A Little Change

As mentioned in my previous post, I switched up to Windows 7. While it is a 64 bit OS, most of what I wanted functioned somewhat smoothly. It was until recently that I had felt a need to change things.

I had always had the impression that running a 32 bit program in a 64 bit environment is less resource efficient. Although simply asking around had confirmed this, I have yet bothered to Google it myself.

The first most obvious thing that came into mind when thinking about program efficiency is of course video playback. Specifically, High-Definition video playback.

Previously Preferred: KMPlayer

Now Using: Media Player Classic (64 bit)

After some light research, and making some simple mistakes, I decided to install K-Lite Codec Pack 64 bit version. Then through trial and error I was finally able to make my machine play 1080p videos without a loss of quality smoothly. Though there is still some tearing, the end results were very satisfying.

The second issue that bugged me the most is my file manager. Using a 32 bit file manager in a 64 bit environment had a very obvious difference when right clicking.

Previous Preferred: NexusFile

Using Now: Q-Dir (64 bit)

While it lacks the cosmetic qualities that NexusFile holds, it has its various good qualities. Although I would prefer NexusFile much more, Q-Dir is a very good replacement until a 64 bit version of NexusFile comes out. Boasting up to 4 panels for file exploring and coupled with tabbed view, it truly is meant for a power user.

Third, internet browsing. Currently still using Firefox and Chrome. Chrome's dev channel is finally not crashing so hard on me now but with orbit integration missing from it, I might just stay in Firefox a little while longer.

Both these internet browsers lack an official 64 bit version. Unofficial releases were said to be much better and efficient but the lack of my beloved addons would be severely saddening.

The most recent change to these two is the addition of a little plugin called Xmarks for both browsers. With this enabled, I am now able to sync bookmarks effortlessly between both browsers or any other browser that I may need to use in the future which is not from my machine. Also a great way to backup if considering reformatting or if a virus destroys your machine.

That's pretty much all that has changed in my machine so far. Just replacing some programs with more efficient programs. Hoping to not see a *32 symbol behind any of the processes in my task manager in the future.

Links:
K-Lite Codec Pack 64 bit
Q-Dir
Xmarks
NexusFile

A Life Without Dreams

In more than one occasion have I the experience when one asks me what are my plans for the future. What are my dreams. What do I plan to do. In response, I would most commonly say, "I have absolutely no idea".

It may or may not be a commonly known fact that I indeed have no dreams. I ask myself the same question sometimes and a conclusion seems far from my grasp.

In the simplest sense, I want a simple life. Get a job, work, retire. Not much of a retirement plan but I have not really thought about what job I would want either. In contrast, I also want many things in life. A powerful computer, a nice house, good food, etc.

The thing about not having a goal in life is like throwing darts onto a board then drawing a target around it. Without a goal, there is no clear direction where you would want to go or what plan you should make to shorten your journey there.

Having a goal is like the finishing line of a race. Without it, you do not know when to stop, nor would you have the motivation to run in the first place.

Have a dream in life and go at it with full force.

Of Chrome and Firefox

I have always been a huge fan of Firefox because it was just so customizable. Then along came Chrome with its epic speed and quite frankly, it was enough to made me switch. Until now.

Many of those who know me know that I am pretty much a Google fanboy so it would make sense that I am on the dev channel of Chrome getting the latest and most unstable updates that I can ever get my hands on.

While this makes my Chrome experience a less stable one, the crashing has always been bearable if it ever occurred at all in the first place. The latest update, however, seems to haunt me with crashes even when I try to minimize the window.

While I could simply change back to the stable channel or even beta, the functions that were not transferred are simply too addictive to live without. Deciding not to shove it aside too quickly, I decided to reinstall Firefox and see how far I can mod it to make is as close to Chrome as I humanly can, considering my lack of skills.

So far, I managed to squeeze in a number of addons to help make it at least look similar. The theme gives it the proper colour set and the similar grouping of buttons were easy enough. The tabs on the top were a modded to have a different max and min width value as to preserve a Chrome feel though I changed the max according to personal taste.

The status bar remains simply because auto-hiding it seems buggy and there is no hovering alternative. Still looking for a way to completely remove it.

Bookmarks were manually imported and not synced with Chrome bookmarks. Missing features also include the lack of an incognito mode. Seeing to as this is only temporary until the next dev update, it doesn't seem to matter much.

As of now it is something that I would consider to be my flavour of Chrome with some minor functions missing. I clearly like the download helper and orbit integration is very much welcomed.

All things considered, I might just switch back if Chrome continues to suffer in performance.