Activity for February 7

Review - Cobian Backup
10.0.0.236 Beta (Feb 7, 2010)

Excellent! If you need a powerful, flexible, reliable backup program that's easy to use, this is it. I use it to back up my library of pictures, documents, and music. If I would lose family pictures, my wife would kill me. That's why I need a very reliable program. It just sits there in the tray and does its thing with no user input. It has saved my bacon on 2 or 3 occasions, and will again in the future.
Believe me, it does many things a simple copy and paste won't do. That was just an ignorant remark.
Review - Color Cubes
3.2 (Feb 4, 2010)

Watch out if your OS is Windows 7! This game gave me a black screen and a hard lockup on initial launch. Had to press the reset button, my first time ever for Windows 7. The developers really should try their programs out on friends and relatives before unleashing them on the public.
Review - File Association Fixer
1.0 (Feb 4, 2010)

Nice litle program. No install, single EXE, just the way I like. Works with Windows 7.
Review - Maxthon (v2 Beta)
2.5.12.4200 Beta (Jan 21, 2010)

Used to be the best, but going down badly of late. It crashes a lot now. The Dev. decided to remove the spell checker, and decided to do something silly to the title bar, making it non standard. I'll move to Chrome, and hope the Dev restores Maxthon to its former greatness.
Review - Explore&Burn
1.5 RC1 (Jan 18, 2010)

This program has come a long way, and is now usable. Believe me, a context menu burning program will take care of 90% or your needs. I like the sound notifications, that let you know when the disk is finished or failed to burn. I wish the wizard could be bypassed with a default burning choice. I also wish the 2nd menu choice was on a sub menu. (my context menu is already too long!)

Nice program, very useful, works good so far, and I recommend it. Give it a 4.5/5!
Comment - The .NET Future…What it means for you
1.5 RC1 (Jun 25, 2000 - 11:45 AM)

I think this one is not going to be well received! Looks like MS's goals are two fold: 1., to keep monthly income coming in from millions of people forever, and 2., to keep control over their software and customer base.
Well, I don't think most people will go for this. I agree with the poster that mentioned this is nothing more than reinvented time sharing. Microsoft's modus operandi in the past has been to entice millions of people to get hooked on inexpensive software, then drop the hammer. Sure, a few lamers will go for such a ploy, but most people will be extremely wary of trusting the Internet. As sure as you have an important job to do, the damn thing will go down for 2 hours. Or you wake up one morning and the price has doubled.
Comment - Windows Me Goes Gold
1.5 RC1 (Jun 19, 2000 - 10:55 PM)

99%? Get real! I have hand-picked, top quality components in my computer, and I can tell you that ME is only marginally stable enough to release. Scanner buttons don't work (Epson, HP), many installation programs simply don't work, programs crash, MS Publisher 2K doesn't work right, several programs (including ACDSee) aren't able to grab window focus properly. The MS Intellipoint software doesn't work right. The MS Intellitype software doesn't install. There are way too many "Explorer Crashes". Want more? There's a lot more! MS stopped including their Release Notes 2 or 3 builds ago, and I know why. It's because they have chosen to ignore many issues that were formerly under investigation, and wanted to keep this quiet. OK, it's a nice OS. It has some great features, and I'll end up using it. However, it's *far* from being finished and bug-free. It needed 2 or 3 more builds for de-bugging. Shame on MS for not going the extra mile for their customers and resolving more bugs.
Comment - Microsoft Ordered to Split Into Two Companies
1.5 RC1 (Jun 7, 2000 - 11:03 PM)

Maybe the people are, maybe they aren't capable of learning to install Linux on their machines. That's not the point. They don't WANT to use Linux. Linux doesn't run the software they have been collecting since 1994, and are familiar with. They don't WANT to throw away 6 years of learning Windows for a half-done OS that doesn't support their hardware and software. MS has the people addicted to Windows, plain and simple. MS knows it, and can manipulate things and capitalize on that addiction in an unfair way. Some day, this will not be the case, as Linux and perhaps Be OS will more usable and mainstream. But right now, Windows has no competition save for Linux used by a few of us.
Comment - Microsoft Ordered to Split Into Two Companies
1.5 RC1 (Jun 7, 2000 - 9:36 PM)

The real truth is that Windows IS a monopoly. Over 90% of the world's computers would turn into paper weights without it. MS dictates to all the hardware and software developers of the world, and they are powerless to argue with MS. Windows is a monopoly as certainly as your electric and water services. They have you by the balls, because there are no VIABLE alternatives to Windows. Sure, there are a few geeks like us that use Linux, but geeks like us are a tiny minority of computer users. Grandma and Uncle Ned don't want to fiddle with Linux or other works-in-progress. They want their scanners, cameras, TV cards, 3D games, fancy keyboards, and cheap sound cards to work INSTANTLY. They want a HUGE VARIETY of CHEAP but very good software to do every little chore imaginable. They want to use what their friends and family use, so they can learn together, help, and be helped with popular hardware and software. Windows is a monopoly for sure, but I'm not so sure this breakup is good for the average user. Time will tell...
Comment - Norton Personal Firewall Beta Testing Opens
1.5 RC1 (May 20, 2000 - 5:36 PM)

I've been wishing for a more usable personal firewall, so thanks to Betanews for pointing me to it. It's a little bloated, but it's easy to configure and not as confusing as some. Unlike BlackIce, it leaves me feeling confident that it's actually working. Unlike Zonealarm, it doesn't totally entangle your Internet Connection Sharing and leave me no choice but to uninstall it. This may be the magic bullet I was looking for. Time will tell, but right now I'm pretty happy with it.