kine
August 28th, 2008, 12:30 AM
So i just got the new version and have been playing around with it a little bit. I'm not in a position to do a comprehensive test (which usually involves crashing my machine) right now, but here are some issues i've noticed so far. Bugs first:
1. The 'Show hidden files and directories' option still has no effect. Regardless of whether this is enabled or disabled, boxee always shows hidden files.
2. Similarly, the 'Hide Media Extensions' option has no effect (unless it means something other than what i think it does). Every file that boxee displays has an extension after it regardless of whether this is enabled.
3. Minor capitalisation and spelling errors, at least in the UK-English version. For example, as indicated above, under 'View Options' in the Appearance settings the capitalisation is inconsistent (title case in 'Hide Media Extensions' versus sentence case in 'Show hidden files and directories'). Same thing in the SMB Client, Music, and Pictures settings. There are also inconsistent spelling standards in use (for example, 'Visualisation' with an s, but 'Recognize' with a z).
4. Unable to Backspace out of the 'General' settings screen (you must use Escape).
5. Whenever i try to use the 'Recognize' feature, i get the attached error message ('The folder is not under any media share'). I assume this is related to the fact that this media source is marked Private, but i can't test right now, as i said, because doing so will probably crash my computer. I think i should be able to correct the meta-data regardless of whether the source is currently marked Private.
6. Unicode still doesn't work in file paths, as you can see in the same screen-shot.
7. boxee still can't render thumb-nails for OGM files.
8. Selecting a video in boxee forces you into full-screen even when you're in windowed mode. You must go back into windowed mode manually every single time you play a video.
9. boxee has difficulty updating folder icons. If i add a folder.jpg to a directory, boxee will dutifully display it as the folder icon... however, if i change or remove that folder.jpg file, boxee doesn't update. Not even a restart will fix this. It has no trouble responding to file-name changes and the like, so i'm not sure what the issue here is. Caching problem maybe? boxee should 'pay more attention' to folder.jpg updates, or at least offer an option for manually updating them (similar to the 'Recognize' feature i guess).
Aaand, some usability/features issues:
10. Video volume is still incredibly low compared to VLC.
11. boxee still takes over the entire Apple Remote regardless of what application you're in. For example, if i have 'Always running' enabled in boxee, i can no longer use the Apple Remote in ANY OTHER program. I can't increase the volume in VLC, i can't skip tracks in iTunes, nothing. The only thing i can do in any program is press Menu to invoke boxee.
12. This new version of boxee re-organises the sources/library view in, i think, a really haphazard and redundant way.
- a. I don't want the 'Add Source' button taking up the first space when i go to watch a video. I can't imagine anyone using this feature so incredibly often that it needs such a prominent position; it was perfectly fine in the Media Sources settings.
- b. The 'My Sources' screen shouldn't show sources... that aren't my sources. For example, boxee shows my Windows partition under My Sources. Why? I haven't added my Windows partition to my list of Media Sources. It also shows 'Network', which again i have not added to my list of Media Sources.
- c. Categories of sources (like 'Internet Music' and 'Internet Videos') should be hidden if they are empty. I shouldn't have to navigate around Internet Videos every time i go to watch a movie if i've completely cleared out all of my Internet sources -- there's nothing there anymore!
I'll add more as i play around with it!
1. The 'Show hidden files and directories' option still has no effect. Regardless of whether this is enabled or disabled, boxee always shows hidden files.
2. Similarly, the 'Hide Media Extensions' option has no effect (unless it means something other than what i think it does). Every file that boxee displays has an extension after it regardless of whether this is enabled.
3. Minor capitalisation and spelling errors, at least in the UK-English version. For example, as indicated above, under 'View Options' in the Appearance settings the capitalisation is inconsistent (title case in 'Hide Media Extensions' versus sentence case in 'Show hidden files and directories'). Same thing in the SMB Client, Music, and Pictures settings. There are also inconsistent spelling standards in use (for example, 'Visualisation' with an s, but 'Recognize' with a z).
4. Unable to Backspace out of the 'General' settings screen (you must use Escape).
5. Whenever i try to use the 'Recognize' feature, i get the attached error message ('The folder is not under any media share'). I assume this is related to the fact that this media source is marked Private, but i can't test right now, as i said, because doing so will probably crash my computer. I think i should be able to correct the meta-data regardless of whether the source is currently marked Private.
6. Unicode still doesn't work in file paths, as you can see in the same screen-shot.
7. boxee still can't render thumb-nails for OGM files.
8. Selecting a video in boxee forces you into full-screen even when you're in windowed mode. You must go back into windowed mode manually every single time you play a video.
9. boxee has difficulty updating folder icons. If i add a folder.jpg to a directory, boxee will dutifully display it as the folder icon... however, if i change or remove that folder.jpg file, boxee doesn't update. Not even a restart will fix this. It has no trouble responding to file-name changes and the like, so i'm not sure what the issue here is. Caching problem maybe? boxee should 'pay more attention' to folder.jpg updates, or at least offer an option for manually updating them (similar to the 'Recognize' feature i guess).
Aaand, some usability/features issues:
10. Video volume is still incredibly low compared to VLC.
11. boxee still takes over the entire Apple Remote regardless of what application you're in. For example, if i have 'Always running' enabled in boxee, i can no longer use the Apple Remote in ANY OTHER program. I can't increase the volume in VLC, i can't skip tracks in iTunes, nothing. The only thing i can do in any program is press Menu to invoke boxee.
12. This new version of boxee re-organises the sources/library view in, i think, a really haphazard and redundant way.
- a. I don't want the 'Add Source' button taking up the first space when i go to watch a video. I can't imagine anyone using this feature so incredibly often that it needs such a prominent position; it was perfectly fine in the Media Sources settings.
- b. The 'My Sources' screen shouldn't show sources... that aren't my sources. For example, boxee shows my Windows partition under My Sources. Why? I haven't added my Windows partition to my list of Media Sources. It also shows 'Network', which again i have not added to my list of Media Sources.
- c. Categories of sources (like 'Internet Music' and 'Internet Videos') should be hidden if they are empty. I shouldn't have to navigate around Internet Videos every time i go to watch a movie if i've completely cleared out all of my Internet sources -- there's nothing there anymore!
I'll add more as i play around with it!