Survey: Development Software of your Dreams

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

I was thinking about this the other day - programs that I wish existed, things I wish I could add or take away from my favourite programs and things like that.

Remember, this is a fantasy world so there is no limit to what you can do.

1. If you could crate a new piece of software, what would it do? (can be a major variation on existing software or something totally new)

2. If you could make some alterations to an existing piece of software, what changes would you make?

3. If you could kill any one piece of software, what would it be?

mairving's picture

They have: 2,256 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

Megan, I hate it that no one has answered your question but you asked some tough ones.

Quote: 1. If you could crate a new piece of software, what would it do? (can be a major variation on existing software or something totally new)

To me the best software that you could possible have would be one that you wouldn't even notice. In other words it would do what you requested, not crash, not have an annoying paperclip show up.

Quote: 2. If you could make some alterations to an existing piece of software, what changes would you make?

I would reprice Photoshop at about $99 for a full version, $49 for an upgrade. It is ridiculous how much a new full version costs.

Quote: 3. If you could kill any one piece of software, what would it be?

Windows for sure or just release the code for it. Either that or I would cut it's legacy ties to it's old product and do a complete rewrite of the software.

Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states

Brian Farkas's picture

They have: 1,015 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

Yeah, those are some pretty tough questions Smiling.

Marving's definitely right about photoshop, though. I can't believe how much it costs... It's a great product, no doubt about that, but they don't need to charge an arm and a leg to get it.

TheGizmoid's picture

They have: 168 posts

Joined: Apr 2001

Quote: Originally posted by Brian Farkas
Marving's definitely right about photoshop, though. I can't believe how much it costs... It's a great product, no doubt about that, but they don't need to charge an arm and a leg to get it.

I got Photoshop 3 (full version) with my scanner, back when a 30-bit scanner cost me $750. I upgraded to 4, didn't really like it too much, so I never felt the urge to upgrade further at ~$200 a pop. I still primarily use 3 because it's what I'm comfortable with. There was a time I thought I'd kill for unlimited undos, but you get used to working around things. Duplicate a layer before you mess with it, save versions at various stages, etc.

I was planning on buying a new dual G4 tower and was going to bite the bullet and get 6 because it's supposed to take advantage of the dual processors. Then I became unemployed, so that idea's on hold for the time being. Sad

mairving's picture

They have: 2,256 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

A couple of years ago I found a Microtek scanner selling for about $300 that came with a full version of Photoshop 4.0. It also had a free upgrade to 5.0. Currently 6.0 is the only version, I have had to buy. It was worth it.

Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

Here's my answers:

1. New piece of software - a WYSIWYG editor that is suitable for newbies. Something that writes code properly and doesn't let them do anything they shouldn't be doing (like frames, java applets etc.). This program would be free or cheap, and would be something designers could reccomend to clients wanting to update their own pages. It would also be good for small fixes and updates. (basically Dreamweaver Lite)

2. Fixes to existing software - I wish that Photoshop would preview images of all supported file types in the "open" dialog box - PSP does this. I wish Dreamweaver's built-in scripts were more usable.... I'll think of more later.

3. I would kill FrontPage and replace it with the software I described in no. 1

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