Which 3rd party software is bad for Mac OS X?

[janey]

unless you rendezvous chat all the goddamned time or you video/audiochat often and you cant be bothered to be running two apps or just switch, then there is no reason for you NOT to use Adium.
v0.58 is sort of misleading, because there used to be an Adium 1.x, but they did a complete rewrite, so now its Adium 2.0, but its still beta.
But for beta software, its REALLY stable. If you got Adium before they started doing the weekly/bimonthly updates, then you got one of the alpha versions, and if you're basing your opinion of Adium on some ALPHAS then all I gotta say is...WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ON?!
iChat's windows take up waaayyy tooooooo much space, even sans all the icons in the buddy list. Adium is a tiny part of my screen, where I can conveniently see who is online, who is away, how long they've been idle/away, etc, like 50-60 people at a time. Tabbed chatting is a godsend, because I absolutely abhor having like five chat windows open. Thanks to the wonders of CSS, I can customize the look of both my buddy list and my chat window, and happily to say, my buddy list is in all dark colors, with gray text, in 10 point Myriad Pro, no icons. Not some oversized brushed metal hunk that takes up like 1/5-10 of my screen with the buddies in huge 11 point Lucida Grande or whatever iChat uses for the buddy list. Bah. I don't want several chat windows crowding up my display or the icons in the already tiny dock.
But when I need to rendezvous chat or videochat, I will open iChat. Doesn't stop me from still using Adium to IM people (when I am online).
And I don't want filthy MSN and Yahoo Messenger in my dock, wasting space. Trepia doesn't work on Mac OS X. Jabber clients for OS X suck. After using Proteus and Fire and other multi-protocol chat clients, I was so exasperated at the quality...until Adium
And to the person who said Adium was not official software, since when was iChat one too? There's only one official client, and thats the POS that AIM provides. And why are you using that beta software, there's gotta be a good reason why...so why not give adium a chance?

So really, I have good reasons to use Adium...because it satisfies my needs, and it satisfies them well. Now, I don't think I can care much if you prefer not using it...your loss, not mine.

 

[mkrishnan]

With all due respect, if there wasn't a need for third party mouse drivers, Apple probably wouldn't have provided an extensive, documented API to do it.

Basilisk, did you participate in or write Sidetrack? If so, btw, bravo. I guess I don't expect anything of this sort to be perfect, but so far I've really enjoyed using it.

To 7on's point, I wouldn't die without it (actually I never had a Windows laptop with a trackpad before, much less with these features -- the last couple of work ones had trackpoint and my last home one had ... *gasp* a track*ball* which I still sometimes miss ). And I guess I was lucky that it did not interfere with my Sys upgrade. OTOH I try to keep these kinds of things to a minimum, and consider installing any driver for anything to be kind of a haxie. This is after using Windows for so long mind you....

 

[Basilisk]

Basilisk, did you participate in or write Sidetrack? If so, btw, bravo. I guess I don't expect anything of this sort to be perfect, but so far I've really enjoyed using it.

Yes, I wrote SideTrack. Glad you're finding it so useful

Alex

 

[Fukui]

I'd definitely nominate SideTrack as falling into the haxies category too, but I have it and I left it installed through the upgrade to 10.3.4 and I haven't seen issues.

I have had trouble with SideTrack myself though I did enjoy the additions (especially the right-click from the pad). It is a kernel extention I believe, so it has the *potential* to screw things up if theres a bug. Maybe I should try the latest version...?

 

[mkrishnan]

I have had trouble with SideTrack myself though I did enjoy the additions (especially the right-click from the pad). It is a kernel extention I believe, so it has the *potential* to screw things up if theres a bug. Maybe I should try the latest version...?

Hmmm...mine is 0.8, which still looks like latest, which survived 10.3.4. Seems more and more that its some kind of mix of the effects of different enhancements...like a *reporter voice* toxic cocktail of drugs.

 

[Hakkinen]

Anyone has tried Poisoned? Just curious if anyone trouble with their Mac OS X 10.3.4 after using it.

 

[MacBandit]

Anyone has tried Poisoned? Just curious if anyone trouble with their Mac OS X 10.3.4 after using it.

Poisoned shouldn't affect OS X at all it shouldn't have any low level processes. I have it but haven't used it much lately. I've never had issue with it. It may crash because it's a buggy pile but it doesn't affect the system when it does.

 

[Hakkinen]

Poisoned shouldn't affect OS X at all it shouldn't have any low level processes. I have it but haven't used it much lately. I've never had issue with it. It may crash because it's a buggy pile but it doesn't affect the system when it does.

Thanks. I am downloading 2 files from it. Have not encountered problems so far.

 

[mkrishnan]

unless you rendezvous chat all the goddamned time or you video/audiochat often and you cant be bothered to be running two apps or just switch, then there is no reason for you NOT to use Adium.
...

O/T and all, but Ubergeek, you'll be happy to note I've gone 100% Adium for the time being. Still not because of anything you said, but because I have friends who insist on using MSN Msngr. Still, a victory by any means, right?

I even took iChat out of my dock, so there!

 

[Hakkinen]

O/T and all, but Ubergeek, you'll be happy to note I've gone 100% Adium for the time being. Still not because of anything you said, but because I have friends who insist on using MSN Msngr. Still, a victory by any means, right?

I even took iChat out of my dock, so there!

Adium has just upgraded their software to 0.58. With email notification for Yahoo and MSN, cool !

 

[mkrishnan]

Adium has just upgraded their software to 0.58. With email notification for Yahoo and MSN, cool !

What? I have to upgrade already??? That's it. I'm going back to iChat! (J/K )

Since I started using Mail.app, I don't feel as big a need for e-mail notification, but I used to love that feature when all I used was Y! web e-mail and Y! chat about two years ago!

 

[wrldwzrd89]

unless you rendezvous chat all the goddamned time or you video/audiochat often and you cant be bothered to be running two apps or just switch, then there is no reason for you NOT to use Adium.
v0.58 is sort of misleading, because there used to be an Adium 1.x, but they did a complete rewrite, so now its Adium 2.0, but its still beta.
But for beta software, its REALLY stable. If you got Adium before they started doing the weekly/bimonthly updates, then you got one of the alpha versions, and if you're basing your opinion of Adium on some ALPHAS then all I gotta say is...WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ON?!
iChat's windows take up waaayyy tooooooo much space, even sans all the icons in the buddy list. Adium is a tiny part of my screen, where I can conveniently see who is online, who is away, how long they've been idle/away, etc, like 50-60 people at a time. Tabbed chatting is a godsend, because I absolutely abhor having like five chat windows open. Thanks to the wonders of CSS, I can customize the look of both my buddy list and my chat window, and happily to say, my buddy list is in all dark colors, with gray text, in 10 point Myriad Pro, no icons. Not some oversized brushed metal hunk that takes up like 1/5-10 of my screen with the buddies in huge 11 point Lucida Grande or whatever iChat uses for the buddy list. Bah. I don't want several chat windows crowding up my display or the icons in the already tiny dock.
But when I need to rendezvous chat or videochat, I will open iChat. Doesn't stop me from still using Adium to IM people (when I am online).
And I don't want filthy MSN and Yahoo Messenger in my dock, wasting space. Trepia doesn't work on Mac OS X. Jabber clients for OS X suck. After using Proteus and Fire and other multi-protocol chat clients, I was so exasperated at the quality...until Adium
And to the person who said Adium was not official software, since when was iChat one too? There's only one official client, and thats the POS that AIM provides. And why are you using that beta software, there's gotta be a good reason why...so why not give adium a chance?

So really, I have good reasons to use Adium...because it satisfies my needs, and it satisfies them well. Now, I don't think I can care much if you prefer not using it...your loss, not mine.

Actually, I don't chat very often at all - I have NOBODY in most of my buddy lists. I have uninstalled YIM, MSNM, and AIM, and I only keep iChat around just in case someone wants to chat with me (which is rare). Sure, CocoModX is beta software, but it's FAR better than PlayerPRO, which has a nasty habit of crashing when I try to convert something to AIFF.

 

[Krizoitz]

then there is no reason for you NOT to use Adium.

Unless you don't like the look of Adium, don't need all the extra chat services or features, and just want a simple, easy to use chat client.

It bugs the heck out of me how some people assume that the only way for software to be good is if it has a hundred bells and whistles. No thanks, I'm quite happy with my nice and simple iChat. It does what I need it to pretty darn well. And while it could use a few minor tweaks here or there, I don't want it to turn into some awful try and do it all app.

You like Adium, fine you can use it, but there are plenty of reasons NOT to.

 

[MacBandit]

Unless you don't like the look of Adium, don't need all the extra chat services or features, and just want a simple, easy to use chat client.

It bugs the heck out of me how some people assume that the only way for software to be good is if it has a hundred bells and whistles. No thanks, I'm quite happy with my nice and simple iChat. It does what I need it to pretty darn well. And while it could use a few minor tweaks here or there, I don't want it to turn into some awful try and do it all app.

You like Adium, fine you can use it, but there are plenty of reasons NOT to.

Agreed. The Jack of all trades and master of none mentality is more of a Windows-PC attitude then a Mac one. The Macintosh has stood for simplicity since the day it was released. Some of us have no need for another chat client or even really wanted to even need a chat client in the first place but due to changing technologies had a need for one foisted on us.

 

[Hakkinen]

Agreed. The Jack of all trades and master of none mentality is more of a Windows-PC attitude then a Mac one. The Macintosh has stood for simplicity since the day it was released. Some of us have no need for another chat client or even really wanted to even need a chat client in the first place but due to changing technologies had a need for one foisted on us.

I disagree.
I may agree Mac has stood for simplicity. But if people insist on simplicity why bother to get a mac, apply for an account, do the typing, charge the battery, update your software, update your hardware.....just SIMPLY pick up the phone and chat instead.

I am new to Mac, but I compared Adium's preference with ichat's, they look almost to same to me. Nothing complex.
If Humans don't keep upgrading and improving, we could still be using snail mails instead of emails.
More features? Not necessary Windows-pc attitude.
If so, I gues Sony, BMW and Nokia should start putting a small Windows logo on their products.

It bugs the heck out of me how some people assume that the only way for software to be good is if it has a hundred bells and whistles. No thanks, I'm quite happy with my nice and simple iChat. It does what I need it to pretty darn well. And while it could use a few minor tweaks here or there, I don't want it to turn into some awful try and do it all app.

You like Adium, fine you can use it, but there are plenty of reasons NOT to.

Adium makes it more convenient for people to chat buddies of icq, msn, yahoo etc AT THE SAME TIME, ON THE SAME WINDOW. WITHOUT THE NEED TO SWITCH ACCOUNTS.
Saves me time. You will understand when your buddies refuse to change their accounts.
I have not tried chatting on ichat, but i would not assume it is not good.

If human doesn't try, he never knows.
If I don't switch, i am always on Windows.

If you don't like Adium, fine don't use it, no need to 'bug' yourself. Take it easy buddy.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I disagree.
I may agree Mac has stood for simplicity. But if people insist on simplicity why bother to get a mac, apply for an account, do the typing, charge the battery, update your software, update your hardware.....just SIMPLY pick up the phone and chat instead.

I am new to Mac, but I compared Adium's preference with ichat's, they look almost to same to me. Nothing complex.
If Humans don't keep upgrading and improving, we could still be using snail mails instead of emails.
More features? Not necessary Windows-pc attitude.
If so, I gues Sony, BMW and Nokia should start putting a small Windows logo on their products.




Adium makes it more convenient for people to chat buddies of icq, msn, yahoo etc AT THE SAME TIME, ON THE SAME WINDOW. WITHOUT THE NEED TO SWITCH ACCOUNTS.
Saves me time. You will understand when your buddies refuse to change their accounts.
I have not tried chatting on ichat, but i would not assume it is not good.

If human doesn't try, he never knows.
If I don't switch, i am always on Windows.

If you don't like Adium, fine don't use it, no need to 'bug' yourself. Take it easy buddy.

IMO, the best thing about Adium/Fire/Proteus is the integration they provide between messaging services. The worst thing about them is the protocol issues they tend to have since they're unofficial. If you can put up with having periods that you can't chat on a certain service until your application is updated, go right ahead and use Adium/Fire/Proteus. I don't use them because I don't value the integration they provide and I don't chat very often.

 

[MacBandit]

I disagree.
I may agree Mac has stood for simplicity. But if people insist on simplicity why bother to get a mac, apply for an account, do the typing, charge the battery, update your software, update your hardware.....just SIMPLY pick up the phone and chat instead.

I am new to Mac, but I compared Adium's preference with ichat's, they look almost to same to me. Nothing complex.
If Humans don't keep upgrading and improving, we could still be using snail mails instead of emails.
More features? Not necessary Windows-pc attitude.
If so, I gues Sony, BMW and Nokia should start putting a small Windows logo on their products.




Adium makes it more convenient for people to chat buddies of icq, msn, yahoo etc AT THE SAME TIME, ON THE SAME WINDOW. WITHOUT THE NEED TO SWITCH ACCOUNTS.
Saves me time. You will understand when your buddies refuse to change their accounts.
I have not tried chatting on ichat, but i would not assume it is not good.

If human doesn't try, he never knows.
If I don't switch, i am always on Windows.

If you don't like Adium, fine don't use it, no need to 'bug' yourself. Take it easy buddy.

My point is that I really have no need for a chat client and iChat is already installed so when there is the very rare occasional need that's what I use.

 

[Hakkinen]

My point is that I really have no need for a chat client and iChat is already installed so when there is the very rare occasional need that's what I use.

If i dont have that many different contacts, i would rather stick to ichat too.
Anyway i am not crazy with having as many cool softwares as possible. I just want basic things get done.