The Spam Thread!

[cpd2009]

I recall that the initial release of Arkham Knight was so buggy, Steam pulled the game for a short time until the major game breaking bugs got fixed. Thankfully it appears that the majority of those have been fixed as you have noted.

I found this little nugget of news off the LowEndMac group. Apple is taking cues from MS regarding Catalina upgrades. Not good for those who use ProTools or still use 32-bit software.
https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/product...de-screens

[huckleberrypie]

I recall that the initial release of Arkham Knight was so buggy, Steam pulled the game for a short time until the major game breaking bugs got fixed. Thankfully it appears that the majority of those have been fixed as you have noted.

I found this little nugget of news off the LowEndMac group. Apple is taking cues from MS regarding Catalina upgrades. Not good for those who use ProTools or still use 32-bit software.
https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/product...de-screens

Apple being Apple as always.

[cpd2009]

I have managed to end up with a lot of Honestech/Vidbox software over the years. I somehow lost the disc for my copy of Cyberlink Powerproducer 3, so I had to search my stacks of CD-ROMs to find a suitable replacement. Over the years, I've acquired several CD-ROMs of media software that came with OEM computers or digital cameras. Stuff I have tried...

-ArcSoft Video Impression: came bundled with a crappy camcorder. Doesn't support video compression and it can't even record from my TV card, even though the video signal appears in the preview window. (could be a Vista compatibility problem)

-Sonic/Roxio MyDVD 6.1: it can see my TV card and records to MPEG2 fine, except the video preview freezes while recording. This is a deal breaker as I need to monitor the VHS tape in case the tracking goes off or the program ends and I have to stop recording.

-Roxio Easy Media Creator 9.0: It can "see" my capture card in the device list, but it can't use it. The input selection and other options are grayed out. Compatibility mode doesn't work.

When I originally purchased my laptop Greta from the Home Shopping Network in 2012, it came with a DVD-ROM disc from a company called PC Treasures. This DVD-ROM contained a lot of "essential" software such as Corel Office, Stuffit Deluxe, Easy Logo Maker, My Wedding Planner, Sales Boost, Print Master, etc. In other words, it was bloatware you could install yourself. This is where I first encountered Honestech branded programs. The app in question is Easy Video Editor 3.0, an off-brand dumbed down version of Windows Movie Maker. It also can utilize capture cards or webcams, and has some more advanced recording features than their earlier Easy VHS to DVD 2.0 program. This is what I am testing out now, and things look promising.

I'd imagine I will come across that old PowerProducer 3 disc long after I no longer need it. It always happens.

[huckleberrypie]

Heard of them as well, as they were bundled with some no-name TV tuner I rarely used back in the late 2000s.

[cpd2009]

eGames lied. The Vista/7 compatibility listed on the sleeve is BS.

I got that Brick Break collection in the mail today, and the same four games still won't run.

I may have a plan B. I will post results here if it works.

[huckleberrypie]

eGames lied. The Vista/7 compatibility listed on the sleeve is BS.

I got that Brick Break collection in the mail today, and the same four games still won't run.

I may have a plan B. I will post results here if it works.

Not a big surprise considering we're dealing with a second-rate shovelware firm lol.

[cpd2009]

Let's just say disc swap tricks can work wonders with Boot Camp. If it weren't for Apple artificially "removing" support for older Windows versions with newer macOS'es...











I found my old student copy of Windows 7. It was an upgrade disc, but Boot Camp accepted it anyway. Used the Boot Camp wizard to make the Windows partition, rebooted, swapped out the disc with the XP CD at the boot screen, and installed XP from there. The drivers came off a spare iMac disc set I found on eBay. I left the Boot Camp partition as FAT32 to prevent any post-install issues. The benefit of this is the XP partition appears under Finder with read/write access. After installing all the Windows Updates, I disabled the network adapter and Wifi card.


Here's a bit of fun. While figuring out a compatible version of QuickTime to install, I saved one of the older sample movies. Here it is, a QT 3.0 sample movie playing in QT 7.6. In the days of QT 3, running Windows on a Mac was unheard of. It wouldn't be long before Apple would dump IBM and go Intel.


And, here is the macOS desktop. I changed it to a screencap from one of my favorite Christmas cartoons, Santa and the Three Bears. Given how the world completely sucks at the moment, I need a bit of Christmas cheer now and then.

---

Oh yeah... MS appears to have turned off the XP activation servers. To verify it wasn't a network problem, I accessed a known safe website, www.ozfoxes.com, home to a furry webcomic I read and still rocks an early 2000s HTML layout. That site loaded fine, but the activation screen still wouldn't connect at all. I had to activate over the phone, which takes about 10 minutes and typing in a very long numbers both on phone and on the computer.

[huckleberrypie]

Honestly I'd end up using a pirate key on an OS Microsoft isn't bothering any more. I mean, even the phone activation thing may no longer be operational in the near future as it's a pain to maintain something that old.

[cpd2009]

Some other observations regarding XP in Boot Camp...

There is a noticeable difference in sound quality. Music in macOS sounds rather good, with just the right amount of bass and treble. XP on the other hand sounds like speakers you'd find in a cheap AIO PC from Walmart. The DAC is Realtek and it uses the standard driver package. I guess macOS uses some kind of hardware or software DSP to enhance sound quality. I set the Realtek EQ to Rock, and it makes things good enough to be enjoyable for stuff like Jet Ball 3, among others.

Another thing with the sound... it's LOUD at default volume level. I mean, very loud. When I was initially trying to set up XP in April, the iMac nearly scared me to death when it rebooted after the driver install. The volume defaults at around 60%, yet the XP startup sound would be loud enough to wake up the person in the apartment below mine and probably outside my door too. I have to set volume at around 2 to 3% just for a comfortable listening level.

[huckleberrypie]

Some other observations regarding XP in Boot Camp...

There is a noticeable difference in sound quality. Music in macOS sounds rather good, with just the right amount of bass and treble. XP on the other hand sounds like speakers you'd find in a cheap AIO PC from Walmart. The DAC is Realtek and it uses the standard driver package. I guess macOS uses some kind of hardware or software DSP to enhance sound quality. I set the Realtek EQ to Rock, and it makes things good enough to be enjoyable for stuff like Jet Ball 3, among others.

Another thing with the sound... it's LOUD at default volume level. I mean, very loud. When I was initially trying to set up XP in April, the iMac nearly scared me to death when it rebooted after the driver install. The volume defaults at around 60%, yet the XP startup sound would be loud enough to wake up the person in the apartment below mine and probably outside my door too. I have to set volume at around 2 to 3% just for a comfortable listening level.

Now that's ear-rape level annoyance lol.