How about we make the search a bit easier? I've been in it for 10 years more or less and I'm finding the software less and less friendly.

Initially I went to the web-site, downloaded the software, installed it as a screensaver, and picked transfer auto or manual. Nice, easy, it worked, no problems.

Now it's got multiple account options, passwords, codes that are 30 charecters long, nothing in the options menu, Etc....

I've apparently got a version that is real old 4.45 but I never heard of an update (until I just checked the message board, and I still don't see where to get an "update". I cannot find an update in the manager, or the web-site.

The software is running 100% of my CPU and it's getting tiring to try to figure it out. There is nothing under "options". "Run based on preferences" is cool but WHERE ARE THE PREFERENCES?

In a nutshell, yeah the graphics are better, and it's more efficient in it's scan. However, it's not user friendly anymore. Look I'm trying to give my extra CPU cycles to you, don't make it a pain in the ass.

Give us a tcp/ip address to connect to, an update option, basic graphics, and let us choose how it interacts with our software (screensaver/run always/ dedicated computer/whatever).

I used to install this on client computers and tell them "You're searching for aliens", and they liked it. Now I can't even figure the stuff out in less than an hour. Too much work, and it is causing basic computing problems!

KISS!

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I bet you kept running C64 demos while all the rest of us were testing out Windows 98 (by that time)...

We don't search for aliens only anymore. We search for multiple things. If that is not good enough for you, then there's nothing that makes you stay.

If you want to leave consrtuctive criticism, then please do. The criticism you left is what we had plenty of times at the start of Seti@Home through Boinc.

I give you the free link, as you must have bookmarked all others by now! :)

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Phil,

You did the install for the earlier SETI@Home Classic for your clients and they liked it. The chances are that if they had to do it for themselves, they would have been just as frustrated as you are with BOINC.

Yes, BOINC is complex. And it is hard sometimes. We do the best we can. And, over time it has gotten better, along with simplifications and added features. But, we support a variety of research efforts now, not just SETI@Home.

As Ageless said, perhaps not very tackfully, these are complaints that have been hard before. It does not make them less relevant, but, again, development takes time and well, these have not been taken care of yet.

But, once past the initial "hump", BOINC is just as easy to use as was SETI@Home Classic. In fact, I think it is easier, and yes, I did 61,000+ work units in Classic, so I think I have experience there too ...

As it is open source, well, you can dive in and begin to fix those things you hate the most ... help us all out ...

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I agree with what Phil Geiger has said.

I used seti@home classic many years ago and was quite happy to give it time to mature as the software was not that stable.

I eventually lost patience with it and dropped seti@home.

A few months ago I decided to check up on seti@home again and downloaded boinc manager.

What an unstable progrma it is. The flash screen will not clear on startup and if you then use the X button to close it it crashes.

It has been overly complicated. For instance..to change preferences you have to connect to the Internet. Which wise guy wrote that bit!

Boinc has a different website log in than seti@home so you have to wate time typing in passwords, email addresses, huge long keys. I thought Microsoft were the only company who used rediculously long keys. Obviously not.

Nuff said, I'm removing boinc from my system, and as this was the seocnd time I has tried seti@home I will probably not return.

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I am ready to just plain drop BOINC from my computers. I have one that is still using 4.x version of BOINC. Both computers are configured the same. Since I upgraded this computer to BOINC 5.2.6, I cannot connect to any project. It keeps asking me for a proxy or socks server. I have entered my options to detect network connection since I don't use any kind of proxy. What the heck is this nonsense. If I can't get BOINC back up on this computer, I will take it off the other one. I hope everyone else feels the same. MAybe when they lose a few thousand contributors, they will set up something that runs right.

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Both computers are configured the same.

/me hits crystal orb, but discovers that the batteries must be empty.

Care to explain to us what your computers are? Which operating system you run?
Since these forums don't run from a project where you have your PCs attached, it's impossible for us to start helping you if you don't give us some basic information.

It keeps asking me for a proxy or socks server.

Go to Options, Options, HTTP Proxy, uncheck the box. Go to Socks Proxy, uncheck the box. Press OK. Go to your project of choice in the Projects tab, press it once to select it, press Update.

Leave the last 20 lines from the Messages tab in an answer window here.

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