Desperate for a deal after sleeping right through Wal-Mart's early-morning Black Friday frenzy? You're in luck. The best deal this holiday season may be just a download away.
(Credit:
Handbrake)
And boy, is it beautiful.
Handbrake has long been my go-to choice for ripping DVDs to my hard drive (saves battery life when watching videos while traveling and ensures my kids won't ruin the DVDs), but this particular version exceeds my expectations. Why? Because it delivers over 1,000 new enhancements while delivering better picture quality at a smaller file size and faster.
Or as the Handbrake developers say:
There's an old proverb in the video encoding world: "Speed, size, quality: pick two." It means that you always have to make a trade-off between the time it takes to encode a video, the amount of compression used, and the picture quality. Well, this release of HandBrake refuses to compromise. It picks all three.
This isn't hype. In my own use of the software during the past week, performance is noticeably faster, and picture quality is awesome.
Importantly, while the Handbrake developers have been hard at work over the past year to update the venerable video transcoder, the team owes a lot to developers from the x264 project:
A large portion of these speed, size, and quality improvements come to us for free, from the x264 project. The past year, like every year, has seen some massive improvements for that video encoding engine. As always, it has been further hand-optimized for better performance. But it has also gained new features like macroblock tree rate control and weighted P-Frame prediction.
This is how open-source development works: Handbrake focuses on what it does best (User interface, features like live preview, etc.) while leveraging the best of other project's strengths.
It's a recipe for a supereasy and very powerful transcoding experience. And at a 100 percent discount now through forever (Handbrake is open source and costs nothing to download), now is a good time to download it and let 'er rip, whether you run Mac (Intel 32-bit and 64-bit, plus PowerPC), Linux, or Windows.
Some in the open-source camp would have you believe that open source is an all-or-nothing proposition. For such people, to believe that Linux makes for a superior server operating system is also to dedicate oneself to using open source for business applications, personal productivity, mobile, and likely brushing one's teeth. Open source on a proprietary platform like Mac OS X? Perish the thought!
But life is more complicated than that, and it turns out that there is exceptional open-source software for the Mac (or for Windows, for that matter).
The H Online has kicked off a nice "Open Source Stars for Mac OS X" series, one that I'd recommend all Mac users review. But for those who just want to know the best of the basics, here are my favorites:
- Firefox (Web browser) - Given Firefox's availability for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, this one won't be a surprise to anyone, but if you haven't used it lately, do give it a try. It continues to be the most feature-rich Web browser due to its large and variegated add-on community.
- Adium (instant messaging) - We will use Adium in heaven. Not only does it let me dress up my icon in an Arsenal uniform, but it manages all of my different instant messaging accounts (AIM, YIM, MSN, Skype, Facebook, Gtalk, and even Twitter/Identi.ca). It's like Trillian for Windows, only about one trillion times better.
- Zimbra (e-mail) - While geared toward enterprise-class messaging, you can use Zimbra (either the Web client or desktop or, in my case, both) for personal e-mail, as well. With the ability to extend its functionality through Zimlets and a Web user interface that continues to be best in class, Zimbra rocks.
- OpenOffice.org (office productivity) - I don't use this open-source alternative to Microsoft Office for word processing or spreadsheets, in part because I rarely use Word or Excel except for contracts and the occasional spreadsheet, two things with which I don't want to risk file format compatibility. But I actually prefer OpenOffice's presentation program to PowerPoint. It has some functionality that PowerPoint lacks.
- Handbrake (video converter/ripper) - I travel a lot and want my movies to travel with me, without having to carry DVDs around with me. So I rip them to my hard drive with Handbrake. It's a tremendously powerful (because it's so simple) program. It's now available on Linux and Windows, but it grew up on the Mac and is still best on OS X, in my opinion. Get it. It was created by angels.
- VLC (media player) - If it has a codec, VLC will play it. Heck, VLC will probably play it if the file even remotely resembles video or audio. It just works, and it works with everything.
- Audacity (audio editor) - Have a music file that you want to convert to a ringtone for your Blackberry? Or simply want to clean up that podcast before you publish it? Audacity is powerful and fairly easy to use.
- Seashore (image editor) - Seashore doesn't have nearly as many features as Adobe's Photoshop, but if you want a basic image editor with more-than-basic functionality, check out Seashore. Based on Gimp, Seashore is easy to use, though I do wish it had image transformations. I do so like making my pictures look even more cartoonish.
There you have it. That's the basic list of open-source applications I use on my Mac. I use them because they work, and in some cases work exceptionally well, far better than their proprietary equivalents.
This, incidentally, is also why I prefer the Mac. Life is too short to use a given application simply because it's open source (or Microsoft, or whatever). Use what works. Increasingly, this will lead you to use open source. But for me, the Mac is still the best desktop platform available, period. I'm therefore loving the combination of Mac OS X and a variety of open-source applications.
Maybe you will, too.
Follow me on Twitter @mjasay.
(Credit:
Handbrake)
Handbrake, the closest thing to entertainment manna we have, has released the newest version of its open-source DVD ripping software, version 0.93. There's just one problem: it no longer rips DVDs. At least, not the kind you'd want to rip.
While it has some shiny, new functionality, like the ability to ingest video in any format (not merely DVDs) and superior video quality, it rid itself of the number-one reason for getting it in the first place:
DVD decryption.
Handbrake's author tries to put a brave face on this by offering a klugey workaround:
HandBrake will dynamically load VLC's copy of libdvdcss if you have it in your Applications folder in Mac OS X, and if you're on Linux, and you want to live on the wild side, you can install libdvdcss on your system and get the same effect....
[In other words] we're not about to stop you from choosing to decrypt DVDs. If you're on a Mac, and you have VLC 0.9.x installed, you won't even notice the internal capability's gone. If you're on Linux, all you have to do is install a library.
Why the change? I loved this feature, not because I want to steal movies, but because I want to rip and burn my DVDs to my Mac's hard drive so that I can watch them on flights without consuming excessive battery life, as playing an actual DVD would, not to mention the bother of lugging DVDs around with me.
Yes, Handbrake has offered a workaround, but I can't recommend the new release based on its lack of DVD decryption, the top reason anyone uses Handbrake in the first place.
(Credit:
Handbrake)
Handbrake just released an update to its exceptional DVD ripping tool. Now at 0.91, the new version offers significant performance enhancements, quashes several bugs, improves the UI (on the Mac more than Windows), and offers a wide range of other upgrades.
Handbrake is increasingly an application that I refuse to live without. I'm headed to Argentina this week, and have been madly ripping several new DVD purchases to my hard drive (saves battery life, more convenient): Daniel Deronda, Our Mutual Friend, A Night at the Museum (for my kids), etc. All have been happily turned into compact MP4s on my hard drive through the grace of Handbrake.
Get the program now. It really is one of the best things on this planet. And it's 100% open source. And free. (It now works on the Mac, its permanent home, as well as Windows and Linux.)
Note: The main servers have been crushed with downloads, so try getting it from a third-party mirror service if you have trouble. I got mine from MacUpdate.
I've written about Handbrake before. It is manna from heaven. I'm happy to report, however, that the latest release of Handbrake (0.9.0) is even better.
If you have a computer download Handbrake. Now. Put a DVD in. Let the magic begin. Now supports Mac and Windows (and, in fact, this newest rev has a dramatically improved Windows user interface).
(Credit:
Handbrake)
This is the second open source application review that I've done, but it really should have been the first. I could probably live without talking to other people (Adium), but I'm not sure I could survive long flights without the occasional movie. Handbrake covers this fundamental human need.
If you're not currently using the open-source Handbrake application, your life is woefully incomplete. Handbrake is one of the applications that you will continue to use when you die. Angels are using it, even as I type, to rip their DVDs to their hard-drives so that they can save battery life on long trips (to Redmond, most likely :-).
Enough gushing. What is Handbrake?
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