Some installers are ok. The ones that simply proceed (and quickly too) to make a directory and copy the working program files to it. And optionally, ask if you want a start menu icon and/or desktop icon. Those are just fine. Nothing more, no billion option choices, no registration, no tutorials, no registry changes no extraneous directories in "MyDocuments" folder.. Hey MR. INSTALLER PROGRAM!?! Are you listening! Your job is to install the program and
. Do your assigned task and then go away. I don't want you calling home either, if you're that stoopit that you need to call home for instructions then you shouldn'a been released to the general public in the first place.
The ones that Sux0Rz are the ones that are slow (hello adobe you be listening?). What also sucks are ones that begin a tutorial as you are installing. And the most HATED ones are ones that have to go online to actually get the program you're installing. Though some get it right, like X-plane's installer.
Although they work, I do absolutely HATE adobe installers. And the Worst of all I hate is the one for CopyTrans suite of iPod utilities. You gotta be online to install and uninstall. Crap, if you don't trust me then how can I trust your software.
---------- Post added at 12:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:52 AM ----------
What else I **ABSOLUTELY DESPISE** is on-line help. Programmers and developers that are simply too frakking lazy to include a complete "help file" with you brand-spank'n-new ADOBE CS5 package.
There's gonna be a chance that I'm out at the Antarctic base composing up for a photoshoot, then back in my bunk I might not have an internet connecting setup or something. And while I go through a photo-editing and cleanup session I might need a few hints or instructions on how to use a filter or plug-in or something. So where is the manual?
Fer Chrissakes!!!
Give us a help file, a .chm or .pdf or .txt or .doc or something!! Or incorporate the help file into the program. And don't give me that s
t that a help file takes too much space! With today's data compression technology you can put hundreds of pages WITH diagrams and screenshots into just a few megs.
And don't give me that effing-c
p that because the help section is on-line it is always up-to-date. Because
co
it IS NOT!! You just rushed the program out the door before you finished it. Or you're too stupid and cheap to write a help file or, more likely, too dumb to begin with. I don't want your
itiful
faced excuses.
---------- Post added at 12:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:05 PM ----------
Orbiter is an example of a program that gets installing and documenting just about right. Let us do a quick case-study about it!
INSTALLING
1 - it doesn't mess with the registry.
2 - it behaves itself and stays within its specified directory.
3 - all add-on stuff stays with it, in its own directory.
4 - installing is done on your terms. And you have a choice of manual un-zipping or MSI automatic.
5 - multiple installs simply by using a separate directory.
6 - easy to remove all traces and completely 100% un-install quickly.
HELP FILES and DOCUMENTATION
1 - there is basic documentation provided at the startup screen.
2 - basic help is available in-game.
3 - an extensive .pdf file is included with the download.
4 - some theory of ops is included with the download.
5 - included documentation has tutorials and tells you what to expect.
6 - 3rd party "publications" are available in .pdf files too.
7 - many add-ons contain the necessary .txt files to get you going.
TECH SUPPORT
1 - Some of the best tech support in the industry.
2 - Free, accurate, comprehensive.
3 - Directly reviewed by the main author and add-on developers(when appropriate).
4 - Interactive.
5 - Available 24/7 on your schedule.
6 - No lengthy questionnaires or forms to fill out. No service tags and ref numbers.
7 - No phone system and convoluted IVR system to navigate through.
8 - Solutions often tailored to your specific environment and hardware.
All software houses and publisher's should strive to have a system like that. Big multi-billion-dollar corporations can't even come close. Why?? Because they are full of slackers and "I don't really give-a-dam" attitudes - another thing that irks me with computer users. They don't really care what they are doing with their systems.
They skip on running backups. They shut down the printer via the power-strip (so the ink carts are suspended mid-carriage and dry out. Disks are left strewn around the work area. Icons are not categorized and organized (when appropriate). . Everything is shoved into the MyDox folder. Files are stored on the desktop. But it's ok to have a few like some notes or your most recent project files (or a few pics if you're doing a photoshop session). Though everybody has their own organization and file layout. When someone uses a computer long enough it becomes a graphical real-world-visible-to-everybody map of how they organize information.
For example, I have all my stuff generally stored in appropriate (to me) folders. All running programs are in PROGRAM FILES. I tend to use the MY DOCUMENTS as a buffer holding area for things Work-In-Progress. My desktop is like big-a
d quick-start menu with a few working documents. All my pictures go into my gifs_1, etc.. directories which is then subdivided as needed. Gifs, yeh GIFS! is a throwback to the early days of computing when that was the popular image format. All my orbiter stuff goes into Orbiter_xxxx_xxxxxxxxxxxxx in program files. Depending on the versions and special iterations of them. All my .mp3 and music files go into directories labled b and bb (with each being sub-divided into other artist, album, discography, single-one-hit-wonders.. b and bb are simply names of the original directories I had when I divvied them up among 2 120GB hard disks years ago. It has nothing to do with the /b/tard scene. Those directories have grown like a hundred-year-old tree, thisway and and thatway. Branches and sub-dirs everywhere. But iTunes ties it all together neatly and instantly for me. And my classic DOSBOX dosgames from the 80's and 90's go into a directory called PROGRAM FILES / dosbox_games - and further divvying up that - each game gets it own "working directory" and set of config files. Sometimes, like my photoshop applications and stuff are just pushed into the PROGRAM FILES directory, I have found too much inconsistency with the installers and plug-in packs to bother maintaining any order. Now, my Classic VideoGames and Emulation stuff is just one haphazard pile of
t. Millions of tiny 2kbyte Atari rom files all over the place. But, the StartMenu structure is good. And finally, my journal is simply that, a directory containing all personal data and passwords (encrypted when appropriate in case of theft). Writings, stories, awesome gaming moment screenshots, family pictures, it's all there. And all of it tucked nicely into a USB hard disk.
I tend to keep the root directory of the device simple, like the main root has about 10 directories. And as you drill down into each root directory, the structure becomes more rich in in-depth and segregated.
Despite the seemingly haphazard and all-over-the-place nested layout. I can find any file anytime nearly instantly. That, to me, is the hallmark of good organization. It works for me! :thumbup: but it might infuriate you :beathead:
The crowning achievement of my FileSystem is a directory called "installed".. It's big! It's bad! It will boss-U-around! It is vital to the maintenance of my system. So that in case I ever need to rebuild my system, or re-install a certain application from the start, or get all-new-hardware, I can just start from there. In it is a copy of everything that is installed, in "original" form. It has things like .zip and .exe files of everything I have currently running on my system right now. Everything I've downloaded. Ripped ISO's of the master discs. Patches, utilities, .doc files, .txt files, .pdf files, .maff files. It's there. Publisher-sanctioned mods and work-arounds. Games, levels, add-ons, photoshop plugins, Office install discs, bootstrap disks, mbr record, stuff like that. Every Single Working Program is there with all the publisher support files, or web-based help and faq and guide files. Drivers and o/s patches too. In the case of on-line activation or verification I will revert to a warez version with keygen, all tested and scanned and observed way ahead of time for suspicious activity and good behavior. I can manually rebuild the entire system from the contents, and make it exactly like before. Like a backup, but you have to go through all the motions of setup and install. Like a storage room of everything you ever had. All compressed and somewhat organized. That in addition to my regular backup stuff.
Everything can will run independently of the internet, so that in case I go on a deep-space voyage I don't have to worry about being stuck without some crucial file.
One other thing, I also hate mis-adjusted monitors. I won't rant. Quickly. Convergence and over-bright colors AND non-centered images really piss me off. And we have users, today, that can still
up a 1-touch-auto-adjust LCD panel too. I've seen it!
People that don't have an appropriate work area. Like the soccer mom that has a laptop and has to take it all out of the bag and hook up the power and use it for a while, then put it back. And they do this every single day. Just get a computer desk and setup a tiny office willya!!
For those of you just joining this thread, go and read here.
http://www.rinkworks.com/stupid/
