Alternatives to Undesirable Programs

Some programs don't play nicely with your computer, but does that mean you have to give up instant messaging? Luckily, some nice people have come up with alternative programs, many of which are actually better than the original programs they resemble.

AOL Instant Messenger/Other Instant Messenging Programs

Why is this program bad?

AIM is a bundle culprit: at one point they bundled WeatherBug, at the moment they're bundling the fairly inoccuous Viewpoint Media Player, but there's no telling what they'll bundle next. In addition, they've moved over to movie ads that slow down your machine.

Alternatives

NOTE: These programs support AOL, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, and IRC as well as multiple-logon. This means, for example, that you can use an AIM screenname and an MSN screenname at the same time, or two AIM screennames at once, etc.

• Trillian - Basic version is free. Visit its website for more information on features.
• Pidgin - Completely free and open source.
• Adium - A really great AIM/iChat replacement for Macs.

Windows Media Player

Why is this program bad?

Windows Media Player's biggest fault is its speed, or lack thereof. If you've ever opened some sort of streaming media file from a website, you've probably noticed how long it takes to play, even on a fairly fast connection. Not only does WMP run with agonizing slowness, but it hogs quite a few of your system's resources to do so. You're better off without it.

Additionally, Windows Media Player is no longer supported on Mac OS X, so you definitely want to get something else.

Alternatives

• VLC Media Player - Ever tried to open a media file and just get the sound, or, even worse, have it not work at all? Enter VLC, a free, open source media player that can handle all kinds of music and video files. Oh, by the way, it's safe, and doesn't have any kind of ads or popups. It's also less bloated than Windows Media Player and loads and plays faster.
  NOTE: One of the few media types that VLC does NOT support is any kind of RealMedia (.rm, .ra, etc.) Real Alternative (below) does, however.
• Winamp - Winamp is another free media player that handles most music and video files. It has many of the features of VLC, in addition to looking slick.
• Windows Media Components for QuickTime - A Mac OS X-only Microsoft-supplied add-in for QuickTime that allows QuickTime to play Windows Media videos.

RealPlayer/Real One Player

Why is this program bad?

While this media player's ads are very annoying, its real crime is its instability. After a while, most installations of RealPlayer eventually start crashing for no apparent reason. More disconcerting is the fact that RealPlayer loves to get into battles with other media players over who gets to play what kind of movie or music file type, which usually causes neither of them work.

Alternatives

• Real Alternative - RealPlayer is an icky program, buggy, unstable, and filled with ads. Luckily, Real Alternative exists for those people who really need to watch some .rm or .ra media files. Free for download.

WeatherBug

Why is this program bad?

WeatherBug is among the most hated programs at the ITS Helpdesk. It's considered a "gateway" program that occasionally downloads and installs third-party software (all of it undesirable and usually related to spamming you with ads) without your knowledge.

Alternatives

• Weather Pulse - Like WeatherBug, but without the ad-ware and under-handed installations of other programs. Free.
• ForecastFox - An extension for the Firefox browser that shows weather updates in the status bar. One of the infinite reasons why you should be using Firefox.
• Other options: Windows customization tools like the Konfabulator or ObjectDesktop.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing programs

Why is this program bad?

Some of the most popular P2P programs (Kazaa being the best example) contain spyware!

Alternatives

NOTE: These aren't really alternatives so much as programs that are "safe" (unlike Grokster and the now-defunct Kazaa). Please note that this only applies to the programs themselves--you can still download dangerous files, or copyrighted material.

• Shareaza
• Azureus
• i2hub
• Direct Connect
• eMule

Internet Explorer

Why is this program bad?

There was a day when Internet Explorer was a pretty spiffy program. Those days are gone. People who use IE get more spyware, adware, and viruses than any other web browser.

Alternatives

• Firefox - A free alternative to Internet Explorer. It is generally more secure and has lots of nice features like tabbed browsing.
• Opera - Another alternate browser with tabbed browsing and other fun features. Opera has a reputation for being the fastest browser available, but might not be compatible with every website.