the restore process from a program running inside windows.
having to keep inserting a boot CD and then wait for it to load every time i want to restore an image is something i really don't have the time for. i'd much rather prefer to set it running from windows and then walk out the room and come back when everything is done.
i must say the incremental backup of the new programs is a feature i'm envious of but you can't have everything can you?
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I have a category that should be reviewed. It is:
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I was going to append backup software to my list (if possible). :)
I agree there should be two separate categories for backup software: drive/partition cloning and file, incremental etc.
I would be very interested in your guide mouser. I have used Ghost for cloning, but have not really found a "file" backup util that I've been impressed with...or maybe my workflow is just not very good. Right now, I'm using ~50 batch files to backup program settings/profiles and becoming more tedious every day. lol
nudone: does drive image allow you to restore a clone of the system drive/partition (with windows on it)? This is usually why cloners require you to boot from CD to restore.
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:) yep, drive images 2002 allows you to restore a system drive/partition with any windows based operating system on it - i'm using xp pro with ntfs (can't say i've tried it with windows 2003).
whether it works with non fat, fat32 or ntfs formats i can't say.
i stopped using ghost a few years ago but when i did use it that was run from within the operating system too - can't remember if i ever used it with xp.
you can also use drive image 2002 off of a boot cd if you make it in the right way.
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as i don't wish to sound like a complete idiot, i just thought i better explain...
drive image 2002 will run from within windows but if the image you are restoring IS the system drive/partition then windows will reboot so that the process can carried out.
a version of DOS automatically loads after the reboot and drive image 2002 takes over from there.
i don't understand why this is such a problem for the current crop of drive cloning programs - having to use a boot CD seems like a backward step to me.
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can't think of a standalone favorites manager off the top of my head but you might find these useful...
am-deadlink http://www.aignes.com/ great for checking deadlinks in your favorites list (also can download the webpage address icons for you if they are broken).
favourites to html http://www.jonessoft.co.uk/ will create an html page for you with all your favorites set out with a nicely formatted folder structure.
ie favorites extractor http://belkasoft.com/?fe similar to the above but outputs to different file formats.
these are all free too. :)
quick edit - just looked at Belkasoft - they have a program called 'LinksManager' which looks like it would do what you are after. i've not tried it though.
-nudone
Thanks Nudone!!
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Thanks nudone for restating that Drive Image reboots to DOS to clone; when I read your first reply, I wasn't sure how it worked properly lol. I haven't done cloning much lately, but when I did, always used the boot CD anyway. If I recall correctly, I thought Ghost would reboot into DOS system if the partition was the Windows drive.
This topic and another sparked my interest in creating my own custom boot CD with a few utilities (incl. Ghost and True Image) along with WinXP & Win98se.
Btw, my favorite ink manager is Linkman (http://outertech.com/index.php?_charisma_page=product&id=5); it also exports to HTML, which I forgot about and need to look into again.
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ah, linkman, now that rings a bell.
just had a quick look at their website - i do remember using linkman many moons ago and i would agree it's an excellent links/favorites manager. in fact, i think i will give it another go.
talking of boot CDs, you've probably already come across it but if not you might like BartPE http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
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I've looked at several offline browsers and have yet to get one to do exactly what I want. Of the many I've tried, Offline Explorer is the best. The test for me is to successfully make a scheduled download of all the articles in the NY Times Science and Opinion pages in their entirety, without downloading a bunch of extraneous material.
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offline explorer is very powerful;
the other top program i know about for this is Teleport Pro.
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Offline Explorer is very powerful. The application I chose with similar functionality is Cyberarticle.
Jeff
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I would like to see a comparative review of the under $100 website design tools for those that can't afford Dreamweaver et al. I'm thinking of Webeasy Pro and Web Studio from Back to the Beach.
Jeff
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I'll add to Jibz' suggestions. He listed:
- Best Programmers Editor
- Best E-mail Client
- Best Process Explorer
- Best Archiver
- Best FTP Client
- Best Image Viewer/Browser
Over time, I'd also like to see Best:
__Outlining/Note-taking tool
__Calculator
__Image Editing tool
__File Renamer
__Photo Resizer
__Screen Recorder
__Duplicate File Finder
__Windows Tweaking tool/s
__Defrag, Disk Management
__Uninstall tool
__Synching tool
__Download Manager
__Privacy tool
__Blogging (blog-posting, not creation) tool
__Online Help/Resource sites
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syncing tool might be covered by our beyond compare review..
so many good ideas, i think it's safe to say we are going to get around to all of these categories eventually.. just a matter of what order we do them in..
outlining/note-taking tools are near and dear to my heart, so i might do a review of those soon, same with screen recorder.
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It might also be worth considering reviewing Spyware cleaning apps, especially as more than one is required to give any kind of real protection and these days you are much more likely to be a victim of spyware than of a virus.
Trojan cleaners/protectors may also be worth looking at, as is disk encryption.
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Defragmentor would be top on my list right now... so many options, but no real way to tell if they give what they claim.
kevin
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Defragmentor would be top on my list right now... so many options, but no real way to tell if they give what they claim.
kevin
-kfitting
Yes there is a lot of fud in this area and an awful lot of fanboys for each product. I'm pretty certain this should make any review rather contentious, no doubt leading to a rather interesting discussion. :)
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This might be very personal, but I'd really like to see reviews of .NET Framework 100% Managed Code components. These are really expensive and I certainly can't afford to buy them only to find I got the wrong one!
I'm especially interested in Networking Components and TLS/SSL components.
Maybe a category for Programming Language Components?
Martin (w-h)
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martin,
i very much like this idea, if we can find a guest reviewer to do it.
i'd like to do an occasionally series on
best photoshop plugins
best delphi/c++ builder components
best vc components
best .net components would be nice too
but we'll need to find someone who really knows the subject to write the review since im not qualified.
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Best outlining/note-taking tool? Just in case, my Top 5 list is as follows:
__(1) Microsoft OneNote-SP1 (http://www.microsoft.com/office/onenote/prodinfo/default.mspx)
__(2) TexNotes Pro (http://www.gemx.com/texnotespro.php)
__(3) Jot+ Notes (http://www.kingstairs.com/jot/index.html)
__(4) AM-Notebook Pro (http://www.aignes.com/notebook.htm)
__(5) NoteMap (http://www.casesoft.com/notemap/index.shtml)
Unlike text editors, there are many good candidates in this class of software, and even some on the OS side. The three biggest factors for me tend to be interface design, outlining flexibility and ease, and import/export abilities. Coincidently, like text editors, most outlining tools rarely see major upgrades.
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Outlining/note-taking gets my vote too as there are so many good ones to choose from, so making a choice is rather tough.
The main factors that matter to me include: Focused (uncluttered but powerful) interface, flexibility, resident abilities (minimise to tray on close, small memory footprint, auto-save on minimise etc.), import/export and of course, price.
I'd almost certainly buy AM-Notebook Pro if it were half the price, despite infrequent updates, as it appears to best fit my criteria. It's just too expensive for what it is though.
Oh yes, we mustn't forget GoldenSection Notes (A cut-down targetted version of WinOrganizer) which is also a rather nice product.
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I have been doing some research through midmapping software again.
Jeff
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I like to suggest Font Managers. I been trying so hard to find one that can read unicode fonts, but no avail.
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I like to suggest Font Managers. I been trying so hard to find one that can read unicode fonts, but no avail.
-imtrobin
That's a good idea.
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doing font managers is a great idea-
i remember being very frustrated looking for the best font manager.
might be a nice one for a guest review though since i don't think i'm qualified.
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Best outlining/note-taking tool? Just in case, my Top 5 list is as follows:
__(1) Microsoft OneNote-SP1 (http://www.microsoft.com/office/onenote/prodinfo/default.mspx)
__(2) TexNotes Pro (http://www.gemx.com/texnotespro.php)
__(3) Jot+ Notes (http://www.kingstairs.com/jot/index.html)
__(4) AM-Notebook Pro (http://www.aignes.com/notebook.htm)
__(5) NoteMap (http://www.casesoft.com/notemap/index.shtml)
Unlike text editors, there are many good candidates in this class of software, and even some on the OS side. The three biggest factors for me tend to be interface design, outlining flexibility and ease, and import/export abilities. Coincidently, like text editors, most outlining tools rarely see major upgrades.
-zridling
Agreed. I use MS OneNote for school and it's excellent.
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One thing I'd be extremely interested in is PIMs, (Personal Information Managers). Since I refuse to use Outlook, (because I use IMAP and Outlook + IMAP = no fun), I've had a very hard time finding a good, solid PIM. I need it just to keep track of all my duties, projects, homeworks, important dates and so on.
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One thing I'd be extremely interested in is PIMs, (Personal Information Managers). -Shangnyun
I use this. Only down point is you cannot add unicode text, otherwise great!
http://www.pimexonline.com/
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Speaking of FUD, there are many application types that are heavily abused by companies that prey on desperate customers by heavy advertizing within search engine results. The programs themselves are often stolen from developers who released their software for free. If not, then they either don't work or are over-priced.
Take for instance file/partition recovery software; anyone who googles for such an app faces pages of junk with the real gems hidden. There are many other genres that are afflicted, virus/spyware removal, password recovery, stuff that you usually need in a hurry.
I think reviews of this sort of software might bring in new donations and also be a huge benefit to some of those developers whose work has been stolen and is sold by disreputable companies as their own. Plus this loosely fits the theme of donationcoder (well, sort of).
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i do think we need to make a stronger effort here to identify good freeware apps, and authors who are asking for donations. i think it's important to lend some support for other donation-based authors.
any ideas for how we could do this in ways other than full reviews?
i suggest we set up a special page for Freeware/Donationware authors that we like - basically expanding our idea of a links section for our favorite freeware authors (ie this won't be a page for singleton programs, but rather for authors who have devoted considerable effort to making freeware+donationware programs, and who don't sell commercial software).
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Are there any plans to review website building software in the near future? It's something I, for one, would appreciate. Dreamweaver is more than I need, but there are so many lower cost apps that I don't know where to start.....
Miles
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website soft review is def needed.
we really need to get a few more reviewers who can write long comprehensive reviews on a category they know well enough to do a good job on.
i think maybe we should have a poll of possible review categories
so we can see which categories people want to see reviewed the most.
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Yes, poll is the way to go...
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Yes, poll is the way to go...
-Miles
Yes, I rather like the idea of a poll. Although this probably does panda to popularist appeal. ;)
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Poll of members, of course ;)
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Poll of members, of course ;)
-Miles
Whatever could you mean? :o
Although I don't mind polling anyone! ;)
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i'll set up a poll this weekend and we can just leave it running forever
and try to do reviews from top votes.
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Ah ha! Time to setup multiple accounts. ;)
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Ah ha! Time to setup multiple accounts. ;)
-Sentinel
So you can pander to your multiple personalities, you mean? ;)
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i'm gonig to put up a poll where people can vote on what to review next - please post more suggestions of categories so i don't miss any.
should it be open to everyone, or just members?
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i would find a review of pims really helpful - have used outlook for years, before that sidekick for a long time (remember sidekick!), recently started testing sunbird, but it's got some ways to go, just followed various links from the great software list. actually, i realise i probably should say i mean pims with calendars...
(I usually have more capital letters.)
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Here are the categories we plan on reviewing next:
Best File/Folder Comparison Tool.
Best Web Change Monitor.
Please let us know what you think we should review next.. Once we get enough members we can use a weekly poll to decide what categories we should judge, that way members can get reviews that are most useful to them.
we could also investigate getting more reviewers to increase the quantity of reviews.
-mouser
A review of free or inexpensive HTML/WYSIWIG editors --
Dreamweaver is expensive and takes time to learn)!
Also a review of email clients would be great!
I've seen complaints that Adobe has become massive, slow and fills up the registry.
There are a lot of PDF reader/creator/editors available....
It would be nice to see a review of features/stability/speed etc.
For those that need to create PDF's, but don't require editting ability,
OpenOffice (freeware) converts documents to PDF:
http://download.openoffice.org/2.0.3/contribute.html?product=OpenOffice.org&os=win&lang=en&version=2.0.3
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A review of free or inexpensive HTML/WYSIWIG editors --
Dreamweaver is expensive and takes time to learn)!
i have a horrible confession:
d.martin sent me an amazing review of inexpensive html editors that has been awaiting my editing for over a month!
i'm going to try to get it done and published in july.
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Trying to revive an oldie thread, let's see how it goes...
1. Mind-mapping and diagramming software. The reason I'm suggesting a review of those is that I'd love to read a discussion by those who use such software at an advanced level - because I don't quite understand how it is useful :) I have a basic technical understanding of mind maps, and I know of course what diagrams are used for, but I've never been able to fit any software like this into my note-taking or planning processes. They confuse me, they interrupt my thinking and try to force me into a mode of working that feels alien to me. I'm much better off with free-form notes. So I'm probably missing some big point of mind maps and/or diagrams. Bonus question: there are specialized mind mapping programs, as well as specialized diagramming software, but in the end it's all about connecting shapes with arrows, filling them with text and moving them around. Could one piece of software serve both needs?
2. Wikis, the web-based ones. There are so many, most of them free, differing in features, backends and formatting syntax. Wikis are primarily intended for collaborative work, but does anyone use them for personal projects? How do they fare as note-taking mechanisms? (For the desktop, there's WikiPad, which I don't think has any competition yet: http://www.jhorman.org/wikidPad/ )
Thanks for listening!
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I've just gone through installing just about 10 different wiki's to test for suitability for a particular project, so I have at least an overview of some of the more popular ones. Of course my criteria were kind of specific. But I can tell you that playing with all these different ones did not make me love Wiki any more than I do (which is not a lot :D). The best wikis seem to be the hardest to setup. *sigh*
- Oshyan
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I don't think it's been suggested yet...
Best RSS Feed Reader (with two categories: online readers and offline/client-mode readers
Cheers /jerome
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1. Mind-mapping and diagramming software.
-tranglos
KeyNote no longer enough? ;D
Marek, nobody's found the definitive notekeeper, but KeyNote generated you immense goodwill. Take a look at this DonationCoder thread: General brainstorming for Note-taking software (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=2362.msg16135#msg16135)
Only 349 replies so far 8)
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How about an in depth review of desktop search applications?
There are quite a few out there, not just Google's. I'd like to see how they stack up.
I'd do it myself, but I am not an experienced desktop search user and my idea of good would be anything better than the standard built-in Windows files & folders search. :-[
I am also obsessivly organized and don't often have to search for things on my pc, because I already have them where they would make perfect sense.
But the few times I do need to search for something, it's a brutal hell for me.
It would be nice to know that I could install something rated the best by a totally disorganized but experienced user of desktop search tools. ;D
Anybody up for the challenge?
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There's a free disk imaging program called Partition Logic http://partitionlogic.org.uk/index.html From their homepage: "Partition Logic is free software, based on the Visopsys operating system. It boots from a CD or floppy disk and runs as a standalone system, independent of your regular operating system. It is intended to become a free alternative to such commercial programs as Partition Magic, Drive Image, and Norton Ghost..." Sounds good. How about running it through its paces?
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I truly appreciate your software reviews, they're really second to none!
But please, please start to include version numbers of the software you review, along with the publication date of the review!
Otherwise, the reviews themselves and especially the additional efforts to add amendments like this one to the PSPad review become almost useless (what/when is 'now'?):
[ED NOTE: we originally commented that pspad could not be considered suitable as a general purpose text editor until they fixed their notoriously broked wordwrap code. we are happy to say that they have in fact fixed their wordwrap code and PsPad is now one of the best text editors available - and it's free!].
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yes it's so true that we need to do a much better job specifying version numbers clearly in our reviews, i agree and we will be doing that in all future reviews.
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the mini-review template has a section for the reviewed program's version (see pic) and as for the dates, imo it's not included because all posts have their own time-stamp with additional time-stamps for any further edits but i do think it's a good idea.. :)
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Fresh Devices has several free programs, but I'm guessing a long past history because you don't hear much about them, one old anti-spyware app triggers on the name, Roadrunner cable access filters their email address. However over the last 3-4 years I haven't had a problem, their programs seem compatible in Vista, and they offer several [IMHO Very nice] utilities that seem to work very well indeed. A mini review of their products might be unique & welcomed by forum users/visitors.
On the topic of sites, I'm guessing that a quick list of software problem reporting sites might be useful. In many cases the publisher doesn't provide such a thing. The example that jumps to mind is Corel: Tablet prob in Draw 12 Suite, and terrible install problems in WP X3. In other cases [like Roxio] the forums are at times more focussed on BIT***** than practical results [do this -> fix this].
RE: AV review... Wondering if it might not be useful to include a poll? With the arrival of Vista, I've seen loads of AV compatibility prob reports with certain combos of other software.
RE: Older programs [i.e. I believe a few older spreadsheet apps were mentioned]... Vista seems to have much better compatibility than earlier versions of Windows -- I can run win95/98 programs that I reluctantly abandoned to move to XP. How about a feature(s) on old favorites that can be resurrected in Vista?
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I've just spent an hour winnowing through "work flow" and "project management" software, at the request of a client.
Any decent suggestions would be appreciated. Ideally, I'd like to find several packages ranging from quick n dirty, intuitive and simple to use/learn, right up to full blown management-of-the universe type proggies.
I am not overly familiar with this type of software, not being a management type of person - when I need this type of organization, I can generally cobble together a chart of some sort in Open Office Draw. However, some types apparently need the extra structure that "workflow" software will provide for them.
Daleus