Author Topic: What was a great program that's now been forgotten? (Read 90,203 times)

zridling · « **on:** January 24, 2020, 04:10 PM »

There are perhaps hundreds if not thousands sitting out there. There are some that are still available on the web(!) in some form, such as VuePrint. Can you think of others that should have never died?

MilesAhead · « **Reply #1 on:** January 24, 2020, 04:46 PM »

Here is a program I used to make MP4 files compliant so that my set top box would play them. MkvToMp4 The last rev was in 2013.

It worked especially well in batch due to the multi-threaded implementation. The function was to make an output file that was MP4 compliant by demuxing, fixing the audio to meet the standard, then remuxing. The program is portable. I had an external SSD in a docking station. The program along with input, intermediate and output files should all be on the SSD. Due to the lightning fast random access characteristics of the SSD I would watch the progress bar zip through the files. The video was not reencoded. Only the audio track was modified.

For those with a Western Digital set top box or something similar it may still be very useful.

mouser · « **Reply #2 on:** January 24, 2020, 04:53 PM »

zaine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

superboyac · « **Reply #3 on:** January 24, 2020, 05:57 PM »

Quote from: mouser on January 24, 2020, 04:53 PM

zaine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

indeed...the master makes an appearance!

superboyac · « **Reply #4 on:** January 24, 2020, 05:59 PM »

A long lost great one(s):
Powermarks
MP3rat

mwb1100 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 24, 2020, 06:29 PM »

The one that comes to mind for me is WordStar, a ground breaking word processor from back in the character-mode CP/M & DOS days. It didn't successfully make the jump to graphical environments. They got killed by WordPerfect and MS Word.

Pioneered the use of the ESDX 'diamond' for cursor movement (when the Ctrl key was held down). Way back then keyboards didn't always have dedicated arrow keys. Made far more sense to me than Vi's HLJK scheme.

I just threw out an old manual/floppy box from the 80's that I had kept around for nostalgia reasons.

4wd · « **Reply #6 on:** January 24, 2020, 06:31 PM »

Quote from: MilesAhead on January 24, 2020, 04:46 PM

For those with a Western Digital set top box or something similar it may still be very useful.

Common problem with a WDTV Live was it couldn't handle MKV's that had compressed headers, (I still have and use one), remuxing to use uncompressed headers made the files playable, format translation wasn't necessary.

cranioscopical · « **Reply #7 on:** January 24, 2020, 08:32 PM »

Quote from: mwb1100 on January 24, 2020, 06:29 PM

WordStar, a ground breaking word processor

I was seriously ticked off when WP beat them out. Threw away mine last year having not used it for decades.

IainB · « **Reply #8 on:** January 24, 2020, 08:50 PM »

Could someone give me a link(s) to information sources about Zaine? I don't think I've heard of that proggy before.
I'd add Lotus Agenda to the list anyway.

KynloStephen66515 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 24, 2020, 09:22 PM »

ENCARTA!

Deozaan · « **Reply #10 on:** January 24, 2020, 09:33 PM »

Quote from: IainB on January 24, 2020, 08:50 PM

Could someone give me a link(s) to information sources about Zaine? I don't think I've heard of that proggy before.

Here you go: Zaine

zridling is Zaine.

(check his signature at the bottom of his post)

Mouser and others are just glad to see him again after a long absence. His previous post was 5 years ago.

kunkel321 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 24, 2020, 09:52 PM »

Google Desktop Search.

40hz · « **Reply #12 on:** January 24, 2020, 11:58 PM »

Ronstadt’s Financials. One of the best financial and business planning tools ever developed.

FoxPro - The PC database to end all databases.

MaxThink (single pane outliner) along with Houdini and the rest of Nils Larsson’s brilliant programs for writers, thinkers, and planners. His hypertext authoring programs anticipated much of what HTML does. Definitely tools ahead of their time.

Qmodem - a telecommunications program that was the gateway drug for the emerging online generation. For many it provided their first taste of the magic of online through the BBS world before the advent of the public Internet. (Anybody remember Rusty n Edies, FidoNet, and Boardwatch Magazine?)

mouser · « **Reply #13 on:** January 25, 2020, 12:48 AM »

I know what web page I miss: Zaine's Great Software List.

In 2005 it was the bee's knees, and somewhat of an inspiration for donationcoder..
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=8988

city_zen · « **Reply #14 on:** January 25, 2020, 01:10 AM »

Pocomail and Barca

The best email software I've ever used. Sadly, it went the same route as many other email clients

MilesAhead · « **Reply #15 on:** January 25, 2020, 03:27 PM »

Quote from: 4wd on January 24, 2020, 06:31 PM

Quote from: MilesAhead on January 24, 2020, 04:46 PM
For those with a Western Digital set top box or something similar it may still be very useful.

Common problem with a WDTV Live was it couldn't handle MKV's that had compressed headers, (I still have and use one), remuxing to use uncompressed headers made the files playable, format translation wasn't necessary.

One thing cool about the WD box, it would play HD resolution avi files. My upconverting Philips DVD players would not. It was insane to reduce avi files to ntsc only to upconvert them. The WD saved me all that hassle. Granted I did not come by 1080P avis every day, but still...

wraith808 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 25, 2020, 06:13 PM »

Quote from: 4wd on January 24, 2020, 06:31 PM

Quote from: MilesAhead on January 24, 2020, 04:46 PM
For those with a Western Digital set top box or something similar it may still be very useful.

Common problem with a WDTV Live was it couldn't handle MKV's that had compressed headers, (I still have and use one), remuxing to use uncompressed headers made the files playable, format translation wasn't necessary.

I just use MakeMKV and have had no problems with my WDTV Hub nor Live playing them.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #17 on:** January 25, 2020, 08:18 PM »

Quote from: wraith808 on January 25, 2020, 06:13 PM

Quote from: 4wd on January 24, 2020, 06:31 PM
Quote from: MilesAhead on January 24, 2020, 04:46 PM
For those with a Western Digital set top box or something similar it may still be very useful.

Common problem with a WDTV Live was it couldn't handle MKV's that had compressed headers, (I still have and use one), remuxing to use uncompressed headers made the files playable, format translation wasn't necessary.

I just use MakeMKV and have had no problems with my WDTV Hub nor Live playing them.

Nice program. I have a registered copy. Unfortunately I no longer have the desktop PC with BDROM, TV, set top box etc..

Shades · « **Reply #18 on:** January 25, 2020, 08:52 PM »

Quick and brief searches revealed nothing about the author anymore. His website doesn't exist anymore either.

But that doesn't mean his software, EDXOR, isn't a surprisingly versatile text editor, which packs a whole lot of punch in such a small executable. The installer is only 35 KByte (not a typo) in size. But you'll need to get acquainted with it by yourself, there isn't much help available.

A more complete description (and download) you'll find here: https://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-tools/Text-editors/EDXOR.shtml.

2013 was the latest version (v1.65).

xtabber · « **Reply #19 on:** January 28, 2020, 03:34 PM »

Borland Reflex

mouser · « **Reply #20 on:** January 28, 2020, 03:38 PM »

xywrite text editor: http://www.xywrite.com/

xtabber · « **Reply #21 on:** January 28, 2020, 07:58 PM »

Quote from: mouser on January 28, 2020, 03:38 PM

xywrite text editor: http://www.xywrite.com/

+1 !!!

xywrite was a lot more than a text editor. It was an advanced word processing system that, within a purely text-based environment, anticipated many of the capabilities of today's web browsers.

And it was FAST!

But much of its speed and power came from implementing its own hardware interfaces internally, rather than relying on the operating system for screen and print drivers. That was not sustainable as the personal computer industry expanded exponentially and also moved to a graphical environment.

zridling · « **Reply #22 on:** January 30, 2020, 07:42 PM »

Quote from: kunkel321 on January 24, 2020, 09:52 PM

Google Desktop Search.

Oh wow, I had definitely forgotten this one. Google's killed more of its own apps than any company in history!

superboyac · « **Reply #23 on:** January 30, 2020, 10:44 PM »

man, there are so many i'm forgetting. software pre-iphone was so nice, generally speaking. Before the iphone, windows software still had really nice IMO interfaces and lots of cool features. then, as the pressure mounted to be similar to ios apps....these softwares became more cloud oriented, touch oriented (so all those nice features went away), and the whole poweruser environment we once had went away. i mean, powerusers were already the minority back then, but now it's almost entirely gone.

ShadowMaster · « **Reply #24 on:** January 31, 2020, 02:23 AM »

HiJaak Pro was a great screen capture and graphic converter that was included with corel trace as of the last version i had used