I think I first discovered Process Lasso back around version 3. Often I've recommended the free version to friends as a means of getting things to run smoothly on their PCs & a number of those people subsequently bought Pro licenses.
This was back in the days of single core CPUs when Windows could run fearlessly amok with processes & resources & users could only sit & wait....
I won't spend much time on the specifics of the program as thats' the websites' function
http://bitsum.com/prolasso.php.
I will focus on my experience & the things that pretty much everyone asks about a product.
I guess the main questions for most people about Process Lasso are:-
Why do I want/need to use or buy this software? Also -
Does it actually do what it claims?& -
Is the support any good?I will add a perhaps less obvious question: -
What can you do with it?This latter question comes from my periodic need for analytical tools within the Windows environment.
Fundamentally I see Process Lasso as a little droid chasing Windows processes & beating them into line. R2D2 meet PL6.
This means I actually don't need to do much other than install it.
In this sense it is easy to 'fire & forget', maybe too easy as that can mean the user forgets how important Process Lasso is to the operating 'health' of the PC.
That pretty much answers the first 2 points - it makes the PC usable, if you want that, Process Lasso does it. It does it without any notable input from the user - Easy.
As to support: - on the User Forums, the support & attention of the developer is excellent as far as I'm concerned. When I think of the slow to arrive & generic responses I have received to queries to other software vendors & devs, Process Lasso also stands out.
No
'Try formatting your HDD' here, (I won't mention Steam Support), just a real understanding of the PCs internal workings & effort to resolve any issues.
(Surprisingly) Process Lasso has a great free version which will take care of most peoples needs forever, for free.
Historically I've often just installed that & let it get on with things in the background.
-Fast-forward to versions 4&5 & multiple cores. The biggest single issue I noticed was how Windows prioritized the 'wrong' processes & pushed resource allocation away from the extra cores that were now available.
Windows itself also seems to be a resource hog. I have often seen the OS quite determinedly take on resources it didn't need & just sit on them (as far as I was concerned).
Whilst Windows obviously requires resource access, equally obviously it cannot be optimized in the lab for every possible soft- / hard-ware configuration out in the wild. The consequence is an OS that isn't always friendly to the end-users' needs.
As an example - code written to run on a single core could benefit from not being forced to Core 0, where it inevitably bottle-necks with every other bit of software.
Take code written for a single core & Windows determination to push certain resources with certain priorities & you have a recipe for slow-downs & even freezes on new hardware.
The question I repeatedly asked was how can I make my stuff play together properly & use the 'redundant' cores?
Process Lasso has been & is a way of taking control back from the Windows OS.
I've realized I can use Process Lasso to directly out-maneuver problems.
In it's latest form it has more functionality & is slicker than ever & if you want you can do some interesting & useful things with it.
More than just seeing what's going on behind the scenes.
More than simply giving Windows the thrashing it so richly deserves.
I personally don't know how to manipulate Windows to behave as I would like in all cases. Even if it were possible for me to strictly script an environment, it would be time-consuming & probably never be dynamic enough to justify the effort.
Process Lasso, on the other hand, does. I can let it 'script' my resource environment on-the-fly. Furthermore I can interact with Process Lasso to structure that scripting operation to my needs of the moment. (But that is optional, as the Process Lasso droid is always on its'
A game.)
Windows has never allowed that kind of direct interaction or flexibility to the user AFAIK.
......But if it's free & it works why buy it? Isn't that just spoiling a win/win situation in a recession?Unlike many pieces of software where you don't get a choice, you just have to pay up & take pot-luck, Process Lasso has made me grateful for its' existence to such a degree that the only sensible option was to find the $s to buy it.
I bought a lifetime license because it not only made the new multi-core PC run properly, it has also helped solve what would have otherwise been mind-numbing & costly dead-ends. (i.e. Where existing software purchases would have ceased to be usable).
Additionally I don't want the developer to disappear/abandon the project for financial reasons, simply because I cannot foresee a time when I won't need PL.
What I characterize as the lateral logic that is applied by Bitsum to the Windows environment has given me tools to examine & manipulate what's going on 'under the hood'.
I can now make better assessment of my OS environment. Whether I need to trace & kill a malware process, crush an unruly exe or just give Windows a kick in the pants, Process Lasso helps me do it.
In my 15+ years experience of building & troubleshooting PCs, PCs old, new & virtual run better with Process Lasso.
As a test, I would ask people to use Process Lasso for a month or so & then uninstall it for at least a week to see what I'm talking about.
When you start asking why the PC isn't doing what it's told, ask yourself if you can afford
not to support Process Lassos continued existence...
You don't need to be a power user to appreciate Process Lasso, you just need to try being a happy user & see what that is worth.
