Which Front End fo you use?

[kelemvor]

For those of us that are new here, please post which front end you use and why.

I know there are dozens and dozens of front end and rather than try them all out, it'd be much easier if veterans could post what you use, why you use it, what it does that others don't, etc.

Or if there's a poll anywhere that people have recently voted on which front end they use, let me know and I can look at the data from that.

Thanks!

[markrvp]

This is probably the most popular question here.  Do a search on "best" and "favorite" front end and you will see several passionate arguments made for several.

Based on my observations here, the most popular three for Windows operating systems in no particular order are MameWah, AtomicFE, and GameEx.  I believe these to be the most popular because they look nice and also seem to be the best supported.

Probably in this thread there will be passionate arguments for at least a couple of others.  I have tried the three mentioned above as well as Ultrastyle which was my favorite because it looked neat and was incredibly easy to set up.  It is no longer supported, though, as of MAME version .103.

You will also see a popular answer that is:  you will have to try out a couple to determine which one best serves your purposes based on functionality and style.

I personally prefer Mame32 (watch the flames come out here) because it is the easiest to navigate a large number of games and make quick, on the fly, configuration changes to individual games without having to manually alter .cfg and .ini files.

[leapinlew]

This is probably the most popular question here.  Do a search on "best" and "favorite" front end and you will see several passionate arguments made for several.

Based on my observations here, the most popular three for Windows operating systems in no particular order are MameWah, AtomicFE, and GameEx.  I believe these to be the most popular because they look nice and also seem to be the best supported.

Probably in this thread there will be passionate arguments for at least a couple of others.  I have tried the three mentioned above as well as Ultrastyle which was my favorite because it looked neat and was incredibly easy to set up.  It is no longer supported, though, as of MAME version .103.

You will also see a popular answer that is:  you will have to try out a couple to determine which one best serves your purposes based on functionality and style.

I personally prefer Mame32 (watch the flames come out here) because it is the easiest to navigate a large number of games and make quick, on the fly, configuration changes to individual games without having to manually alter .cfg and .ini files.

You use Mame32? Tell me what all that involves. Just put a shortcut to mame32 in your startup folder? What I liked about mamewah is being able to create a filtered list of games from the control panel without getting out the mouse - is it the same with mame32?

[markrvp]

Mame32 is best used with a mouse/trackball.  You can easily create a Favorites list as well as lists by controller type, manufacturer, etc.  It looks like a Windows program and is not as pretty as the other FEs, but it's great for jumping around games or trying different settings.  I rarely use the other frontends when it's just me using the machine.

[kelemvor]

Where can you get Mame32?  Searching just takes me to fileplanet that says I have to sign up with them to download it.  Seems there's a lot of old versions floating around.

[markrvp]

You can also get most versions from Joymonkey's site:  http://www.joymonkey.com/modules.php?name=UpDownload&req=viewsdownload&sid=11

[danny_galaga]

mame32:

http://mame32qa.classicgaming.gamespy.com/

i like it on my pc because as markrvp says, you can adjust and check things in the menu. its also good for me on the pc because thats the first port of call for new games i get (just about to check out chiller as mentioned on another thread). it looks too wondowsy for a cab although thats what i have on my cab having NOW discovered a front end i can use.

[RayB]

MAME32 is the one to use on your every-day desktop PC.

I use GameLauncher for my DOS cabinet. (quickest and simplest DOS FE to set up)

[albarellij]

I personally use AdvanceMenu on my DOS machine, I haven't gotten into creating lists/filtering games, but it works and looks great, and not hard to tweak.

[Santoro]

Mamewah under Windows