[PCWorld]

Post your comments for The 7 Most Annoying Developments in Software here

[GraysonPeddie]

Want to know one that I dispise of?
Donnnnngleees!!!
Yep! Dongles!
Lose a dongle, and you won't be able to work with an application such as Steinberg Cubase SX--that $800 music-making software that makes musicians disappointed so bad that they won't get their money back when a dongle is lost.
I spend $600 for Cubase SX over at AmericanMusical.com (American Musical Supply), and after a few months, I broke a dongle by leaving a dongle plugged into a laptop and put it in the laptop bag, and when this happens, it broke off, and guess what? I lost it.
I forget about that CD and serial key because of it...
Moronic, I know...
I hate to say this, but "stupid anti-piracy measures..."
The purchase was back during 2004.

Oh, and I want to point out that dongles are in a whole new level of annoyance -- much more than Microsoft's WGA. I have a legal copy of Windows, which is no big deal. But for Corel, I owned Paint Shop Pro 10, and I can activate the max number of times before I have to call Corel. Not a problem with Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7 and 8. Man, I like Jasc, but I don't care for Corel. Jasc only requires serial number to register PSP 8, and I don't have to worry about activation until PSP 10 (or is that PSP 9 and later?).

I feel like I've been discriminated by manufacturers like Steinberg and Corel... makes me feel so much pain

[Photic]

I hate that while trying to read this article there are pop-ups for surveys that invade the personal space that I'm trying to read. Then on the next page there's an equally annoying ad for signing up for your g.d. magazine, which SURPRISE!! Invades the space of the article, who would have thought. Talk about Irony! Now that's freaking annoying.. and I have to sign up to post this trivial complaint on this p.o.s. comment system. AND then I have to sign up for some dumb newsletter that I don't want, TWICE!$&%# Once before registering and then part of registering itself.. hmmm. Brilliantly idiotic.. possibly because your programmers couldn't get it right the first effing time. As a programmer myself I couldn't ethically do that to innocent people.
Good job, idiots.

[velvetmoxie]

Another vote for dongles! I have a very expensive program with one of these. After an hour of trying to figure out how to download and install the thing I gave up-thankfully I won it in a contest and didn't have to pay for it!

Now how about the downloaded software we pay for only in the case of a crash to find they have a new version out and even though you have all the reg. numbers and order numbers if you want it again you have to pay again to get the new version. Their solution? BUY an extended license--crooks! Will definitely remember to burn all the install files next time but will seek other software suppliers for sure!

[JamPhil]

"5. Whatever Happened to Please and Thank You?"
Actually TRY TO SOLVE your issue before posting such a lame comment.
In Firefox, goto options, advanced, the UPDATE tab, and choose how you want it to behave. DUH!
Really, these PCWorld articles seem to get worse and worse, written by people that are less computer literate than the last writer.

[RFine]

I agree with all of the dislikes except the issue with Firefox. It's updates are almost always critical security updates that you should apply right away. They are usually small and load quickly. Be safe people!

[rodent042]

2 of these "annoyances" really are off-base.
Automatic Firefox updates are for your own protection. If you want to turn of updates go right ahead but don't complain if you have problems down the road.
2nd is #6. You pay for a License to use software for a specific amount of time. A newer version is supposed to mean better safety, quality and more usability. Technological advances are supposed to drive companies to write better software. Also, can you see an av company trying to support 20 different versions from the last decade? If you'd like to complain you should do so toward bloatware and bad programming. For example... when I defrag a drive I want it to work quickly and efficiently. I don't need a cartoon of a car driving around a hard disk platter or 'fun facts' popping up amusing me. Put that cpu power to real use! Do people actually sit and watch defragmentation?
And I agree... dongles are evil!

[mdembski]

Two of the complaints are user errors. Firefox has the ability to not autoupdate and Itunes has the ability to deauthorize all. WOuld be nice if the writer had checked some.

[RDunn]

Deauthorize ALL?? To 'deauthorize ALL computers' for iTunes, I read the help... went to my account as instructed... guess what? NO option to deauthorize ALL computers... and 'help' says if you have trouble... visit the website "below"... there's NO link to any website whatsoever...'below'. In other words, time to "move heaven and earth"... waiting on Apple for help. (And I haven't used 'deauthorize' in the last year... since you can only deauthorize ALL once a year.)

[RDunn]

What's more annoying is anyone expecting marketers to default to 'no thanks'... until we pass a privacy law that says business -must- follow an 'opt in' method where consumers have to explicitly say 'ok send me your junk' or 'ok, use my personal data'. We'll all be opted in automatically... and have the burden of having to 'opt out' of every business on the planet... that's unrealistic. Direct Marketing does not have the right to flood us with junk. We should not, by default, be economic assets or slaves to all businesses we contact. Europeans don't have to opt out of everything, from what I've read... they value privacy... we value the almight dollar, unfortunately.

[RDunn]

As for #6 poster... a consumer usually doesn't 'pay' for limited use. Besides, the author was talking about vendors discontinuing software/data updates... not limited use software. Dumping data updates to force an upgrade doesn't seem necessary when the data (virus signatures) update system is well in place. It -is- disappointing to be slapped/forced to upgrade... but, it gives you the opportunity to look at the competition... with a 'competitive upgrade'.

[zacharyreidell]

With iTunes, you can reauthorize all of your computers once a year without having to have access to all of them.

[zyzzyva57]

Amen!
My favorite annoyance is in registering not showing USA first if the product main users are in America
Next, since ZIP Code indicates city and state in America, why can't a registration program pull this in and automatically show city and state and even address if you enter the whole 9 yards of a ZIP Code, e.g., 12345-1234

[dmgearig]

I hate that when reading these articles I have to unnecessarily click again to go to the next item. I usally stick it out through 2-3 items and then say to heck with it.

[at8ax]

Terrific. Perhaps #8: Spellcheckers that don't catch things like "ad nauseum." (It's nauseam.)

[capnbilly]

Yup, I can confirm the theme of this article. I just had a similar experience with one of my favorite programs, Nero. I have been using it for many years, probably since about version 3 or 4, and was very happy with it until version 7. It took about twice as long to do anything that the previous version took, and put stuff on my PC that I never wanted or used. I stuck with it, though, and when version 8 appeared I thought maybe they had learned their lesson and it would be better. A case of hope over experience, though. It was worse! So I threw up my hands, went back to version 6 and it was like remaking the acquaintance of an old friend! I guess I'll stay with it as long as I can, and when I need more features I'll try some other company. Guess it's all part of growing up!

[inmate]

RE:Sunset policies; I dropped Norton's Systemworks a couple of years ago because of their upgrade policies. I now won't have anything to do with any software associated with Norton.
My Quicken software is due to expire at the end of this year so it will be goodbye Intuit.
I've already obtained Open Source software that accepts Quicken file formats as a replacement.
Comment #2..........AMEN!!

[rodent042]

Yes, you DO pay for limited use of antivirus software, which is what I was referring to. Pardon me for any confusion. Read the fine print. For example, say you pay $40 for a 1 year subscription to (insert company name here). You have a license for 1 year. After that the software is completely useless to protect you against new threats. If you buy another year's subscription then you are good to go... for another year and no more! If a threat comes out that the software was not designed to handle they force an update. How terrible of them covering their own backsides!
Anyway, after a couple of years it only makes sense to buy a new version as well as a new subscription because there will be new threats that your previous version will not be capable of handling. I never said I liked it but these are the cold hard facts. Again, read your license agreement.


But I digress. I can only assume you are a self-proclaimed expert yourself... ;) I

[72833]

Thank you, again, PC WORLD. I have been using computers since 1978. And, yes, there are so many annoying inconvenient ways the software companies have come up with trying to protect their products from piracy. I sincerely believe they ought to leave it alone, and the majority of us folks (with integrity) will not abuse their systems. Mostly, I believe that they should contact you at PC WORLD for regular sit-downs about 4 times a year AND use your advice. At this point in time, I am retired, I am grateful that I don't have to crank it all day at a computer. Thank you for all the good info you have provided me. C. Dwyer, Massachusetts

[mpleroy]

Dear Inmate,



I have the same problem with Intuit. Can you please tell me/us the name of the Open Source program you found that accepts these Quicken file formats?

Thanks,

MP