Ten software trends that are (or should be) dying

Let’s pretend that you’re a tech savvy individual who’s always been interested and followed software, and that you had gone into a coma about ten years ago and just woken up.
You’d probably be surprised by the way the tech scene has changed in the interim (e.g. the pervasiveness of smartphones, the ubiquitousness of social media, the explosion in wearable tech and the ‘internet of things’, ever cheaper 3D printing, the success of crowdfunding, dumb apps like Instagram and Snapchat valued at more than a billion dollars, etc).
But you’d also be surprised to find that many software genres that were there 10 years ago are dying away.
This is a list of ten such software trends. Most of them are still with us, but slowly (and sometimes imperceptibly) fading away and becoming irrelevant.
Dying Software Trends
1. CD and DVD rippers
Remember when movies and music was purchased on CDs and DVDs? To get your media off the disc and onto your hard drive, a host of CD and DVD rippers emerged at a time when it was more or less inconceivable that a day would come when most music and movies would not arrive via an optical disc.
That day is well and truly here, with the overwhelming majority of media being delivered via app stores such as iTunes, Google Play, or Amazon downloads, or via music or video sharing services such as Spotify, Pandora, Hulu, Vimeo, and others. A disproportionately large percentage of media, moreover, is currently consumed on tablets and smartphones that were never built to interact with discs, and most modern PC’s (especially the best, high end modern laptops) don’t even support a CD or DVD player anymore, casting it as useless dead weight from a bygone era.
Of course, these programs have not disappeared altogether, as there is still an occasional need for them, but they’re certainly less relevant with each passing day.
2. CD and DVD burners
The opposite of #1 above. Again, harkening to a time when sharing media and backing up data was the purvey of optical discs rather than cloud or network storage (or even USB and flash drives).
3. PC’s on a USB stick
There was a time when techies everywhere had the fantasy that PC’s would transform into dumb terminals, and that you could carry your data, your OS, and all the programs you needed on a USB stick, which you could conveniently plug into any PC at an internet café or your grandma’s or your workplace etc and be in business. At least I think this was the fantasy. In any case what actually happened was that everybody’s phone became a connected super duper computer with as much or more computing power as any PC or laptop. USB drives, meanwhile, are themselves slowly becoming arcane, much less the idea of a self contained computing environment in a flash drive conveniently attached to your keychain.
Worth mentioning is that self contained OS’s on USB drives did not die out entirely, but became relegated to the realm of troubleshooting environments that you could boot into to fix a faulty PC or one that was infested with malware etc.
4. Hard disk defragmenters
These esoteric utilities were once a techie’s secret weapon used to eke out that much more performance out of a system by conveniently re-arranging the data on the hard drive, leading to faster access times. These programs are being killed by the double whammy of (a) modern PC’s and laptops abandoning traditional hard drives (HDD) towards Solid State (SSD) drives which because of the way they store data on flash memory chips do not benefit from or require defragmentation at all; and (b) the fact that most modern OS’s, such as Windows 7/8/10 are incorporating the defrag function into their internal operations.
Still, defragmenting a hard drive might still be useful and/or necessary when performing operations such as hard disk partitioning or creating backup disk images.
5. Registry Cleaners
Another much ballyhooed utility which was supposed to cure all the ills of a system and miraculously make it faster. The reality was that (a) any alleged speed increase resulting from a registry cleanup was negligible in 97%+ of cases, and (b) a registry cleanup was in many most cases more likely to harm rather than accelerate or optimize the system.
Still, I would say that there are a handful of utilities that have garnered a good reputation for performing a registry cleanup without causing harm (I stand behind the registry cleaning function of CCleaner). But even so I would wager that any performance benefits are mainly placebo effects in the mind of the user.
6. Virtual desktops
A feature of Linux that at one time seemed to generate much excitement and was introduced onto Windows via many free and paid virtual desktop apps. The idea was that you would place your open windows within different desktops that you would flip to on demand, such that the your image manipulation tools would be open in one virtual desktop, for example, your browser(s) in another, etc. This was somehow deemed useful when in reality minimizing and maximizing your windows in a single desktop was good enough, and a lot simpler and more straightforward.
The concept seems to have failed to get traction with users. I really tried to use and get into virtual desktop programs, only to conclude years later that it is a dumb and useless concept. The only exception to this is the ability of Dexpot, the foremost free virtual desktop app on Windows, to arrange ICONS (as opposed to open windows) within virtual desktops, making it an excellent desktop organization app (imagine flipping through desktops and their icons in the same way you flip through pages of icons on an iPad or Android device).
7. Desktop Widgets
Were originally deemed to be convenient dashboard-style outlays of all manner of information right on the desktop (e.g. your stock movements, your RSS feeds, your email, breaking news, etc.) In reality it was information overload that taxed not just your brain and attention span, but your system as well.
Of course desktop widgets still survive in Windows 10, but are now buried in the Start Menu, which is an excellent place for them in my opinion. They are also a mainstay of the Android OS of course. I have yet to see a desktop-embedded widget that is more useful than it is mere clutter in the long term.
8. RSS aggregators
There was a time when RSS feeds were the coolest thing, having the potential to tame the internet and poised to take over the world. Voracious consumers of information such as myself loved RSS aggregators, but then Facebook and Twitter happened, hijacking the whole river-of-news concept (and crowd-sourcing it to your friends and acquaintances), and today RSS aggregators seem to be dying a slow death. Even Google pulled the plug on ‘Google Reader’ at a time when it was the leading RSS aggregator in the universe.
I still love my RSS feeds, and use both a local and web-based aggregator. But it seems that I am an outlier, as evidenced by the fact that most sites will vie a lot harder to get you to like their articles on Facebook and/or to subscribe to their email newsletter than they are to get you to subscribe via RSS.
9. Internet Radio Station Recorders
Yet another concept that got me really excited at the time, and which in hindsight did not turn out to be very useful. Simply put: if I wanted to get ahold of the mp3 of a song, there are many other simpler and more straightforward ways to get it (legally or otherwise) than to be recording it off of the streaming feed of an internet radio station.
Of course, it may be that a user would want to record the entire Jazzy or alternative music show for playback in it’s entirety, a case where these kind of programs are very well suited, but how often does that happen in the age of Pandora, Spotify and other music sharing services that provide customized streams on demand?
10. Screenshot uploaders
A very popular function that seemed to accompany every single screenshot taking program in existence. My question is: who are these people who are taking screenshots and uploading them to image sharing services? Aside from modding enthusiasts who want to show off their customized desktops, I really don’t know why anyone would be uploading screenshots.
If I wanted to upload images to image sharing services (which I frequently do), I would upload the original image files and not take screenshots of them from the desktop. This has the extra benefit of saving myself the labor of getting the edges of my screenshot exactly right, avoiding the trap of including unwanted crap from my desktop in the image, and guarding against uploading an image off the desktop that is likely to be of inferior resolution to the original.
Seriously, if this trend hasn’t died yet it’s about time it did.
Closing Words
I'm sure there are more but I have to stop somewhere. Can you think of other software trends that are (or should be) dying off? Please feel free to add any that I’ve missed in the comments section below.


@Martin Brinkmann: with all due respect, this is now such a basic function, esp. for people reading your articles, that this article is like explaining to the readers how to calculate 1+1.
Yes, I have to agree with this. I can’t imagine that there are many spreadsheet users who are computer literate enough to even casually read ghacks, but don’t know how to use a SUM function.
@Klass Vaak & Herman Cost
Ever thought that people might google it so this artice might show up in the search results. So..no it’s not useless. I think it’s a good strategy explaining stuff even if it’s just basic things. Every day there is a new user on the internet searching for this kind of tutorial.
@Malte: you make a good point, in principle. Nevertheless, nowadays telling people how to do a sum calculation, the simplest of the simple, in a spreadsheet is like teaching grandma to suck eggs.
If say an elderly person would be sitting in front of a spreadsheet wondering how to sum a number of cells, that person is unlikely to look it up on internet, but would ask one of her/his children.
And in any case, Ghacks is not a spreadsheet tricks and tips site, so it would not show up high in the ranking in a Google search.
I`m an elderly person. 71.
My experience in computers spans 50 years, focused on Unix internals, advanced degrees.
I look to the internet for answers, since my children hate me and wouldnt tell me “jack”, even if they knew the answer.
I dont know how to “suck eggs in principle”, or anything else for that matter. I’m retired and not interested in learning. Some other guy learned “the theory of sucking things.”
Never needed spreadsheets, always too darn busy. Thanks for this info. Now I know how to sum two cells.
Everyone starts somewhere.
I am an elderly person and I can use sum, sumif, sumifs and so on. My kids come to me for knowledge on how to use excel and other programs ;)
But then, I was in IT my entire career before I retired :)
There are basic sites, and there are advanced sites. GHacks used to be more for people with technical knowledge. You can’t be everything to everyone though that seems to be the trend these days. Since it’s all about clicks and click bait the wider the topics the more you can remain “relevant”…
However, that mentality tends to alienate the more technical people. I find myself spending less time here every month. It won’t be long before I stop coming here altogether.
I have no mobile or wireless technology.
Anything google or apple is insidious to me. And that accounts now for most of the content here.
As to this article. Avast, and all of their products are untrustworthy. There has been much controversy and negativity regarding their products. I would think a reputable site would be more careful in what they publish… err, sorry, advertise.
@Klaas Vaak: In Martin’s defense, it’s the day after Christmas, and some eggnog recipes pack a *real wallop*. Maybe we’re lucky he could type at all. ;-) More seriously, I don’t use Calc super-often, I typically type in the =SUM() function manually, and I’d actually *forgotten* where the Σ button is located in Calc. (The last time I was a heavy spreadsheet user, it was in an older version of Excel and I’m pretty sure the Σ button was somewhere on one of the “regular” toolbars.) So, the article actually did have a small payoff for me. Plus, there might be other intermediate or advanced users of other types of programs (graphics, audio, video, word-processing) who have never used a spreadsheet in their lives. It’s kind of hard to imagine, I know, but it’s possible.
You were not born with the knowledge you have now. You once had to learn too.
So get down off your high horse, grow up and show a little respect for others who need details.
Overall LO has become a good SW, what prevents me to use it is:
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Development/Calc/XMLSource
“it will not store the information about the data source once the data is imported”
Until that functionality is implemented I’m forced to use M$ Office (2003).
@SpywareFan: an interesting alternative for M$ Office is Softmaker’s FreeOffice.
@Klaas Vaak
I have the Softmaker’s Free Office Suite in my computer – – and I LOVE IT!
intelligencia
In the FreeOffice manuals there is no reference to XML data mapping functions.
Another vote for Softmaker’s Free Office, a very nice alternative to MS Office.
Yes, I use functions in Calc: Average, Min and Max. I use the mouse to select the cells.
I don’t usually have to use Sum.
Thanks for the info, and could we have more tips for LibreOffice?
I find that the documentation does not keep up with the changes in LibreOffice.
Also, it is hard to find info in the help documentation.
Thanks Martin for all your great work you put in to make our live easier. Have a nice and healthy 2021.
To all those complaining about this being a simple ‘101’ function: it’s Martin’s blog, he can write a deep-dive review of Windows Calculator if he so wishes. Do you pay his salary or something?
@ShintoPlasm: yes, it is Martin’s blog, but it is a public blog with a comments section, which means he invites people to comment. And having been an avid reader for several years now, I am pretty sure Martin does not expect commenters to agree with him all the time.
You do not help him with agreeing with everything willy-nilly and “honouring” him with praise. Martin, like everyone else in the world, is not perfect, therefore he can only learn from constructive criticism.
Unfortunately you look at constructive criticism as a complaint. I do not agree with you on that and will keep making constructive criticism because I believe in keeping this website one of the best ones – refraining from constructive criticism won’t do that.
Absolutely. People could rather than leaving constructive criticism just stop visiting the site. How is that in the best interest of the site’s authors?
A new way to sum with the latest version is to place the cursor under the numbers to be summed, then press Alt-=, then ENTER.
The SUM function doesn’t work. It just keeps putting the same total no matter what figures I enter.
I would like to know how to make the sum function work. I know how it should work and it works in excel. But when I put the sum function in, it will not make changes when I edit and change the data, the total remains the same
Ditto, Marty. Everyone starts somewhere. Thanks.
Instead of being snarky, maybe you could be helpful. I’d like to add two numbers in a cell;
In Excel, it would be
=5+6
I try that in this piece of crap software, and get a message “Invalid value.”
I used Excel a lot when I was working. Retired now seven years. Excel was great, especially for macros. I now use LibreOffice, which works similarly but the macros are difficult in comparrison to Excel. I couldn’t find anything on macros for Free Office, which was disappointing, so I uninstalled it. I find Zoho to be the most similar to Excel but there you’re stuck with your spreadsheets in the cloud which I didn’t like.
Um… When was this article posted? The date says today (August 23, 2023), but I’m seeing comments from 3 years ago.
I was going to amuse myself and check out the comments for this Avast AV sponsored post since there were so many comments. I thought it funny since they have an article bashing the product in 2019.
What do I see when I go to the comments? Ghacks pulled an “Amazon” and replaced an article on Excel SUM functions with a sponsored post to make it look like a good article.
Anyone and everyone who even has a clue about tech knows that Avast is utter garbage and focuses on spying on you and spamming you with ads these days. Just check out the bad article from 2019 on this very site! If you run Windows 10/11, you already have better antivirus than Avast built-in to Windows.
@graham
surely more importantly is why an ad for dodgy anti-virus has the whole thread on office suites instead.. something in the db is messed up.
On a slight tangent, does foobar2000 have a built in lyrics plug in? I mostly used Linux and Deadbeef, the closest alternative to Foobar there has a very old(and kinda broke) plug in.
If you want news then add this line in uBlock Origin:
ghacks.net##.hentry,.home-posts,.home-category-post:not(:has-text(/Martin Brinkmann|Mike Turcotte|Ashwin/))
@News filter,
> ghacks.net##.hentry,.home-posts,.home-category-post:not(:has-text(/Martin Brinkmann|Mike Turcotte|Ashwin/))
Thanks for the useful information.
Added line to My filters in uBlock Origin.
Magnificently,
I was able to clean up “all articles” by other authors on the Ghacks site.
It’s refreshing to be able to see only useful articles (instead of being buried among inferior articles) by clearing out the obtrusive articles.
Important note: changing policies through the program doesn’t save them automatically. You need to hit Ctrl+S (or go to File > Sve Policies)
What silly click bait article. Even the actual article is ridiculous.
“The launch of HarmonyOS for PC could pose a serious threat to Windows.”
Who cares what people in China use.
Don’t do drugs before working maybe.
What’s next? Look up the biggest Android fork in China and write pointless long article about it how it’ll take over Google’s Android.
HarmonyOS and Excel comments are mixed up.
HarmonyOS is not an open-source OS, only partially components.
P.S.
What is happening with these comments from other articles?
this is funny. it looks like the same base article, comments and all has been repurposed and edited or something for 3 (or more) different articles.
started off as something for some office suite… and then it was some antivirus thing.. and now it’s some iffy os.
wtf is that writer doing? no one reads or comments on the ad articles and he has to reuse old ones to make it look like it’s getting traction? (though it shows up as 0 comments on the homepage, so that can’t be it?)
“HarmonyOS does not have Google. Huawei’s HarmonyOS is a proprietary operating system..”
vs
“HarmonyOS is open-source, which means that it can be customized by developers and manufacturers.”
Both are quotes from the article. So which one is it, open source or proprietary?
Without windows-based videogames able to run, it’ll stay niche.
Huawei better put serious money into a harmonyOS port of Wine, DXVK or Proton if it wants its machine being more than web browsing thin clients.
I won’t trust a foreign OS.
Deeply foreign, I meant. In so many ways.
“I won’t trust a foreign OS.”
You trust Microsoft Windows, Google Android and Apple operating systems just because they are from businesses in your country ? Talk about blind nationalism.
Do not forget also that there is a world outside of USA and that for most of human beings, your favorite operating systems are also of a foreign origin, and as hostile towards them as they are towards yourself.
HAHAHAHA – did you really say “it could pose a serious threat to Microsoft’s Windows operating system”?
It won’t run programs or real games, so it will be useless.
I mean, there are some people who apparently love using tablets and phones for everything, but mostly are people who will barely do anything with their brain in life.
I mean, even if Photoshop, and others are available for iPad, do people think iPad is a threat for windows? not really, maybe for useless consumers who will just, like with a phone, be happy and move on, but not for professional industries which are the ones who matter the most, because are the ones who generate more revenue, since they buy the most expensive hardware and software.
Nothing consumer computing related really makes much money, unless it is data from users that get sold for AI or Ads.
Who knows where this comment is going to wind up. It’s in response to the article about Huawei’s HarmonyOS (HOS) operating system.
Two places in the article it says HOS is open-source. One place the article says HOS is proprietary. Uh, I’m pretty sure it can’t be both. Which is it? If there’s some fine distinction, somebody needs to explain it.
After all of these issues with Ghacks articles and misplaced postings, I’m reminded of this
https://www.ghacks.net/2019/10/07/ghacks-has-a-new-owner-and-that-is-a-good-for-everyone/
@vanp,
Note: I replied to you on September 6, 2023 at Around 2:20 pm, but it was still remain blocked after more than half a day, so I replaced the quoted URI scheme: https:// with “>>” and reposted.
The current ghacks.net is owned by “Softonic International S.A.” (sold by Martin in October 2019), and due to the fate of M&A, ghacks.net has changed in quality.
>> ghacks.net/2023/09/02/microsoft-is-removing-wordpad-from-windows/#comment-4573130
Many Authors of bloggers and advertisers certified by Softonic have joined the site, and the site is full of articles aimed at advertising and clickbait.
>> ghacks.net/2023/08/31/in-windows-11-the-line-between-legitimate-and-adware-becomes-increasingly-blurred/#comment-4573117
As it stands, except for articles by Martin Brinkmann and Ashwin, they are low quality, unhelpful, and even vicious. It is better not to read those articles.
>> ghacks.net/2023/09/01/windows-11-development-overview-of-the-august-2023-changes/#comment-4573033
By the way, if you use an RSS reader, you can track exactly where your comments are (I’m an iPad user, so I use “Feedly Classic”, but for Windows I prefer the desktop app “RSS Guard”).
RSS Guard: Feed reader which supports RSS/ATOM/JSON and many web-based feed services.
>> github.com/martinrotter/rssguard#readme
Regarding “Huawei’s HarmonyOS” you asked about, the developer has stated that it is planning to open source, however the actual situation has been shelved (no such movement).
HarmonyOS – Wikipedia
>> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HarmonyOS
Therefore, it is “proprietary software”.
Moreover, both the company and its production base are in China. China, Russia, Israel, etc. are “Authoritarian state” and products and companies based in those countries are under state control, and privacy policies can become “famous and innocent.” Those products should be avoided.
Correction of sentence
Before correction: “famous and innocent.”
After correction: “nominal name only titular.”
owl, thanks again for the great info.
HarmonyOS doesn’t run Windows apps. It is no threat to Windows.
I agree.. i bet it cant even run wallpaper engine, it probably has the worst compatibility with software.
iam vary satisfied this work
http://crackscoop.com
ah, wonderful, this message/article cross-posting hasn’t been fixed.
Ignore my comments.