Another Microsoft Bitch

The BBQ Pit
1

Long ago I stopped all automatic updates from Microcrash.com. After a security package nearly made my computer unusable, I was very concerned about my genealogy database, backups notwithstanding. So I cut the fuckers off at the knees.

So now I’ve decided to join the 21st century and try ripping my CD collection to MP3. The computer defaults to Windows Media Player (I’m shocked), which seems to be working just fine. “But hey,” I thought, “I’ll bet there’s a newer, shinier version of this on the Microsplat website.” Sure enough, Version 11 is sitting there, beckoning with its siren call, and best of all, it’s FREE!

So I waste six minutes of my life downloading this thing and then go through the ‘validation process’, whatever the fuck THAT is, only to be told that I must have Security Pack 2 for it to run. What does security have to do with music. Shit, I dunno.

So I go back to the Microfuck site to look for SP2, only to find 120 links for it, most of which are patches to fix the fuckups in the original release. What sorry motherfuckers these people are. Okay, I give up; I’ll just limp along with my coal-fired version, cuz I HAVE A FUCKING LIFE THAT DOESN’T INCLUDE WADING THROUGH ALL THE BULLSHIT JUST TO RECORD MUSIC ONLY TO HAVE MY COMPUTER CRASH AGAIN! ::man, I really wanted the shiny version. . .grumble::

2

FWIW, I installed WMP11 and it blows big hairy goats. My video playback is all kinds of effed up :frowning:

3

This is another reason why Apple is superior to Microsoft: iCunt is at least ten times pissier than Microsoft Bitch, and it runs right out of the box.

4

I’m constantly amazed by people who use Windows Media Player or iTunes, then complain about the performance/DRM/upgrade engine/whatever. It doesn’t take a lot of processor or whiz-bang features to play a media file, yet BOTH of these programs love to hog up your computer just for the privelege.

I’ve been using Winamp since 1998 or so, and it’s never let me down. (We will of course ignore the atrocity which was Winamp version 3.)

'Course, I don’t use it to buy music online. I just need it to play my MP3s. YMMV. IANAL.

5

Leaving aside the question of whether it’s advisable to turn off MS automatic updates, just let me say that Windows Media Player is a bloated resource hog that tries to do way too much and none of it as well as other media players. There are much better options for ripping and converting and playing your music.

Personally, I use Exact Audio Copy to rip my CDs and Foobar2000 to organize and play music files. Each of them are the gold standard in their respective categories when it comes to power and flexibility. However, they both have a bit of learning curve and require a lot of tweaking to fully take advantage of all their capabilities.

Other easier to use, all-in-one solutions are Mediamonkey (also excellent) or the ever-popular Winamp (although this has also become a bloated resource hog, IMHO).

6

It is not Security Pack Two. It is Service Pack II which is essentially a whole new OS upgrade that MS strongly recommended a couple of years ago. That is why XP has been around this long. You should really get it because it did improve things.

7

Before you rip your entire CD collection using any program, Chefguy, make sure that it’s being ripped in a completely platform-agnostic, generic, MP3 format. The last thing you want is to get the whole thing ripped and have to do it over when you upgrade in the future.

Even tools that are commonly believed to be proprietary (e.g., iTunes) often have settings for plain MP3.

8

[QUOTE=Shagnasty]
It is not Security Pack Two. It is Service Pack II which is essentially a whole new OS upgrade that MS strongly recommended a couple of years ago. That is why XP has been around this long. You should really get it because it did improve things.
[/QUOTE]

Oh, rightrightright, that thing you said. Unfortunately, the only thing that happened to my computer was it went batshit insane and I was lucky to get it to reboot even in safe mode. Now, it may have been software conflicts and issues, but it scared me, so I’ll just muddle along with with the program what brung me until I buy a new computer.

I used to have Winamp some years ago on another computer, when illegal downloads were still legal. Maybe I’ll revisit it or one of the other programs you fine folks were nice enough to recommend. Thanks, gang. I’m only ripping my Miles Davis CDs at the moment to see how it’s going to go. If it works out okay, then the rest of the 600 or so are next.

9

I’ve been wondering why media players are so often bloated. Windows, Apple - even that awful Realplayer (even before they turned it into an advertising and spyware vehicle). What’s making them so chubby?

10

[QUOTE=smiling bandit]
I’ve been wondering why media players are so often bloated. Windows, Apple - even that awful Realplayer (even before they turned it into an advertising and spyware vehicle). What’s making them so chubby?
[/QUOTE]

And whatever happened to the simple CD player application Microsoft shipped in Windows 95? I copied the executable all the way back from either that or Windows 98 years ago when I got my own computer and have jealously guarded its existence since then, although I basically never play a CD inside my computer these days. (I prefer to rip it and add it to my collection, listening to it as a high-quality MP3.)

11

[QUOTE=smiling bandit]
I’ve been wondering why media players are so often bloated. Windows, Apple - even that awful Realplayer (even before they turned it into an advertising and spyware vehicle). What’s making them so chubby?
[/QUOTE]

Poor diet? I got nothin’. I do know that I’m much happier these days since I dumped McAfee (fookin’ thing is composed entirely of transfats) and took up with AVG.

12

…after latest Update…
so you’re telling me that program I have been using for five years is illegal?
WTF!!! :confused:
Hey!! Why is my NAV 2005 keep asking to be activated? I just bought a subscription!!! :mad:

13

[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat]
Before you rip your entire CD collection using any program, Chefguy, make sure that it’s being ripped in a completely platform-agnostic, generic, MP3 format.
[/QUOTE]
Right. The default for Windows Media Player, I believe, is to rip music in their own WMA format. (Which, they claim, gives higher quality at an equivalent bitrate than MP3. But it’s not as universally-recognized a format.) You may not even be able to rip MP3’s without an add-on.

14

[QUOTE=Chefguy]
I used to have Winamp some years ago on another computer, when illegal downloads were still legal.
[/QUOTE]
:confused: As far as I know, it’s always been legal to rip your own CDs for your own use, and it’s always been illegal to share copies of music.

15

whispers… Linux …whispers…

16

[QUOTE=Chefguy]
Oh, rightrightright, that thing you said. Unfortunately, the only thing that happened to my computer was it went batshit insane and I was lucky to get it to reboot even in safe mode. Now, it may have been software conflicts and issues, but it scared me, so I’ll just muddle along with with the program what brung me until I buy a new computer.
[/quote]
IIRC, SP2 is notoriously picky about upgrading existing XP installations. If you had any sort of virus, spyware, questionable software, obscure device drivers, etc., then the upgrade could cause all sorts of problems, even making XP unbootable. Common advice around the time of its release recommended that the SP2 upgrade be applied over a brand-new XP installation.

If you’re already familiar with Winamp, that may be the way to go, but I recommend you give Mediamonkey as shot as well. It’s way more streamlined and efficient.

I just ripped ~800 CDs with about 150 more to go. It’s a pretty mind-numbing process and took me close to 2 weeks on and off. When I’m all done, I plan to back it all up to an external harddrive so I never have to do it again. As others have stated above, make sure you don’t rip to any proprietary standards like WMA or AAC. MP3 is universally supported or, if you want to try a lossless codec, FLAC is less well-known but at least it’s open-source.

[QUOTE=smiling bandit]
I’ve been wondering why media players are so often bloated. Windows, Apple - even that awful Realplayer (even before they turned it into an advertising and spyware vehicle). What’s making them so chubby?
[/QUOTE]
Creeping featuritis, plain and simple. Winamp is a classic example. In it’s original incarnation, it was nothing but a compact, simple music player with rudimentary playlist support. Then they started added skinning functions, streaming audio ability and cd-ripping. And since people’s music collections were growing so quickly during the MP3 explosion, a media library organizer quickly became a must. And since both harddrive sizes and internet bandwidth kept expanding, maybe adding video support would be a good idea, too. And so on.

As for myself, I prefer to use smaller, more specialized software utilities. I use EAC to rip and compress, Foobar2000 to listen to and organize my music and Media Player Classic to watch video. They usually have a much smaller memory footprint and accomplish their tasks at least as well or better than all-in-one behemoths like Windows Media Player or Winamp.

17

[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink]
Right. The default for Windows Media Player, I believe, is to rip music in their own WMA format. (Which, they claim, gives higher quality at an equivalent bitrate than MP3. But it’s not as universally-recognized a format.) You may not even be able to rip MP3’s without an add-on.
[/QUOTE]

Actually it’s trivial to set it to rip to mp3. Just go to tools>options>rip music and change the settings. Unless they’ve changed it. I use WMP for ripping my CDs just because I can’t be arsed to use another program (I do have EAC but as far as I can tell it’ll only rip one track at a time, and I’d have to rename everything afterwards–I only use it when I want a .wav). It also handily creates folders for me. The only problem I’ve had was when it mistook Christina Aguilera for Garth Brooks.

18

[QUOTE=Giraffe]
… iCunt is at least ten times pissier than Microsoft Bitch …
[/QUOTE]
From their FAQ: “Try warming your Fleshlight in the microwave next time.”

19

All right, a real response. Microsoft is a piece of rampant out-of-control capitalist bullshit. My final straw for them came right about when they decided to force you to install that invisible, irremovable tracking bug that told them all your personal information and whether or not you’d paid for their program. Instantly you’ve got complaints all over the country that perfectly legal pieces of software have been deemed “inauthentic” and the computers put on lockdown until they shelled out another $300 bucks for XP (or whatever the fuck it costs–I got my copy for $15 from the University.) Not to mention all the money you have to spend on virus software, the fact that their stupid fucking worthless POS browser Internet Explorer is the popup magnet from hell–and pretty much mandatory if you want to download updates… oh fucking Christ, what crazy monopolistic arrogant self-assuming bastards!

That’s when I switched over to Linux Ubuntu, which is a gazillion times cleaner and faster, not to mention you are always in complete control of anything that goes in or out of your system, none of that hidden spyware bullshit. Viruses are virtually nonexistent and I have not had to pay for a single piece of software.

I would be flat-out lying to say it’s completely painless… Linux is much more of a hobby and learning to fix problems generally requires a lot of work. I am definitely not a computer programmer, but I’m determined and there are a lot of help resources. Every once in a while something incredibly frustrating will pop up (like no sound in Firefox flash, for example) and it makes me want to go running back to Microsoft like a little bitch. But all it takes is five seconds on Mr. Olives’ Windows machine and I feel like I want to smash his computer console. I am completely fundamentally politically, emotionally against everything Microsoft stands for, and going back would be a betrayal of my most deeply held values.

I don’t blame you for sticking with it-- Linux has compatibility issues and isn’t always the most user friendly in the world, and Macintosh, though completely owned by Microsoft at this juncture, is a nice alternative-- but it nauseates me how much crap this bullshit company consistently gets away with. I am tired of seeing companies like this so consistently ignore its customers needs in the interest of making a buck.

whew Sorry for the crazy rant… I just really needed to put that out there.

I feel for you, ChefGuy.

20

[QUOTE=Jayn_Newell]
(I do have EAC but as far as I can tell it’ll only rip one track at a time, and I’d have to rename everything afterwards–I only use it when I want a .wav).
[/QUOTE]
EAC is capable of multiple compression threads and file naming based on tags.

To compress more than 1 file at a time go to EAC Options>Tools and check “on extraction, start external compressors in the background use ‘n’ simultaneous threads”, n being the number of tracks you want it to simultaneously compress.

To setup a naming and directory scheme, go to EAC Options>Filename

Yeah, the hat always throws me off, too.