I think PNGGauntlet is a great idea. I've used Ken Silverman's PNGOut and it really does make PNG files smaller than any of the other compression utilities I've come across. The only thing that's holding me back from trying out PNGGauntlet is the need to download .NET Framework to install it. I have a Windows95 machine that serves me fine for browsing the internet, wordprocessing and creating images.
I've lost count of the number of programs I've installed and tested from magazine CDs, but it must be over 200 -- and all without .NET Framework. Recently, I successfully installed Opera7, and that works fine too. I'm reluctant to upgrade to Windows XP or install extra Microsoft products because MS have such a bad reputation for security loopholes. For example, the Blaster virus arrived in a spam email but nothing happened because it can't infect Windows9x machines.
You must have put a lot of time into this project, so please don't take this as criticism. What I'm really asking is: Will a future release of PNGGauntlet become available for the standard Windows Installer? If so, I'll check back from time to time to read the News page. There's been a lot of interest in PNG format in web design forums & weblogs recently -- lots of complaints about Adobe Photoshop's bloated PNG files -- so PNGGauntlet could be a real winner.
Installing PNGGauntlet
(4 posts) (3 voices)- Started 7 years ago by
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Anonymous
UnregisteredPosted 7 years ago # -
Well, the .NET framework is an entire platform - much like the Java runtime. It's not an installer program, the whole app depends on it. That said, I may be writing a C++ version at some point for porting over to the Mac, but only if I have time - that would require me to rewrite PNGOUT too, and I don't know if I can make a compressor that can beat that. As far as not getting the Framework... well, I understand your fear of security exploits, but you might want to loosen up a bit. The biggest security risk you can take is running a 9x machine - the new OSes like XP are much much more secure, and are constantly updated, unlike Windows 95. Also, you say Blaster arrived via spam mail - it arrives via the DCOM port and has nothing to do with email. You probably mean SoBig - but even then that would only hurt you if you were dumb enough to open random attachments, but given your focus on security I doubt you'd do that. Take it from me, though, I've been running with XP since it came out and I'm quite happy with it - I've never gotten a virus and I've never been hacked. Just install the patches from Windows Update as they appear and make sure never to open random attachments and you'll be fine. Running a Windows 95 box is a much scarier prospect...Posted 7 years ago #
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PNG_convert (Guest)
InactiveThank you very much for your reply. I'm sure you're right about all the security issues. And yes, I probably got the names of the viruses mixed up. When it arrived in my inbox I didn't open the attachment, but I did look inside using a text editor. Then I went online and read several news stories about Blaster and the other current virus threats.
It's likely that I'll encounter Windows XP when I buy a new laptop, which I'm planning to do. I wasn't quite sure from your reply whether .NET Framework comes with it as part of the OS, but I'm guessing it does. Part of my concern was this weblog entry I came across about problems installing .NET Framework with the specific intention of downloading PNGGauntlet.
BTW, in every test I've tried PNGOUT it beat its rival, pngcrush -- even when using pngcrush's "brute" force option. With the right tools paletted PNGs always turn out smaller than their GIF equivalents, except if the GIF is less than a couple of hundred bytes. I'm a true convert to PNG format. When I have a laptop with Windows XP I'll come back and download PNGGauntlet.Posted 7 years ago # -
Thanks a lot! I hope it's very useful for you.Posted 7 years ago #
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