Update February 2008

This blog was originally called My Free review and if you look back through the posts for February 2008 you will see the reasons for changing the blog name - Pro Reviewer - It’s Hard to Find a Good Domain Name! . So references to My Free Review in the following text relate to this original name choice.

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Well I have decided that I need to write my own blog, so what made me decide this?

Like many things in life it’s complicated (well many things in life are also simple, so lets not get carried away!). Anyway, I thought it may be of some interest to you to see what motivates me to write this blog and how my past career and interests have influenced my outlook on software as well as some of my prejudices.

I am a child of the computer generation, my interest was founded in computer programming on my Civil Engineering degree course in London in the early 70’s, an exciting time following hard on the heels of the “swinging sixties”. I started by writing “engineering” programs in Basic on a computer with a Teletype machine as the only I/O and with punched tape as the storage medium. There was also a main frame computer running Fortran III with punch cards for input and paper printout as output. After I completed my degree I went on to write programs for business use in Fortran IV for complex infrastructure design (Roads, earthworks, drainage, flooding and early graphical display software similar to current AutoCAD and GIS software) in my early to mid twenties. At about the time of my mid to late twenties I became fascinated by the Sinclair ZX80 & 81 followed by the Sinclair Spectrum for personal use and ever since my interest in computing and software has never waned.

My career has included working in 2 large and one small construction companies both in the construction and consultancy side of the business. That is until about ten years ago when I moved into commercial research for a world leading, UK based, research organisation where I have been mainly involved in research for transport infrastructure assets (roads, rail, airports, ports, etc.) In this time I have been responsible for some major software development projects for asset management systems as well as modelling systems for whole life costing and life cycle analysis used by UK and other governments as well as private companies throughout the world. In this time I have been a part of teams that have developed the design of the programs, written and tested the code, written the user manuals and help systems and provided training to end users. I say all this so you may understand that I take an engineering and research approach to software as well as having an understanding of how programs are developed, tested and documentation is written.

Over the years I have suffered the trials and tribulations of installing and running MS Windows 3.0, 3,1 Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95, 98, Win 2000 and XP in business environments as well as for personal use. I have yet to make the jump to Vista as I remain unconvinced that this isn’t another Windows Millennium edition!! My current home set-up includes a network with 5 desktop PCs, 3 laptops, a server and several NAS devices. I am running Windows XP and Windows Media Center as my main operating systems. I also have recently added a Windows Home Server into the network. I have dabbled with Linux but not been able to take the plunge despite my antipathy for MS mainly due to the need for MS in my workday environment and the overwhelming availability of Windows software.

Anyway, I digress from my main point which is why I have decided to write this blog. I am fascinated (obsessed?) by technology. Gadgets, computers, software, you name it and I want to know how and why it works. I also want to know how it can make my life easier and more interesting. In my saner moments I realise much of this is a search for some “Holy Grail”. Something that I imagine will be the answer to everything but doesn’t really exist - or does it – I live in eternal hope?

I spend endless hours on my computers, loading new software just to see what it does. Frequently I am disappointed, but in amongst all the dross there are occasionally some gems that end up in my “must have installed” collection. I spend more endless hours on the Internet constantly in the search of new knowledge and in recent years this has become a feast which cannot be fully consumed.

My interest in the last year or so has turned particularly to freeware and portable programs for the Windows environment. I am fed up with the time it takes to reinstall a MS Windows OS and then all the “integrated” software products that I use. This has lead me to constantly looking for Free and Portable alternatives that can be saved and restored separately from the Windows OS.

Over the past several months I have subscribed to a number of RSS feeds from blogs in the area of freeware and portable software. I find these an invaluable source of information on what is new, updated and available. However, I frequently find that the information given does not give me the depth of knowledge I would ideally like to make an informed decision as to whether the product is really of value to me.

So I started thinking I would write a blog on freeware with the emphasis on portable. Then I though about it a bit more and realised that there are lots of commercial and shareware programs I try out that are very good. Some I buy but most don’t stand up to a real value test against the freeware competition. This doesn’t mean that they are not worthwhile, just that my value standards are set in a way that refuses to pay very much for any software that isn’t outstanding in its class. Why is this? Well probably it is partly due to the number of times I have paid for software only to be disappointed in it’s functionality or stability when put to daily use but probably it’s mostly due to me being parsimonious (that is tight or mean with money in everyday terms). So, on reflection I thought this blog would focus on freeware, preferably portable but also reflect on good shareware and commercial software where this was appropriate. I have also recently developed a real interest in Windows Home Server resulting in me buying a new computer with it installed, I am therefore keen to impart my experiences with this new product (well subsystem of Windows Server) as it develops.

I also have a love for the latest technology gadgets, particularly where they have a digital or computing connection. I am a total sucker for digital cameras, media players, mobile phones and computer peripherals of all kinds. I thought that I would like to also share my experience of these type of things in my blog and hope as I time goes on you will find some interest or insight from my occasional and random postings in this other area of interest to me. Therefore, while I started off looking to call this blog My Freeware Review, I then then decided to broaden it to account for other software, Firefox add-ons, Web2 applications and some other gadgets that I am interested in. So finally I settled on the www.MyFreeReview.com domain as being appropriate for my ambitions.

Anyway enough of this for now, I will write more about my background later so that you may better understand what influences me and what my prejudices may be in the reviews I present. I hope you will find my reviews of interest and help in making decisions on the software you download and try in the future. Please let me know your thoughts on the reviews and my opinions, I will be pleased to review my ideas and discuss them in an open and honest way where you disagree with me.

Technorati Tags: Freeware, Portable Freeware, Utilities, Windows, Windows XP, Open Source, Gadgets, Gizmos, Electronics, Reviews, Free Reviews

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 7:08 am and is filed under All Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.