11 Windows Software Programs to Avoid 4

Posted by JD 08/10/2010 at 10:15

Over the years, we all come across software that we decide to uninstall and never use again (unless forced to do so by a company). I expect that some software on my hate it list is loved by someone. Most of those tools that make it to this list became bloated, lost their core purpose or did something nasty like installed a search bar or some other spyware.

Anyway, here’s my list for Windows.

Software I Hate on Windows
  1. iTunes – Bloat – SERIOUS BLOAT It isn’t just me
  2. MS-Outlook – Bloat – SERIOUS BLOAT
  3. Adobe Acrobat – buggy and highly hackable
  4. Apple Quicktime – Bloat
  5. RealPlayer – Bloat / believed spyware
  6. Any Codec Pak – just use VLC; If VLC can’t play it, then we don’t need to view it.
  7. McAfee AV – they pushed virus signatures that prevented machines from booting
  8. Norton AntiVirus – Bloat
  9. ZoneAlarm – Lost their core purpose; Win7 firewall will block inbound AND can block unwanted outbound connections.
  10. VMware Server – Hasn’t been updated in years; Use VirtualBox instead
  11. VMware vSphere – soon will be windows-x64 only. Where’s the Linux love? Sadly, there isn’t any option, but I still hate it. This program is 1 of 3 reasons that I have MS-Windows still. The other two are VideoRedoPlus and MS-Visio. I do not hate these other two programs, just that there is not an equivalent on Linux. VMware runs Linux on ESX and ESXi, so having vSphere run under Linux is definitely possible for VMware as a company.

If I list any more, the level of hatred towards this list would be diffused. There are others that I dislike, but since I don’t use Windows very much anymore, those programs don’t have much impact.

To add just a little balance, here’s an old list of software that I can’t live without. Here’s another list of old school UNIX tools that I like.

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  1. Robert 08/24/2010 at 12:16

    What pdf reader do you suggest? Currently using Nitro, and have used Sumatra.

  2. JD 08/24/2010 at 13:24

    I’ve never used either of those, so don’t have an opinion on them.

    My PDF reading needs these days are very simple, so whatever is built into the OS, Linux, has been working fine for me. Basically, I need to view and print, nothing else. Sometimes the program is evince, others times it is an unknown tool (document viewer?). On Windows, I’ve been using PDF-Xchange – even with the hassle it takes to get it to download with my browser security settings and get it installed without a toolbar included. Still, I disable javascript and prevent external program call-outs.

    BTW, I’m extremely familiar with PDF having worked in electronic publishing and developed software that converted PDF files into a more efficient, proprietary format for viewing in a custom viewer. It was multi-platform (UNIXen, Mac and Windows). On that job, we showed our work to Adobe (back in ‘96) and they borrowed some of our ideas. Mainly, they stole our search, which they hadn’t solved yet, but didn’t do it as well, IMHO.

  3. JD 09/08/2010 at 23:04

    Another Acrobat flaw found – Sept 2010. This is an ongoing issue with Adobe and I don’t think it will get better for many, many years.

  4. JD 11/05/2010 at 19:55

    Adobe Plugs 18 More Holes in Flash

    Q: How many more months of Adobe Plugging Holes remain until they are all plugged?
    A: Infinite. Flash is broken by design.