Windows 10: Microsoft leaves Windows Movie Maker to die

With the release of Windows 10, some people may have noticed that Windows Movie Maker may not be there. If you install Windows 10 from a clean installation, it's not going to be there, but if you have Windows Movie Maker installed before you upgrade from a previous version of Windows to Windows 10, it should be there.

According to Microsoft's website, Windows Movie Maker is no longer supported by Windows 10. So the question becomes is this a good idea or is it a bad idea? The answer is simple if your Microsoft and a bit disappointing if you're the person who's been using Windows Movie Maker for years; or expecting to have some sort of video editing software built into the operating system.

Looking forward to Windows Live Writer being open sourced

The idea of Windows live writer going open sourced is very exciting for me; I think it's a great idea. Microsoft hasn't shown any love for Windows live writer in a really long time. I think the last update to Windows live writer was sometime in 2009. I don't necessarily include a GUI update, without any bug fixes, a serious update to the application.

Reports are coming in that Windows live writer is going to be going open source, and that's great, because I haven't used Windows live writer to compose any blog posts in a while.

Like most of you, I run into issues with theme compatibility, problems with posting, being able to access accounts, lack of appropriate plug-ins, and having to convert my images to JPEG format when composing my blog posts. Those are just some of the things that I think Microsoft should have fixed early on, but didn't.

Windows Movie Maker 2011/2012 - Webcam issues?

Windows Live Movie Maker is a free offering from Microsoft that offers novice and average users the ability to edit video and from there, be able to share/publish it to Facebook, YouTube, eMail, DVD and even custom resolutions. It's a basic editor with very simplified interface, and it's part of the Windows Live Essentials Suite of applications.

This offering from Microsoft hasn't been updated in some time. It still has all the same problems and issues it had in 2011. The only thing Microsoft added was the ability to export to MP4 and changed up the ribbon interface; which I don't think is a massive improvement, but oh, well.

One problem that has remained the same is the problem with Windows Movie Maker not working with certain webcams [web camera (s)]; even Microsoft's own LifeCam. This can be just about any webcam, but the point is that Windows Movie Maker sometimes just doesn't work.

It's 2014; are you still using Windows Live Writer?

Are you one of the dedicated few that are still using Windows Live Writer? Have you noticed that Microsoft has removed the Windows Live Writer plug-ins page?

Back in August 2014, there was a post on Twitter that indicated that there were some advanced discussions about living Windows Live Writer over to open source. But I wonder if that discussion is too late. Microsoft has essentially killed Windows Live Writer by not offering any updates on the software in years.

The Windows Live Writer support forum is all but a ghost town. There are very few new posts coming into the support forum.

Review: WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro 4.2

I was recently given the opportunity to review WonderFox DVD Ripper, for copying DVDs. I believe everyone has reached a point where they recognize the importance of being able to back up their DVD collection, but more importantly being able to enjoy their media collection anywhere they wanted. Being able to enjoy your media collection anywhere, means that you have to be able to rip your DVDs into a standard format that a software package can use to transmit over the Internet or put in a format that can be used on a portable device, like MP4.
When you purchase DVDs or Blu-ray DVDs, sometimes these purchases come with ultraviolet versions of those movies, but because the complications and the licensing and the accessibility,  plus the issue of redundant streaming of the same movie; it's a hassle. It's easier just to encode your own movies and take them anywhere and do what you want to with them. This is where WonderFox DVD Ripper comes into play.
I believe most people understand that DVDs by default cannot be just copied, they have encryption on them that keep them from being copied and one of the benefits of this software is that it allows you to bypass those encryption schemes.