Software-Today.com » Operating system

Speccy Review

tms2 — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:27:12 +0000

Speccy is a free tool that will inspect your computer configuration and give you information about the CPU, the hard drive, the optical drives, the RAM, the graphic card and other components of your hardware, as well as the installed operating system. This is very useful if you need to update your drivers, find out if you can add more RAM or replace any of your RAM chips and see if your computer meets the minimum requirements for running certain program or a game; advanced users or computer technicians can get other useful information such as CPU temperature, bus speed, BIOS brand and version, DRAM Frequency, etc.

Installation

The installation file is only 1 154KB and the installation process simple – the only options that you can change are the program’s shortcuts that you wish to add.

Ease of use

Speccy is extremely easy to use – as soon as you start the program, it will inspect your hardware in a matter of seconds and give you a summary of all the major components in your computer and the operating system installed.

If you need more information about any of the listed components, click on its link in the left pane and you will see all the information that Speccy has gathered.

You can choose to display or hide the navigation menu and you can also save and load a snapshot of your current computer configuration. The program displays the temperature of your hard drives and your CPU, including the average temperature and the temperature of each core if you have a dual processor. All this information can help you determine if you have any hardware problems, such as non-working CPU fan, and can save you countless online searches that you have to otherwise do in order to find out what make is one or other of your computer components. You can also install and run the program on a computer that you are about to purchase in order to find out if it has the hardware that the seller claims.

Speccy is a freeware and works on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista and Windows 7

[ Download Speccy now ]

FreeStudio Review

tms2 — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:15:08 +0000

Free studio is software pack that allows you to work with media files and convert from one video and audio file format to another; you can use some of the included applications to also burn DVDs and music CDs, download YouTube videos, extract the sound from YouTube videos in mp3 format, watch and listen to video and audio files on portable devices such as iPhone, iPod, PSP, Blackeberry and perform other many operations. The pack has more than 20 different tools and applications, which are designed to make working with different media files much easier.

Installation

Since the number of the bundled applications is quite large so is the installation file – over 31MB. The installation process is quite simple; keep in mind that the pack is bundled with a toolbar and will change your default search and home page unless you un-check these options.

Ease of use

When you launch the Free Studio manager you will find out that all the applications are conveniently divided into four large categories – Internet, DVD and Video, MP3 and audio, and CD/ DVD/ BD.

Click on each category to see what tools are hiding behind it and then launch an application by simply clicking on its icon.

All the tools in this pack have somewhat similar interface and are actually quite easy to use; the tools range from Video to Flash, Video to DVD, Video to iPhone and numerous other converters, DVD and Audio CD burners, Audio converter, Audio Dub, Audio CD to MP3 and other audio converters, as well as many YouTube specific tools. There is no help file included, so if you wish to find out how to use a specific tool, you should head over to the authors’ web site. All in all, this is one extremely useful multimedia pack that is likely to save you a lot of time searching for different video and audio converters or any of other of the free tools included.

FreeStudio is a freeware and works on computer running Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7

[ Download FreeStudio now ]

Awasu Personal Edition Review

tms2 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:04:23 +0000

If you are looking for a feature-rich, yet free RSS feed aggregator and news reader, then Awasu is just the tool for you – RSS feeds are offered by most of the leading online news, technology, sports and business web sites and blogs. Reading, searching, adding, synchronizing and archiving feeds, managing podcasts, and using channel plug-ins – these are some of the features offered by the Awasu Personal Edition and they are most likely more than enough for the average and the advanced news reader alike.

Installation

The installation file is 8 583KB and the installation process quite simple and quick – you have to agree to the terms, choose if you want a start-up folder created, and then finish the installation.

By default the help file is not included in the installation and has to be downloaded separately. Once downloaded you might have to unblock the file if you don’t see its content – right click on the awasu.chm file, choose properties and click the Unblock button if you run into that problem.

Ease of use

If you are familiar with other feed readers, then you shouldn’t have a problem finding your way around Awasu, however, the numerous advanced features and toolbars might be quite overwhelming for some users.

Adding a new feed is pretty straightforward – click New Channel from the File menu, type in or paste the channel’s url, edit the name and the description of the channel if you wish and finish the process.

The right-hand pane of the program provides shortcuts to the most common tasks such as adding new channel, searching for channels and organizing your favorite channels. Clicking on the Channels Pack link will let you browse some of the top feeds in a few major categories and let you quickly subscribe to the ones that appeal to you. The program supports shortcuts, the feeds are updated once an hour and can also be archived for a month; and if the online browser seems too small, when you read your favorite news feed, you can easily toggle between the normal and the full screen view.

Awasu Personal Edition is a freeware and works on Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7

[ Download Awasu Personal Edition now ]

Mikogo Review

tms2 — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:22:33 +0000

Mikogo is a cross-platform program that is extremely easy to use, simple, fast, and reliable and can help you run webinars, show presentations or offer remote support. Even for the everyday users this little tool is extremely helpful – if allows them to share their screens or send files, documents and songs to their friends, even if some of them are working on a Mac while others are running Windows. Mikogo is also speedy and very flexible – it allows for up to 10 people to participate in each session, the presenters can be changed on the fly, each session participant can choose which application running on his or her computer are visible to the others and which are not, and transmission can be paused at any time as well. Mikogo uses 256-Bit AES encryption, which makes the sessions extremely secure.

Installation

Mikogo comes in two different flavors – Mikogo starter and Mikogo participant; the former is used if you wish to initiate a session and the latter if you only want to join a session. Both files are small in size – the starter is 1,638KB and the participant 1,247KB. After one of these files is downloaded to your computer, double click it – Mikogo will start and you will see a small notification window.

Once you see Mikogo’s icon in your system tray you are ready to use it – no further configuration is necessary.

Ease of use

Mikogo is extremely simple to use – if you want to start a session simply right-click on the small system tray icon and choose that option, then enter your username, password, and your name and click the OK button.

If you wish to join a session type the session id and your name and that is it!

The program is highly configurable – open the settings window by right-clicking on the icon and selecting settings, then from the options tab change which application you would like to share with the other session participants, you can also change the quality vs speed settings and some of the start options.

Mikogo comes with a session scheduler, which allows you to edit, start and view your scheduled sessions and supports https, socks and web proxies.

Mikogo is a freeware and works on computers running Mac OS X and Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7

[ Download Mikogo now ]

FontFrenzy Review

tms2 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:22:17 +0000

If you are looking for a way to speed-up your computer without adding any new hardware, removing the unwanted fonts should be one of the few steps that you may want to try – each installed program might add new fonts to your system and inevitably slowing it down. Finding and removing these fonts one by one is a tedious task and this is where FontFrenzy comes into the picture – it will show you all the fonts, currently installed on your machine, and help you safely remove and backup the ones that have been installed after your original Windows installation – this results in faster boot-up and better general performance of your computer.

Installation

The installation file is only 480KB and the process extremely simple – just agree to the terms, press the next button, and you are done.

Ease of use

When you run FontFrenzy for a first time, you will see all the fonts that have been installed on your computer in the right pane of the program’s window – you can change the displayed font size by clicking on the drop-down menu in the right bottom of the program and change the displayed phrase by typing it in the left bottom corner.

Double-clicking on the font will bring up the font window and you can see all the characters that are supported by that particular font.

Although the interface is simple and intuitive, you might have to read the help file until you get used to the program: clicking on the DeFrenzy button will help you remove all fonts that have been added after the original installation of your operating system, FrenzySnap works much like creating a restore point for your fonts – you can use this feature if you want the program to remember the fonts installed before you remove some of them, and later on by using the ReFrenzy function you can bring your system to the point when the snap was taken. The FrenzyMan function works much like a font installation and removing wizard and makes any of these processes easy; it can also help you view the installed fonts in selected folder and subfolders.

The program doesn’t need any configuration at all – in fact, the only options that can be changed are the folders, where the removed fonts, the snaps and the logs are stored. FontFrenzy supports shortcuts and has a well-written help file; support is also offered by email and the author can be contacted by visiting his web site.

FontFrenzy is a freeware and works in Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7

[ Download FontFrenzy here ]

WinSCP Review

tms2 — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:27:21 +0000

WinSCP allows you safely transfer files to a remote computer; it uses SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) and SCP (Secure Copy) protocols and supports some of the most widely-used encryption algorithms such as Blowfish, AES, DES and 3DES as well as private keys. WinSCP also lets you perform all the file operations that you might ever need such as renaming, moving and copying files, changing file and folder properties, editing text files with the built-in text editor, and performing numerous additional operations locally or on the remote server. WinSCP also supports PuTTY and has been translated to several languages.

Installation

The installation file is 2,465KB and the wizard is pretty easy to use – during the installation you can choose one of the two available interfaces, but you can switch between these interfaces later on as well.

Ease of use

WinSCP allows you to choose between two different interfaces – Norton Commander and Explorer-like, and they are both quite simple to use. When you start WinSCP for a first time simply fill in the host name, the username and the password of the remote computer, choose the file transfer protocol from the drop-down menu, and use private key if you want to.

Once you connect to the remote computer you can browse the remote files and folders just like your local files and perform some basic file operations such as renaming files, creating new folders, uploading files from the local to the remote computer, assigning different priorities to the files and folders, move or duplicate them and you can also create your own custom commands. If you need to configure the application, simply select View and click Preferences – a new window opens and it allows you to customize WinSCP. The program supports shortcuts, drag and drop, command line operations, batch file scripting, has integrated text editor and can store your sessions. If you need help, you will find very well-written documentation on the product’s website and for further assistance you can also visit the support forum.

WinSCP is a freeware (open source) and works on Windows (All versions)

[ Download WinSCP now ]

eMule Review

tms2 — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:03:28 +0000

Peer-to-peer programs have made file sharing a breeze and right now one of the biggest and most robust one of them is eMule. It uses two networks – eDonkey and Kad, and doesn’t have one single centralized server, but connects to thousands of clients nodes, which makes eMule reliable and fast. It comes with reward system, which encourages uploading, handles well corrupted downloads and transmits the files in compressed format, which further increases its file-sharing speed. Since eMule is an open source project it comes in quite a few different flavors, called mods – this allows many developers to contribute to the improvement of the program and incorporate great features into the different mods.

Installation

The installation file is 3,274KB and once launched the Wizard will guide you through the installation process. When prompted to choose components leave the Take Ed2k-links option checked if you don’t have another eDonkey protocol file-sharing program installed; configure how you want the program to be shared amongst the other users (pay special attention to that screen if you are running Windows Vista) and finish the installation.

When you run the program for a first time, a Set-up wizard will help you configure the program; simply choose a username and you can leave the rest of the default options intact.

Ease of use

Even if you have never dealt with any file-sharing programs before, you can start using eMule right away – click the Connect button, wait a few seconds and you are ready to search for that hard to find file. And since millions of users are connected to each one of the networks at all times, you are likely to find anything that you search for; the most popular files will be shared by more online users, which will make their download faster, but eMule can help you find even rare gems. You can refine your search by file type, size, network, server, and extension.

Once you have examined the search results, right-click on the file of your choice if you want to download it. When you click the transfers’ button, you will see the files that you are currently uploading and downloading – again, right click on any of them for more options – you can pause, stop, resume and cancel any of the downloads, assign priorities, leave comments, examine the file’s details, etc. With the latest version you can choose to share a single file instead of whole directories, leave messages, and connect to IRC; there is also an automatic corrupt file’s recovery, statistics and new security features.

eMule is a freeware and works on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7

[ Download eMule now ]

IrfanView Review

tms2 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:14:59 +0000

Free, fast and simple image viewer and editor – this is what IrfanView is and what makes it one of the best and most widely used image applications out there. It has been around for years and each successive version continues to extend the program’s functionality, while keeping it compact and speedy; the latest release supports close to 60 image file formats, including BMP, JPEG, GIF, ICO, JLS and WBZ/WBC/WB1, offers region capture, command line options, batch renaming and resizing, thumbnail options, color profiles, file search, drag and drop, and has Multilanguage support; if you need even more features more than 50 plug-ins can be downloaded from the author’s website separately or in a single ZIP or EXE file.

Installation

The installation file is 1.3MB and the installation wizard will guide you through the process – all you have to do is select the files that you wish to be associated with IrfanView; the image editor is bundled with three Google applications – if you don’t want them installed, simply deselect that option.

Ease of use

The interface is simple and easy to use; keep in mind that IrfanView is a viewer rather than editor – it offers a few basic image editing options such as rotating, vertical and horizontal flipping, resizing, increasing/decreasing color depth, sharpening and some image effects, however, where the strength of IrfanView lies is the number of file formats that it supports, its ability to index images inside directories with great speed, display thumbnails, sort images by date, batch rename, resize and even print images. The help file is very detailed and well-written and should answer all your questions; IrfanView supports shortcuts, various plug-ins that allow you to extend its functionality and burn images to disk, play media files, read files with Unicode, send images as emails, read BodyPaint 3D files, create slideshows and more. The application is extremely compact and lightweight and uses minimal system resources.

IrfanView is free for personal use and works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7

[ Download IrfanView now ]

Ninite Review

tms2 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:31:51 +0000

If you want to install some of the best free Windows applications in a matter of minutes, then Ninite is all you need. It is an online “batch installer,” which allows the end user to get his or her hands on the latest versions of the most popular browsers, messengers, image editors, office tools, file sharing and other utilities. The process is quite simple and straightforward – you don’t need to register, create an account, or go through any other hoops – point, click, install and you are done. If you are thinking of upgrading to Windows 7 or just reformatted you hard drive, then Ninite can come in handy and save you a lot of time – with close to 60 applications in more than 10 categories, it will help you populate your computer with the latest freeware and shareware programs.

Installation

Ninite is an online service and no installation per se is required. In order to start using Ninite, simply go to the website, choose the applications that you wish to install and click the get installer button. The installer that gets downloaded will only install the programs that you have chosen and nothing else.

Ease of use

The Ninite service is extremely easy to use – navigate to Ninie’s website, select the programs and tools that you want to install, click the green Get installer button and download the file. Then simply double click on it and your programs will begin installing – you don’t have to change any settings during that installation, Ninite will choose the default settings for the applications and will remove all the adware and toolbars that might be bundled with some of them. Even if you select a dozen applications, all of them will be quietly installed in the background, without any interruption. Ninite leaves no footprints on your computer whatsoever – it doesn’t install any other programs apart from the ones that you have selected yourself.

Ninite is free and works on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7

[ Go to Ninite's website now ]

KMPlayer Review

tms2 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:24:09 +0000

When it comes to media players that are feature-rich, easy to use, and conflict-free, KMPlayer is without a doubt one of the best. If all you want is to enjoy watching movies or listen to your audio files, you will most likely never have to change any of the default settings – simply run the player, open your files and enjoy. However, the more advanced users will find anything that they need as well – KMPlayer supports plugins, internal and external filters, various subtitles (including text to speech for reading subtitles), and most of the media file formats such as VCD, DVD, AVI, MKV, Ogg Theora, OGM, 3GP, MPEG-1/2/4, WMV, RealMedia, and QuickTime amongst others.

Installation

The installation process is standard – download the installer, launch it, select or deselect a few options, and finish the installation wizard; keep in mind that by default the installation is bundled with a toolbar and is also changing your default browser search options: you might want to un-check that option before clicking the Finish button. When you run the player for a first time a set-up wizard will help you configure the application: you can opt to leave the default or current settings, as well as make some changes.

Ease of use

Despite the lack of any tutorials or help files, most users won’t have a problem finding their way around. To open a file right click and click the top option, if you want to add a folder click on the add folder button, managing your playlists is done via a playlists editor, which you can bring up by pressing Alt+E, and so on. KMPlayer plays almost all known media files from the most common ones to formats that are rarely used, the video and audio quality are great and the program uses minimal system resources. It also handles wide range of subtitle formats, can play damaged avi files, allows you to slow down playback, and offers various skins and color schemes.

KMPlayer is a freeware and works on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7

[ Download KMPlayer now ]

Freelang Review

tms2 — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:11:32 +0000

Freelang is extremely useful, simple, lightweight, easy to use and excellent little tool that can help you immensely if you are trying to learn a foreign language. It can be used as a dictionary and also allows you to create your own practice lists; at the time of this writing Freelang offers no less than 247 language wordlists.

Installation

The installation file is tiny – 446KB for the American English file and the installation is very simple – choose a language and click the next button a few times. The confusing part is that in order to run the application you have to download and install a word list as well and finding any of these two files on the freelang’s website is not as easy as you might think. You should also make sure that the two programs are installed in the same directory and remember that directory if you opted not to create a desktop icon or a startup folder.

Ease of use

Launch the program by double clicking on the application or your desktop shortcut and the program’s Windows will help you practice your foreign language skills by looking up words, creating practice lists so you can learn the new words at your own pace, you can also add and remove words. He programs allows you to add as many language lists as you wish and the number of supported language is pretty impressive. If you want to switch between lists simply click the Language option from the menu and change the language that you wish to explore. There is a help file included as well, which will help you start using Freelang in case you need assistance.

Finding the meaning of a word is as simple as clicking on the Search button and typing the word in the search field and you will see the corresponding translation in the right pane. The search windows is customizable as well – you can change the number of lines displayed and turn the automatic clipboard search on or off.

If you need to type a special character, not available on your keyboard, turn the character set on, choose the character that you wish to type and it will appear in the search box.

Freelang is a freeware and runs on Windows All

[ Download Freelang now ]

Miro Review

tms2 — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:02:52 +0000

Miro is a cross-platform, open source software that provides you with a free high definition media player and video podcast manager. It allows you to search for video files on the most popular movie sharing sites, organize your local media files into libraries, subscribe to audio and video feeds, build playlists, and get access to legal torrents.

Installation

The installation file is 28 090KB and the installation is done in just a few easy steps: fist you have to select the default language, then either choose easy or custom install, with the latter allowing you to choose the files that Miro will handle, and the last step is agreeing to the terms and conditions and leaving the “make Ask.com the default search” option selected and agreeing to install the Ask.com toolbar. After you have installed Miro, you will have to set it up: choose if you want Miro to run every time you boot-up and if you want Miro to find all media files on your hard drive; after that you can start using the application.

Ease of use

The application is easy to use and navigate; on your left you will find all the buttons and access all the functions of the Miro guide – you can search for media files and legal torrents, add or remove video and music files to your library, subscribe to podcasts, etc. Although the creators of the application intended to make watching online videos as easy as turning on your TV, we found out that this is not exactly the case – the search is very slow at times and there is no progress bar that indicates that the applications is actually performing any operation, the videos cannot be streamed, but have to actually be downloaded before you can watch them, and the online Miro audio guide requires registration, which is also quite frustrating.

You can easily configure and customize Miro – click File from the menu, then Options and after that open any of the six available tabs if you want to change the default settings.

Miro is a freeware and runs on works on Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, OSX and Ubuntu

[ Download Miro now ]

Virtual CloneDrive Review

tms2 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:55:57 +0000

Virtual CloneDrive allows you to create up to eight virtual drives, which you can use just as your physical CD or DVD drives. This gives the option to open, browse and use compressed image files “on the fly,” without having to decompress them to your hard drive first. The supported image file formats are ISO, BIN, and CCD and they can reside on the hard drive or a network drive. The speed of this free application is quite impressive and Virtual CloneDrive is also extremely easy to use.

Installation

The installation file is 1 516KB; during the installation you will be prompted to select the files that you want to be associated with Virtual CloneDrive and if you don’t have similar software already installed simply select all file formats. You will also get a prompt from Windows, warning you that a component is not certified and asking you to allow the program to install it on your computer – agree and continue with the installation.

Ease of use

Once installed, you don’t have to set up Virtual CloneDrive – it has a very simplified interface and the only option that might confuse you is the “virtual sheep” option – selecting it will simply mark your virtual drives with the sheep icon, so you can easily distinguish them from your real, physical drives.

From a drop-down menu you can select the number of virtual drives that you wish to create or completely disable Virtual CloneDrive. Once you create one or more virtual drives, they will appear in Windows Explorer right next to your physical drives and right-clicking on them will present you with number of options such as mounting an image, inspecting the virtual drive used and free space, share the virtual drive, etc.

If you have the “show tray icon” option checked, then you will see a small disk icon in your systray and right clicking on it will show you all the virtual drives that you have created and let you mount images on each one of them.

Virtual CloneDrive is a freeware and works on Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7

[ Download Virtual CloneDrive now ]

Winamp Review

tms2 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:49:31 +0000

Winamp is by far one of the most popular media players, downloaded by millions of users Worldwide. It can playback all popular media file types, comes with built-in equalizer, the sound quality is good, can be expanded with the help of the countless plug-ins and allows you to easily save and organize your playlists. The latest release comes with portable device sync support, more language packs, support for classic and modern skins, iTunes library import and other exciting features.

Installation

The installation file is 13 396KB and the installation process is easy and straightforward; you can inspect the application’s features and decide which ones of them you need and which ones you wish to omit. The latest bundled version comes with Wnamp toolbar, Winamp Search as default search, and free 50 Mp3 and one audiobook downloads (registration required).

When you run Winamp for a first time a Setup wizard will ask you to choose a skin, the media files that you want to be associated with Winamp, select some or all of the featured services and will give you the option to provide feedback (you can skip the last step entirely). Once you are done, you can start adding your MP3 or other media files to your new player and familiarize yourself with the application.

Ease of use

Once you have Winamp up and running, you might get intimidated by all its features, buttons, panels, and menus. However, it shouldn’t take you more than a minute to figure out how to add and play your favorite mp3 songs or how to use the online services such as Shoutcast radio and TV, AOL radio, Winamp charts or MP3 of the day.

Winamp is highly configurable and allows you to either run it in “shadow mode,” pin it to the taskbar or the systray, change its skins, install different plug-ins, enable or disable notification and different effects, and configure multitude of other options.

Winamp offers three different free packages and a Pro version, which comes with unrestricted CD burning, MP3 encoding and High Quality AACPlus Encoding.

Winamp runs on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7

[ Download Winamp now ]

Google Desktop Review

tms2 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:37:13 +0000

If you want to find any files or emails on your hard drive, search the Web, add an extra level of security to your computer and get a number of free gadgets such as Calendar, Google Docs, Youtube and Gmail, News, Weather, then you would love Google Desktop. It brings you a lot of useful little applications, it is extremely easy to use, surprisingly lightweight and not to mention free.

Installation

The setup file is tiny – 1 968 KB and the installation is quite easy – you can add or leave out some of the options and in less than a minute you will have Google Desktop running on your computer.

Ease of use

Once installed, Google Desktop appears as a side bar on the right hand side of your desktop, but you can dock it to the left as well, or switch its appearance to deskbar or floating deskbar. Right clicking on the sidebar gives you access to all the operations that you might wish to perform as well as the options that you might want to change.

The interface is pretty easy to use – you can search Google right from the sidebar – simply type in the search phrase and press Enter and this will open your default browser with your Google search. You can also add or remove gadgets, configure some of them, turn notifications on or off, write notes that will be automatically saved, etc.

Right clicking on the sidebar and selecting Add gadgets opens a new window with various recommended or Google created gadgets as well as gadgets in different categories such as News, Sports, Technology, Finance and other groups of interest. If you want to use your entire desktop you can minimize the sidebar with a simple click and then bring it back up by right-clicking on the Google Desktop systray icon and selecting the Sidebar option. Google Desktop allows you to change and save your search preferences, your Google account features, and the display options.

Google Desktop is a freeware and runs on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7

[ Download Google Desktop now ]