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As of 2005-10-15
PDF 995 v7.1s
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TriMAX
Skype
Safari
QuickTime
Open Office
Java
Netscape
Firefox
Linux
WinAMP
DivX
Acrobat Reader
WinZIP
Win MX
ICQ
KaZaa
Limewire
MS Media Player
Direct X
Opera
Microsoft XP
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v3.0
v1.4.0.78
v2.0
v7.0 qt
v2.0 (hot),oo
v1.5 java
v8.0 ns
v1.4 & 1.5 beta2 ff
v9.0
v5.1 wa
v6.0 divx
v7.0.5 adobe
v9.0 SR-1
v3.53 DEAD
v5.0 icq
v3.0 kazaa
v4.9.33 lw
v9.0
v9.0b
v8.50 opera
see below
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TriMAX v3.0 (suite of applications)
Suite of applications from Engineering Data to Inventory Control to Pump Specification.
See Bredohri Software for other
valuable software products.
Skype - Internet Phone and Chat
This is free Internet phone and it works very very well, talk with
associates on the other side of the world with clarity, no strings
attached, highly recommended.
Bugs
On some machines the microphone volume keeps being pushed down, we
don't know if this is a Skype bug or Microsoft.
www.Skype.com
Safari - Apple Browser
Version 2.0 - Tiger
Version 1.2 - Panther
Ultra performaance with Java and TABBed windows. The ultimate browser
for the ultimate machine. We love OSX.
www.Apple.com/safari
QuickTime Version 7.0
This is beautiful must have software. There are so many wonderful quicktime
movies on the Internet integrated into websites, but you need quicktime to
see them download it today - you may not realize what you are missing.
www.Apple.com/quicktime
www.Apple.com/trailers
Open Office v2.0 release candidate 2
Great news, another good update and a beta of an all new v1.95 is floating around to
be an all new v2.0. The new V2.0 has corrected the spelling bugs and the problems with
the fonts also seems to have disappeared.
Free office suite for Apple, Linux, Solaris, Windows and Unix. Open and save in Microsoft format.
New version includes export of Adobe PDF documents. Why use Microsoft Office? If you
lose your install CD then what - spend hundreds of $$$ to get a new one. Why not just
use the free, industry standard, multi-platform Open Office? It is the world's most
popular multi-platform office suite and quickly replacing Microsoft Office.
Bugs
Sometimes the spellchecker is knocked off. Maybe a setting, done accidently, and there
is no reasonable way to get it back, but still a very good product. Sometimes the fontface
changes when highlighting to end of line. If I hightligh the whole docuement and specify
a font - then that's it - I don't ever want the fontface to change unless I change it!!!!
Some fool forget to put the full version number in the >>about<< dialog. So when we
look at help->about, we don't know if we are running release candidate 1 or release
candidate 2.
Just when you think Microsoft owns dumb, OO steps in to help. OO has excellent floating
palette with function buttons on them. But everytime I clse OO and restart later they
are overtop my text blocking it from view; so I move them to the side where I like them,
but sure as you know what when I come back tomorrow they will be in the way again.
Get a brain - save their X,Y location and setup independentaly with each file.
Open office works great on the Apple except they somehow forget to add the Export PDF option
under the File menu which makes it useless on the Apple. Hopefully they will fix this soon.
www.OpenOffice.org
Java
The new Java v1.4.2_05-b4 from Sun Microsystems, release Oct 10. New features
include better sound and voice functionality.A 2nd beta version of
v1.5 is also available at Sun Microsystems, improved but it still has
nasty bugs, is extremely slow to load.2004-07-28
Java version v1.5 is now called "J2SE 5.0" and is released, we haven't
tested it, so beware:
java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/index.jsp
Bugs
This is a revolutionary software product, but Sun Microsystem left some
real dozy bugs in there. We think that the new v1.5 brings improvements
with respect to the bugs listed below - however v1.5 has introduced
some surprising new bugs that has made it not usable.
v1.5: Launching a webpage no longer works with Netscape. This feature has worked
from v1.1.4 (and earlier?) up to 1.4.2 but now no longer works.
But works with MS Explorer and Opera, unfortunately because of this
we cannot recommend this products and we are extremely disappointed
with SUN - they have got to learn to test their products.
Version v1.5 seems to work okay with MS Explore until you go to close
the browser, then it hangs. This is really simple stuff. How could
SUN have not known about this before releasing the beta version;
just when you think dumb cant get dumber. The JVM should never under
any circumstances cause the browser to crash - there are no excuses.
We tested the www.findRex.com Java applet, and with Netscape 7.1,
if you open and close the applet a few times - try maybe 6 just to be sure, the applet
stops working and the Java console says >>Out of Memory<<. The only way to get around
this problem is to completely shut Netscape down, including the quick launch in the
lower right corner on a windows machine. If I close the window with the applet and
then restart the applet we should be on a clean slate, there is no mistake. Obviously they are
doing some caching and getting it wrong. The memory heap is not being cleared properly when
the applet is closed. Everytime we open and close the applet the memory consumed increases.
This is wrong and makes programs crash - there is no excuse. When I close the applet
the memory heap should return to where it was before. And for those who want to argue, you will
continue to have problems. This does NOT happen with Microsoft Explorer
by the way. Thanks Sun for hurting our business.
In some cases the Java download for windows fails to install. Yes we were Administrator.
It went through the process and at the end it said something like: could not complete
install. There is always a reason, Sun needs to find it and tell. This hurts businesses
that are trying to use their product. The message needs to provide more USEFUL information
as to why the installation failed.
Netscape
The newest version of Netscape runs great, runs faster and corrects a few
minor bugs. A few new good changes to layout.
Firefox
Simply the best web browser out there. By far the fastest
and block spyware and other garbage.
Firefox.
Linux
The new Redhat Linux v9.0. Not just for servers, but
for a desktop with some visual flair. Really does look much
better than windows - will it kill'ya to look.
Bugs:
Redhat forgot to give their product a version number (or
they unclearly hid it somewhere). When we went to their
website we found they couldnt be bother to list their most recent
version number, so we went to the download section, but
they still forget there too! Kinda like a Microsoft dumb
dumb.
WinAMP
The new WinAMP is awesome - actually looks cooler than
a real stero. Awesome skins. One of the best programs out
there. Continues to impress us.
Div X
With DivX Watch a movie in a little window while
your working on your computer, life doesn't get any more techno better.
WinAMP is great for music; but this is hands down the best
app for viewing DivX files.
However, don't buy anything from them they do not proactive support
their product, especially there creation tool which is two steps
less than garbage. I you buy DivX thinking you are going to make
or copy movied, wrong, it just doesn't work ! Also the download
doesn't contain the version number - dumb...
Adobe - Acrobat Reader
Finally a new version. Read PDF files with ease. The professional touch for
documents. Acrobat v7.0. Great product and includes download
for the reader on Palm OS.
Bugs
There are two (2) major problems with this product. They are
with the Palm OS version. 1) crashes a lot when viewing an
enlargment of an image (so sometimes it is better to use
MS Word - and that is stupid). 2) the Palm OS version does
not use the full 480x320 screen on the Tungsten T3 model,
Adobe should know better, there is no excuse for this - just
lazy programmers (this is a turn off).
Win ZIP
Compress your data and save file space. Excellent for backups.
Winzip v9.0 beta.
Win MX
New v3.53 Trade files over the internet with other using point-to-point communications.
Win MX
ICQ
Use the original chat - use the best.
ICQ
KaZaa
KaZaA Media Desktop v3.0 A very lot of people use this, point-to-point communications.
KaZaA
Limewire
Similar to KaZaA and WinMX, point-to-point communications. Entire
built in Java, excellent product.
Limewire
Microsoft Media Player v9, release candidate (beta)
Play the latest media formats including DivX, may require an external driver that
is loaded when DivX is installed; also try the WinAMP product that plays DivX.
Media Player
Microsoft DirectX 9.0b
Latest and greatest, this allows Windows based on NT technology, which includes
Windows XP, to communciation directly with the hardware and reduce or eliminate
interaction with HAL (hardware abstraction layer) , this is for better video
performance.
Direct X
Opera
They claim the fastest browser on Earth, well we tried it and it is
certainly very faster and slick. We give it A+, we think it is a great
product and we use it.
Opera
Microsoft XP
We will list three major bugs/problems here (of many), we would say that it definitely
has some advantages over Win2000 but it is still very unstable.
1) Sometimes when an application crashes that had opened a file, the
file is left in a locked state even though the crashed application
is completely shutdown. Even after a reboot the file is still
mysteriously lock. When trying to delete the file Windows XP
(and previous versions) keep saying >>cannot delete, file is
locked by an application<< when in fact it is not locked. Microsoft
just has failed to clear a lock that should no longer exist.
Get this: in some cases you can go to the DOS prompt and delete
it, but as with Microsoft consistency, sometimes you cant.
Microsoft should have even brains (but they dont) to first check
and see is the application which has the lock is still actually
running and responsive. And if it is, then (saving security issues)
should let the user know what application has the file locked and
offer to safely close the application, remove the lock and delete
the file.
2) Often when a program hangs, like Explorer or Netscape, you try to
close it by clicking on the X in the upper right corner. Then program
says program is not responding do you want to close it. Da???? Yes
of course just like how I wanted it closed when I click the X to
begin with. Yet it still doesnt close and you try over and over.
Sometimes after several tries maybe finally XP gets it and closes the
program. You would think that by now in 2004 that this nonesense
would have stopped. What is so hard about shutting down a program?
If it takes a few seconds then fine. Make it immediately disappear
from the active programs list, dont ask me a second time and then
just do it in the background - but just do it.
3) The printer spool does not work. This is a beauty - why does it
take so long for Windows to get rid of a print job. When I click
cancel I mean this year - there is no excuse - it shouldnt take literally
5 minutes and longer just to cancel a print job.
If the printer has been turned off while (maybe just before) cancelling
a print job then Windows XP will continue to try forever to cancel
the printjob unsuccessfully and use 75% of your CPu to do it and will
never time out, we presume that XP is trying to tell the printer
that it want to cancel the print job...@#$%.
