• w3stfa11 (unregistered) in reply to Idiot

    If the sole reason you don't use antivirus software is because of slowdown, you should definitely consider NOD32. Written almost entirely in assembly, it's my choice. However, like you, I don't have any anti-virus programs installed.

  • (cs) in reply to Gustav
    Gustav:

    As opposed to what? The proprietary WMV?

    How 'bout MPG? XviD or somethnig similar perhaps.

    QuickTime movies can have varying completely open codecs that run just fine on Macs, Windows, and Linux. And QuickTime runs just fine on Windows. Everyone I know doesn't seem to have a problem.

    "Problem" may be too strong a word, but it is one of the crappier very common programs available on Windows. It's slower than, say, WM Player (even the recent versions), it has a (IMO) reasonably poor UI, and everyone's right that it DOES install a bunch of extra crap (though not anywhere near the extent of Real). I just brought up task manager and I don't know how I got it so that iPodService.exe doesn't start up on boot. QT is also one of the only media players I know that doesn't have a full screen option (unless you pay Apple $30 or something.)

  • Reality Check (unregistered)

    QuickTime is the container format used by MPEG 4, so characterizing it as proprietary may be selling it slightly short. VLC and QuickTime Alternative can both play QT files. The format itself is actually quite sane: at least as sane as AVI and Ogg. QT Player itself is a bit of a WTF, but you people seem to forget that there are people writing this software who have to get paid: that's why Apple charge for QTP, and it is also why Microsoft charge their tax on nearly every complete Intel rig in the world: WMP is not free either.

    It's not surprising to me that Real tries to make money with its player via sponsorship etc. They put as much work as Apple and Microsoft do, and are much smaller outfit. Its quite sad that RealPlayer and to a lesser extent QuickTime have been maginalized just because they don't have an OS monopoly to make their proprietary shit just a little more platable. It ain't really free, you know.

  • this forum software sucks (unregistered)

    read my username!

  • boxmonkey (unregistered)

    The only time I ever got a virus, I was running a virus scanner. I suspected the file contained a virus, but I ran it anyway because it was a brand new installation and I wanted to see how well the scanner did. Not only did it not prevent infection, but it was unable to remove the virus. I had to reformat/reinstall.

    I still use a virus scanner, though I'm not sure why.

  • Eternal Density (unregistered)

    I use RealOne... because it lets me put music on my Palm PDA... captcha: darwin (i bet it's 30 degrees up there today. as usual)

  • mike5 (unregistered)

    Well, RealOne player is pretty low, but Apple is catching up real quickly. Just last week I was totally pissed, when I needed to install QuickTime, and the alternative wasn't good enough. Ok, I need QT, but I don't want iZunes... Cool I can download just QT. Install... It wants to update. Hey cool, it will only update with installing iZunes. I'm starting to really hate Apple.

  • Kris (unregistered) in reply to A Nonny Mouse
    A Nonny Mouse:
    Well I quite like RealPlayer. I like the playlist setup particularly. If you don't want any of this crap:
    If I thought said software sucks because it installs a bunch of desktop shortcuts with GREAT OFFERS for FREE INTERNET ACCESS, installs an unnecessary system tray application, tries to reset all file associations for all media files on my computer each time I run it, adds a Quick Launch button and top-level Start Menu shortcut, and installs a useless IE toolbar, I should keep it to myself.

    then don't choose it when you install it! At least its not like iTunes which takes over your entire machine.

    I remember, perhaps back in the day, when the RealPlayer installation application presented you with a scrollable checkbox list of 'optional' software. The four visible checkboxes were unchecked, however if you scrolled down to reveal the rest of the checkboxes, they WERE checked by default.

    Very sneeky :)

  • Kuba (unregistered) in reply to Will Perdikakis
    Will Perdikakis:
    - Microsoft Word (Open Office) (though neither have gotten bullets and numbering with auto-indentation right)

    Use LyX and your troubles in that department will be over.

  • Sch3lp (unregistered) in reply to akatherder

    Hahahaha ! QFT

  • (cs) in reply to cparker

    Even better, you can use the open source ClamWin Antivirus, which can be easily run from a USB key.

  • A Nonny Mouse (unregistered) in reply to Volmarias
    Volmarias:
    As far as the idiot saying "Boy, if you don't want all the crap Real installs, just don't let it install that crap!" is missing the point. YOU DON'T GET A CHOICE IN THE MATTER. Given their total disdain for their userbase in the past, I'm NEVER using them again, and I recommend against their use to every person I know.

    Oh - when last did you install it? Because I did about 3 weeks ago, and surprise surprise, i was able to not install anything i didn't want.

  • cheesy (unregistered) in reply to Terrorantula

    Likewise - I run a free personal firewall to catch outgoing connections, and a free antispyware to stop those annoying BHO's etc. I don't run antivirus.

    Signature-based antivirus software is becoming increasingly pointless - by the time virus signatures are updated, you already have the latest virus.

  • Mr Oli (unregistered) in reply to akatherder

    I don't think it's garbage, I think it's rubbish. But that's simply because I'm English.

  • (cs) in reply to EvanED
    EvanED:
    But the reader on my computer here was just upgraded to Reader 8. And it's great! It's WAY faster, fixes the UI bug, and seems to work properly in the browser. One of the most worthwhile upgrades I've seen in a while.

    I think you'll find it's so much faster because it preloads most of itself at login time - have a look for something in your Startup folder, called something like "Adobe Fast Start".

    Another of my pet hates about Reader is the way the update manager tries to foist other, unrelated crap on you (no Adobe, I don't want Yahoo Toolbar or your photo management software) and doesn't support resuming interrupted downloads (so what's the point of it, other than the aforementioned bundling?)

  • Corey Miller (unregistered)

    To those of you talking about how the mac handles renaming/moving open files you guys should see what 10.4 added :) Open up a text file, then rename it and WATCH as you type each letter the name of the file is updated within the program LIVE.

  • Worf (unregistered) in reply to EvanED
    EvanED:
    Anonymous:
    Mac OS has traditionally allowed you to rename open files, too, which rules.

    Well, you can do that as well under Windows... that is, if less applications would open everything in FILE_MY_PRECIOUSSSS mode.

    Ha, I love the name. I think MS should offer that as a synonym for whatever their exclusive open macro is.

    Problem is, it isn't a macro. CreateFile() takes several parameters, one of them being dwShareMode, which takes flags on how the file can be reopened. Most apps set it to zero, which means "do not share".

    But even if a file is opened and share set to read/write, there's a bunch of restrictions on what can be done with the file - i.e., it can't be deleted, renamed, etc. It just means it can be reopened by another app with the permissions given. (I believe the other app must have the same or less restrictive dwShareMode to succeed, but don't quote me on this).

    So if you want, you can have

    #define FILE_SHARE_MY_PRECIOUSSSS 0

    and pass it in via dwShareMode.

    The fundamental thing is that Windows will not let you do certain things while a file is open (like rename, etc) - the times you can means the app read in the file, then closed it, and only reopens it when it needs to save to it.

    Linux/MacOS X/Unix don't have these limitations (i.e., you can delete a file while it's still open) because all open files are referenced via an inode number, and a filename is just a name to inode mapping. This is partially why stuff like hardlinks are possible and not a filesystem error.

    Of course, a lot of ported Linux/MacOS X/Unix (to Windows) often inherit the "open file, do stuff with file, close file" mentality, rather than keep the file open while the app is running. Probably from the older days when filehandles were scarce and being able to have more than say, 8 or 16 files open was a luxury.

  • (cs) in reply to Worf
    Worf:
    EvanED:
    Anonymous:
    Mac OS has traditionally allowed you to rename open files, too, which rules.

    Well, you can do that as well under Windows... that is, if less applications would open everything in FILE_MY_PRECIOUSSSS mode.

    Ha, I love the name. I think MS should offer that as a synonym for whatever their exclusive open macro is.

    Problem is, it isn't a macro. CreateFile() takes several parameters, one of them being dwShareMode, which takes flags on how the file can be reopened. Most apps set it to zero, which means "do not share".

    [snip]

    So if you want, you can have

    #define FILE_SHARE_MY_PRECIOUSSSS 0

    and pass it in via dwShareMode.

    And all I'm proposing for MS to put that #define in winnt.h just before the definition of FILE_SHARE_READ. Exclusive access should have a symbolic name anyway (I think). ;-)

    Linux/MacOS X/Unix don't have these limitations (i.e., you can delete a file while it's still open) because all open files are referenced via an inode number, and a filename is just a name to inode mapping. This is partially why stuff like hardlinks are possible and not a filesystem error.

    At the same time, the Windows approach has benefits... it makes it harder to screw up by deleting something you don't want to.

    (BTW, I believe NTFS has supported hard links since it was released in the early 90s. At least since NT 4.)

    Of course, a lot of ported Linux/MacOS X/Unix (to Windows) often inherit the "open file, do stuff with file, close file" mentality, rather than keep the file open while the app is running. Probably from the older days when filehandles were scarce and being able to have more than say, 8 or 16 files open was a luxury.

    It also helps with, say, NFS semantics I believe. IIRC, NFS only serializes requests with respect to close requests, so the open/close technique will serialize then.

    (BTW, at least Word does a hybrid approach. When you open a file, it keeps it open. But when you save, it closes the old fd then reopens the file. Go figure.)

  • Friday (unregistered)

    Non! Le nom est Absolute Garbage! Shirley Manson pour la victoire! Beware the captcha!: Consequat! Take that!

  • GeraldDew (unregistered)

    Как взять кредит вебмани онлайн?

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