User Profile for cfrees

User Name cfrees

Member Since 2005-08-14

Total number of Feedback Posts: 4

Total number of comments: 4

Last 10 Feedback Posts by cfrees [ Search for All ]

Taco HTML Edit 1.7.3 (Mac OS X)

I can't comment on the beauty or otherwise of this from a programmer's perspective, but it is beautifully done from a user's perspective *if* you want an application which is designed to do what this one is designed to do. If you want to create web pages without seeing code or learning HTML, this is not the application for you. If, on the other hand, you want well-presented, customisable syntax-highlighting, hints when you need them and reminders about appropriate tags, this application just works - simple, quick-loading and straightforward software that lets you get on with it. My web pages are simple and I like the uncluttered, unbloated character of this editor. It does more than I need it to, but the more stays out of the way. I especially like the latest versions which allow files to be grouped into projects as this makes editing multi-page web sites much easier. I also like the built-in preview which lets me quickly see the effects of changes I make to the source code, and the ability to preview pages in multiple browsers. The only thing I would really like added - and I don't even know if this is *possible* - would be the ability to have a project displayed as if it was located at such-and-such a point on the web already so that I could see the effects of CSS sheets etc. I can't comment on the claim that switching off auto-indent doesn't work as I've always liked having it on so haven't changed it. I *have* seen this application improve over time, though, so I definitely don't think it is fair to suggest that the developer(s) has stopped supporting it. For me, this is an essential, light-weight tool that allows me to design and manage web sites easily. I have tried other programmes (including commercial WYSIWYG editors such as DreamWeaver) but this is the one I always return to. The only reason I'm rating support/documentation as "neutral" is because I haven't needed support and the programme is largely self-explanatory so I haven't used the documentation much, either. [alert admin]

SubRosaSoft GlobalTraceRoute 1.22 (Mac OS X)

Lack of information/error messages

It would have been nice if the developer's web site provided the information provided here about compatibility. Failing that, information in the download. As it is, attempting to run this on an incompatible system provides no useful error messages whatsoever. The application simply fails to work properly and logs the worryingly obscure message "How many space machines did you fall out of???" multiple times to the console log. Bizarre. This is on 10.4.11 (PPC). [alert admin]

Books 3.1.8 (Mac OS X)

Security/Plugins

I cannot figure out how to download and install plugins manually. I can see how to allow the application to do this but I am *very* reluctant to take this route. I don't know the source of the plugins, I cannot run them through a virus-scanner before installing/decompressing. I would also like to know if the application respects proxy settings when contacting sources for quickfill information - and I would like to know the precise addresses it is using to do so. I note that the project page on Sourceforge has not been updated for sometime and that there is no obvious link to a source release of the current version (as opposed to source from the svn repository). I tend to rely on Sourceforge's emailed notices about updates to projects and I (sometimes) like to see and/or compile the source. This looks like a very promising application, but it is not quite as transparent as I would like - especially for an application that is going to be "calling out" a lot. - a very untypical mac user, of course [alert admin]

Read Comments (1) | More Info

Sunday, April 06 2008 @ 04:36 PM PDT

Trimmit! 0.95 (Mac OS X)

Partial success?

I've just started using this - somewhat cautiously. It seems to do several things quite nicely - thinning fat binaries and compressing tiffs. It leaves extra languages intact, though, even when I check the option asking it to remove them and when the application contains relevant files. Just wondered if anybody else was seeing this or if it is a peculiarity of my set-up. It's possible that this happens because my first choice of language is not US English (or, indeed, English) - perhaps it finds no files for my language and, rather than keeping language files for my second choice of language or deleting all of the language files (which would not be good), it keeps all of the languages. (Just a theory.) I would be interested to know what others are finding - both users with English as their first choice of language and those with something else. [alert admin]

Read Comments (2) | More Info

Saturday, April 05 2008 @ 05:10 PM PDT

Last 10 Comments by cfrees [ Search for All ]

Adobe Time Warp Pro?

I find it hard to imagine why somebody would object to a company supporting an older version of a product. Basically, the author not only fails to sympathise in any way with users who cannot update to version 8 - which, for many of us, is just too expensive - but actually objects to those users receiving support from the company. Software companies are ready enough to abandon users of older versions, demanding that they pay…

Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)

Sunday, May 11 2008 @ 06:34 PM PDT

Languages

I figured out how to persuade it to keep all the languages I list in System Preferences, if they are available, and to keep my second/third choices if not. So now it will keep English/English-GB no matter what and Welsh if it is available. I'm guessing other users might like this sort of flexibility but wouldn't have a clue how easy (or otherwise) it might be to implement in the general case. Thanks! cfr

Original feedback item : Read More

Thursday, May 01 2008 @ 08:41 AM PDT

Cataloguing and international use

I haven't used the application yet, so this is not a review. But I wanted to comment on the developer's response to the comments about the lack of fields for entering Dewey/LoC entries. I don't know just how widely the Dewey system is used, but it is certainly not specific to the United States. U.K. libraries use it widely, for example. LoC may be more local, though. Even so, it might still be useful for…

Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)

Sunday, April 06 2008 @ 04:02 PM PDT

Backup...

A backup is a good idea because then you can test the "trimmed" version before you commit yourself. If the application turns out to be one of the problematic ones that doesn't like being "trimmed", you simply delete the "trimmed" version and rename the backup; if, on the other hand, if the new version works fine, _then_ you can delete the backup and free up the disk space. This way you can try out the…

Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)

Saturday, April 05 2008 @ 04:59 PM PDT