Software: December 2006 Archives

No, I'm not talking about Office 2003 -- I'm talking about the way many pieces of free software (including free programs from major manufacturers) try to shoehorn some kind of browser or system toolbar into your computer.  The Java runtime envrionment tries to install the Google toolbar; the Adobe PDF Reader tries to install the Yahoo! Toolbar; the free systen-cleanup tool CCleaner tries to install Y!T as well.  And so on.

I don't use such tools; I find them more of a headache than anything else.  It's tiresome to have to say "no" to such things each time they're offered.  But at least they're optional and not mandatory ... at least for now.

For those curious about Microsoft Office 2007, there's a fully legit trial version available for download directly from Microsoft.  No verification needed to download, but you will have to register to get a product trial key.  It runs for 60 days completely like the real thing, and is the full Enterprise edition of the program.

With all of the kerfuffle over "Zune: Hot or Not?", I've realized that there are a few features I've looked for in portable media players that nobody seems to offer.  One of them is the ability to bookmark an arbitrary point in the middle of a song -- for instance, the drum solo in a 14-minute live version of your favorite progressive-rock jam, or maybe the track points on a disc where the guys at the pressing plant messed up and somehow authored the whole disc as a single giant track.

Do any of the current players do this?  I know my own iRiver doesn't.  Not having it is no deal-killer, but having it might be a deal-maker!