MacUpdate: Roddy McKay's Profile

User "Roddy McKay" Profile

About Roddy

Scottish Singer/Songwriter/Producer uprooted and replanted in California.

Real Name:Roddy McKay

Homepage:http://roddymckay.com/

Last Login:2 Jan 2009 18:32

Posts:9

Reviews:8

Recent Downloads:

User Reviews

Presto	Sep 9 2009	RODDY MCKAY This application was always slow, clunky and unresponsive and its major problem is that it is limited to the font that you selected in preferences. This makes it useless for most applications. SInce installing Snow Leopard, the application has not function and, the last time I tried to launch it, it sat bouncing in the Dock. The developers answer to my request for help was that the application is fully compatible with Snow Leopard. Customer support doesn't seem to come high on their list of priorities! I guess I have to go back to Typinator or try TextExpander. (Version 1.1.1)		0
		[ Reply ]

Web Site Maestro	Jun 24 2009	RODDY MCKAY This latest version of Web Site Maestro arrived just in time for me to test it out while transferring some of my websites to a new hosting account. The interface has been simplified and the new features for sorting files and handling non optimized ones are a bonus. Newcomers to this application will find it a lot easier to familiarize themselves with it. They can use the "help" tags to begin with and then disengage them in preferences once they get to know it. The biggest plus for me was the increase in upload speed which made transferring all my sites go a lot quicker. (Version 7.5)		+1
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Apple iWeb	Mar 27 2009	RODDY MCKAY From the response of users in the iWeb forum, it seems that the long awaited bug fix doesn't really fix anything very much at all. iWeb still doesn't include the features that a lot of users have requested and the main one they added, the dysfunctional FTP, is a disaster for many. iWeb is basically a good application - it just needs to be made to work out of the box and be developed in the same way as its main competition. I find it astounding that reviewers for certain well known publications are reporting positively. It makes you wonder if they have actually used the application. Until the iWeb FTP actually works, optimization and SEO functionality are added and MobileMe is given a radical overhaul, the only option is to publish to a local folder if you want your site to be findable and viewable on a PC running IE. My main problem with this latest version of the application is its tendency to screw up text and text hyperlinks in a random fashion. The only way to fix this is to delete the offending item, save, quit, reboot, add it back and republish! Apple needs to apply some knowledgeable programmers to this application and to thoroughly test it prior to release before I would give it the rating that the "professional" reviewers have. (Version 3.0.1)		+2
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Typinator	Mar 8 2009	RODDY MCKAY These greedy people made me pay full price for an update and now they want me to pay again to install it on a second Mac! No application of this calibre is worth $75. I'm using the freeware RapidoWrite instead. (Version 3.4.1)		-2
		[ 2 Replies - Reply ]

Replies:

Typinator

Mar 17 2009

Q00P Not $75! �19,99, which is more like $26. Big difference. Huge!

Please review: https://store.ergonis.com/store/typinator/orderfull.html
(Version 3.4.1)

Typinator

Mar 27 2009

GAOSHAN RapidoWrite is discontinued and has been replaced by Presto (comes out Apr. 4) which is a paid app. Costs about the same as the rest of these type assist apps so... I'm sticking with Typinator.
(Version 3.4.1)

Web Site Maestro	Jan 30 2009	RODDY MCKAY This update is great news for iWeb users and will offset the disappointment of the pathetic performance of Apple's built in FTP in iWeb '09. The drag and drop feature and the advanced preferences are an added bonus to an already amazing application. (Version 7.1.1)		+1
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WavePad	Nov 24 2008	RODDY MCKAY WavePad is a potentially useful application and has some good features. However, the developers have seen fit to treat the Mac version as a poor relation to the Windows one. The interface face needs upgrading. Unlike the Windows version, it does not convert to other file formats after editing. This makes it totally useless for my purposes. I have contacted the developers, twice, to point out these short comings and to mention the fact that I would pay for WavePad if they would make the necessary improvements. Perhaps they don't need the money or are so busy that they don't have time to reply! (Version 3.14)		+1
		[ Reply ]

WebCrusher	Nov 14 2008	RODDY MCKAY You need to look at the comparison chart to see what improvements have to be made to catch up with the opposition.... http://www.tonbrand.nl/wsmmactest.htm (Version 1.2)		0
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WebCrusher	Nov 12 2008	RODDY MCKAY WebCrusher is a very simple application to use with very little effort. However, its performance, speed and and price don't give it much chance to compete with its main competitors, Web Site Maestro and HTML Optimizer Pro. The developers need to do a lot of work and lower the price to make it viable. (Version 1.2)		+1
		[ 4 Replies - Reply ]

Replies:

WebCrusher

Nov 13 2008

PLEVINE Hi Roddy,

What kind of work do we have to do in order to make WebCrusher meet your standards? Feel free to email us using the form at http://www.ragesw.com/support/ and we would be happy to discuss features for an upcoming release.
(Version 1.2)

WebCrusher

Nov 14 2008

RODDY MCKAY You need to look at the comparison chart to see what improvements have to be made to catch up with the opposition....

http://www.tonbrand.nl/wsmmactest.htm
(Version 1.2)

WebCrusher

Nov 14 2008

PLEVINE Hi Roddy,

Please keep in mind, this is an extremely biased test for the following reasons;

1) The web site is a fictional site created by the developer of a competing product. They have created a test website that is best suited for the strengths of their software. I just did a quick test by enabling the SAME options that HTML Optimizer enables by default in WebCrusher and it knocked the socks off some of its optimizations. For example lotto_chances.html saved 58.43%, almost 3 TIMES what THEIR software did for THEIR OWN test site. And I didn't even enabled all of WebCrusher's optimizations!

When I changed the settings for the red_cyclamens.jpg I was able to save 81.42%.

2) If you look at our optimization options in the Preferences you will see that we have many more optimization techniques then HTML Optimizer. We have some not found even on Optimizers made for Windows. And WebCrusher has ONLY been around for 3 months, whereas HTML Optimizer has been around for 10+ years according their website. Just wait to see what we have coming up!

3) Their PNG optimization, which takes up the balk of their savings of THEIR test site DOES NOT WORK WITH MASKED PNG FILES. This is extremely important here, PNG FILES ARE MOST USEFUL WHEN USING A MASK. JPEGS are almost always smaller than PNG files so if your image does not need a MASK and you are trying to reduce file size, a JPEG is what you need. This pretty much makes their PNG optimizers useless in the real world, except of course for their test sites.

I am not hear to bash a competitor, just to let current and future users know how powerful WebCrusher is and to provide them with a fair comparison. Do not be afraid to play with the Preferences, there are plenty of options.

So I urge you to try both products, using the Preferences BEST SUITED for your website and see which one comes out better. If you have a site that can be optimized better in a competitors product, Windows or Mac, feel free to send it to me at http://www.ragesw.com/support/ and I will make sure we beat it for the next release.

I am looking into the Reports bug that they claim to have found on their site. However I am getting the right numbers here. So I am not sure if this is a problem with specific set ups, but I assure we will get this fixed as soon as possible. We do not intend to mislead people, especially with something that can so easily be recognized by comparing the Report to the main window.
(Version 1.2)

WebCrusher

Nov 14 2008

PLEVINE I just wanted to correct something in my previous post, the optimization done to lotto_chances.html was not as significant as I previously posted. It was comparable to what HTML Optimizer compresses.

I was using some settings of a yet to be released version. I just wanted to point this out to avoid confusion.

However my point about the website being biased still stands.

We are working on a comparison of our own.

Also to address the Reports bug issue we have fixed this for the next release. It adds half the optimized size to the Final report ON THE FIRST OPTIMIZATION OF A WEBSITE only. We will release a bug fixed version very soon. I apologize for the confusion.
(Version 1.2)

Web Site Maestro	Nov 10 2008	RODDY MCKAY Over the years that I have used Web Site Maestro it has been constantly improved, refined and enhanced with new features. If you want to radically speed up your website, WSM will optimize and upload your files with a few mouse clicks. Tech support is unbelievably fast and helpful. In terms of price, performance and features, this application leaves the competition in the dust. The author's website has an interesting comparison chart so you don't have to take my word for it! (Version 6.7.3)		+3
		[ Reply ]

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