Software products that you think are really good

[jba]

I've never tried slickrun, but Launchy has made this thread one of the most useful threads I've ever read on 2+2.

[TheMetetron]

Biggest shortcoming with Launchy is it's lack of ability to launch ahk files and anything from external hard drives. Also, the customizability is huge once you start using it. I used to use Launchy, but after trying SlickRun, I can't bring myself to go back.

[astroglide]

[ QUOTE ]
Biggest shortcoming with Launchy is it's lack of ability to launch ahk files and anything from external hard drives.

[/ QUOTE ]

i don't mind if you use the product or not, but doesn't this test make both of those reasons invalid?

- installed and launched autohotkey
- plugged in a usb flash drive, assigned to drive letter E
- created a notepad-opening autohotkey script on it named 'ntest.ahk'
- opened up launchy, told it to hit .ahk files on drive E, rebuilt index
- typed 'ntest' in launchy, notepad popped up on the screen

[Entity]

I'm going to be keeping my eye on Photosynth:

http://labs.live.com/photosynth/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-DqZ8jAmv0

[Dids]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm going to be keeping my eye on Photosynth:

http://labs.live.com/photosynth/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-DqZ8jAmv0

[/ QUOTE ]

We were flipping out about this at work yesterday.

It seems really awesome, but I was having a hard time coming up with a ton of practical appliation that actually saves that much time/resources over existing technology. Building the images they showed in the demo must have taken forever.

[Spanaway Vin]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm going to be keeping my eye on Photosynth:

http://labs.live.com/photosynth/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-DqZ8jAmv0

[/ QUOTE ]

We were flipping out about this at work yesterday.

It seems really awesome, but I was having a hard time coming up with a ton of practical appliation that actually saves that much time/resources over existing technology. Building the images they showed in the demo must have taken forever.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are ignorant.

[Chillee]

There are lot of good software already mentioned but i think i have one missing.

iColorFolder

It change the look of all the folders for windows to what skin you like, and you can add a different color for a particular folder you want to.
Open source and don't eat any memory.

[Evan]

Astro & Metetron,

Google desktop does the things both of you are talking about and in my experience it does it much better.

[TomE.]

[ QUOTE ]
List some software that you think rocks.

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot of what I use my computer for is usenet/movie related. I download mostly from divx/xvid binary groups, and sometimes from DVD groups, but not as much as divx since the DVD downloads are 4gb compared to 700mb for divx movies with mp3 audio. After downloading, I stream to the television using a Hauppauge MediaMvp unit which doesn't handle all video file types, so a lot of times I need to massage the video files using mostly free software.

Forte Agent News Reader I have used Agent as my newsreader for almost 10 years now. A lot of folks don't care to use it for binaries, but I am used to it, and the filtering is very strong. Grabbing binaries is a snap.

Quick Par Parity Check/Repair Use it for repairing binaries with missing parts using parity files. Free as in speech.

WinRar After repairing any busted files with QuickPar, I use WinRar to rejoin the parts into the original 1 large file.

VirualDub If the downloaded movie is encoded with AC3 audio, it is most likely going to be split into (2) separate 700mb files. VirtualDub can join the 2 files together to make 1 file. Free.

AutoGK Auto Gordian Knot, for converting DVD/VOB's into divx/xvid. The AutoGK authors made a very complicated task using multiple programs into a 3-4 click ease-fest. The Hauppuage unit will not stream VOB fles, so I convert the DVD to divx, saving almost 4gb of hard drive space. Free.

Videora Tivo Converter If I get a movie that is divx and AC3, I use Videora convert it to an .mpg since the Hauppauge cannot stream AC3 audio. It run really clean and fairly quickly, converting a movie in less than 2 hours. Free.


--
TomE.

[astroglide]

[ QUOTE ]
Google desktop does the things both of you are talking about and in my experience it does it much better.

[/ QUOTE ]

i didn't know that they had added a popup or launch abilities.

i tried it out again, and using 'launchy-like' settings such as defaulting to desktop search, default to launch, etc i've still got a 100% index of my drive. i think i prefer to have more targetted, specific results instead of pulling up a billion potentially unrelated items. i like alt-space more than ctrl-ctrl as a hotkey, and i think systray icons suck. also, there are various security/privacy concerns: full search unless exceptions are noted, text previews, potentially transportable indexes, various remote-enabling default 'advanced' features, etc. for those that aren't in the office or unconcerned at home, this does now seem like a decent alternative with some desirable features.