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Best of the Web 2006
Our Favorite Software Discoveries

FileMenu Tools: Customize Windows Explorer's Context Menu - Freeware

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I don't know about your's, but I can tell you my context menus could definitely use some tweaking.  Freeware.

FileMenu Tools lets customize the context menu of the Windows Explorer. It lets configure the following aspects:

    * Add some build-in utilities in order to do operations over files and folders.
    * Add customized commands which let run external applications, copy/move to a specific
       folder or delete specific file types.
    * Configure the "Send to..." submenu.
    * Enable/disable the commands which are added by other applications to the context menu.

http://www.lopesoft....en/fmtools/info.html


Eyecandy - Visual Task Tips

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here's a cool eye-candy, Visual Task Tips... works just nice out of the box but there's no configurable options.

Visual Task Tips is a lightweight shell enhancement utility. It provides thumbnail preview image for each task in the Windows Taskbar, like in the upcoming Microsoft Windows Vista. NOTE: Windows XP required to run Visual Task Tips.....(free)..
-ShellCity.net




VicMan Software Now Offering Their Programs as Freeware

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Today VicMan Software announces that all graphics software developed by our company goes free. We are happy to let you enjoy all the benefits of our software for free - as a gift for Christmas and New Year. Edit your holiday photos, show them off in amazing 3D galleries, enhance your creativity with our software, which is free from now on!

We invite you to experience the advantages of famous VCW VicMan’s Photo Editor Pro, easy-to-use Photo Toolkit, superb My Pictures 3D Album and other products free of charge and encourage you to download and install their fully functional versions. All products listed at our web site www.vicman.net are pure freeware, contain no ads and may be used without limitations. 

VicMan team re-focused efforts around web projects, and the first of them is considered to be announced shortly. Our registered users get a special bonus – the free accounts for the web services mentioned above.
...

A partial list of software on the site includes: Photo Toolkit, My Pictures 3D Screensaver, My Pictures 3D Album, Red Eye Remover Pro. Mobile Photo Enhancer, VicMan's Photo Editor, Color Correction Wizard, Cartoonist, Red Eye Remover, Jpeg Enhancer, Light Artist

http://vicman.net

Thank you VicMan Software for generously offering your software as freeware. I hope that your venture into web-projects is extremely sucessful!
discovered on alt.comp.freeware
(read 2 comments)

Good programs for helping you manage what programs start with windows?

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I know we've talked about this before, but a post here:
https://www.donation...tion=profile;u=33550
got me wondering if there were any novice-friendly tools to really help you add a new program to run at startup, in a safe and simple way without having to be a pro windows user.

Continue reading the rest of the entry and discuss..


Some great freeware from MediaChance - incl. multimon taskbar tool

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Allen just pointed us to a unique and really nice renamer tool (Oscar's Renamer) on this thread:
https://www.donation...index.php?topic=1146

When i got there i noticed that the author of dvd-lab (powerful dvd authoring app) has a bunch of nice looking freeware: http://www.mediachan....com/free/index.html

one really caught my eye:
Oscar's Multimonitor Taskbar: http://www.mediachan...om/free/multimon.htm
this looks like a lite version of the very nice and powerful (but not cheap) UltraMon (http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/).


A beginner's guide to customization, skinning, and shell replacements

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Here's a fantastic site to browse if you're interested in customizing your desktop


Read the article on desktop customization..




Good Logo Creation Tools?

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I thought people might post some good Logo making tools..

Here's one mentioned today on http://www.larkware.com/:
GreenBox Logo Creator - http://www.studio-v5...m/greenbox/index.htm
And a well known one, LaughingBird The Logo Creator 5 - http://www.thelogocreator.com/

Continure reading what others suggest..


Motherboard Monitor, or Something Else?

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I've been using Motherboard Monitor (http://mbm.livewiredev.com/) in my system tray to monitor cpu temperature.

Does anyone else have an alternative they thing is better?  I just want it in the tray, not taking up space on my screen.  My main concern is cpu temperature but i wouldn't mind options to display other stuff like hd temps.  Should be very light on cpu resources.

Read what users recommend (Speedfan and others)..


Cool Open Source file-sharing app: HTTP File Server (HFS)

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HFS, HTTP File Server is file sharing software which allows you to send and receive files, very much like a webserver (only it doesn't host websites). You can limit this sharing to just a few friends, or be open to the whole world. HFS is different from classic file sharing because there is no network. HFS is a web server which uses web technology to be more compatible with today's Internet. Since it is actually a web server, your friends can download files as if they were downloading from a website using a web browser, such as Internet Explorer or Firefox. Your users don't have to install any new software. HFS lets you share your files.


Enter TiddlyWiki

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For note taking, I've been a devoted user of KeyNote for years. But recently, I found a new tool that definitely became my new choice. Before I go on I must say that this is no ordinary app, and that for making the most of it, you must be some sort of a power user. Web developers will feel right at home. But once you understand the logic, it is really really powerful.

TiddlyWiki is a web application, but not in the traditional server-browser approach. It is a web page that, using modern techniques, makes for the whole application: user interface, logic and data repository. That is, you only need to carry around the web page to have your note taking system with you. It is perfectly suited for carrying in your usb memory drive. You authorize writing to disk once (I didn't know this could be done, and I am into web development) and up you go.

TiddlyWiki: http://www.tiddlywiki.com


Vasilios Freeware

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Vasilios Freeware Applications

some really nice stuff there, index here:


I'm always constructing applications that are useful for my programming jobs. When I think that some of them can be helpful to someone else, I beautify them and I publish them.
Until 2004, I was constructing applications with an interface, tooltips and help files in my native language (Greek) that they were publishing in my country's Computer Magazines and they were offered from Greek Downloading Portals.This year I decided to turn worldwide.
I believe in Freeware for all, that's why you will find here only that kind of Applications .
Hoping that I've helped you somehow,


Office Tools and a Music Player - Right in your Browser?!

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here's an Ajax-based office suite that runs directly in your browser

ajaxWrite is a web-based word processor that can read and write Microsoft Word and other open standard document formats. With the look and feel similar to Microsoft Word, ajaxWrite provides a powerful yet familiar and easy-to-use word processing environment ... ajaxSketch is a web-based drawing tool that handles the SVG format natively. With a familiar drawing interface, ajaxSketch allows you to create and edit complex SVG images that are easily imported into Microsoft Visio, Adobe Illustrator, Inksape, Macromedia Freehand, and other SVG capable programs ... The ajaxXLS viewer and editor allow you to create and edit Microsoft Excel and OpenOffice spreadsheets. The ajaxXLS familiar and easy-to-use interface allows you to handle all your basic spreadsheet needs directly from your browser ...

http://us.ajax13.com/en/products.jsp


Software to help you quit smoking?

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I have never smoked, but i came across this freeware program while browsing the author's free programming components.
Anyone know any other quit-smoking helper programs for those that need them? Anyone tried one? Did it help you?

http://www.xarka.com/freeware/index.html

Quit Counter v1.2
Utility to help quit cigarette smoking. Keeps track of various statistics, friends and also congratulates the user with many different graphics on reaching various milestones. Can also copy statistics to the clipboard.

All texts and milestones can be customized.

If you smoke, read the texts at the site below.

You will see that you can stop smoking without magic and money with the simplest method - cold turkey!

WhyQuit is a valuable resource for education and motivation when quiting smoking and staying quit. Because smoking is not just a bad habit, but an addiction to the drug - nicotine.


KnowledgebasePublisher v2.0 - Nice CMS Software for Hierarchical Articles

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Our very own Chris Hanscom (veign) has been blogging away like a mad man lately, and I just noticed his entry praising this open source content management tool for faqs and other hierarchical information called KnowledgebasePublisher. Really looks sweet.

KnowledgebasePublisher is an opensource knowledge base software, FAQ software, or just content manager about any other type of article that you want to publish on your website. It's so easy to use that you can be managing knowledgebase on your website right from your own web browser.

The KnowledgebasePublisher allows a content administrator in your company to easily add/edit/delete and post current information to your website at any time, day or night.

http://kbpublisher.sourceforge.net/


musikCube 1.0 Final Released

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musikCube is an mp3 player for the modern generation. It helps you just listen to what you want to hear, while offering innovative features not seen elsewhere. For the technical user, musikCube is based on an embedded SQL database engine known as sqlite. For the non technical user, that means its fast. Really fast. "Dynamic playlists" allow fully automatic, randomized playback of songs based on your observed listening habits. The more you listen, the smarter it gets. It also features browsable, user reorderable playlists.

http://www.musikcube.com/

musikCube is an open source grid-centric media player that has received a lot of attention on the DonationCoder.com forums and is a fantasticly clean program designed for those who like organization above appearance.

Process Monitor from MS+SysInternals (evolved from Regmon+Filemon)

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Process Monitor is an advanced monitoring tool for Windows that shows real-time file system, Registry and process/thread activity. It combines the features of two legacy Sysinternals utilities, Filemon and Regmon, and adds an extensive list of enhancements including rich and non-destructive filtering, comprehensive event properties such session IDs and user names, reliable process information, full thread stacks with integrated symbol support for each operation, simultaneous logging to a file, and much more. Its uniquely powerful features will make Process Monitor a core utility in your system troubleshooting and malware hunting toolkit.


Visit homepage and download


This is a must have tool for those who have used SysInternals Regmon or Filemon: Process Monitor from MS (developed by sysinterals people i think after they joined MS).

Global Spell Check Tool Wanted

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A member on our forum asks:

I would like a program to check the text I type in every application (text editor, web browser, etc) and to be able to include/exclude applications

I want to check the spelling and either correct it on-the-fly, or the program to suggest me about possible corrections (with a nice dropdown menu or something)
...
I want to type something and the program to autocomplete the words I begin to type like OpenOffice does (openoffice's is nice, if there is anything better it would be ok) autocomplete should monitor the most frequently used words in the specific document and suggest them first or globally (in all documents) monitor most frequently used words..

Read what people on the forum suggest..


Best Auto-complete Intelli-sense type utility ?

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I have never really used these types of apps before but have heard some good things about how they can save me a lot of time when writing e-mails, coding etc. I've found a few apps which look OK and wanted to get people's opinions on which one is best and why.

The apps I've found are..

Continue reading the rest of the entry and discuss..


Free 3D Box Shot Makers

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3D Box Shot Maker is an easy and FREE tool to virtually desgin quality box shot as your software box cover. An impressive box shot will make your software outstanding, and easily defeat your competitors at the start.

http://www.bosseye.c...xshot/screenshot.htm

Continue reading about other 3d box shot makers..

discovered on FreewareWorldTeam
(read 16 comments)

Mp3 catalog/database programs

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I know we had previous discussions about the best mp3 tag/renamer previously, so here is a complementary topic: Good mp3 catalog programs. 

Continue reading the rest of the entry and discuss..


12 Windows Explorer Alternatives Compared

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Windows Explorer, the default file manager for Microsoft Windows, hasn’t really changed all that much over the years. Below you’ll find reviews, screenshots and links to download 12 different alternatives..

Read full review on simplehelp.net

People have been waiting for us to do a big comparison review of windows explorer alternatives; this is a very nice comparison of many of the best.
discovered on Veign's Blog: http://www.veign.com/blog/
(read 84 comments)

JackAss JoeJoe's Freeware Utilities - Nice Collection

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The programs are donationware so if you like his stuff, send him a donation!

JackAss JoeJoe's Freeware Utilities

http://www.joejoesoft.com

See: Arsclip (clipboard tool), Rename Master, StartRight (paces startup programs).  And check out the Beta section.

We've actually mentioned invididual programs from this site before on the form (here and here), but i think the site+author are worth a post by itself.

Screensaver Maker Recommendations?

I'd like to ask for some recommendations for programs that can be used to make screensavers from your images..

Requirements:
  • It doesnt have to be free, but it cant be over $30 or so.
  • It must support multiple monitors
  • It must be capable of building a nice installer that can be shared with others.

If you want to skip to the chase here is the one I went with (gphotoshow) and two others I liked: https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=6035.0

Read what members on the forum suggest..


Jinzora, Songbird, and more

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Jinzora enables you to stream your digital music and videos to any internet connected computer using a web browser.

Streaming your media with Jinzora gives you quick and easy access to your online music collection from any internet connected computer. Have a large CD or mp3 collection? Use Jinzora to organize and then access your collection from anywhere. Want to play your digital music on your home stereo? Connect your pc to your home stereo and use the Jukebox features of Jinzora to play your music. Play in a band? Use Jinzora to share your music with the world.

Jinzora: http://www.jinzora.com/

Also getting tons of attention lately is the jukebox with web functionality:
Songbird: http://www.songbirdnest.com/

Continue reading the rest of the entry and discuss..


Pligg.com - An Open Source CMS for Creating Digg-like Sites

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As I understand it, Pligg is an open source CMS designed to provide your site with Digg-like features. Looks quite interesting and while still in beta, sure seems to be getting some notice.

Pligg's Web 2.0 user interface gives your visitors a reason to come back to your site by making them decide on the site's content and giving them the chance to social network. By giving users the ability to collaboratively submit and dismiss articles, you are offering an experience that users are happy to take part in on a daily basis.

http://pligg.com/


What slows Windows down? See for yourself....

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Results and Conclusions

So between the last page and what's about to come, there has been hours of gruelling testing going on. Believe me when I say that 8 hours of watching a virtual machine restart is not my idea of fun, but I think the results justify the means....

http://www.thepcspy....slows_windows_down/3


Subsonic and VibeStreamer: Free web-based personal media (mp3) streamers/servers

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Here's a few mp3 servers for your home computer to give you access to your music from another computer.

Subsonic is a free, web-based media streamer, providing access to your entire music collection wherever you are. Use it to share your music with friends, or to listen to your own music while at work. You can stream to multiple players simultaneously, for instance to one player in your kitchen and another in your living room.
...
Subsonic works with most operating systems, including Windows, Linux, Mac and Solaris.

Subsonic: http://subsonic.sourceforge.net/
Vibe streamer: http://www.vibestreamer.com/


bCheck: a site of several useful freeware applications

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Some unique very small freeware utilties for windows including Purrint, Capster, Reso, IECrap, DevMgr, and more. Check them out for yourself!

Apps from your close personal friend, bCheck. These are all MS Windows apps, they have zero dependencies and are as small as I could get 'em. Source is supplied for most. Feel free to send me suggestions and donations to inspire me to continue.

http://www.bcheck.net/apps/


Virtual Window Managers

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As many of you know, I use and love PowerPro, a powerful little program which can do many many (almost too many) things one of which is Virtual Desktop Management. Dissatisfied with PP's VDM, and addicted to those little pager thingies you get with most Linux window managers, I searched for and tested many Windows versions of these sorts of apps and finally settled on one.

Read the full mini review..


Ninotech Free Context Menu Tools

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Carol Haynes recently reminded me of Ninotech Copy Path, a very nice shell extension to copy paths's from explorer to the clipboard in various formats, and i know KenR was looking for a file date/time modifier, which Ninotech also makes (Ninotech Date Edit), so this seemed like a good time to post about the very profession tools at Ninotech.

http://home.worldonl...inotech/freeutil.htm


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