Slashdot Mirror

All the "negative checkoff" (click NOT to install) and all the (CNET downloads.com e.g.) sites where banner ads mislead to click on them rather than the download file button you are looking for should be treated as malware, starting a long time ago.

So much this. All of the major "download sites" for Windows freeware/shareware do this. Even some official sites hide the actual download button and have big adware/spyware/shitware "download" buttons.

For example, I used to recommend imgburn for Windows users years ago, back when XP was new, until I saw what they were doing with their official page. They still haven't cleaned it up. It's still shit.

Feast your eyes upon this abomination:
http://www.imgburn.com/

Be in a hurry and spot the actual download link. Go ahead. Even if you know what you're looking for, you can miss it.

Also- "Versions 2.5.1.0 on included optional Ask.com adware in the installer,[4] which was replaced in version 2.5.8.0 with OpenCandy adware.[5][6]"

Go to wikipedia and look at the list of software that OpenCandy infects, too.

Then there is stuff like MindSpark that even comes *preinstalled* on consumer-level machines from Dell and HP.

It's when I see shit like that I thank my lucky stars I moved away from Windows full-time 18 years ago.

--
BMO

I've used infrarecorder and recommend it, however you might want to give imgburn a try.

Oooookay...your company so poor they won't even shell out $50 for Nero Burning ROM? In that case you can always use IMGBurn which as far as I can tell is 100% free, no matter the environment. although if you were going to use IMGBurn I would get it from Ninite instead of the IMGBurn website, as Ninite does a one click unattended install of IMGBurn along with any other software on their site you may like and NO toolbars, which waay too many apps bundle nowadays.

so it isn't like you don't have choices, and IMGBurn is so simple even my computer clueless Aunt can use it to back up files and burn music CDs. If you want a simple, no nonsense burning software that handles CD/DVD/BD, makes disc images, burns music and data CDs/DVDs, and does it all with a minimum of fuss, then give IMGBurn a try. I bet you'll like it.

Uuuuhhhh...You DO know that if all you want is the burner Nero will let you have it for free, yes? Or that if you want an even more simple interface there are great free choices such as IMGBurn which you can even install with a one click unattended installation thanks to Ninite that will install nearly all the major apps folks need/want, like FF,.NET/Flash/Silerlight/Java, even IM, AV, and Media Players, all in an interface so simple even your grandma can use it?

So while the full Nero may not be YOUR cup of tea, there are enough folks buying it that Nero thinks it is the correct way to go for their customers, but they are still nice enough to offer the basic version for $0. And just because you think it is "bloated" doesn't mean the masses do. Just look at home pages, which working PC repair I can tell you the average Joe by a good 99 out of 100 have set to this instead of this because they actually LIKE it that way!

Go read up a bit. Burning games for the 360 is trivial. Dual Layer DVD burner and http://www.imgburn.com/ (completely free) or any other software that lets you pick a custom layer break and alter the book type.

Heck there's even easy to use gui based programs that will let you take ISOs of games from outside regions and allow them to be used in your region.

As an added bonus private trackers seem to have all the big games 2-4 days before release.

The first thing the industry needs to do is get rid of street dates. With the current method the time before a launch is just boring. Everyone knows where a same will be for sale and when. The only excitement possible is from the pirates. Billy knows that the game is only available on the 12th so the pirate friend who downloads it is novel and cool.

If they were to get rid of street dates and just announce that the game is done and working it's way through the distribution channels it would generate more buzz about the game. People would spend their time looking for it and talking about where they saw it. More hype is good. Especially in the first weeks.

It would allow the legal purchaser to be cool for finding it early rather than the pirate.

While we are on the subject; Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel and ImgBurn will both work off a pendrive. Lovely.

Aside from the already well-pointed-out fact that newer versions of Nero are compatible and that Nero has broken across other Windows version upgrades as well (a sign, to me, that they tie too closely to the OS), why the hell pay for burner software? The only thing I need third-part software for in Vista is ISOs (and other image files) for which I use ImgBurn; it's free (as in beer, not speech), runs on everything from Win95 (so they claim, never tried) to Vista x64 to Linux via Wine (see comment on Win95; K3B rules). Fast, easy to use, feature-packed, and while I regret that Vista doesn't include an image burner in its disk-burning abilities, I was using ImgBurn on Vista since the Beta 2 days.

No, I'm not associated with ImgBurn in any way other than finding them in a Google search over 18 months ago when I was looking to burn some Linux discs and an early Vista beta, and happily using ever since.

http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

DVD Decrypter is easy to find, but Lightning UK was forced to stop development and take down the original site because of legal threats. Fortunately he continued to develop the excellent burning portion of the program with ImgBurn. As a result of the legal threats DVD Decrypter itself is now outdated as it cannot handle the some of the latest copy protections without assistance. RipIt4Me is a much better option for the latest DVD releases.

You can also use imgburn, which works very well for lots of disc image formats.

OS X is pretty and all, but I prefer 'functional' over 'shiny' and I like to really dig into the inner workings of the OS that I use. OS X doesn't entirely appeal to my demographic for that reason, which is why it appeals to people who just want to use a computer and have it work without having to mess with it any more than they need to.

Really? I switched from XP to OS X for teh exact same reason. XP was shinny and colorful, but it wasn't very functional. Crap I still haven't figured out how to burn a dvd-sized iso without paying for or pirating 3rd party commercial software. (if someone wants to respond with a link, I'd be happy to learn the error of my ways).

Also, although Tarlus talked about Windows in the first part of his comment, I'm pretty sure he was referring to Linux or BSD when he said OS X was "relatively stupified in comparison to other OS's that I've used" and that he liked to "really dig into the inner workings of the OS that I use." Tarlus didn't say Windows in this part of his comment.

However, if Tarlus was talking about Windows, then I agree with you: I don't know what the frick he's talkin' about.