And you thought Microsoft was evil...

[Starkist]

...then we meet Apple. Grrr.... For some reason Quicktime is one of the industry standards, so if I want to watch much online video I have to download it. It's really not a bad program. The problem is that it likes to start windows with itself already resident in memory. Fine, I delete the registry file causing it to start up automatically. What happens a few starts later? Seems Quicktime has replaced the deleted startup file.

The worst when it comes to rudely installing files though would have to be AOL IM. Whenever I update it I find a 'Free AOL' link in my Start Menu, my Favorites, my Links folder in my Favorites, and the desktop. Why do these programs feel I want their files all over? :meanie:

[Menokh]

They aren't the only ones.

And Quicktime is an industry standard for 3 reasons I can think of:
Cross platform
Easy to use
Great compression

I try my damndest to avoid WMV files if at all possible. I actually prefer Quicktime over MS's offering. However it loves to pester until you upgrade to professional...

EDIT: and I THINK quicktime has an option in its preferences to stop it from starting up automatically.

[Starkist]

I disabled the option to show a system tray icon, but that doesn't guarantee it won't load in the background. RealPlayer does this too, luckily I don't need RealPlayer. Most streaming video will play in either QuickTime or WMP. I got the new version 9 beta of Media Player, it's not bad. Still hogs memory though.

I can't imagine where I'd be if I still had a mere 64 megs... I upgraded to 196 a few weeks ago. :)

[Menokh]

I hope you don't ever want to uninstall Windows Media Player 9 or go back to version 8. If you do want to you can't.

I keep Real Player around for .rm files, there aren't many of them. And Real Player can be told not to autostart.

[Starkist]

One of the majority stockholders in Real up in Seattle was a woman named Maria. She borrowed against her stock to fund a Senate campaign against a man named Slade. She claimed that she "can't be bought" by special interest groups because she was using her own money. She barely won the election on a recount. Right after election Real loses millions in stock. Maria now owes millions to her lender. To make up for the defecit she gets chummy with a woman named Hillary who hosts grand fundraisers and helps her take donations.

I don't like Real very much. :laughing:

I know most of these programs have options to disable auto starting, but it's still annoying. WMP doesn't do it.

[Menokh]

WMP doesn't have to.
Windows loads most of the API's that WMP depends on automatically on start up no matter what you do. In effect most of the program is already loaded, right along with IE.

[Starkist]

Then why does it take WMP so long to load here? Eh, "450 MHz" is probably the answer huh.

[Menokh]

Originally posted by Starkist
Then why does it take WMP so long to load here? Eh, "450 MHz" is probably the answer huh.

Probably.
450 mhz sounds good for a small server, not a desktop computer.

[theplustwo]

I hate real. Its gotta be the worst program I have ever used as far as spyware and annoying pop ups and e-mails are concerned. And no program should make you go through and individually un-check every single file type you don't want it to use. Plus, the old versions at any rate, were buggy as hell and crashed the system all the time.

[Axel]

I like Quiktime. I've tried to completely replace WMP with Quiktime completely. WMP like windows is difficult to use.

[Cyclone]

Originally posted by Starkist
Why do these programs feel I want their files all over? :meanie: For the same reason as all of those porn ads you keep getting in e-mail. For the same reason as all of those casino ads that pop up (Get $100 in free games software! *click* To join our casino, you must be 18 years of age...blah....blah...:blah: ). For the same reason that Shadowblazer has your soul.

They want you. :evil:

Cyclone

[MottZilla]

I don't use anything but mpegs or AVIs (played in a non-shitty player).

Mov, RM, WMV, all suck because you need their specific PoS to play them.

[theplustwo]

The only thing good about WMVs is that they are widely used. Alot of sites will only offer content in WMV and Real. Given the choice I take WMV it's the lesser of two evils.