Favorite Files

1. AIMP
2. AllMyNotes Organizer
3. Bvckup
4. CloneDVD
5. CrystalDiskInfo
6. Defraggler
7. Diffuse for Windows
8. DVDFab HD Decrypter
9. Foxit Reader
10. K-Lite Codec Pack Full
11. LameXP
12. MusicBee
13. MyDefrag
14. Notepad2
15. Opera for Windows
16. Pixia
17. Process Lasso (x32)
18. Process Monitor
19. REAPER for Windows (x86)
20. Screenshot Captor
21. Stickies
22. Sublime Text
23. Sysinternals Suite
24. TagScanner
25. TeraCopy
26. Total Commander
27. Transmute
28. True Launch Bar 32-bit Edition
29. UltraMon
30. VirtualDub
31. WildBit Viewer
32. XnView for Windows

Recent Posts

1. 
   Review - AIMP

   2.60 Build 510 RC3 (Nov 4, 2009)

   Decent player (option-wise), yet the sound when Equalizer is enabled and presets are used leaves something to be desired -- when compared to WinAmp 2.95 and various comparable presets AIMP sounds tinny.
   
   Minor Flaws:
   (-) Unable to move the Equalizer from its left/right position (cannot be put underneath the main player).
   (-) The TagList Editor cannot resize the FileList (which only shows a couple files) vs the huge amount of space taken up (below) for showing File Details + Cover Art.
   (-) Inability to customize the Main Player's spectrum analyzer (Thin Bands, Dropoff, Firemode, etc etc.)
   (-) Bitrate display is constant (average): no display update for VBR files.
   
   Personal Preferences:
   Prefer Winamp's customizable Windowshade mode: which can windowshade each gui element (player, playlist, equalizer...).
   
   Major Flaws:
   (-) Sound (Equalizer) is worse than WinAmp (2.95) from 2003 (Especially noticeable with the "Rock" preset among others).
   (-) Very Limited Visualization options, and no customization.
   
   The Good:
   (+) The player itself looks good.
   (+) Functionally it works well, and the interface is intuitive.
   (+) Tabs for playlists.
   
   Perhaps it's bad presets, but there's definitely something wrong with the sound when the Equalizer is used. This would be a very competitive player if at least the sound issue was resolved.
   
   For now I'll stick with WinAmp 2.95 and J.River's Media Jukebox 12 (some of the coolest visualizations I've seen). Perhaps users don't care much about Visualization options, but the lack of options and customization in that area make this player seem incomplete to me.

2. 
   Review - SpeedCommander

   13.00.5900 (Oct 28, 2009)

   More customizable visually than Total Commander, and a better overall appearance than most comparable Commander's (TC included). The configuration options are very well organized,
   
   Development seems more active/frequent than TC, but if you are used to some of the hardcore Total Commander features (Like ToolBar or Menu editing to name a few) then you'll find this application lacking.
   
   Seems better than XYPlorer, which still lacks basic FTP and which only begrudgingly added DualPane recently.
   
   As others have noted, no English help file -- there is an English forum that has some support, but one shouldn't have to go to a forum to ask basic feature-usage questions.
   
   4+ If you're German.

3. 
   Review - LameXP

   3.1.3 Beta 2 (Oct 4, 2009)

   Decent program. Personally I prefer EAC+Lame: displays a CMD window that shows how the (VBR) encoding is being distributed over the various bitrates. If you're not interested in that kind of information LameXP works fine: with individual progress bars.
   
   Oddly, LameXP decodes wavpack but wont encode to wavpack, which limits my interest of it. Otherwise the interface is intuitive and clean and works well.
   
   Tried the previously mentioned BonkEnc: proprietary GUI interface that doesn't even recognize CTRL or SHIF T Click. And introduces yet another format ".Bonk" which afaict is completely unneeded with FLAC or Wavpack. BonkEnc doesn't even recognize wavpack files. Fail in my books.

4. 
   Review - Total Commander

   7.50 (Sep 10, 2009)

   @ cowgaR
   Say what you will, and I might even agree with _some_ of your issues. The fact remains that none of the other File Managers work so well across so many different platforms:
   i.e. Linux +Wine, Samba shares, FTP servers, Win98 on up.
   I've tried SpeedCommander, and FreeCommander... Speed Commander has a great _Display_ customization feature set - yet no where near the same ability to customize menus and toolbars. And both (SC & FC) are missing far too many TC features/or plugins to make any switch painless. As well Speed Commander is far too expensive - even more so considering it doesn't even have an English Helpfile. The number of languages TC supports for both Menus, Internal Dialogs and the Helpfile puts most other software to shame.

5. 
   Review - WildBit Viewer

   5.6 Alpha 2.0 (Sep 3, 2009)

   Except xNview Full is 15.5MB ... Unlike some I'll actually use a program before bothering to write a review.
   
   This is a decent Multi-App, with 4 separate Binaries plus the Profile switcher.
   Which lets you work with the Editor or Slideshow or Search separately (if desired) from the main viewer.
   
   Unfortunately, the search is slow the "Filters" don't make much sense (if they even work at all) and it doesn't support regex or pcre.
   
   The Editor is interesting, but is missing a few things like:
   [x] autoFit to window. Everytime you resize an image's window you need to manually reZoom.
   [-] The Create Icon is interesting and incomplete. If you've rezoomed a window (but not resized) The Create Icon, annoyingly, autoMaximizes the window again. Also it only lets you choose one icon size.
   
   Lots of options for the Viewer itself, only missing a few things in this area:
   1) Font Settings for Thumb Details, and Font Settings for FullScreen Mode.
   2A) Option to 1) use XPs thumbNail cache or other formats.
   2B) Option to save WildBit's ThumbNail.dat cache to ApplicationData instead of per folder.
   
   Needs an option for ToolBars IconOnly (with tooltip) or Icon+Text
   
   Most of the windows can't be resized below a certain point, which is somewhat of an annoyance.
   
   Wildbit does NOT hose your system extension settings. Which is a major plus in my books. It will leave them completely alone if thats what you want.
   Looks promising if development continues.

6. Comment - After the Psystar verdict: Send in the clones

   5.6 Alpha 2.0 (Nov 18, 2009 - 5:59 PM)

   Google: Apple clones Europe
   #1) RussianMac Joins List of Apple Clone Makers
   #4) The next Psystar: PearC sells Mac clones in Europe
   #5) German company sells Mac clones in Europe | Desktop | Macworld
   
   This US ruling is hardly the death knell for the Apple clone market.

7. Comment - Apple's house rules won't be the death of app development

   5.6 Alpha 2.0 (Nov 18, 2009 - 5:51 PM)

   1) Author writes novel.
   2) Publisher prints and distributes novel.
   3) Novel is sold in any store that wants to carry the book.
   
   Change 1 to: Author requests the book only be sold by Barnes & Noble... the publisher may agree to that, but not likely.
   Change 2 to: Publisher states the book will only be sold by Barnes & Noble, otherwise they wont publish and promote the book. The author has the option to have his Work Published by another company that isn't insane.
   
   In the case of Apple and the iPhone, they are Publisher, Distributor and Store. AFAIK you are allowed to self-publish/distribute/sell your application, but no other company can set-up shop to carry iPhone applications. I'm sure there is a EULA or iDeveloper agreement that binds many of these things. And in any other instance this would be considered illegal behaviour.

8. Comment - Snow Leopard and Windows 7 still can't crack the netbook problem

   5.6 Alpha 2.0 (Nov 10, 2009 - 3:55 PM)

   Is this even true? This made news on slashdot when the news first broke (over a week ago); then the whole thing was recanted as the "official release" didn't actually remove Atom support:
   
   Hardware: Apple Not Disabling OS X Atom Support After All (Thu Nov 05, @05:32PM)
   "Contrary to previous reports, Atom chip support is working fine in the latest 10C535 build of OS X 10.6.2. Apple's EULA still states that OS X is licensed to run only on Apple hardware, but it looks like OSX86 hackers can breathe easy ... for now."

9. Comment - Verizon Wireless launches new Android, Chocolate, and ruggedized phones

   5.6 Alpha 2.0 (Nov 6, 2009 - 6:27 AM)

   "Ruggedized" phones are interesting, though one has to wonder if they'll back it up when push comes to shove, or fall back on the "no warranty, you got it wet" line.
   
   I'm surprised Motorola (or some other Cell MFG) didn't trademark Droid. The Motorola Droid / HTC Droid Eris is bound to be confusing.
   
   (So I did a search: Droid Trademark)...Apparently,
   
   "DROID is a trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. and its related companies. Used under license."

10. Comment - Performance drain: The first public perception test of the Windows 7 era

    5.6 Alpha 2.0 (Nov 4, 2009 - 1:25 PM)

    The reason Windows 7 exists as a brand name at all is because of a Microsoft change of course, a necessary one if the brand is to thrive rather than just subsist:
    I think this is a poor statement for TechWriters to continually churn.
    Microsoft made a mistake with Vista - primarily in how long it took for it to get to market. And it HAD to change that going forward or risk losing all of the Enterprise BSA(?)'s (Business Software Assurance) Licenses.
    I don't see people continually beating the drum that Windows XP is really only Win2K SP3 ?? It is afterall Win 5.1 vs Win2K's 5.0.