Buds Biased Utils Report, 5

Bud's Biased Utils Report #5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Happy New Year! Well the first releases for 1999 just made this report, not a whole lot of meaning since most of the scene is hung over, but perhaps in the coming weeks we'll discover if anyone's made any New Year's Resolutions release wise. In the meantime I'd like to thank all of those who have offered help, constructive criticism, and just idle thoughts in regards to the report. I won't go into listing everyone, but if you fall into this category, thanks! *NOTE* Last weeks report (#4) was released independantly of NWR due to delays with the publication of NWR Issue 29. Since this is a weekly report the information within becomes dated fairly quickly - but NWR remains my home. =) Disclaimer: It's BIASED moron. My opinion. So don't send me a bunch of mail & messages bitching about this or that. If you don't like it... SCREW YOU =] Rankings: Groups get a score out of 10. Points are given for amount of releases, but QUALITY titles will give a group a much higher score. Nukes for duping, broken releases and just plain CRAP will lower a groups score. However on the occasion that a title is nuked which I don't feel should have been, MY OWN JUDGEMENT TAKES PRECEDENCE. Cuz I'm writing this. Groups can also get points for any other reason I see fit. Week: Week is based from 12/27/98 to 01/02/99. I'm in the EST time zone so dates/times run according to it. Groups: (In no particular order) ▄ ▀▀██▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▀█▄ ▀█▌▀█▄ ▐ ▄█▀ ▄▄██▌ A Group ▐█▌ ▐▌ ▐█ █▌▐█▌ ▄█▀ █ That Gives ▄██▌▄▀ ▄██▌▀██▌ ██ ▐▌ Slightly ▀███ ▀███ ▀█ ▐███▄▄ █ Less Than ▐█▌ ▐█▌ ▐▌ ▀██▀ ▀▄ A Fuck. ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ -XeN PIRATES WITH ATTITUDE: Releases: N/A With the amount of idleness these guys have shown of late, I sure hope they don't give a fuck. But even with the lack of presence seen over the past year, PWA is still arguably the greatest utils release group ever - which means you can never afford to count them out. Still its been awfully quiet from this camp recently, even for PWA... Total: N/A ▄───── ▄▄▄ ────────── ▄▄█▓▄ ─── ▄ ─ ▄▓▄ ░ ▀ ▄█████▓ ▄▄███▄ ▄▀▀████▌ ▄█████▄ ▀ ▓███▀ ▀▄██████▄▀█▌ ▐████▐▓▀ ▀███▓ ▓███▌ ▐▓█▀ ▀██▌▐▓ ▀ ▀▓▀▓▌ ▐███▌ ▐█████▄▄▀ ▀█▄ ▄▓█▓ █▓▄ █▌▀▄▄████▓ ▀██▓▀▀ ▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀ ■▄ ▐▓ ▀▀▓█▀ ■▄──────+ The Corporation +─ ▀▄ ─gas!─■ THE CORPORATION: Releases: Seagate.Cynergy.Wininstall.v6.0-CORP [06 x 2.88MB] OfficeTalk.98.v2.0-CORP [05 x 2.88MB] Cinax.Media.Palette.Plus.v1.5-CORP [05 x 1.44MB] Lap.Link.Tech.Version.2.0-CORP [08 x 1.44MB] Norton.Antivirus.for.Internet.E-Mail.Gateways.v1.02-CORP [05 x 1.44MB] Norton.Antivirus.Network.Manager.Configuration.Tool.W95NT-CORP [02 x 1.44MB] Norton.Antivirus.Network.Administrator.Tools.W95NT-CORP [05 x 1.44MB] Amicus.Attorney-CORP [10 x 1.44MB] Model.Office.8005.Quotes.Speeches.and.Toasts-CORP [03 x 1.44MB] Model.Office.8005.Quotes.Speeches.and.Toasts.DIZFIX-CORP [01 x 1.44MB] The Corporation has really come on strong the past two weeks, and it looks as if they really want to give Siege a run for the money. This is certainly a strong group, and it shows. They've managed to overcome the loss of members such as Semaj, as well as some quality difficulties. This week saw them start off well and then die out after the first two days, picking up again Friday night and continuing on through Saturday. Expect more activity next week as hangovers fade - which could mean a lot of releases. Total: 8/10 . )\_______)\__)\_______)\_______ . . __/ __ _/ _/ ____/ ___/ . . \__ / _\ \_____ \ ___/__ : . :/ \ \ / \ / \| : |\___/ /___/_____ /___ /| : | \_/_____/\____ /_____/___/_____/ | :...`---\_____\/----/_flr_/---/_p^D_/--' RISE: Releases: PARAMETRIC.TECH.CORP.PRO.MECHANICA.RELEASE.20.CRACKED.NT-RiSE [67 x 1.44MB] PARAMETRIC.TECH.CORP.PRO.MECHANICA.RELEASE.20.CRACKED.95-RiSE [66 x 1.44MB] ANDROMEDIA.PHOTO.TILER.PAGE.MAKER.PLUGIN-RiSE [01 x 1.44MB] MODEL.TECH.INC.MODELSIM.ELITE.EDITION.v5.2C.FINAL.CRACKED-RiSE [10 x 1.44MB] Well I hate to say I told ya so... in any case like I said last week, RISE has the releases, and they finally got some out this time around. Good work on all this week, with nice high-end apps - this is where quality shows. Total: 8/10 ▄██▀███▀▀ ▀ ▄█ ┌- ▓██ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ ────-──-─-─ ▀▀▀ -──-──-──┐ : ▀▀▀██▄▀███▀▀▀▀▀██▄ ▄██▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀██▄ ░│ ▀▀███▓ ███ ███ ▓██ ███ ███ ▓██ ▓██ ███ ░: : ███ ███ ███ ███▀▀▀ ▓██ ███ ███▀▀▀ . │░ ███ ██▓ ██▓ ███ ██▓ ███ ███ ███ ▓███▀▀ : ▓██▄██▀▄███▄▀██▄███ ▀██▄███ ███ ███ : ▄ ▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ roy███ ███ ███ ─┘ ▀▄ ███ ███ ██▓ ▀▄ ███ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀██▓ ▀█ SIEGE: Releases: MOVIE.MAGIC.SCREENWRITER.V3.02M-SiEGE [04 x 1.44MB] SOFTTOOLS.NT.V2.1.FOR.SOFTIMAGE.AND.MAYA-SiEGE [01 x 1.44MB] Rayflect.4.Seasons.v1.0.For.Adobe.Photoshop-SiEGE [01 x 1.44MB] PARTICLE.STORM.2.FOR.LIGHTWAVE.3D-SIEGE [01 x 1.44MB] GRIME.V1.0.FOR.LIGHTWAVE.3D-SiEGE [01 x 1.44MB] TREEDRUID.V1.2.FOR.LIGHTWAVE.3D-SiEGE [01 x 1.44MB] FRACTALIZER.FOR.LIGHTWAVE3D.SERIAL.FIX-SIEGE [01 x 1.44MB] LOCK.AND.KEY.FOR.LIGHTWAVE3D-SIEGE [01 x 1.44MB] ADVANCED.GRADIENT.CONTROLLER.FOR.LIGHTWAVE3D-SIEGE [01 x 1.44MB] FRACTALIZER.FOR.LIGHTWAVE3D-SIEGE [01 x 1.44MB] THOR.V1.2.FOR.LIGHTWAVE.3D-SiEGE [01 x 1.44MB] SHADERMAN.V2.3.FOR.LIGHTWAVE.3D-SiEGE [01 x 1.44MB] REALITOOLS.VOL2.FOR.LIGHTWAVE3D-SiEGE [01 x 1.44MB] REALITOOLS.VOL1.FOR.LIGHTWAVE3D-SiEGE [01 x 1.44MB] AUTODESK.ACTRIX.TECHNICAL-SiEGE [17 x 1.44MB] This week saw Siege pick up where they left off before that dreadfully slow Christmas stretch - with quality releases at a steady pace. A lot of plugins though, and I don't run Lightwave so I can't test them. A good week finished up with Autodesk Actrix. More mainstream standalone apps would have been preferable (at least to me =]). Total: 7/10 ──────────────────────────────────[XX/XX]─ ▄██ ▄▄▄ ░ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ █▓█ █▓█ ▒ ██▀ █▓█ █ █▓█ ██ █▓█ █ ███ ██ █▓ █▒█ █▒█ █░█ ▀▀ ▄█ █▒█ ██ █▒█ █ ▄▄▄ ██▄▄ ▄██▀██▄ ▀ █▒█▀▀▀ ██ █░█ ██ ▄▄█ █▓█ ██ ▄▄ █▒█ █▓█ ▓ █▓█ ░ █▓█ █░█ ██ ░ █▓█ █▒█ ██ █▓ ███ █▒█ ▒ ███ ▬▀█████▀▄██ ▒ ▀█████▀ ▀████ ─── ██▀ ░ ──────────────── ▓ ───── sikos ─ X-FORCE: Releases: FOTOSYNC_COLOR_FACTORY_V3.0_BUILD_55-XFORCE [04 x 1.44MB] ULTIMATE_TOOLBOX_FOR_MFC_2ND_EDITION_DEC_1998-XFORCE [06 x 1.44MB] DISCREET_LOGIC_EDIT_V4.013-XFORCE [40 x 1.44MB] FOTOSTATION_3.5.1_BUILD_42-XFORCE [03 x 1.44MB] Yawn. Its been a long fall for a group that was once considered the top utils group in the scene. This week we saw some builds (blah) and another Ultimate Toolbox edition, as well as Discreet Logic, which was a tad oversize at 117MB, but I doubt anyone will care. Like I said, yawn. Total: 5/10 /\______/| ___/\_ _/ ______ :|; . __/\ ____/\ __| // %%%\____ \ |__:_\__ \/ ~~ :\_ | __/%%%% iii_/ :| \\_ \ ;| \_ |____/ \iiiii :::\__ ; _/ | \\_ : // | \\_ | \\_::: \____/---|____/____/_______/-|____/kaz SHOCK: Releases: JavaPC.v1.1-SHOCK [31 x 1.44MB] Internet.Shopping.and.Travel.with.Java.v3.5-SHOCK [07 x 1.44MB] Netmosphere.Project.Home.Page.v1.1.Win95-SHOCK [22 x 1.44MB] Netmosphere.Project.Home.Page.v1.1.WinNT-SHOCK [21 x 1.44MB] Sax.Basic.Engine.Professional.v5.1-SHOCK [05 x 1.44MB] Shock hasn't been releasing the mass of titles it did during its early days in 1996 and early 1997 - but in the past two months there has been a noticable increase in quality, as seen through titles like Sun Microsystem's JavaPC and others. Total: 7/10 _ ___________ _ ________ ___________ __ _ ____________ \_________ \_________ \____ _ _/_ / _ __/ / ____/ / _ __/ / ______//_ / /_ /_____/ _//_ _ \_ / /_ / \_______/ _ _//__/ _ _// _ _//mG(CiA) =[ENT]===/______/==/_______/_____/=====[ENT]= ENTITY: Releases: N/A I said last week that January would be proving time for Entity. I don't really consider the past seven days to be part of that, but the next four weeks will really show whether or not the group can remain to be a real challenger. Total: N/A . ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ .▀████▀▀▀██▄ ████▀▀██▌▐██▀▀▀▀ --- .------. : ████ ███ ▐███ ███ . | ████ ▐███ ███▀ ███ : | ████ ███ ▐███ ▄███ ███▄ . : | ████▀▀▀▀▀ ██▓█ ▀███▄▄██▓▀ . .▄▓███▄ ▀███▌ ▀▀ PRESENTS : | : : [xx/xx]. '---.-------PENTIUM FORCE TEAM-- ---- - -' PENTIUM FORCE TEAM: Releases: Frontman.Designer.4.4.14-PFT [17 x 1.44MB] HomeSite.4.0d.aka.4.01-PFT [06 x 1.44MB] ColdFusion.Studion.4.0.0.1402-PFT [09 x 1.44MB] Microsoft.Office.2000.Developer.Beta1-PFT [41 x 1.44MB] Micropath.2001.version.2.15.0-PFT [08 x 1.44MB] Platinum.SQL.Station.v4.11-PFT [23 x 1.44MB] SmartMart.Copy.Manager.v3.3.124-PFT [10 x 1.44MB] PLATINUM.ModelMart.Manager.3.02-PFT [15 x 1.44MB] Form_Tool_Express.v1.0-PFT [09 x 3MB] PFT started off slow this week, then exploded on the first day of 1999, releasing 7 apps. Great way to start the new year guys! As far as the releases go, nothing spectacular - we saw some Allaire products (minor versions), an MS beta, and Frontman designer, of which we saw 23 versions released in 1998. Still, it's a new year, new releases, so nicely done. Total: 7/10 ________ ________ | |_________________________|__ | | | _ \ ___/ | | | / \ \ | |________|_______/ [xx/xx]/\________________| ----------------/________/>bds!------------ LEGENDS NEVER DIE: Releases: PROVENTURE.MAIL.LIST.v1.0-LND [10 x 1.44MB] HP_ADVANCED_DESIGN_SYSTEM_V1.1_BETA-LND [32 x 2.88MB] HP_ADVANCED_DESIGN_SYSTEM_V1.1_BETA_MODULE_ADDON-LND [11 x 2.88MB] HP_ADVANCED_DESIGN_SYSTEM_V1.1_BETA_LIBRARY_ADDON-LND [19 x 2.88MB] NETDYNAMICS_SERVER_STUDIO_V4.13-LND [25 x 2.88MB] PROVENTURE_DATABASE_v1.0-LND [25 x 1.44MB] LND picked up some new talent this week, and saw a couple store releases as a result (ProVenture titles from MySoftware Co). Not spectacular titles but releases nonetheless. They also added the latest NetDynamics version on top of that. Mixed in was a beta with (imo) too many addons for a beta app, but overall LND had a nice week. Total: 7/10 .__________. [xx/xx/98] \_ ___ ) Da ToP oF Da LiNe! .___. ===/ _/ /=======================/ /===== .:/ _____/__./(___.____/\.______./ /_____. :/ /__/ . ) . )____ ) _ ) / __ ) /__/ / / / / // __ / /__/ / /___/: .:/ /__/__/__/__/(______\____ /__/_____ /MO =/__/========================\/========\/=== = THE PINNACLES OF RELEASING (C) PNC 95-98 = PINNACLE: Releases: DBSearch.v2.3-PNC [01 x 1.44MB] Lotus.Easy.Sync.v2.1-PNC [02 x 1.44MB] Dr.Solomons.Anti.Virus.Tool.Kit.Management.Edition.v3.5.1.for.NT[07 x 1.44MB] Lotus.X.400.MTA.v1.2-PNC [06 x 1.44MB] The.Cam350.Family.v4.5.139-PNC [03 x 1.44MB] For a second week in a row PNC is working to show it isn't dead. Amazing, two straight weeks of releases. Now Easy Sync was nuked as it's an app for Palm Pilot (this is shady ground here as it runs on a PC but is a tool for the pilot), so that takes some of the shine off. But they still did a few titles. Hmmm... not bad. Not great, but not bad. Total: 6/10 ─ ▄▄ ── ▄▄▄ ─────────░──────────── ─── ── ─ ░▀ ▀█▄ ▀▀ ▀▌ ▀ ■ ▐▄ ■ ▄ ▀ ■ ▀ ▀ ▄▄▄ ▀ █ ▐█▌█ ▀ █▄▀▄ █▀█▄▀██ █ █▄▀▄ ▀▀ ▄▌ █▄▀▄ ▐█▌▄█▀▐█▌ ▐█▌▄ ▐█▌▐█▌▐█▌▐█▌▐█▌▄ █ ▐▀▀▐█▌▄ ▀▓▓ ▀▓▓ ▀▓▓ ▄▀▓▓ ▀ ▓▀ ▀▓▄▀▓█ ▄▐▓▌ ▀▓▓ ▄ ── ▀ ─── ▀ ─ ▀▀ ── ▀ ▀ ──── ▀ ▀▀ ▄▀▀ ─░─ ▀▀ PREMiERE 1998 RELEASES WITH STYLE [xx/xx/98] ──────────────────────────────────────────── Premiere: Releases: NetObjects.Fusion.v4.0.FINAL-PREMiERE [18 x 1.44MB] Koan.Pro.v2.10.10-PREMiERE [03 x 1.44MB] Year.2000.Detect.and.Correct.v1.0-PREMiERE [01 x 1.44MB] Hot.Off.The.Web.v2.0-PREMiERE [05 x 1.44MB] WebGIZMO.v3.05-PREMiERE [04 x 1.44MB] Pagis.ScanWorks.v2.0-PREMiERE [28 x 1.44MB] Carello.Web.v1.0-PREMiERE [03 x 1.44MB] Mouse.Tracks.v1.03.1-PREMiERE [09 x 1.44MB] Paladin.IMAP4.Email.v3.20a.Enterprise.Edition-PREMiERE [04 x 1.44MB] OfficeScan.v3.11.Corporate.Edition-PREMiERE [22 x 1.44MB] SmartServer3.v3.31-PREMiERE [02 x 1.44MB] PRM suprised a lot of people with NetObjects Fusion 4 this week, and I had planned on giving them a "great job" type review for getting it done, until I was informed that it was released with a generic crack done by UCF. Premiere gave a response to this incident in the NFO of Y2K Detect & Correct, which basically says that Fusion (PRM leader) was unaware that the crack was stolen. Not much else to say here... I'm docking them points since the actual work was done by UCF (the program itself is available off the NetObjects FTP site). Even if they didn't know I still can't justify giving them points for others work. Aside from that, an average week of releases, but Pagis ScanWorks was a bright spot. If not for NOF they would have scored higher. Total: 7/10 _______________ ____________ ____________ \_ ___ \_ ___ \ ___ \_ _/ l/ / l/ / l/ / \______ / / / /____ / /| ======\________/\__________/[om]\________/== d(*)d D r i n k O r D i e 1 9 9 8 d(*)d ===================== [ DOD * xx-xxx-98 ] == DRINK OR DIE: Releases: N/A Total: N/A ___ _ __________ ____________ ____ _____ ___ \__\\_\_______ \__ _ ______/___ \_ __//__/ ;;;;;;; / \/ \\ ____/ / \\ mg/SAC -)--- _/ / \_ \_/ -/ \_ --(- ;;;;; \____/_ _ _//_ /______ _ _// ;;;; [xx/xx/98]/________/==\/====/________//[MfD] =[X]==][= MANiFEST DESTiNY RELEASE =][==[X]= MANIFEST DESTINY: Releases: Interactive.Disassembler.Pro.v3.80b-MANiFEST [10 x 1.44MB] Siemens.Simatic.Step7.v4.01-MANiFEST [32 x 2.88MB] VirusScan.Policy.Editor.v1.0.Win9x-MANiFEST [08 x 1.44MB] Three actual utils for MFD this week, mixed in with their usual amount of cracks, etc. Nothing really stands out amongst them though, Interactive Disassembler is nice though - but PWA released 3.80 at the end of November. Total: 6/10 .· [xX/Xx]·. : [xx/xx/98] : : .__ .____ : |__l \._____.___\__/___ /^\__ /\___ .____ | l | \ _ l \__/ l__ \ \l _ \| l : | __/.:__| \ __/ | \ -- | __/l l _. | \ | | | \/\ _ | . | \ l__: |____/__\|___|_ /_:__|--: |\____/ ||||___/:::::::········\_/···:/_____/|[war]| |:·|-| HERiTAGE 1998 PROUDLY PRESENTS |-|·:| |||||||::::::::··············::::::::||||||| [HTG] Looking for a WHQ [HTG] HERITAGE: Releases: WebToDo.98.v2.0.for.25.Users-Heritage [05 x 1.44MB] OnTap.Quick.Reference.Guide.v1.0-Heritage [01 x 1.44MB] OnTap.v1.08.Win9xNT-Heritage [01 x 1.44MB] Nukes hurt HTG again this week, as the OnTap release was a Palm Pilot app. Which leaves WebToDo 98 2.0 as their only legit app. Total: 3/10 _______________________________[xx/xx] \_ _ \_ ____/_ _ \_ ____/ |_\ ___/ / _/ ___)/ _/ ___) | \___ \ / | \_ | \ | \ | \ : \ : \ \___| /___ \____ \___ \___ \___ \ ====|__/===\__/===\__/==\__/==\__/==\__/ REBELS: WE MAKE ALL DAYS PARTY DAYS >> RELEASING WITHOUT PERMISSION << REBELS: Releases: NIPrint32_v3.2q_Win9xNT-RBS [01 x 1.44MB] Circuit_Maker_v6.1C_and_Traxmaker_v3.02C-RBS [01 x 5MB] Well to be honest I was hoping for a bit more from Rebels, but it is the holidays and most people were in a virtual coma for the past two weeks (and if you weren't, WHY THE HELL NOT?? =]). Anyways I expect more activity next week. Total: 4/10 █▄▓▄■▀░▄ Teknorage and Pirasoft Present: ▄░▀■▄░▄█ █ ▐▄ ▌ █ █▓▀cH/SAC ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄█▄▄ [xx\xx] ▀▓█ ▀ ▄▄█▄▄▄▄ ▄ ▄██▌▐████▓ ▄▄█▓█████▓▀ ▄█▄▄████▄ ▀ ▄▄████▓ ▄▄▄ ▀████▌█████▌▐████▐████▌▐████▐█████▌ ▐██████▌▐█████▄ ▓███▀█████ ████ ▀████ ███▌▐██████ ██████ ███████▌▐███ ▐████▌▐███▌▄████▌ ▀█▄ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▐████▌▐███████ ████▄████▀ ▄████████▀ ▄▄ ▐█████▄ ▄▓███▓▄▓██████▌▐████▌▀▓█▄ ▀███▓▀▀ ▄████▌▓██████▌ ▀▀██████▀ ▀████▀ ▀▀▄ ▀█▀ ▀██▀▀██████▀ █▄▄▄▓▄▄▄ ▀▀▀ ▀ ▀ ▀▀▀ ▄█ ▀▀▀ ░▒▓█▄ xx/xx/98 ······ Ratzhole WHQ ▀ ▀▓▀▀▀ TRPS: Releases: Quantum.v3.3.Win9xNT-TRPS [13 x 1.44MB] Ultra.WinCleaner.Windows.Retail-TRPS [04 x 1.44MB] InDefense.AntiVirus.V2.0.ProMaster.Retail-TRPS [02 x 1.44MB] FacSys.Web.Agent.v2.1.Win9xNT-TRPS [07 x 1.44MB] Active.Fax.Messaging.SDK.Win9xNT-TRPS [04 x 1.44MB] SpamEater.Pro.v2.6.1.Win9xNT-TRPS [01 x 1.44MB] File-AID.Client.Server.v2.00.11.Win9xNT-TRPS [24 x 1.44MB] I can pretty much sum up the problem with TRPS in one release: Desks.At.Will.v2.60.499.Win9xNT.TRPS Minor version junk is killing what otherwise would be a fine team. And with the amount of titles they're already getting out there's no need for it. The aforementioned junk was released this week - meanwhile four other versions were put out in December alone, some by TRPS and others by TNO. So a note to Technorage & Pirasoft: lay off the junk and stick to the quality releases, you've already proved you can get them. Total: 7/10 New this week: None Idle this week: DOD, ENT. Quote(s) of the Week: <_loke> is Lester ever around? <_loke> or is he just ignoring me? <Snapz> you have to offer to butt rape Lester before he'll answer you <XXX> -1231- (wishmstr/DiMENSiON) Hot.Off.The.Web.v2.0-PREMiERE <mr_zima> ^ thats for sure Wow two quotes this week! This was a tough week to score - a lot of nice releases from a lot of groups. SGE, CORP, PFT, SHK, RISE, PRM and TRPS all had some good quality apps. Overall CORP and RISE took the top in my eyes, but all those afore mentioned groups put in strong efforts. I may decide to review Versus next week, haven't quite made up my mind yet. They seem to have completely dropped the cracks and junky minor versions and are sticking to apps, so I guess I should consider them a utils group. I should note that one of the best utils released this week was by a group not even on this list - EVIL released Kai's Power Soap 2.0 - haven't checked it out yet myself but I'm a big fan of MetaTools (or anything that lets my uninspired mind create some half-decent artwork). Well thats it for another week, hope this at least past some time for ya! ;) - Bud