CNET is a real step down for you guys. Hope you got paid big bucks. Guess this is what happens when the Mac becomes mainstream. Oh well...

Personally I'm a fan of CNET. I use them primarily to search for electronic products and to check out their reviews. I'm excited for you guys and hope this works out as you expect (or better).

Consolidation is not always for the best. It can have a diluting effect. Remember the old saying... "small fish in a big pond."

Not a big fan of CNET myself.

I really wish you guys at VersionTracker would spend more time making your pages load faster rather than corporate organization/re-organization etc.

I think CNET could do wonders for helping Versiontracker optimize and improve. I'm pretty psyched.

Well, over the past few years you guys have gotten me hopelessly addicted to Versiontracker, so I'm hoping all changes are improvements. I have to thank you for a vast amount of great info that has helped me many times.

Good luck to you, and all that, but also, please stay the way you are -- that is, a GREAT resource!

If you benifit from the affiliation, then grats. I'm not a fan of CNET, which I think of as a highly biased entity, but if you can avoid that issue I am hopeful that it can be a postiive thing.

CNET is absolutely horrible, and the worst resource for anything Mac-related. It's like becoming affiliated with Microsoft... Ugh!

I just hope you guys know what you're getting yourselves into.

Now that you'll be getting big bucks from Microsoft-- er, CNET, will you drop the membership fees? Give us all access to the main data stream?

cNET is finally taking a serious interest in Macintosh stuff? This Apple thing just might pan out after all.

CNET is bad news. I am really sorry to see this. I remember a few years ago macnn.com was bought by a company, but all the members rose up against it and it was rescinded. Don't make the same mistake.

MINIMALLY, stop charging this membership fees for access to information which we provide you. It's not cool. Now with the corporate sponsorship you won't have to worry about money.

I really like VersionTracker and pay for a family subscription every year.

But, I really don't like CNET. I find their reporting to be insipid at best and dangerous at worst.

The good news is that AppFresh just appeared and may be a viable replacement for VersionTracker.

I don't use CNET becasue of all the wonderful other mac sites
that are mac-centric, and with the proliferation of podcasts
out there, you can also get more info in 5 minutes than
CNET can provide in a lifetime.

that being said, if it raises VT's and MF's visibility in
Google, hey more power to you.

But I do agree with others postings, and that I
became highly miffed over the fact
that articles on MF that are 1 day old are only accessible
to "subscribers", and yet it's some of us everyday people
who help report fixing the problems that make MacFixit
viable. To me this is plain wrong, and I often DON'T
CONTRIBUTE, even when I know the answer, because
of this.

I understand you guys gotta pay bandwidth, but c'mon...
MF wouldn't have any worth, outside of Ted's columns,
if users didn't contribute to fix problems, often which
go beyond your guys normal "3 step" reccomendations.

Best of luck with the CNET deal, but until I see some
benefit for the users, it means nothing to me at this point.

And as for VT:
1. Faster page loading and Searching
2. More up to date reporting on Apps ( MacUpdate "scoops" you guys
ALOT)
3. go through and weed out out of date links/pages MORE OFTEN.
a lot of pages for v.1.0, v. 1.2, v.1.3 etc. are out of date and should
be burned.

I don't care if you merged with Microsoft... JUST STOP MAKING US PAY TO READ ARCHIVES ON MACFIXIT, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!
I used to pay the $25/month blood money, but now I'm too insulted to be suckered. Make the content free now that you're part of a bigger family with far more resources.

CNET is nothing more than a mouth piece for Microsoft. I don't see this change as being productive. I will not renew my subscription to MacFixit.

I'm afraid I'll have to echo the sentiments of several; CNET has historically published too much anti-Mac, pro-Microsoft items for my taste. Looking at their current laptop reviews, I see they rated the 17" MacBook Pro dead last. It would be so much better if they made at least a pretense of being unbiased...

VT: you're in serious danger of alienating large portions of your community. I am now switching to MacUpdate.com. Once you cancel this deal with CNET I may consider coming back.

Oh, and I just happen to be the Mac sysadmin at a very large university in Boston.

Congratulations! You deserve a nice payoff for so many years of dedication. VT, MFI & iPA are three sites I rely on daily. Whereas I checkout CNET a couple times a month.

Maybe there are changes in store for CNET, they certainly recognized the best Mac sites to acquire.

I've watched as CNET has purchased one favorite site after another and slowly let those sites wither and die. I can't believe it's now happened to VersionTracker. Kurt, you have every right to be paid, and although I'm personally disappointed, I wish you the very best. As for me, it's time to explore the competition. I will not be renewing my subscription.

Just wanted to let you know,because of the CNET takeover,
I too will be switching to MacUpdate.

CNET is not my idea of a good time.

Oh dear. I have to say guys I am really disappointed.

I suppose VersionTracker is multi platform and could therefore seem appealing to CNet, but for the life of me I can't see any good reason why CNet is interested in MacFixIt.

Quite a few years ago I visited CNet regularly but gave up when I realised that not only did they do a half hearted attempt at pretending to support the Mac, but they actually tried to discredit the hardware, OS, and Apple computer generally, sometimes very subtly, other times not quite so.

I stopped visiting CNet. I thought then, that it was just me. That I had a bee in my bonnet. But from the comments above I see I wasn't wrong at all and many others picked up on CNet's anti Mac practices also.

Perhaps there is good news in this for Mac users, but why is it that we just can't see it? Why do we have this awful feeling in the pit of our stomachs as we read this news?

Well I must go along with the many others and say when my (pro) subscription expires, I too will not be renewing. Perhaps if CNet prove us wrong, we will come back, but I doubt anyone posting here will be holding their breath!

Good luck to you anyway.

I'll be watching this with caution. Right now....shades of Watson/Sun are flashing by my eyes. I'm praying that CNET does not do what Sun has done...take a superb product and kill it. I just hope your agreement doesn't prevent you from putting your products back on the market if CNET decides to "neglect" them.

CNET now has an option....develop a new, devoted market, or take the CHEAP/COWARD's way out. Mac users don't tolerate crap. I hope CNET understands this. IE: I used to use TaxCut from H&R Block. THEY discontinued TaxCut...I switched to TurboTax. Now TaxCut is back....surprise...I'm still using TurboTax and have no intention of going back unless/until H&R Block shows a vastly superior product on many fronts. I'm not that happy with TurboTax, I'm just STILL PISSED AT H&R BLOCK/TAXCUT FOR DROPPING SUPPORT.

Beware, CNET. DON'T treat us like Windows whores.

Folks, please consider signing the below petition indicating your frustration and opposition to this merger:

http://www.petitiononline.com/mfivtcne/petition.html

Not sure why I see so many negative comments. Personally, I am happy for Kurt and wish him all the best.

It seems that CNET really wants to get into Mac market. They added a Mac section to download.com site. They even posted a real review of 1Passwd a few days ago.

Best regards, Roustem
Co-author of 1Passwd

http://switchersblog.com/
Everyone is switching to Mac!

I have to agree with most of the previous comments ... CNET has too deep and too long of a history of pervasive anti-Mac slant. This is a big mistake for VersionTracker, and a big loss for the Mac community.

VersionTracker, 2007 ... RIP.

1. Dislking CNET for insufficient Mac focus and then being incensed by their acquisition of a couple of great Mac sites is INSANE.

2. The haters angrily stomping out of the room will be back as soon as they need software info. They use VT/MF because it suits their prefs.

3. If CNET switches you guys to an advertising model and nixes the subscription fees, I, a non-subscriber, would be delighted....but those who just forked out $115 for 2 year subs via your August promotion are gonna be PISSED. I guess the fees will remain, though, because that promotion seems an attempt to try to lock in long-term paying subcribers through the changes ahead.

4. Congrats!

If VT policies doesn't change, the software submissions stays free and people who does amazing job of updating the entries, reading feedback stays there, CNET is nice for the future of Versiontracker.

CNET is _huge_ and Versiontracker once more proves they are the number 1 choice for Mac users. Remember, that huge company also has download.com Mac edition. They did a great job with their blog etc recently but could never match the versiontracker. VT is a huge community at first, it is much more than download software links.

By acquiring VT, they also admit they didn't make a great job of Mac news/downloads so far. Why would they "kill" Versiontracker while Versiontracker as a small company managed to stay alive after various online (dotcom etc) crashes? VT already proved the model works. People wants credible sites/ real editors/ real support professionals nowadays.

As a "Pro" member, I am glad I must say.

CNET is not like some other company which is famous for taking over great projects and trying to re-invent them, I don't see why they would want to change a working thing. I even think Download.com Mac edition will stay there since it is more like a review site.

I would just congratulate but I had to post these since I think people doesn't know CNET. CNET Networks is a huge media company, e.g. those Mac haters (?) at News.com probably never seen download.com people. 2620 workers based on http://www.answers.com/topic/cnet-networks-inc

This post was removed by me, the original comment poster, since the issue I commented on was apparently temporary and no longer remains the problem I mistakenly thought it was when I originally posted my reply. Sorry for my misperception of a change that is apparently in fact not the case - pro accounts continue to be "ad-free." I regret any inconvenience this may have caused.

A status blog that VT staff could post to when the service is having relatively significant problems (as it is again today) could be useful. It's frustrating getting repeated database connection errors, duplicate posts, etc. without some form of acknowledgment from VT that they're aware of these issues.

I think that CNet getting their hands on VersionTracker will only turn it into... download.com all over again. Ads ads ads. slow slow slow.

Yay for software that checks for double posting.

Bye, bye. Take you check and laugh to the bank.

does this mean i can now get a refund for macfixit subscriber/membership fees for 2007 since cnet is ad-driven free sites?

what impact does this have on paid subscriptions?

i would really like a 1800 number because i did not find what i was looking for and it didnt work for my computer

i would really like a 1800 number because i did not find what i was looking for and it didnt work for my computer

I have never heard of CNET, but comments so far are not very reassuring!

Personally, I hope that the combined company will find a way of making the VT interface more Mac-like. I have still not worked out how to do a one-button update of my software so that VT knows what apps I have on my Mac now (as opposed to what I had when I joined many years ago).

Also, I hope that responses to emails will be faster - likewise with downloads.

Let's see how it all pans out.

Kind Regards

FRANK

I have never heard of CNET, but comments so far are not very reassuring!

Personally, I hope that the combined company will find a way of making the VT interface more Mac-like. I have still not worked out how to do a one-button update of my software so that VT knows what apps I have on my Mac now (as opposed to what I had when I joined many years ago).

Also, I hope that responses to emails will be faster - likewise with downloads.

Let's see how it all pans out.

Kind Regards

FRANK

I have never heard of CNET, but comments so far are not very reassuring!

Personally, I hope that the combined company will find a way of making the VT interface more Mac-like. I have still not worked out how to do a one-button update of my software so that VT knows what apps I have on my Mac now (as opposed to what I had when I joined many years ago).

Also, I hope that responses to emails will be faster - likewise with downloads.

Let's see how it all pans out.

Kind Regards

FRANK

I have never heard of CNET, but comments so far are not very reassuring!

Personally, I hope that the combined company will find a way of making the VT interface more Mac-like. I have still not worked out how to do a one-button update of my software so that VT knows what apps I have on my Mac now (as opposed to what I had when I joined many years ago).

Also, I hope that responses to emails will be faster - likewise with downloads.

Let's see how it all pans out.

Kind Regards

FRANK

I too will not tolerate abundant ads on this site. All that Flash crawling slime and posters of happy consumer people make me sick and dizzy.
If not, why exactly they bought the site for???

I for one hate to see good sights purchased and corrupted by big business.

It has happened countless times in the past and may happen to versiontracker if you're not careful.

Hi all:

I have a pro account and yes, I'm logged in. I still get little ads cropping up here and there. Personally, I don't care if anyone paid to put them up; I paid to NOT see ads. Any ads.

Please fix.

NOW I READ ALL THE COMMENTS,
YES I HAD A GET DEAL OF TROUBLE TRING TO PURCHASE YOUR VERSIONTRACKER,
SOUNDS GOOD,IF IT WORKS?
================
NOW I READ AND SEE NEARLY EVERY COMPLAINT REFERRES TO THIS BEING A "MAC" PROGRAM???
===========
I SURE AM GLAD YOUR PAYMENT METHODS NO LONGER ACCEPT EXCEPT PAYPAL????? ( I WILL LET THEM KNOW)
(VersionTracker joins the CNET family)
I WOULD NEVER LIVE THIS DOWN, SPENDING GOOD MONEY FOR A MAC TOOL????
WHAT A FOOL AM I?
BOB KECK
VALLEJO, CA

WHAT A JOKE THIS IS,
I DID TRY 4 TIMES TO GET SOME DIRECTION???
EACH TIME POP UP CAME BACK SAYING,
ONLY ONE QUESTION AHEAD OF YOU????
AFTER ABOUT 10 OR 15 MINUTES IT SENDS A NEW POP UP TO SAY,,,
EVERY ONE IS TOO BUSY???
TRY AGAIN LATER.
YEP SURE ENOUGH!!! ONLY ONE QUESTION AHAED OF YOU!!!!
BOY IT MUST HAVE BEEN A GOOD ONE??
ALL I WANTED TO KNOW WAS HOW TO PAY!
EVERY TIME I TRIED, I WENT IN A CIRCLE AND KICKED ME OFF.
BOB KECK
THE DUMMY FROM VALLEJO,
CC.
J DAVORAC ON COMPUTERS:)
-------------
TRY NOT TO LET ALL THE RAIN UP THERE, MAKE MOSS GROW ON YOR FEEL.

Macupdate.com is better and usually "scoops" VT.

Useless for Driver updates!!!. Can't even provide an easy way to get Windows driver updated versions. other update agents better at it. The free Driver Max identifies the obsolete drivers as well and it too is can't download updates but at the price of $00.00 it is a great product.

What is starting to piss me off is You go to your OS listing to see what is out there. For example OX10.4 Tiger.

You select what is supposed to be an Editor's pick, or Top loaded application and see the reviews as total pile of BS. WTF?

Maybe 2 out of 50 maybe have a worth while chance.
I just checked out a Spyware listing, and fine out the guy promoting it is a total fraud. WTF? Why is it even listed?

I find the site a total waste of time.
If the program listed for the OS selected doesn't have at least 5 stars, then why show it period.
Why is it a 'Top Pick' when it's Crap to everyone who's tried it?

Have a list in a separate category for the worst of applications.
Fill that one first.

Thanks' Anyway,
I'm out of here with better things to do.