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Nowadays, if you try to google: software name review chances are the first 20 hits will be sites like .cnet.com, .snapfiles.com, .softpedia.com, ... well, just google it, and you'll see. In other words you'll get sites which are actually "download databases", which just copy the introductory text one from another (which is often copied from the developer's site).

So, my question is, what are good review sites with humans writing texts, out there ? Sites where, for example, if I enter the name of the program which interests me, will give me some human perspective on it, what changed since the last version, and preferably their opinion why they prefer that&that to those&those alternatives.

I often find software reviewed on personal blogs and such, but surely, there must be some bigger places out there dedicated to that sort of thing.

Thomas Geritzma
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10 Answers10

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You might know Lifehacker. While not quite the "bigger places out there dedicated to that sort of thing" that you're looking for, it does have reviews and feature lists written by the few named folk who run the site, so credibility is high. Also, the comments by users will show up problems or (rare) virus reports. They (the writers and commenters) also offer comparisons to similar software.

Because they cover lots of areas, the site is not exclusively and exhaustively about software, but this is a real focus of their articles. Certainly if I want info about software that is one of the places that I'll look. Hope you find it useful.

outsideblasts
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downloadsquad.com - a team of software bloggers will keep you up to date with new releases and interesting products.

Betanews - software reviews and ratings by regular computer users

2

For freeware, Freeware Genius is great.

ephilip
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AlternativeTo - it sounds just like the name - it list alternatives to software (and that means the alternative of an app is that app's alternative). Maybe it's not exactly a review site, but I thought I'd mention it. Quote from main page:

AlternativeTo is a new approach to finding good software. Tell us what application you want to replace and we give you suggestions on great alternatives! Instead of listing thousands of more or less crappy applications in a category, we make each application into a category. Think of it like forever evolving blog posts about good alternatives to the software that you're not satisfied with. And the "blog posts" are generated by you through suggestions, comments and votes.

Nathaniel
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2

Lately SuperUser is itself turning out to be a good site to read user opinions about software.

Nikhil
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I just found a new site (Buissy.com), that does not have reviews but are aiming to be the best Software Directory for Business Solutions. They seem to be competent with experience on what is missing on the internet from both a purchaser as well as a vendors point of view. They are obviously coming with functionality the next few months that will help a lot to speed up and put more quality into the purchase process. They released a 0.1 version only a week ago and already have quite a few products on the site.

Sv Dolp
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I use cnet.com for things in general, and phonearena.com for... phones.

Katerberg
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AppScout and related site PCMag do true reviews. Also, DownloadSquad, Freeware Genius, and Lifehacker as mentioned by others already.

Adam Ryan
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www.UserViews.net It's a new site, but I think it has a lot of potential.

kpoehls
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Software-Review-It.com is the new up and coming review site. Good advice on how to keep your system in good shape, what free software to use and how often.