14 DAY TRIAL // Foreword: I, Florin Tibu, as a Softpedia Audio Editor, have decided it's high time for a new subcategory dedicated to various rants against different things. In a tech and IT world where almost everyone is constantly astonished by something and almost everyone asked would instantly say things are just fine, here come I to say they're not. And I am really expecting some deal of nice and pertinent words coming out of this, for the civilization's better tomorrow.
Years ago when the Winamp represented the breakthrough technology the rest of the producers went Winamp-like and set a real trend. Now it's time for another step in this direction once the DVD is no longer the leading piece of tech and new standards such as HD and Blu-ray are becoming more and more popular and affordable; the software producers suddenly found out how cool "center" sounds. It is as pleasant to the ear as "portal"; and when combining everything with a bit of "media" or "multimedia", things become really-really nice.
Thus, more and more programs are at least running according to the "mediacenter" principle if not even containing the "magic" words in their respective names. Now, there are several ways one could interpret this fact and I'll briefly introduce you to them.
Programs
First of all, and the easy way is the con. I've been a software reviewer for some time now and piles of programs went under my eyes and mouse, out of which some were simply a pain in the back and either free or paid, it would have been a waste of both HDD space and human effort to own or even run them. It's the kind of software I really like pounding into dust in a merciless review.
There is another type of mediacenter softwares which are desperately trying to "do them all" and some succeed while others don't. As well, both freeware and not, this second type luckily manages to do some good work sometimes but I would not trust my media to it only; you can never tell when it's going to let you down in the middle of the party or in the most romantic moments of Casablanca. If you are lucky, you'll run into a good piece of such code and live happily ever after... even if I kind of doubt it.
Then there is the serious stuff, usually coming either from well-known producers and being sold for good bucks or from emerging producers who deliver a very good code but do so for free. The nicest thing is that these are truly programs one can rely on, even though I can hardly imagine the average user utilizing such a "center" for the everyday music listening habits. I mean, if I'd be a "millionaire" who gets to listen to music in my own home one time a day the most, I guess I could try and use such "promising" and all-troubles-ending software because I would not care too much about the intricacies and "deeper" things of such a program. But since I am not...
OS
For example, let's take Windows Vista, the current state and release. From the start its creators made all sorts of pompous statements that Vista was going to be the ultimate experience in multimedia and security. OK, leave aside security 'cause it's not my field, but let's get down with the ranting.
Games - Vista isn't that ready for gaming as enthusiasts say it is. As for the driver-makers, things are even more loaded with crap as they barely escape trial from angry customer files for lousy and hasty content they managed to put up. Well, you were quite eager to get your "Vista-ready" sticker on the box of the video card...
Audio - much the same thing as older but damn efficient soundcards will not work with Vista. As well, the huge average 5GB of new OS coming this year should indeed have comprised a lot, and I mean a LOT of both real features and technical possibilities for the audio media. Instead what have we got? The childish-easy idea of separating sound streams (in-browser sound vs. game sound vs. music vs. whatever you want), some new Windows sounds and a very DRM-ready system in Vista. I really laughed as I was reading Steve Jobs' letter and watching the beginning of the DRM's downfall. So? People asking more money on the super audio OS promising it will handle something which will soon cease to exist. Not my idea of multimedia progress, sorry!
And finally, video. From this immense amount of installed OS I was expecting some breakthrough; need I say I (and on fact nobody) haven't seen it and most likely won't see it at all? Still a heap of codecs, but this time, things will be a bit more complicated because a lot of them will not be agreed by Vista.
The new Windows Media player, the 11th edition, Vista to the bone, as well. What did it bring so revolutionary that so much fuss was created around it? A new, neater interface, that's all; ah, and there is the online music shopping facility but this one was here a looong time ago.
I guess that by now a lot of you might ask what's my rant about and if you haven't figured it out I'll end my article drawing some bottom lines. First of all, don't believe all that the software producers say: especially when it comes to "all-in-one", "all-you-need" or "infinite uses", all for 3 dollars or so. The more software developers show up in the markets the higher the number of cool programs will be but at the same time the more cons will try and prey on your wallet; and I'm saying this because I feel it's somehow a part of my job.
Secondly, not that I have something fixed against Vista but I am sick-sick-sick of all the fuss made for some unfinished, soon-to-be-"servicepacked", so far overrated and oversized OS. Around me, people who until few days ago hailed the new OS wonder and threw me angry looks as I spoke bad words on it have ceased their support "at least until service pack 1 is on". It is exactly them who said that so far, nothing more than a bunch of nice pics and icons and a handful of severe bugs is to be seen.
Third and last... I rant about softwares getting bigger and bigger for imaginary reasons and seriously disproportionate with the quality increase they claim to have achieved. And even if it is not entirely on my turf, I must speak against the latest Nero, with all the players and stuff and its almost 200MB installer (without language packs) which tries to take over your PC in their alleged "we want to help you and make your life easier" initiative. Stop, please!