(originally published by New Zeland -PC World)
Once upon a time you actually had to pay for great software and services – hard to believe, but true.
Luckily, we no longer live in that world. The internet is stuffed with great downloads and websites offering free software and services of every kind. Want to tune up your PC, keep it safe, create graphics, or back up your system with gobs of free storage space? You can find free software and sites to do all that, and plenty more.
We revved up our modem and searched for the most intriguing free offerings out there. After we took each download or service for a test-drive, we picked the very best, and came up with the following list of 101 great freebies.
Desktop SearchWINNER Google Desktop (
desktop.google.com) Google has done more than just conquer the internet – with Google Desktop, it has conquered your PC as well. The program brings the same kind of fast, accurate searching to your desktop that Google does to the web. It searches as you type, and displays the results in your browser. One nice touch: when the program is installed and you search via the Google website, the results will also include those from your computer.
PC World reader panellist Vaughan Hunt says Google Desktop is his hands-down favourite free productivity application. “It’s totally changed how I process email,” he says. “No wonder Google is now the best brand on earth.”
Copernic Desktop Search (
www.copernic.com) With an interface designed for your PC rather than for the web, this search tool may be the easiest to use.
Windows Desktop Search (
www.microsoft.com/windows/desktopsearch) One big benefit of Microsoft’s desktop search program is its integration with both Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express email.
Yahoo Desktop Search (
desktop.yahoo.com) Among the better features of this offering: file viewers that let you preview files with all formatting intact.
Windows XP Tweaks WINNER Fresh UI (
www.freshdevices.com) Fresh UI is a tweaker’s heaven. With it you can change scores of settings in XP, many of which you probably never knew existed. Want to alter most any aspect of the Windows interface? Go ahead. Customise the Start menu? No problem. Change global menu settings and dozens of network and internet settings? You can do them all, and a whole lot more.
Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP (
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/ downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx) Who says Microsoft can’t write great software? These easy-to-use tweaking tools allow you to customise XP in countless ways.
Tweak and Tune (
www.acelogix.com/freeware.html) This freebie doesn’t have as many options and tools as Fresh UI does, but it’s simple to use and well laid-out.
Windows Vista Tweaks WINNER TweakVI Basic (
www.totalidea.com) If you want to do some serious Windows Vista tweaking, you need this utility. Microsoft seems to have gone out of its way to make Vista unfriendly to power users. But this great freebie gives you hundreds of ways to adjust the operating system, tasks that otherwise would be extremely difficult to do. Whether you want to, say, hack the Start menu, put an image on Internet Explorer’s toolbar, or optimise your CPU’s cache, this program has something for you.
VistaBootPRO (
www.vistabootpro.org) Want to change how Windows Vista boots? Ordinarily you’d have to learn the ins and outs of the incomprehensible BCDEdit command-line tool. But this simple, graphical program lets you master Vista’s boot-up and start-up without ever touching the dreaded BCDEdit.
Easy BCD (
neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1) Another BCD editor, this one is great for setting up a machine with Vista and other operating systems, such as Linux or XP.
Instant Messaging, Voice and Video WINNER Meebo (
www.meebo.com) How can you be in two or more places at once – that is, use multiple instant messaging services simultaneously? Use Meebo. It lets you log in simultaneously to seven instant messaging services, namely AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN Live Messenger, Yahoo Instant Messenger and Meebo’s own network. You see all your contacts in a single list, and you can correspond with them all from a single interface. It’s perfect for instant messaging on the road, since you don’t need to download a client; everything is available on Meebo’s website.
Jajah (
www.jajah.com) Use this website to make local, long-distance and international calls using your existing landline phone, for free. The catch: both your phone number and the one you’re calling must be registered with Jajah, and Jajah users are limited to 30 minutes of talk time a day. Just type in your phone number plus the number you’re calling, and your phone will ring. Pick it up, and you make a connection to the other party.
Skype (
www.skype.com) Phone other Skype members free, enjoy video calls and make cheap international calls.
Gizmo (
www.gizmoproject.com) With this service you can make free calls to Google Talk, Windows Live or Yahoo Messenger users, as well as to other Gizmo users, of course.
Yahoo Messenger (messenger.yahoo.com) This IM tool is almost as popular as Windows Live Messenger, particularly for its group videoconferencing, emoticons and sounds.
Trillian (
www.ceruleanstudios.com) Like Meebo, Trillian lets you log in to multiple instant messaging systems simultaneously. The difference is that it’s a download, not a website.
Pidgin (
www.pidgin.im) This open-source instant messaging program for Windows and Linux lets you log in to and communicate on multiple IM networks, including AIM, ICQ, IRC, Jabber, MSN Messenger, Yahoo and more.
Google Talk (
www.google.com/talk) Though Google Talk doesn’t have the big installed base of other instant messaging systems, its clean, simple interface and voice features make it a good choice.
Security Software WINNER Avast (
www.avast.com) In a world filled with high-priced subscription-based antivirus programs that bog down your PC while protecting it, Avast stands out. This program is one of the few free antivirus applications that do as good a job as any of the big boys. Avast includes more than seven different varieties of shields, safe-surfing tools and real-time virus protection for your OS, as well as for Outlook. Reader panelist John Van Dam says: “It’s uncomplicated and quite happy to run in the background without nagging me to allow it to update and install files.” The program downloads and installs updates automatically, and Avast works with both Windows Vista and XP. Why pay?
ZoneAlarm (
www.zonealarm.com) This free firewall still beats anything Microsoft puts into Windows, including the features in Windows Vista. It offers outbound as well as inbound protection.
AVG Anti-Virus Free (
free.grisoft.com) Protecting against viruses and hackers, this app works with both Windows Vista and earlier versions. “It’s easy to use, gets the job done efficiently and quickly and offers regular free updates, says
PC World reader panellist Nisha Jeyaseelan.
SMAC (
www.klcconsulting.net/smac) This utility lets you change the MAC address – the unique ID – of a wireless adapter. Use it to perform vulnerability testing, or to keep your identity private.
Microsoft Windows Defender (
www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spy
ware/software/default.mspx)
Though not everyone is a fan of Microsoft’s antispyware program, we love some of its tools. We’re particularly fond of the Software Explorer feature, which lets you disable programs that launch on Windows startup.
Spybot Search & Destroy (
www.safer-networking.org) We still adore this perennial favourite. But remember – since no single antispyware program can detect and kill all spyware, Spybot should be just one piece of your security arsenal.
Entertainment Software WINNER VLC Media Player (
www.videolan.org/vlc) If you play a lot of video and use Windows Media Player, you’ve probably come across a number of files that you can’t play – you’re told you need to have a codec to handle them. Good luck finding that codec. Instead, try the VLC media player. This software plays pretty much every media type you can think of – and likely a few you haven’t imagined. Not only will it play audio and video formats, but it will also play DVDs, VCDs and many streaming protocols.
iTunes (
www.itunes.com) Perennially popular as an audio organiser for iPod users, iTunes became even more attractive following the launch of its New Zealand iTunes Store in December last year. Apple and EMI’s April announcement that we’ll soon be able to buy DRM-free music from the store was yet more happy news.
Foobar2000 (
www.foobar2000.org) This straight forward audio player won’t take up much RAM or system resources, and plays a wide variety of audio formats.
Image Editing WINNER Google Picasa (
picasa.google.com) Why spend several hundred dollars for graphics software when you can use the top-notch free app Google Picasa? This photo editing and sharing program from Google is a big hit. Its intuitive interface and organisational capabilities make it a breeze to find and edit pictures. It’s also handy for creating slide shows, screen savers and wallpaper.
Snapfire (
www.snapfire.com) SnapFire juggles all your image editing, management, and sharing tasks with ease.
Irfanview (www.irfanview.com) This one has been around a while, but it’s still one of the best free image viewers for just about any file type, showing detailed information about images, helping you create slide shows, and performing tasks like eliminating red-eye.
StudioLine Photo Basic (
www.studioline.biz/EN/products/overview-photo-basic) Here’s a great program for archiving photos and for organising your collection. We were sold on the app when we found its handy “web galleries”, which are HTML-coded web pages, complete with navigation links to your photos.
Microsoft Photo Info (
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphoto
graphy/prophoto/photoinfo.mspx) This useful freebie, which integrates directly into Windows Explorer, lets you preview an image and embed metadata into it by right-clicking it.
FastStone MaxView (
www.faststone.org) This petite (1.3MB) image editor is small enough to store on an old floppy disk. Don’t let its size fool you, though: FastStone MaxView sports lots of photo manipulation tools, such as those for rotating, flipping, resizing and blurring.
Media Purveyor (
www.mediapurveyor.com) If you have gigabytes of stored media – including music, images, and videos – in need of some taming, this free program is for you. Not only does Media Purveyor edit images, but it also organises and sorts your multimedia library. Plus, the app indexes your library for searching and plays back video and audio, to boot.
GIMP (
www.gimp.org) GNU Image Manipulation is a favourite of open-source software fans everywhere. No, it isn’t the easiest to use, but it is nearly as powerful as Photoshop.
Paint.Net (
www.getpaint.net) This surprisingly powerful image editing and manipulation program includes unlimited undos and special effects, and even provides the ability to work in layers.
Email for Free WINNER Gmail (
www.gmail.com) The heavyweight champ of free email is clearly Gmail, and not just because it gives you as much storage space as you’ll ever need. Though Gmail may not have the prettiest interface of the bunch, it’s speedy, it does away with frills, and it has all kinds of features if you’re willing to do a bit of digging. For example, Gmail doesn’t handle just web-based email; unlike other free services, it can work with your existing email software. You can also use it to forward mail to other accounts. (Click
Settings•Forwarding and POP to configure both of these options.) Gmail allows you to create rules to handle incoming mail automatically, and you can easily search through your messages via Google.
Yahoo Mail (
mail.yahoo.com) Be sure to keep this service on your radar. During the writing of this story, Yahoo was beta-testing a new version of its mail service. We love the interface, which works more like desktop email software than traditional webmail does.
Microsoft Windows Live Mail (
get.live.com/betas/home) The email service formerly known as Hotmail has received a significant makeover, becoming appealingly slick and Outlook-like.
Spamato (
www.spamato.net) Tired of wading through the spam clogging your inbox? This add-on for Outlook, Thunderbird and Mozilla Mail does everything it can to eradicate the junk.
Thunderbird (
www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird) This downloadable email client has a nice, simple interface, spam filtering, antiphishing features, RSS news-feed functions, quick search, and a spelling checker. It’s also from the folks who brought you the Firefox web browser.
Eudora (
www.eudora.com) This freebie email favourite has been around for a long time, and with good reason: Eudora includes features like Mood Watch (which rates messages on a mood meter) that no other tool has. People who suffer from email overload (and that’s everyone, isn’t it?) will treasure the program’s unique folders-based approach to message organisation. An open-source version of Eudora is being developed by Mozilla for release later this year.
IncrediMail (
www.incredimail.com) If you’re partial to animations, 3D effects, sounds and other kinds of froufrou in your email program, this downloadable software is the choice for you.
File Sharing WINNER AllPeers (
www.allpeers.com) Need to share files? Forget email, BitTorrent and instant messaging apps – you won’t find a better program than this. AllPeers works from within Firefox (an Internet Explorer version is planned, but not yet available), and lets you set up folders for file sharing. You can specify who has access to those files, and you can send messages to those people to alert them when files are ready. In addition, you can share web pages or images from web pages, and you can view any media files you receive from other people right inside Firefox. It’s the easiest way to share files of any kind with anyone.
Pando (
www.pando.com) This peer-to-peer software lets you easily send and receive large files through email or instant messaging clients. The utility is particularly helpful because most ISPs have size limitations for sending or receiving email file attachments.
uTorrent (
www.utorrent.com) Though the BitTorrent standard is the best protocol for sharing files, uTorrent is better than the BitTorrent client. This program has an array of extras, such as a tool for limiting the upstream and downstream bandwidth.
Back up and File Synchronisation WINNER Mozy (
www.mozy.com) Free backup programs and websites tend to give you only the basics, hoping that you’ll then pay extra for additional features. That’s not the case with Mozy, a full-featured online backup service.
You can, for example, back up only the portions of files that have changed, saving considerable backup time and space. You can also browse through 30 days’ worth of backups to locate previous versions of files.
Techies will appreciate features such as bandwidth throttling for backups, and halting backups if the CPU usage exceeds a certain percentage. You get 2GB for free; beyond that, you’ll have to pay.
MediaMax (
www.mediamax.com) You want free storage space – how about 25GB of it? That’s what you get from MediaMax. We love the feature that allows you to stream your audio and video to your desktop, skipping hefty downloads from your digital storage locker.
XDrive (
www.xdrive.com) With this service, you receive 5GB of backup for free, as well as a nice, free backup client and a way to share your folders with others.
GoPC (
www.gopc.com.au) The GoPC ‘virtual computer’ allows you to replicate your personal desktop on any PC with an internet connection. All your programs and files are stored online, and can be accessed by simply plugging in a USB flash-drive, iPod or other device that you’ve loaded with the connection program. “Wherever you go, you take your bookmarks, web history, emails and documents. You don’t need to carry around a laptop, just your pen drive,” says
PC World reader panelist Scott Cousins. “It’s a great product that I use everyday at school, at work and even at home.”
Microsoft SyncToy (
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphoto
graphy/prophoto/synctoy.mspx) This great Microsoft freebie permits you to keep folders on different machines automatically synchronised – it’s perfect for synchronising folders on a laptop and a desktop.
Everyday Auto Backup (
www.backupsoft.net/everydayautobackup.htm) If you’re looking for a simple, no-frills download that will back up your data, this is the tool to try.
Microsoft Folder-share (
www.folder
share.com) Use this tool to synchronise files with multiple desktops – including Apple machines – over the internet.
Office Productivity Software & Services WINNER Zoho (www.zoho.com) What makes Zoho the winner is that it doesn’t merely try to copy Microsoft Office functionality. It’s web-based, so you can collaborate with others on your documents, for example. But the functionality of even the base software beats Microsoft’s offering in some areas; for creating HTML and graphics-heavy documents, for instance, it surpasses Word. This is the best and most comprehensive web-based office suite you can find. Included are a word processor, a spreadsheet, a presentation program, and a database builder – and plenty of other productivity applications are being added all the time.
Google Docs and Spreadsheets (
docs.google.com) Like Zoho, the web-based Google Docs and Spreadsheets lets you work with others as well as create and edit documents and spreadsheets. Its collaboration features are particularly noteworthy, and it uses Google’s search to make finding any document fast.
Num Sum (
www.numsum.com)
While Num Sum includes all of the features you would expect it to have, it’s also a social-networking site where you can share spreadsheets with like-minded others. It’s a great setup for anyone who’s interested in sharing spreadsheets to track home maintenance, a workout schedule, or a Rugby Sevens pool, for example.
Ajax 13 (
www.ajax13.com) This web suite has more features than competitors like Zoho, including everything from a word processor to a drawing program, a spreadsheet, a presentation app, and even a digital music player.
OpenOffice.org (
www.openoffice.org) Not happy with the idea of a web-based office application? Then you want the downloadable OpenOffice.org, the free competitor to Microsoft Office. A complete suite, it provides a word processor, a spreadsheet, a presentation program, a database – and, for übergeeks, a “mathematical function calculator” (if you have to ask what it is, you don’t need it).
Time Management WINNER Backpack (
www.backpackit.com) Juggling multiple projects has never been so easy. For every project you create a separate page, each of which can include to-do lists, freeform text, notes, links, files, images and reminders.
Backpack also has a calendar, and if you use Apple iCal, Mozilla Calendar or any program that supports the iCalendar format, your reminders will be automatically added to your Backpack calendar. You can even have reminders sent to you via email or to your cell phone.
Google Notebook (
www.google.com/note
book) If you need a simple way to save clippings from the web, organise them and then search through them, look no further than Google Notebook.
Sticky Notes (
www.sticky-notes.net) This downloadable program does exactly what its name says: it allows you to create virtual sticky reminder notes that you place right on your computer’s desktop.
Easy To-Do (
www.xanadutools.com) With this small, simple download, you can quickly create and track to-do lists.
Registry Cleaner WINNER TweakNow RegCleaner Standard (
www.tweaknow.com/RegCleaner.html) The Registry is a scary place; like Dante’s underworld, it should have a sign reading “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”. TweakNow RegCleaner Standard is your virtual Virgil, a guide into the depths of the Registry. It automatically scans your Registry and reveals problems. After you examine the changes and tell the software to do its magic, it cleans the Registry for you.
Clean My Registry (
www.smartpctools.com/clean_registry) This Registry cleaner will not show you quite as much information as TweakNow does, but it is fast and it does a good job of sweeping away the junk.
Hardware Utility WINNER Belarc Advisor (
www.belarc.com/free_download.html) If you’re looking for an exquisitely detailed audit of your hardware, this is the download you need. The program starts with the basics, such as the computer manufacturer, installed RAM, hard-disk size, and processor type and speed. But it also shows you the motherboard maker, hard-disk manufacturer, chassis serial number, PC service tag, bus type and speed, multimedia devices... the list goes on and on.
SpeedFan (
www.almico.com/speedfan.php) This must-download for serious overclockers touts itself as a monitor for your system’s temperature and fan speed. The real reason it’s worthwhile is that it lets you easily overclock your PC and adjust the fan speed so it doesn’t overheat.
M2 Information (
msquaredtechnologies.com/m2info) This program performs a quick scan of your computer and lists details such as the processor type and speed, the RAM amount and disk information.
Personal web WINNER Pageflakes (
www.pageflakes.com) Home pages are passe – what you really want is a webtop, a personal web space you can customise with news feeds, chat tools, weather info, and plenty more. With Pageflakes you build your custom webtop from a collection of components, including RSS feeds and news, plus direct feeds from Flickr, YouTube and similar sites. You also get tools such as an address book, notepad and clock, and you can even have a widget that lets you read your web-based email messages. And in the downtimes, you can try a game of poker or a Sudoku puzzle.
Netvibes (
www.netvibes.com) With dozens of feeds, news sources and widgets to choose from, you’ll find it easy to build the exact web home you want.
NZ City (
home.nzcity.co.nz)
PC World reader panellist Alan Saks recommends the NZ City personal start page as one of the most useful local sites – and he’s not alone. The popular, 100% Kiwi home page isn’t as aesthetically pleasing as some, but it has local knowledge firmly in its favour. Optional feeds include weather forecasts for 40 towns, weekly Lotto results, news from all the major regional papers and share tracking on the NZSE.
Protopage (www.protopage.com) This site is more for play than work, with plenty of cartoons, podcasts, video feeds and widgets. But if you must get something done, it has productivity tools as well.
Google Personalised Home (
www.google.com/ig) For fans of minimalism, this clean-looking webtop is mainly all text, but it has an array of feeds and tools.
Windows Live (
www.live.com) Though Microsoft’s webtop is buttoned-down and corporate-looking, it offers lots of customisable content, plus access to your Windows Live Mail or Hotmail account.
Blogging Site WINNER Google Blogger (
www.blogger.com) Blogger is home to tens of thousands of blogs, and with good reason. Because it’s template-driven, getting started is simple; posting is also a snap. But you have plenty of powerful tools here, as well, such as the ability to make RSS feeds yourself, and the ability to create posts merely by sending an email message containing the text.
WordPress (
www.wordpress.com) Another worthy blogging competitor is WordPress.com, a site that’s brought to you by many of the same people who develop the open-source blogging software available at WordPress.org.
LiveJournal (
www.livejournal.com) This blogging site is noteworthy for letting you create private “journals” that you can share with family and friends, and it includes easy-to-use community features for putting you in touch with other people who share your interests.
Microsoft Windows Live Spaces (
spaces.live.com) Though this offering isn’t the most sophisticated of blogging sites, both setting up your blog and posting entries are simple – plus, a big community is there, just waiting to hear from you.
Vox (
vox.com)
Developed by SixApart, creators of the Moveable Type publishing platform, Vox is the blogging site to watch. Vox’s elegant blog templates, powerful social networking features and strong privacy controls appeal to a more mature crowd than many web communities.
First Page (
www.evrsoft.com) If you’re up for the DIY approach to blog-building, or even a bit of template-tweaking, you can’t go past webpage editor First Page.
“While not quite up to the high standards of Dreamweaver, it’s far superior to Microsoft’s FrontPage,” says reader panelist John Van Dam. “First Page has a vast array of tools and support for a variety of client-side and server-side languages, and you can’t beat the fact it’s only a 10MB download and it’s free.”
Silverstripe (
www.silver
stripe.com) The buzz about this home-grown, open-source content management system is growing. It’s the first New Zealand organisation to be chosen for the Google Summer of Code; with ten international programming students working on Silverstripe projects, expect frequent refinements to the PHP-based distribution in coming months.
Online RSS ReaderWINNER Bloglines (www.bloglines.com) The web-based Bloglines loads quickly, sports a sophisticated interface, and delivers such snappy responses that you’d almost think you were using downloadable software. Bloglines makes subscribing to and reading feeds easy, as well. We’re particularly fond of the Clippings feature, which allows you to add any blog or web page text to a special Clippings tab; that way, you can keep all of your important posts in a single location for easy retrieval. We also like Clip Blogs, which are clips from blogs that you can keep private or share with others.
NewsGator Online (
www.newsgator.com)
NewsGator Online comes a close second to Bloglines. We particularly like the way this offering delivers feeds in a clear, clutter-free display.
Google Reader (
www.google.com/
reader/view) Google excels at many things, but simple web-based software interfaces is not necessarily one of them. Though this site does the job, non-techies might be confused by the arcane interface.
Software RSS Reader WINNER Sage (
sage.mozdev.org) What’s the best way to integrate RSS news feeds and the web? Don’t use a separate RSS reader. That’s the secret behind Sage, which integrates directly into Firefox (but not Internet Explorer). Using it is simple: click the Sage icon in your toolbar; Sage will then drop down on the left. Whenever you visit a page that has an RSS feed, you click the
Discover Feeds button to add the feed. The rest of the Firefox window then becomes your reader. Sage lets you organise your folders, search through feeds, and import and export feeds lists.
Active Web Reader (
www.deskshare.com/awr.aspx) If you’d prefer an Internet Explorer plug-in, this simple-to-use, downloadable reader is a fine choice. Active Web Reader lets you organise feeds by category, import and export groups of feeds, and search feeds.
Tristana RSS Reader (
www.tristana.org/reader.cfm) Fans of Microsoft Outlook will like this reader: it mimics the overall Outlook interface, with folders on the left and a reading pane on the right that shows RSS topics. The program can download podcasts, too.
MCE RSS Reader (
mcerssreader.oabsoftware.nl) Here’s an RSS reader with a difference: it downloads RSS feeds and then displays them on your Media Centre PC. Why would anyone want such a thing? Some RSS feeds now include videocasts (sometimes called vodcasts), but Windows Media Centre unfortunately has a problem handling certain video formats; this tool, though, can deal with them all.
Web Video Site WINNER YouTube (
www.youtube.com) No need for a drum roll here: YouTube wins this one, hands down. It has the biggest collection of videos, it’s easy to search, it’s well organised, the video streams quickly and smoothly, uploading your own videos is easy... what else do you want?
Blinkx (
www.blinkx.com) Rather than being a video site, Blinkx is a search engine that trolls selected sites for videos. It has partnerships with more than 100 content and media companies, so you’ll find lots of video from leading news sites.
Yahoo Video (
video.yahoo.com) Here’s another ideal site for your serious video-watching habit. The stripped-down interface will please fans of simplicity.
Google Video (
video.google.com) Even though Google bought YouTube, it continues to run this site too, offering plenty of videos. Oddly enough, when we last checked, videos from Comedy Central shows were still here, even though they had been removed from YouTube. That may not be the case by the time you read this.
Notepad Replacement WINNER NoteTab Light (
www.notetab.com) This utility improves on Windows’ Notepad in so many ways, it’s hard to count them. Start with the basics: you can open multiple files, not just one, as you must in Notepad. Each file runs in its own tab, so switching between them is easy. The program comes with all kinds of nifty built-in tools, too, such as a feature that strips HTML out of a document, a Paste Board that saves text clips automatically, macros and plenty more.
Crimson Editor (www. crimsoneditor.com) Do you need a geeked-out Notepad replacement? Look no further. This text editor for programmers includes syntax highlighting for HTML, C/C++, Perl and Java.
EditPad Lite (
www.editpadpro.com/editpadlite.html) This text editor opens multiple files (each in its own tab), opens files of any size, and allows you unlimited undo and redo – in other words, it has everything that Notepad doesn’t.
Multimedia Tools and Toys WINNER Audacity (
audacity.sourceforge.net) If you want to create media, not just consume it, try this program, which includes audio recording tools and sophisticated editing functions. You can even create audio soundscapes from scratch. You can add any of several dozen effects, use a sound mixer... in short, the app has everything you need. While you don’t have to be well-versed in sound editing to use it, people with some experience will particularly enjoy its power.
Free iPod Video Converter (
www.jodix.com) This tool does precisely what it says: it converts videos from a variety of formats so you can watch them on your iPod’s screen.
PSP Video 9 (
psp video9.com) Sony’s PlayStation Portable handheld makes a terrific video player. The PSP Video 9 program converts PC video files (.avi, .mpg, DivX, etc) into PSP video format for playback.
DVD Shrink (
www.dvdshrink.org) If you have ever attempted to make a backup copy of a DVD movie to a DVD-R, you’ve probably discovered that you can’t do it because DVD movie discs are dual-layer and have more data than can fit on a recordable disc. DVD Shrink solves the problem by compressing the DVD data, letting you make the copy fit on a DVD.
Business Productivity WINNER Google Apps for Your Domain(
www.google.com/a/) If you’re running a small business, why pay for collaboration software when this site can give you a lot of what you need for free?
Google Apps offers group calendaring, portals for each employee, and Gmail accounts for everyone using your business domain, and a simple web page creator for building and managing your site. Google also has Google Apps Premier Edition, a for-pay version with extra features for large companies; but Google says it will continue to offer Google Apps for Your Domain to small companies for free.
Microsoft Office Live (
officelive.microsoft.com) Don’t be confused by this site’s name – the service it offers has nothing to do with the Microsoft Office suite. Though it provides much of what Google Apps for Your Domain does, it’s not as well integrated. Office Live storage can hold up to 500MB of data and email management for up to 25 accounts with 2GB of storage each. It does give you free domain registration and a better web page editor than Google’s, however.
FreeCRM.com (
www.freecrm.com) If managing sales teams and contacts is all you’re after, this site will do the trick. It includes a free document repository of 10MB for your staff, as well.
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