Today’s Cloudeight site pick has a good motto – and that motto is “OldVersion.com …Because sometimes newer isn’t always better”. I keep telling EB that. She wants to fire me and hire someone new … and younger. But younger isn’t always better either.
With all the programs that have gone to the dark side and bundled up and cuddled up with spyware and adware and other kinds of badware, it’s nice to know there’s a place to go on the Web that preserved many applications from the good, old days. Becuase, it really is true – sometimes newer isn’t better, it’s worser (Hey! Charles Dickens used that word. If it’s good enough for Charles, it’s good enough for me! Or was that Lewis Carroll that used that word? Or was the word curiouser? ).
Anyway…. We think this site touts themselves pretty well with more yammering from us. So, please read what they have to say:
“Sometimes upgrading to a newer version can be a good thing. Other times, your computer may not be compatible with the new version, the new version is bloated, or all the options you liked are no longer available. OldVersion.com has been supplying the online community with old versions of various programs since 2001. The service is utilized by thousands of users every day and has been featured in newspapers and magazines as well as on radio and television.
OldVersion.com has several objectives. One is to discourage the use of spyware by software companies. Also known as adware, these hidden programs come bundled with certain applications and secretly transmit user information via the Internet to advertisers. It is sometimes possible to avoid spyware by downloading an older version of a program. Use OldVersion.com and show the industry your dissatisfaction with these types of business practices.
OldVersion.com assists computer users who are unable to continually upgrade their computer. Those who find that their machine is not able to run the latest version of a certain application have no choice but to use an old version of the program. Unfortunately, the vast majority of software companies do not offer this opportunity. We are doing our small part to help bridge the digital divide by allowing everyone to enjoy the same software titles regardless of their hardware. …”
If this site sounds good to you, trust us, it’s very good. And if you’re looking around for some good, old, freeware that will probably still work on your newer computer, you’ll find it here. And, these files were saved from the pre-spyware era (in most cases) so you shouldn’t run into problems with that kind of garbage. We do want to issue a word of caution: We have downloaded a few things from this site and they were fine. That is not a warranty that every file from this site is fine. Use good common sense when download from any site.
Now if you’re ready for a trip back to the good, old days, then take the cyber-buggy and visit today’s Cloudeight Site Pick — OldVersion.com.
Hi TC and EB and thanks for finding this site. I used ACDSee many years ago and since getting a new computer I find I am reluctant to try new things especially downloading programs with current versions as, like you say, there is so much bundled with them. When I went to the ACDSee category for Version 6 which I think is the one I used to have I wasn’t sure which big green button to click on….always aware that I may be downloading something I shouldn’t be ( you guys always say to make sure which one to click on so I follow your advice). Would you recommend that I download this program on my 8.1.1 operating system? Maybe it wouldn’t work anymore on this OS. Not sure what to do. Thanks for your help and anyone else who is thinking the same thing (lol).
Hi I just tried to download Word Prefect and I received a notice this from Emsisoft:
Emsisoft Anti-Malware has detected suspicious behavior in a program and the
Emsisoft Anti-Malware Network has confirmed that suspicion.
file:C:\Users\Dotty’s\Downloads\7zip_bimo.exe
The file has been quarantined. No further action required.
My question is: did I do something wrong. I followed your instructions.
We never said all the downloads from that site were safe; as always we encourage vigilance. That being said, every anti-virus/anti-malware programs is subject to false positives. Emsisoft has one of the lowest percentages of false positives of any security software, however no software is perfect. When in doubt check the file out using VirusTotal — Thanks!