Mozilla Lightning: A Thunder-and-Lightning Duo Sounds Like Competition for Outlook - 4/6/2006 Mozilla's new Lightning project seeks to capably blend calendar and scheduling functionality into the already adept Thunderbird e-mail client. It's early yet and a few dark clouds currently hover over the preview release, but the sky's the limit for the Mozilla tandem.
Microsoft's Other Office is Worth a Look - 3/29/2006 Microsoft Office Live lets small businesses get on the Web quickly — and for free. The offering (currently in beta) still needs some work, but it could be the answer to your online presence and collaboration needs.
Fresh UI: A Fresh (and Free) Approach to Windows Customization and Management - 3/25/2006 When it comes to diagnosing and customizing your PC, the right set of tools can make the difference between optimal performance and an unexpected disaster. Fresh Devices offers a pair of tools just right for the job, and even better, they're both free.
30 Boxes: Take Your Calendar and Scheduler With You Wherever You Go - 3/23/2006 Wouldn't it be nice if you could easily access your calendar and scheduling software from any internet-enabled computer? Enter 30 Boxes, a remarkably powerful, flexible, and easy to use Web-based calendar application that's always as close and accessible as the nearest browser.
Office Suite Showdown: Corel WordPerfect Office X3 - 3/16/2006 In the battle of the office suites, X3 offers its first-rate word processor, Quattro Pro spreadsheet and a PDF innovation that's unmatched by Microsoft. Plus, it costs nearly $100 less.
PC Inspector File Recovery 4.0: Critical Data Recovery on the Cheap - 3/9/2006 If you've ever been in the situation before, you know the feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you realize you've lost important data off your computer. Whether you know you accidentally deleted your Quicken files or simply can't find any trace of the folder that houses your prized family photos, all you can think about is whether or not you can get that data back, and if so, how? Enter the freeware PC Inspector File Recovery 4.0.
Picasa: Google to the Digital Photo Rescue - 2/23/2006 Picasa arrives as a handy app for serving the needs of casual digital photo mavens. While unlikely to be the software of choice for serious photographers, the freeware Picasa ably helps the rest of us find, tweak and share our digital images.
IE7 Beta 2 Preview: Better Late than Never? - 2/16/2006 Microsoft is playing catch-up in the internet browser arena, with the latest preview release of Internet Explorer 7 adding eagerly-awaited features that users of other browsers have long enjoyed. WinPlanet takes a look at what else the preview release tells us about the upcoming browser.
Deskloops: A Not-So-Common Cure for Desktop Clutter Syndrome - 2/8/2006 Xilokit's unique Deskloops software helps you bypass Windows' rather clumsy way of having all your windows and applications compete for the same desktop real estate. The free tool organizes and streamlines access to numerous open windows in a simple manner that is both easy and fun to work with.
AOL Toolbar for Firefox: The Right Toolbar for the Job? - 1/24/2006 The AOL Toolbar is a handy add-on for Mozilla Firefox that provides quick Web-based access to AOL services and features. Like competing toolbars from Google and MSN, the AOL Toolbar also offers a variety of convenient features for enhancing your Web experience, but the real question is whether the toolbar has enough unique features to distinguish it from its more established counterparts.
McAfee AVERT Stinger: A Lean, Mean Virus-Killing Machine - 1/18/2006 Stinger is a lean, mean, fine-tuned virus-killing machine from one of the most trusted names in system protection. The freeware tool can serve as a valuable supplement to your arsenal of anti-malware protection — provided you understand and accept its limitations.
Steganos Internet Security 2006: Internet Protection from the Security Specialists - 1/5/2006 Along with Norton and McAfee, Steganos offers a viable option for protecting your PC. The company's Internet Security 2006 lacks a few features found in the better known programs, but costs less. If you don't need the readily recognized name, it's well worth the look.
Yahoo! Widget Engine 3.0: A Fun (and Free) Cure for the Desktop Doldrums - 12/21/2005 The Yahoo! Widget Engine enables you to run small programs on your desktop that can be anything from alarm clocks and calculators to stock ticker updates, weather forecasts, and even WiFi signal strength indicators. You can choose from thousands of freely available widgets or even roll your own.
Windows Live OneCare: A Promise of Comprehensive PC Protection from Microsoft - 12/14/2005 Ever feel like you spend all your time protecting and maintaining your PC, rather than using the darn thing? Just released in beta testing, Windows Live OneCare is Microsoft's answer to PC maintenance and the hassle of installing and maintaining system security tools such as antivirus apps, firewalls, and system restore utilities.
EverNote: Capture Every Note and More with Ease - 12/8/2005 EverNote is an ambitious attempt to categorize the uncategorizable. The tool makes it easy to quickly store and later access typed and handwritten memos, images, website excerpts, e-mails, phone messages, document snippets, and much, much more.
Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware: MS Escalates the Fight Against Malware - 11/28/2005 Microsoft has made a quick turnaround on its acquisition of GIANT Software with the beta release of its first anti-malware product. The software offers impressive real-time protection for your PC from spyware and other potentially unwanted software.
RestoreIT 7: Total System Recovery Worth the Hassle? - 11/17/2005 Everyone knows — or at least should know — of the importance of backing up your system regularly to protect against a system catastrophe. RestoreIT 7 is a valuable tool that can not only restore data ranging from an entire system down to a single folder or file, but can also perform a complete system restore from a command prompt without Windows installed, undo system changes, and restore systems from previous configuration states.
ACT by Sage 2006: New ACT, Same Success Story - 11/3/2005 If you can't keep up with your customers, colleagues, and clients, contact management software such as ACT 2006 can track every correspondence, meeting, and e-mail when your memory can't. While version 2006 lacks any groundbreaking features, it's great for managing your hectic schedule and many business ties.
CCleaner: Get the Crap Out of Your PC - 10/31/2005 CCleaner (CrapCleaner) is a handy little tool that quickly and efficiently cleanses your system and enhances privacy by ridding it of much of the potentially troublesome flotsam (better known as crap) that inevitably accumulates with regular use. Best of all, CCleaner is free to use as you please.
PowerArchiver 2006: The New King of Compression? - 10/24/2005 While WinZip and PKZIP dominate the niche, the upstart PowerArchiver is more than qualified to challenge and even exceed the capabilities of the reigning kings of compression. PowerArchiver offers a wealth of features for power users while remaining easy enough for novices to quickly master. Either way, everyone wins with more storage real estate and faster e-mail transmission times.
Spy Sweeper: System-Wide Spyware Decontamination at Your Service - 10/17/2005 Don't underestimate spyware. Even though you can't see it, it can still be contaminating your computer. Adware, malware, Trojans, keyloggers, system monitors — they're all continually snooping and sniffing, seeking to sneak past your defenses. Enter Spy Sweeper, one of several anti-malware products to hit the market with promises of system-wide decontamination.
Essential PIM: A Simple Yet Capable Personal Information Manager - 10/5/2005 Essential PIM isn't designed to provide the detailed contact management you'd find in a comprehensive PIM like ACT!, but it is a simple and capable personal information manager that can serve as a useful alternative to tools like Microsoft Outlook.
Desktop Search Round-up: Yahoo! Desktop Search - 9/29/2005 Google pioneered the strategy of bringing Web search engine technology to your desktop for faster and more powerful searches, but the preeminent search engine now has quite a bit of company in the field. Discover how the latest desktop search tools from the major search engine heavyweights stack up against each other.
StarDock ObjectDock: An Effective Cure for Cluttered Desktop Syndrome - 9/22/2005 StarDock ObjectDock is a powerful and flexible desktop management tool that effectively and attractively organizes your desktop's programs, icons, and shortcuts. In other words, if your Windows Desktop looks like a disaster area, ObjectDock is an excellent way to clean up the mess once and for all.
StarDock WindowBlinds: Give Your Windows Interface An Extreme Makeover - 9/15/2005 If you've grown weary of the look and feel of Windows, StarDock's WindowBlinds offers you the means to easily and reliably change it, and with more than 2,000 available themes, you can do so as often as you change clothes. It's a good cure for the desktop doldrums.
Skype: Set Your Phone Calls Free via P2P - 9/8/2005 If you like to yak long distance but don't care for big phone bills, Skype lets you reach out and touch someone for nothing. Through Skype's impressive system and software, you can make free telephone calls through the internet, and it's easy to use and works well. What more could a talker want?
Rhapsody: Let the Groovin' Begin - 9/1/2005 If you're like us, you're paying for music downloads now and you probably have thousands of MP3s, maybe even your entire music collection, piled onto your hard drive. Looking for a way to get to all this music — to play it, burn it, move it to your portable player, and then get more music? Look no further than RealNetworks' Rhapsody.
Skype Toolbars: Extending the 'Outlook' for Skype - 8/25/2005 Skype Toolbars are the latest addition to the arsenal of add-on tools designed to enhance and extend the basic calling features of the extremely popular Skype internet telephony software. The toolbars add to Skype's functionality by providing quick one-click access to Skype from apps like Internet Explorer and MS Outlook.
QuickTime Alternative: A Lean, Mean Replacement for Apple's Multimedia Player - 8/18/2005 Looking for a simple, low-maintenance, ad-free multimedia player, one that simply plays what you ask it to play and then leaves you alone? With many feeling that the official QuickTime Player from Apple has become overly bloated and overloaded with iTunes and related ads, the (relatively) lean and mean QuickTime Alternative arrives at the perfect time.
AOL Beta Round-Up Part 2: A Sneak Peak at AOL Software Currently in Development - 8/11/2005 To keep up with its online competition - and even move ahead in a few select areas - America Online keeps refining its software offerings. Last week we covered two new Web browsing tools in AOL's beta arsenal; today we'll take a closer look at new multimedia and IM releases coming soon to a PC near you.
AOL Beta Round-Up: A Sneak Peak at AOL Software Currently in Development - 8/4/2005 To keep up with its online competition - and even move ahead in a few select areas - America Online keeps refining its software offerings. Whether you're browsing the Web, instant messaging, or playing audio and video files, AOL has a program for you in the new beta quartet of AOL Explorer, AOL Toolbar, AOL Media Player, and AIM Triton Instant Messaging Client.
The Ultimate Troubleshooter: Handing Over the Keys to a Trouble-Free PC - 7/28/2005 The Ultimate Troubleshooter (TUT) seeks to live up to its name by adeptly revealing the mysteries of the multitude of background processes running on your computer. Managing these processes more intelligently via TUT can lead to improved performance, faster startup times, and increased system stability — the ultimate trifecta, indeed.
Kaspersky Internet Security 2006: AVP Enters the Enterprise-Grade Security Arena - 7/20/2005 KIS 2006 arrives as the next-generation evolution of the popular AntiViral Tookit Pro (AVP) from Russian developer Kaspersky Lab. The new comprehensive security tool guards against nearly every imaginable internet threat, providing real-time anti-virus and firewall protection to go along with spam filtering, a pop-up blocker, and the ability to detect and remove spyware programs and other forms of malware.
Miranda IM: Fast, Functional, and Free — No Tradeoffs Here - 7/13/2005 Miranda IM delivers a trim, fast-moving instant messaging tool that is easy to install, takes up little room, and packages only the basic, must-have features. Plus, with more than 300 readily available plug-ins, Miranda can be customized to perform any number of sophisticated IM tasks, thus offering the best of both worlds.
VisualRoute 2005: Graphical Net Connectivity Diagnosis Doesn't Come Cheap - 6/29/2005 Visualware's Visual Route 2005 Personal Edition makes identifying Internet connectivity issues significantly faster and more convenient than the standard tools that often accompany operating systems. But are these qualities enough to warrant its hefty price tag?
WordPerfect Office 12: A Very Viable Office Alternative - 6/22/2005 With its lower price and new interface compatibility with Microsoft Office applications, WordPerfect Office 12 doesn't necessarily come out on top, but it's a great alternative. And perhaps that's all it needs to be.
X-Setup Pro 7.0: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Windows Registry - 6/16/2005 Whether you're a network administrator looking for an easy and efficient way to modify multiple systems or a tech geek who simply likes to fiddle with your system's settings, X-Setup Pro and its adept handling of the Windows Registry will almost certainly satisfy your needs.
