Shane's Profile

Member since January 30, 2007

  • Name

    Shane Wyatt

  • Location:

    United States of America

Favorite Files

Recent Posts

  1. Review - digsby

    Build 45 (r19635) (Dec 22, 2008)

    Digsby is a client that started on a noble path and later morphed into the ad-driven mess it is today. Upon install, you must click through what seems like an infinite number of adware installers, unselect them, and finally get to the actual application you downloaded in the first place.

    The Digsby account you have to make in order to use the client actually knows your passwords. If you ever request to change your password on the website, it will ask you to type in your IM protocol passwords to verify that they are correct. Why does Digsby need to store my information, including my various protocol passwords?

    I have had trouble with file transfers in certain IM protocals, and I've noticed quite a bit of text-input bugs where strange characters start to appear for no reason.

    All in all, Digsby is a good client, which is why it receives a rating above 1 for me. If the IM client was as bad as the adware and other business practices that are included in the Digsby package, I would not have given it a 2.

    If Digsby were to remove the adware and discontinue storing user passwords for protocols, I would give Digsby a 4 rating. For now, I recommend Miranda IM or Pidgin as better alternatives for multiprotocal clients.

  2. Review - Safari for Windows

    3.1 (Mar 19, 2008)

    Safari has really shaped up since the last Windows release. This browser has potential to be great, but the usual problems are still holding it back. The major problem is the horrible interface. This may work on a Mac, where you're forced to stare at everything that already looks like this, but in Windows it is unacceptable.

    Font rendering is somewhat improved, but still too blurry for most Windows users. Lack of ad blocking or an ad blocking addon also holds it back, since all other browsers can do this.

  3. Review - Microsoft Internet Explorer for Windows XP

    8.0 Beta 1 (Mar 6, 2008)

    This beta has a lot of bugs, but those aside, IE8 has a huge amount of potential. Perhaps others have had different experiences, but IE8 is very fast for me. As far as browser cold start speed, I've never seen one load more quickly, it opens nearly instantly. I always thought Opera loaded fast. Not anymore. Pages also seem to render rapidly, though some struggle a bit, most likely due to rendering bugs.

    The issues I have with the browser, besides the beta bugs, lie within the interface itself. I would much prefer the old IE6 interface to IE7's. I rate this a 4 due to the potential it has. Subsequent betas should shape up and fix most of these bugs. If not, I will return and offer a lower rating based on Microsoft not following through and turning this into a great browser.

  4. Review - openSUSE

    10.3 (Oct 3, 2007)

    "Where is the download? All I get is: "403-Forbidden" when I try to dowload."

    openSUSE comes out Thursday, October 4th. An internal gold master was released on September 27th, but it is still not officially released yet. They will still implement showstopper bugfixes before the release on the 4th. I'm not sure why it is here so early.

  5. Review - Opera for Windows

    9.20 Build 8713 Beta (Feb 6, 2007)

    Definately my favorite browser, but it doesn't come without problems.

    The two major problems, as I see them:

    **There are still many pages that render incorrectly, as compared to Firefox or IE.

    **Built in ad blocking is subpar, and the rule lists available are ineffective against most modern page ads. The current implementation also lags the browser considerably when in use with a large filter.

    As these two problems never seem to be addressed, I don't believe I'll ever be able to give Opera a perfect score. That said, it is still my browser of choice. Fix the two problems mentioned above and I'll come back and rate it a 5.

  6. Comment - Dell tries again with its XPS 730 high-end desktop gaming system

    9.20 Build 8713 Beta (May 3, 2008 - 12:34 PM)

    The major concern I have is really just with the choice of case. The XPS case probably costs Dell $50. It has a unique look, but in all honesty, most people find it ugly. There are great cases to be had for over $800 less than the one you chose for the comparison system.

    Sure, I understand that people buy a prefabricated computer for specific reasons, but your conclusion was that Dell's markup is "almost exactly 20%". You are telling me that you aren't doing a performance comparison, and that's fine, but you are absolutely doing a price and markup comparison.

    How can you come to a conclusion of a 20% markup when you're inflating the component cost of the comparison system? I just don't really think the comparison should have been a part of the article to begin with.

  7. Comment - Dell tries again with its XPS 730 high-end desktop gaming system

    9.20 Build 8713 Beta (May 3, 2008 - 9:58 AM)

    This price comparison is a total joke. A $1000 price comparison for the XPS case because it slants?

    You tried your hardest to throw all the money you could at creating the "same" system, and you still came out over $1000 cheaper. Now imagine if you actually made reasonable decisions and chose the best components because of their performance, not their paint jobs.

    I don't think I've been more disappointed by a BetaNews article.

  8. Comment - Creative Gives Flash MP3 Another Toss with Zen Stone

    9.20 Build 8713 Beta (May 4, 2007 - 9:39 AM)

    Nope, they're all 1GB. It's also a UMD, so you can drag-drop contents.

  9. Comment - Creative Gives Flash MP3 Another Toss with Zen Stone

    9.20 Build 8713 Beta (May 3, 2007 - 8:12 PM)

    This report is wrong. The ZEN Stone is out now and being sold on Creative's website. Black only for the time being.

    It is $39.99, not $69.

  10. Comment - Caption Contest: Win Vista and Office!

    9.20 Build 8713 Beta (Jan 30, 2007 - 6:10 PM)

    Bill Gates reacts angrily to the prank Ubuntu backround being displayed behind him.

    Steve Balmer shows developers his new angle on Vista coding: Karate Kid.