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Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

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Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#422

Post by zZorgz »

adamnemecek wrote: post #220
mbreedlove wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've installed Alfred before but just kept using Spotlight. I never saw why it amazes so many people. What does it do that Spotlight can't?

I use the paste manager A LOT. But that might be only in the paid version.

Ditto. Can't function without the clipboard history.

Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#423

Post by rbosinger »

It's been a while (and therefore several versions since) I've done audio recording/editing but I was always impressed with Propellerhead's audio software. I remember using Reason alongside Adobe Audition or ProTools or whatever-else and Propellerhead's Reason would be running all these synths in parallel and never hiccup or crash. This was on machines from 2005.

I recall Windows semi-crashing (and Audition or ProTools with it), explorer.exe completely gone and just a desktop background screen and our midi keyboard still controlling a multi-layer synth set-up and playing from the speakers with perfect responsiveness.

(for those who might say that Reason crashed the rest of it and hogged all the resources I'll say this: It never happened when we only had Reason running. It only happened when we had other editing software open as well... and we always had plenty of memory available).

I don't know if their stuff is still the same or has started to rot but there was a point where it was a real engine that blew my mind.

Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#424

Post by ewams »

rsync wrote: post #360
aerovistae wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't matter what filetype it is...it just runs them all, instantly, like magic. I have never missed Windows Media Player for even a moment.

"Doesn't matter what filetype it is...it just runs them all, instantly, like magic." Does it play DVD ISO files ? Can you use the menus, etc. ? Just curious ... XBMC back in 2004 could do this (navigate and use DVD menus in a DVD ISO) but then that feature actually went away in the following years, never to return ...

Yes, with mouse, keyboard, or remote.

Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#425

Post by kstenerud »

aerovistae wrote: post #322

VLC. There have been so many times I thought "man it would be great if there were this crazy hypothetical feature in my media player" only to find out it's like a stable long-established feature that's a keypress away from activation after a quick google search or glance at a dropdown menu.

I like VLC, but I can't upgrade past version 2.1.5 because the 2.2.x release has broken WMV support (it stutters on many WMV files).

Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#427

Post by zZorgz »

tdy721 wrote: post #313
mangeletti wrote: post #160

Alfred ( https://www.alfredapp.com ) Alfred is absolutely the most game-changing app I've ever been introduced to. I only use it for finding files, searching, opening a page by direct URL, defining words, calculator, translation (via Google), launching apps, and quickly jumping to apps that are already open. It's probably saved me hundreds of hours in clicking around, etc. I've never purchased the paid version (been…

I activate Alfred with my caps-lock key. That way spotlight is still in the usual place. It take a key-mapping app called Seil to make it work, but it's really great. Sometimes I think Chromebooks stole my idea. :p

I only use Seil/Karabiner for re-mapping caps lock but they have been pretty reliable for me :).

Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#428

Post by vardump »

lucb1e wrote: post #242

Windows: "Everything" (that's the name). A lightweight, fast and advanced (if you want it) file search engine. Linux: Most tools of course, as they are made with the Unix philosophy, but these days I'm most surprised by print drivers for Linux. Where in Windows the printer is always magically offline or slow, from Linux I can print and scan very reliably. Vim is also worth learning, it makes editing much more... rela…

> Edit: Another Windows tool is Notepad++. I have not seen the likes in Linux when it comes to robustness.

It couldn't even open a 1.2 GB text file when I tried it yesterday. On a 32GB system. Seriously?

Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#429

Post by therealmarv »

aerovistae wrote: post #322

VLC. There have been so many times I thought "man it would be great if there were this crazy hypothetical feature in my media player" only to find out it's like a stable long-established feature that's a keypress away from activation after a quick google search or glance at a dropdown menu.

VLC has the same problem as Chrome vs. Safari for me on OS X: It's not color correct, ignores monitor color profiles and colors look washed out in direct comparison to QuickTime. I'm guessing many people are not aware of that on their Macs.

At least Chromium seems finally to work on this after more than 5 years https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=44872

I wished I do not need to switch to QuickTime or Safari to have correct bright colors for enjoying videos & images :/

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