Fill in the blank: The WORST software I ever used was
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As I've just uninstalled some fairly disappointing trial software, it got me thinking about the worst software apps that I have come across - for me many were pre-sketchup 3d programs that promised great things but were actually terrible. I thought this might make a good discussion. What software have you hated, found to be totally useless, clunky, buggy, counter-intuitive, prone-to-crash, power hungry, no tech support, total crap?
I'll get the ball rolling. Most hated:Organica. An obscure 3d "blob modeller" program. It looked great but crashed all the time. Also for counter intuitiveness I have to nominate Design Workshop, I know people can do amazing things with it but I could never get beyond drawing a box. Clunkiness goes to Autocad 11 on Ms-dos.
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my vote would have to go to every microsoft word before 2007 was released. It was nigh on impossible to use most of the features as they are all hidden in menus and sub menus, to this day i still have trouble trying to crop a picture in old versions of word! And its so counter intuitive, as an example, if i want to put a picture into my document, it's automatically left aligned with text wrapping turned off. It looks crap, basically, i cant remember the last time i saw a documnet that used that sort of formatting for a picture, silly microsoft people. Luckily 2007 is a big improvement (the big 'crop' button helps a lot )
Another piece of software that ive got a grudge agains is azureus vuze (a torrent client), its just so big!! it would regularly bring my comp to a halt, just by starting it up! Luckily ive replaced it wit the far supperior utorrent now, what a breath of fresh air.
My final nomination for crappiest piece of software goes to DAP (download accelerator plus) it didnt do anythign useful, installed lots of excess crap onto my computer and now refuses to uninstall!
honourable mentions go to the nero suite for beign so amazingly bloated as to defy the limits of human imagination, and steam for existing.
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i have to agree with jon. design workshop was something i tried to learn but could not. the image of that damned cube of space remains with me still. they probabbly intended it to be like SUp but did not know how.
acad 12 was the reason i ended up switching to mac, way back in 1995!!! (which was, btw, quite an adventurous thing to do in brasil 13 yrs ago). after struggling for a year to get some profficiency at that crappy app i was introduced by a colleague to minicad 5. i went crazy for it and switched to mac as soon as i could. then the GUI difference was amazing and the graphic quality of the output of either one too. never regretted it: i am still using vectorworks, minicad's successor.
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Office 2007 anybody?
It thinks it knows what I need always better than myself. I couldn't even get rid of those shiny menus. Well maybe I could've tweaked it but uninstalled it swiftly after about a week. -
windows
[joke]
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Windows
Not joking
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@unknownuser said:
:roll:
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A Pinnacle external USB digital TV tuner had a terrible "media manager" that wanted to overtake my whole computer so I scrapped the whole thing. I would only have wanted to watch some TV occasionally... The software for an ATI All-in-Wonder card in my other computer comes second.
AutoCad 13 was the worst of all AutoCads.
Of all the time reporting, project management, billing etc. systems I have had to use at work over the years, I really cannot determine which has been the worst, but I really hate them all. Microsoft Office is nothing to them
Anssi
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I'm with Anssi on any Project Management/Billing software. Also Prime Medusa, AFCAD, Windows 3.1, Lotus Notes, Microstation, Excel (compared to 123), (and never liked Microsoft Office).
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Office 2007.....I'm familiar with previous version, just bought 2007 for home, installed it, opened WORD, and "what the...!"
I think they are smoking something over there at Microsoft.
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thats interesting, because i prefer office 2007 to the old version. I find it a lot easier to use and more intuitive, i suppose its down to what you've used before really.
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Word 2007 is freaking me out- what was wrong with drop down menus? Now we have to choose which damn tab we want to work in at a time. I want to work in ALL of them, ALL the time. It looks way over designed (I still have XP running in Window's classic mode)- I don't care what a GUI looks like, my favourite programs are based purely on what they can do and and how easily I can make them do it.
The worst software I've used? Probably Maxwell- renders results are good, but the UI (which looks quite good) is so poorly thought out- you have to manage 4 different file types (SU export files, material files, render settings files and Maxwell's own HDRI file type), material editor is so complex it beggars belief... and it takes weeks to render an image on a single machine.
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My problem with Office 2007 is the interface - it's alien to any previous version, and it's difficult to find things. Can't even find the HELP menu.
Another problem with MS Office (all versions) is the lack of documentation - you spend all that money, and they don't give you a manual so you know how to use it?!
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@daniel said:
Can't even find the HELP menu.
LOL- I didn't want to admit that cos I thought it was just me who couldn't find it! Where the heck is it?!! -
jackson and daniel, its in the top right hand corner, just below the red (close window) x. or you can press F1.
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@remus said:
jackson and daniel, its in the top right hand corner, just below the red (close window) x. or you can press F1.
LOL, so it is! It's well hidden though. -
I had to cry when Paul noted 'Prime Medusa'. I had almost forgotten about that torture! Now I fear the nightmares will return. Thanks Paul!
When Mike puts 'Windows' on his list, clearly he never faced software like Prime Medusa! Another nightmare I remember was trying to go through a tutorial on an early version of ARRIS a cad program. (It cost something like $15,000). The tutorial was several big binders and each page had just a few words on it. It would say things like "now type in the command line ">zbash.ff/flat//yes<" and press enter". Thousands of such criptic entries, page after page, was supposed to teach you something. There was no explanation at all and all the entries were without any context. You'd enter the command, proceed to the next page and enter its command and then eventually, after four or five such entries, you'd finally see some offset or something happen on the screen.
But at least Arris had a screen, the first 3d modelling program I used (same generation as Prime Medusa) had no screen. You entered all coordinates and commands using a lineprinter keyboard. You could then process your data and have the model generated and printed on a little thermal printer. A simple model would take several hours of entry and several hours to generate. The same thing in SketchUp would take two minutes.
So Windows should not be on this list.
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Hands down... Vista.
Check out my blog. http://vistasucks.wordpress.com -
Jason
Thats kinda defeating the point now, as you are a Mac user thats anti PC / Microsoft by definition.
Trying to provoke a Mac vs PC debate?
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