What's the new "IT" viewer?

[Clementine Lectar]

I'm returning to Second Life after months away.  I had no idea Emerald had been banned until I tried to log in this morning via version 2270.  I figured, at worst, I'd have to download an update.  But nooooo, I couldn't get on at all.

So, because I've never been a fan of the standard LL viewers, I'd like to know what the current third party viewer favorite is?

[Irene Muni]

Diificult question. Maybe 'Phoenix Viewer', the "substitute" of Emerald.

But of course others residents prefer Kirstens, Imprudence or another viewers of the Third Party Directory (http://viewerdirectory.secondlife.com/).

[Darien Caldwell]

I'd vote for Kirsten's Viewer. It's what I use.

http://www.kirstensviewer.com/

[Nyll Bergbahn]

I use Kirsten's most of the time and the rest of the time, Second Life 2.2 (official or beta).

If you were used to Emerald, then Phoenix is probably the one to go for as Irene suggested.

I must confess though I'm shocked by the Phoenix crash rate, 12.90% and 12.69% on its latest two viewers, although that is down between 2 and 4% from the preceding Phoenix viewers.

I've never used Phoenix but my crash rate with Kirstens and Viewer 2 is probably around 1%.

Nyll

[Nathaniel Scorpio]

I love Imprudence. I find it rezzes a lot faster than Phoenix, though your mileage may vary.

[Senkiya Zsun]

I will swing hugely toward the first TPV to implement mesh (remaining pretty confident that it will, as usual, be HB that gets there first).
I'm really worried that the tardiness of other TPV's to respond will b*g*er the roll out of this monumental improvement in IW content.

[Tristan Avedon]

Well, there are many. I dare say there's nothing that I would classify as the "IT" viewer, because so many people have so many different opinions on it.

For me, viewer 2 is the most stable viewer out there. I'm also wary of viewers that attempt to use an archaic user interface that the company has abandoned. So anything based on the old interface is out of the question for me, as far as daily usage is concerned. I tend to be more concerned with textures loading in a timely manner and the viewer not crashing frequently than whether or not an item was moved to a different menu, so for me performance is key. For some people, having the reassurance of still having a pie menu and not having to move the mouse half an inch to the right to click a button is more important than performance, so yeah...not sure if there is an "IT" viewer out there because different players have different priorities.

If i had an old computer that couldn't handle V2, I'd use the TPVs more often. I used to use Emerald on an aging laptop while commuting to and from work, actually. So far, I mess around with Kirsten's and Phoenix just for the sake of testing things on multiple platforms, both seem to work reasonably well, although I find Phoenix to be a lot slower than the actual LL viewer and Kirsten's is not nearly as stable. Phoenix also looks HORRIBLE to me, but then again that is also a personal opinion based on the fact that I'm accustomed to v2. As always, your mileage may vary.

Cheers!

[thomas Wheatcliffe]

Senkiya Zsun wrote:

 

I will swing hugely toward the first TPV to implement mesh (remaining pretty confident that it will, as usual, be HB that gets there first).

I'm really worried that the tardiness of other TPV's to respond will b*g*er the roll out of this monumental improvement in IW content.

HB????

[Freedom Thirdborn]

Senkiya, I guess you're not aware that TPVs will not be permitted to support mesh uploads?  Or are you only concerned with "viewing" mesh in-world vs. actual content creation?

[Latisha Pexie]

If you were used to Emerald then Phoenix is the most similar. It has many of the old Emerald devs on it. Be glad you missed the chaos.

I also have ascent and imprudence downloaded for those times when you aren't sure if it's viewer related or if it's SL... but I am by far most comfortable in Phoenix.

[Faubio Alter]

I'd put odd on the new mesh viewer taking center stage soon.

http://blogs.secondlife.com/community/technology/blog/2010/10/13/mesh-import-open-beta-starts-today

 

Message was edited by: Faubio.Alter  ..............If you want speed and some bugs and awkward navigation choose viewer 2. If you want features and some bugs and a spell checker choose phoenix.

[Baloo Uriza]

First off, thanks for Googling first to ensure this hasn't been beaten like a dead horse already.  Second, Imprudence.

[Clementine Lectar]

Thanks to those who were helpful. Looks like Phoenix is the way to go for an Emerald user.

[Clementine Lectar]

Baloo Uriza wrote:

 

First off, thanks for Googling first to ensure this hasn't been beaten like a dead horse already.  Second, Imprudence.

First off, bite me.

 

Second, bite me.

[Unklebob Hotaling]

"Thanks to those who were helpful.  Looks like Phoenix is the way to go for an Emerald user."

An fyi if you try Pheonix, like Emerald of old Pheonix have a support group inworld should you encounter problems of have questions.

As for the asking an oft-asked question... personally I've answered dozens of questions repeatedly, I've never been bothered by it including this one.  Besides the personal touch is much better than anything Google can offer so please, continue (and save the bites for someone who might appreciate them more lol)

[Baloo Uriza]

So, do your parents know you're misusing their computer?

[Stormm Firecaster]

I love Phoenix myself, runs exactly like Emerald and so far doesn't have the drama and secret keeping of Emerald.