OBSoft.net^* info sheet

List of Commercial Computer Software
that has not delivered as advertised and/or
had major bugs or incompatibilities
November 2003

Symantec WinFaxPro v10.0 (PC)
Unable to send faxes, error message “cannot open address book”
no reference to address book in readme, sys or prog help no 800# support for installation

SmithMicroSoftware (PC)
Does not function, error message “cannot download database”
NetOptimizer

Kensington Mouse-in-a-box
Does not recognize mouse through the USB port (PC)
Optical Pro (MAC, PC) Scroll wheel does not function, although other buttons function (PC serial, MAC USB)

Visioneer 8600 USB (PC)
Does not find scanner when install through a USB HUB
Required 3 tech support calls, several emails to resolve

Symantec Act 4.0 (PC)
PC Program crashes on importing Now Contact text delimited file
with notes>32K
Can’t synch with Palm Pilot from the Mac

DataViz Conversion Plus (PC)
Floppy disk Mac-formatted from PC drive crashes Mac in Macdrive
Can’t format Mac CD-R ROMs on Mac or PC (not advertised)
Viewing Dual Mac/PC version CD’s requires rebooting PC

DataViz MacLink Plus (MAC)
Can’t open AOL email file format
v9.0 Converting W97 to 5/6 version loses some tab formatting

Dragon Naturally Speaking
Resets the sound data conversion rate control panel;
v3.0- (PC) Must leave panel open to get adequate voice recognition
Must spend $200 more to upgrade v3.5 to take advantage of
Pentiii fast training code (SEEM)
Cannot make copies of user voice file for alternate input media-
must retrain completely from scratch

Thursby DAVE v2.1- (MAC PC)
Can’t access Mac files with non-win characters over ether/network
(Timbuktu does not have this problem)
Read/write of Inspiration files from PC to Mac over
ethernet/network required an Inspiration program fix, but works
poorly

Netopia Timbuktu- (MAC PC)
Will not work over serial connection from Mac to PC
PC to PC connection over internet required bug fix to build650

Inspiration 5.0- (PC)
Cut/paste from Appleworks 5.0 drawing crashes system (W98)

America Online v4.0-(Mac PC)
Can’t read v4.0 PC email files on v3.0 Mac, with any program
Can only save email files as unformatted text on PC
Later versions unable to read earlier email versions
No way to bulk transfer emails to individual files that can be
accessed. Have to open and save them individually

Apple MacOS7.6-
Wont run on PowerMac 5200CD (hardware conflict)
Apple Guide conflicts with Express modem v1.5.5 on Sys 7,8;
crashes system for DUO280.

Apple MacOS-
Cannot change TCP/IP connection without restarting computer (as
from LAN to Dialup)

AppleWorks 5.0- (Mac)
Although shipped with MacOS9.0.2, it conflicts with the OS and causes intermittant crashes.

Microsoft Word98- (Mac)
RTF format intermittantly looses tab and type formats requiring
re-editing when moving from one version or platform to another.

Computer Software Users also required to be Beta Testers!
Hours taken from every User who bears the cost as overhead
No software company accountability

...And there are dozens more examples since this is an old list...

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