Posted 10/10/2008 at 09:05:05am

I'm nearly 95% opensource and freeware.  My favs are:

• 7-Zip 4.60
• Audacity 1.3.5
• AVG Antivirus Free 8.173.a1373
• Belarc Advisor 7.2.24.8
• CCleaner 2.12.660
• CDBurnerXP 4.2.2.984
• ClamWin 0.94
• Comodo Firewall 3/0.25.378
• DAEMON Tools 4.30.1
• DVD Decrypter 3.5.4.0
• DVD Shrink 3.2.0.15
• EverNote 3.0.0.842
• Exact Audio Copy 0.99 beta 4
• FileZilla 3.1.4
• Firebird 2.1.1
• Flac 1.2.1b
• Foobar2000 0.9.5.6
• Foxit Reader 2.3.3309
• GimpShop
• Gmail Drive 1.0.13
• Hamachi 1.0.3.0
• HandBrake 0.9.2
• jk-Defrag 3.36
• Keepass 1.11
• Lame 3.98.2
• Lexun Backup 2.1
• Lexun RegScrubXP 3.25
• MediaMonkey 3.05.1187
• Microsoft Defender 1.1.1593
• Miro 1.2.7
• Money Manage Ex 0.9.2.0
• Mozilla Firefox 3.03
• Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0.17
• nLite 1.4.9.1
• NovaPDF 5.5.271
• Ogg Vorbis 2.85
• OpenContacts 5.1.1.566
• OpenOffice 3.0.0
• Parted Magic 3.0
• Pidgin 2.5.1
• Recuva 1.19.350
• Revo Uninstaller 1.75
• RipIt4Me 1.7.1.0
• RivaTuner 2.11
• Save2PC 3.37
• Skype 4.0.0.166
• SpeedFac 4.35
• Stellarium 0.10.0
• SyncBack 3.2.19
• The Gimp 2.6.0
• ThreatFire 3.5.0.21
• TreedbNotes 3.36.005
• VLC Media Player 0.9.4
• vLite 1.2
• WinRAR 3.80

Posted 10/05/2008 at 10:22:20am

Psssst, the best is HT Omega Claro

Posted 08/05/2008 at 10:28:35am

I'm still in awe at the instability of Vista to handle it's own OS apps let alone ultra reliable 32-bit 3rd party apps.  The svelte and nearly 99.999% uptime of even the thinnest Linux distro makes Redmond look completely inept.  If Windows 7 does'nt come packing x64 heat in a small and nimble footprint then M$ is doomed and will implode as opensource reigns.

Posted 07/23/2008 at 11:57:59am

Of course it's the future.  Near instant (~5 sec) from a cold machine to a menu of usefull apps....are you kidding me?  Marry a ROM boot chip to a large capacity SSD and just tell me where to buy.

Posted 07/22/2008 at 08:28:00pm

Just the 10k vraptors?  Much too many holes in this build, I'm so dissappointed MPC.  Next year let us spec the damn thing for you.  Then do a contest/drawing for someone to help you do the building and you won't have a coolant leak.

Posted 07/22/2008 at 06:23:32pm

9650?  Really?  C'mon....just OC the 9450 and save $700 which will directly offset a G5, Ergo4000 and a 2408WFP.

Posted 07/22/2008 at 11:36:29am

Why no Nehalem?  Why no x58?  Why no ESA?  Why no P80R?  Noe-sata?  Why the buffered ram?  And the Skulltrail is nearly as silly as a chromed HP case. Too many faux pauxs this year.  It squarely appears that they are pimping the mystery HDD's as an approach to make this build matter.  They can raid all the SSD's they want, only a 20K raptor is worth my attention again.  MPC you get a C+.  I hope you get back on track for DM09.

Posted 07/01/2008 at 12:11:56pm

First and foremost, MaxPC should have a dedicated "How-To" board on their forum.  Their are all sorts of invaluable how-to's from users and their does not exist an appropriate repository to share (and improve).  Second, slipstreaming is perhaps one of the most useful how-to's.  For a similiar XP+SP3 how-to with a bit more meat click here, http://lifehacker.com/386526/slipstream-service-pack-3-into-your-windows-xp-installation-cd and also here, http://www.howtohaven.com/system/slipstream-xp-service-pack-3.shtml.

For slipstreaming up to Acrobat 8.1.2 see here, http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=78663.