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Ask HN: What is the worst software that you have to use?

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81–90 of 141 posts

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst software that you have to use?

#81

At work, it's probably JIRA. Tons of UI noise, text markup isn't what I expect it to be and nobody around here can seem to agree on what features should be used for a particular scenario. Past work, it would have been Identity Finder by a landslide. Awful UI, awful support, super intrusive, a total pain to administer, just bleh. Glad I was able to wash my hands of that. Personal stuff, iTunes. I genuinely like the in…

Re: iTunes, I would love a separate Apple Music app for desktop. 95% of the time I open iTunes on desktop it's just to play music. It's cluttered with so much stuff I rarely or never use.

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst software that you have to use?

#82
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basecamp is Omakase.

I can only assume (without Googling the answer) that's that Japanese thing where someone pokes another person in the backside with their two index fingers because that's what using Basecamp feels like.

http://david.heinemeierhansson.com/2012/rails-is-omakase.htm...

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst software that you have to use?

#83

Slack. - It's slow on every platform I use (iOS, macOS). - I often don't get notifications at all, on either platform. - The Mac client crashes too often. - The Mac client uses more resources than it should. - Threads are useless. - Settings are split into too many different views. - I dislike the design. It's too spaced out (even with the "compact" setting). There's no dark mode. I don't like the icon. Everything is…

I have the exact opposite opinion on Slack.

Their new electron app is better in perf and memory and generally the experience is the best I've had (and I've used professionally pretty much every chat app there is).

Compared to alternatives like HipChat or Skype it's eons ahead.

But threads are useless indeed, I'll give you that.

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst software that you have to use?

#84
iTunes (on Windows)

-slow (other than playing content everything is just so slow)

-the GUI (inner window) just disappears if I maximize the application (or go over a specific height/width)

-terrible for searching/exploring [0]

[0] I generally search for a specific song then browse the artist's other songs but I would really like to also browse for covers or related content in a way that didn't lose track of the original search/artist.

Example: I search for a Korn song, then I view all Korn songs then I see that other people like System of a Down but I haven't finished viewing all the Korn catalog and if I go to S.O.A.D then I lose track of the Korn. Having a huge delay (compared to other computer functionality) between screens doesn't help either. Then I remember I wanted a cover of the Korn song but I had searched for Korn to compare with the original.

Honestly most of the time I feel like I am misusing it when it is such a chore to find more music. If there is a web interface I will gladly switch.

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst software that you have to use?

#86
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Outlook is incredibly powerful, but wow is it a pain to use and terribly laid out.

I always Google when I need to figure out how to change anything. The person who came up with ribbon bar should be... fired.

The person who allowed them to put it on every Office product should be as well.

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst software that you have to use?

#87
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basecamp is Omakase.

I can only assume (without Googling the answer) that's that Japanese thing where someone pokes another person in the backside with their two index fingers because that's what using Basecamp feels like.

To save everyone else the trouble, it means "meal with items selected by the chef". e.g. Screw User Feedback.

I say this as someone who hasn't used Basecamp, so I don't really have an opinion there.

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst software that you have to use?

#88
Pegasus Mail. An organization I work with still use this software... because it's free.

Its author [David Harris] has done a fantastic job of maintaining it but the UI is definitely the product of a bygone era.

I must confess to preferring Outlook 2016 and its ease of cross platform use when used with an Exchange server. I don't find the ribbon interface confusing like some on here.

My only gripe is the complicated method of publishing recipients S/MIME certificates to the Global Address List before they can be used to encrypt mail with.

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst software that you have to use?

#89
post #42

Surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet - Xcode! The frequent plain text display of code, freezes and outright crashes really makes me feel like Apple has a completely different internal tool for iOS/macOS development.

https://github.com/dear-apple/dear-apple

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst software that you have to use?

#90
post #52

My first place award goes to SAP, which I have to use for time entry. The procedure for entering vacation time is "Put in the hours and the code for PTO. Now hit enter. Yes, it'll all turn red and it'll display an error. Hit enter again. Everything else just autofilled." The procedure for changing an SAP password is to click New Password on the login screen[1]. No, not after logging in, if you accidentally did that y…

I'll have to say with SAP, it's really down to how it's implemented. I've seen AWFUL implementations of it (like the one you're describing) and I've seen amazing ones, generally the ones either done by SAP themselves or by their recommended partners are the best.

Having said that, it's a gigantic beast so it's not surprising that there's a lot of broken implementations out there. Good SAP 'guys' aren't very common unfortunately.

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