Oh, FUCK YOU, Microsoft

OK, Windows 7 is great.
However, the version of Windows Movie Maker which ships with it SUCKS.
Every release, they've locked down features. I used to use my XP version of Windows Movie Maker to make .WMA files and actually do some semi-decent video editing.
But when I use the Windows 7 Movie Maker, it is probably the most user-unfriendly program ever.

1. You can't edit music files anymore, at least not without some sort of video with it.
2. There isn't a separate "music stream" and "audio stream" anymore. Any music you place COMPLETELY overwrites any audio in the background.
3. There isn't a "Storyboard" at the bottom which conveniently keeps track of what clips are/where they are. You have to import all your clips in the order you want them to stay.
4. You can't divide one clip into 2 clips anymore, you can only crop the clip, meaning you can't insert things midway through a single clip.
5. The new menus are confusing as FUCK, it took me 5 minutes to figure out how to shorten a clip.
6. You can't adjust the speed of videos at ALL. I've been trying for HOURS to take a 3 second video (a render I made in 3DS Max, I had to speed it up so it wouldn't take days to render) and slow it down a bit, and I still haven't been able to slow it to the speed I want.
7. There isn't any good effects anymore. You can only choose between different transitions between clips and editing the color of your clip.
8. This one's a big one. I got frustrated, so I clicked on the "Help and Support" button up in the top right-hand corner. It opens Firefox and directs me to a page. I get a "403" error which, curiously, looks like a IE 403 error, not a Firefox one. I read the error a little bit and find this gem: "Your IP Address cannot connect to Windows Live Movie Maker Help and Support since it is not on a list of IPs which are allowed to access this page.", meaning ONLY MICROSOFT DEVELOPERS HAVE PERMISSION TO VIEW THE FUCKING PAGE, making it totally useless.
9. This is probably my biggest gripe: You can't just save a movie to your computer anymore. Instead, when you want to save your movie, you have to UPLOAD IT TO MICROSOFT SERVERS using your Windows Live ID. I haven't found a way to get around this yet, although it did save a copy of the file to my computer as well, "For your convienence". Which is what I fucking wanted it to do, not to upload it to Microsoft. This means that if you're making, say, a "Lyrics" video for some song on Youtube (The FCC has been cracking down on these), Microsoft can see it (oh, and Microsoft DID look at the clip, btw. When I uploaded something else to the Micro$oft servers and navigated to the page where it had been uploaded to was, the older clip I had uploaded had gained 1 view, and I hadn't shown it to anyone, meaning it was a M$ employee). Since Micro$oft knows exactly where you live because you have to tell them when making your Windows Live ID, they can then see you uploading something the government won't like, like some famous band's music video, they can then tell the FCC where you live and some men in black suits will be knocking on your door. My bad, I had a bit of a mix-up.
10. The videos, when they are being made, take FOREVER. It took 5 minutes for a 3 second clip. A 3 SECOND one. A 30 second one takes close to half an hour.

Tl;dr: FUCK YOU MICRO$OFT.

E: Oh, if anyone knows how to slow down a 3 second video to a more... viewable length, let me know. Please.

Sony Vegas Movie Studio is the program I use. It's not free, but it does the job really well. you can get it under $100, or get it in other ways.

Sorry to point this out, but Movie Maker for Windows 7 is a beta. They don't even recommend it when you install Live Essentials.

Though I do admit that they should have included the old version instead, considering how incomplete the beta is...

Also, I agree with everything you say.. but seriously about 9? The fuck are they trying to do? Probably monitor everything you make so they can stop whatever they deem as being bad. IE big brother, monitoring, etc.

edit: Installing it now to test #9. I want to see it for my self.

http://www.modacity.net/forums/showt...ht=movie+maker

IDK if that helps at all. I don't have Windows 7 do....

Thanks, Saggy, but the HIV link 404'd.

Ok relax pretty sure you can download a version of WMM like the one on XP and keep it to install on Windows 7 full release, I installed it on this windows 7 beta here a while back.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by English Mobster

Thanks, Saggy, but the HIV link 404'd.

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Try this:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mjkmykgzyrh

decent editing with WMM :confused: use a program like sony vegas, or one of adobes...

I downloaded and installed Movie Maker beta from Live essentials on my Build 7100, imported an episode of family guy and put a song on it, went to output... and I never once got asked to upload to any servers. Are you sure that's the case?

Ah, output. Maybe it's because I hit publish. I thought output just set the resolution for the video, it didn't create the video itself.