Worst Software

euroman · 28 Oct 2005, 12:27 PM

Which is the worst software you have ever used?

You can vote with the mad face....

Outlook 2003

registered_user · 28 Oct 2005, 12:55 PM

I second Outlook (all versions)

Runners up:
Windows (all versions)

Powerpoint

Peachtree Accounting (ever try to administer a network install of this beast? Talk about the dark ages of software design...)

**Gankaku** · 28 Oct 2005, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by euroman
Which is the worst software you have ever used?

You can vote with the mad face....

Outlook 2003

lol it's a pain, isn't it?

euroman · 29 Oct 2005, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gankaku
lol it's a pain, isn't it?

I use TBird as email software..... brilliant in my hands.

My work software is built around MS access DB so I am locked into M$ product although would love to have my database running on something else, such as open source software. (I run a medical software package for 5,000 or more patients and am locked into MS).

Somehow or other when I did an update on my MS office via net, the beast (Outlook or should it be "Look Out!!" as in beware - danger!) reset itself somehow as default mail client, it stuffed up my address book, couldn't use contacts in sending faxes from excel and I wasted soooo much time reconfiguring how express/outlook work..... B..y thing...

btn · 29 Oct 2005, 08:12 AM

I personally rate most Windows-based Microsoft software to be

^infinity.

robert@fm · 29 Oct 2005, 11:59 PM

In order to be able to use my shiny new CD-RW drive, I have to use Ashampoo Complete CD Recording Studio (which I think is so-called because it's complete crap), this being the only burner software I have which will run under Win95 and recognise my drive as a CD-RW drive.  Unfortunately it's severely deficient; it doesn't have any facility (that I've found) to burn image files to CD, to erase CD-RWs or to add CD-Text information to audio CDs, it gives cryptic error messages ("Medium error" which means, amongst other things, that there's no CD in the drive, that the CD is non-recordable, or that it has a previous session which I've forgotten to import; "SCSI error — illegal request" which I think usually means a buffer underrun), it doesn't display the write buffer level, and if asked to verify after burning, it writes the track but fails to finalise it!

It also sometimes lies, claiming that it's successfully finalised the CD when ISOBuster confirms that it hasn't.

Still, at least it's usable, unlike the two programs I had from Expert[sic] Software; one was a so-called "font designer" which in fact was actually a text-effects designer; it did nothing which Paint Shop Pro or Corel PhotoPaint can't do far better, and spent only five minutes on my hard drive (a record unlikely to be beaten).  (I haven't seen it on sale since; presumably they were forced to withdraw it, under the Trade Descriptions Act.)

The other one was a virus checker (for which I paid £5) which turned out to be a badged version of AVG (which of course I could have downloaded free) and to be so old that its definition database couldn't be updated!

Fortunately I got a refund on both those two, but I'm never buying Expert Software again, and will think twice before buying Ashampoo.

robert@fm · 30 Oct 2005, 12:15 AM

Rereading the post on MP3-encoding reminded me of software I tried yesterday:— MusicMatch Jukebox (or Mismatch Jukebox as I prefer to think of it).  This is another piece of software which lied to me; I wondered why it was managing to rip a CD which GoldWave couldn't (due to damage, due in turn to my inadvisably sticking a label on it; DO NOT use CD labels or label applicators, they're an expensive waste of money as the labels eventually cause read errors no matter how carefully applied), and when I loaded the ripped track into GoldWave for inspection, I could see (even before I played it) that the reason was that Mismatch had made no attempt to fix the errors, despite telling me that it would.

And the ID3 tag editor is grossly inferior to Winamp's, and it shoves spam (sorry, a "splash screen") in your face at every opportunity...

kchess79 · 30 Oct 2005, 02:09 AM

Musicmatch came with our old Gateway, and I hate how it slows everything down as soon as it starts. Between all the splash screens, the lagging, and basic uselessness, I couldn't wait to get rid of it. Once I realised I could burn CDs with something other than MM, it was gone.

rmns2bseen · 30 Oct 2005, 03:52 AM

I'd vote for that CallWave thing. It never worked properly for me and maaaaan did I have a hard time in getting rid of it (although this was about 3 years ago...don't really need anything like it anymore

)

The Storm · 30 Oct 2005, 01:20 PM

Possibly to the annoyance of many forum members, the Opera internet browser.

rmns2bseen · 30 Oct 2005, 11:47 PM

If Opera is the absolute worst software you've ever used, then I'd say you've had a pretty easy time with software overall

registered_user · 31 Oct 2005, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by rmns2bseen
If Opera is the absolute worst software you've ever used, then I'd say you've had a pretty easy time with software overall

Yeah, you must not be using Opera on Windows then since the OS would already qualify as far worse than Opera could ever be.

mister · 1 Nov 2005, 04:39 AM

Nero gets my vote,CD burning software in general is a nuisance.

a_a · 1 Nov 2005, 05:28 AM

pera is not ready yet... i can't even stand the play.

28 Oct 2005, 12:27 PM	#1
euroman Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 136	Worst Software Which is the worst software you have ever used? You can vote with the mad face.... Outlook 2003

29 Oct 2005, 08:12 AM	#5
btn Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: San Jose, CA, US Posts: 688 Representative of: Everyone.net	Re: Worst Software I personally rate most Windows-based Microsoft software to be ^infinity.

28 Oct 2005, 12:55 PM	#2
registered_user Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 164	I second Outlook (all versions) Runners up: Windows (all versions) Powerpoint Peachtree Accounting (ever try to administer a network install of this beast? Talk about the dark ages of software design...)

29 Oct 2005, 11:59 PM	#6
robert@fm The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 4,681	In order to be able to use my shiny new CD-RW drive, I have to use Ashampoo Complete CD Recording Studio (which I think is so-called because it's complete crap), this being the only burner software I have which will run under Win95 and recognise my drive as a CD-RW drive.  Unfortunately it's severely deficient; it doesn't have any facility (that I've found) to burn image files to CD, to erase CD-RWs or to add CD-Text information to audio CDs, it gives cryptic error messages ("Medium error" which means, amongst other things, that there's no CD in the drive, that the CD is non-recordable, or that it has a previous session which I've forgotten to import; "SCSI error — illegal request" which I think usually means a buffer underrun), it doesn't display the write buffer level, and if asked to verify after burning, it writes the track but fails to finalise it! It also sometimes lies, claiming that it's successfully finalised the CD when ISOBuster confirms that it hasn't. Still, at least it's usable, unlike the two programs I had from Expert[sic] Software; one was a so-called "font designer" which in fact was actually a text-effects designer; it did nothing which Paint Shop Pro or Corel PhotoPaint can't do far better, and spent only five minutes on my hard drive (a record unlikely to be beaten).  (I haven't seen it on sale since; presumably they were forced to withdraw it, under the Trade Descriptions Act.) The other one was a virus checker (for which I paid £5) which turned out to be a badged version of AVG (which of course I could have downloaded free) and to be so old that its definition database couldn't be updated! Fortunately I got a refund on both those two, but I'm never buying Expert Software again, and will think twice before buying Ashampoo.

30 Oct 2005, 12:15 AM	#7
robert@fm The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 4,681	Rereading the post on MP3-encoding reminded me of software I tried yesterday:— MusicMatch Jukebox (or Mismatch Jukebox as I prefer to think of it).  This is another piece of software which lied to me; I wondered why it was managing to rip a CD which GoldWave couldn't (due to damage, due in turn to my inadvisably sticking a label on it; DO NOT use CD labels or label applicators, they're an expensive waste of money as the labels eventually cause read errors no matter how carefully applied), and when I loaded the ripped track into GoldWave for inspection, I could see (even before I played it) that the reason was that Mismatch had made no attempt to fix the errors, despite telling me that it would. And the ID3 tag editor is grossly inferior to Winamp's, and it shoves spam (sorry, a "splash screen") in your face at every opportunity...

30 Oct 2005, 02:09 AM	#8
kchess79 Master of the @ Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Chicagoland Posts: 1,142	Musicmatch came with our old Gateway, and I hate how it slows everything down as soon as it starts. Between all the splash screens, the lagging, and basic uselessness, I couldn't wait to get rid of it. Once I realised I could burn CDs with something other than MM, it was gone.

30 Oct 2005, 03:52 AM	#9
rmns2bseen Master of the @ Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: USA Posts: 1,426	I'd vote for that CallWave thing. It never worked properly for me and maaaaan did I have a hard time in getting rid of it (although this was about 3 years ago...don't really need anything like it anymore )

30 Oct 2005, 01:20 PM	#10
The Storm Essential Contributor Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: SE Queensland, Australia Posts: 314	Possibly to the annoyance of many forum members, the Opera internet browser.

30 Oct 2005, 11:47 PM	#11
rmns2bseen Master of the @ Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: USA Posts: 1,426	If Opera is the absolute worst software you've ever used, then I'd say you've had a pretty easy time with software overall

1 Nov 2005, 04:39 AM	#13
mister Essential Contributor Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 387	Nero gets my vote,CD burning software in general is a nuisance.

1 Nov 2005, 05:28 AM	#14
a_a Essential Contributor Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: mississauga, ON CANADA Posts: 263	pera is not ready yet... i can't even stand the play.