Virtual Broom

Revo Uninstaller 1.40

Revo Uninstaller provides an alternative to the windows Add/Remove Programs dialog box, with additional web searching, registry key detection and other related commands.
The program includes a convenient startup manager to inspect and disable programs, a track cleaner to remove history, cookies etc from the web browser and other application MRU lists, a secure deletion tool, and an option to find and remove files, folders and registry keys that were left behind during uninstallation.
The program offers a unique ‘Hunter Mode’ which allows uninstalling a program simply by dragging the target over the program’s icon or desktop shortcut.
The interface is nice and simple, though some of the tools can easily be missed due to quirks in the interface. It isn’t as feature rich as CCleaner, but does its job well. It also includes a lot of shortcuts to standard Windows tools that are needed for additional diagnostics, such as the services.msc, network information, and disk defragmenter utilities. It has no single-click option to perform multiple tasks.

For: Clear explanations, nice search option in the uninstaller interface.
Against: No one-click solution, sliding animations can cause one to miss out on some of its tools.

Explore

Directory Opus 9.1

Directory Opus is a powerful, feature-rich Explorer alternative. The program is packed with amazing little features such as the file copy-paste feature that allows pausing or skipping individual files when copying and the detailed readout of average and peak speeds during the operation. Screenshots captured with the [Print Screen] key can be pasted directly in a folder as .BMP files.
Version 9 of directory Opus now supports Windows Vista with much better UAC support warning windows. The interface isn’t as clean as we would have preferred; it still looks pretty much like an FTP program, but thankfully there are many customizable options.
While the basic features of Directory Opus can be relatively quickly, it is quite another story to master the complete feature set. To give you an idea of how extensive the program is, the makers of this software are offering a 60 day trial period. Pick this up if you are adventurous enough to try this exploring solution – it’s made by geeks for geeks!

For: The Rolls Royce of explorer
Against: Not easy for newbies, expensive.

Super-Charged bird

Thunderbird 2

Mozilla's new baby, Thunderbird v2.0 takes its e-mail client one step further. With a clutter-free and clean interface, Thunderbird 2 is a worthy successor. In looks department, it's better than ever with a whole new bunch of redesigned icons. As in the earlier version, Thunderbird 2.0 allows users to customize the look and feel of the interface using themes.
With all terrific features, it's quite easy to overlook some of the (very minor) cons in v2.0. Thunderbird v2.0 still doesn't support multiple signatures, but this is something that can be easily rectified with an extension.
The bottom line is, the second version of Thunderbird is definitely recommended for its user friendliness and features and to top it all, it's free! Needless to say, it's without doubt, recommended.

For: Pleasant, clutter-free interface.
Against: RSS subscriptions aren't easy for novices, still doesn't support multiple signatures.

360 Degrees

Panorama Backpacker a0.85

Panorama Backpacker is a great application for those who’d like to visit breathtaking places around the world with just a mouse click. This sounds more like a desktop wallpaper program, but it isn’t; you can actually view entire landscapes as if you were there.
Using Apple’s QuickTime virtual Reality Technology (QTVR); you can look anywhere you like when viewing places of astounding natural beauty. To top it all off, you can even listen to ambient sounds that come along with the panoramic view.
The program offers world map search, panorama list search, browsing of more than 240 panoramas with widescreen view, and content auto-update. The panoramic views have helpful bits of information about the country, city, and story and also the year it was shot in.
The software weighs less than 6 MB but requires QuickTime QTVR and also Java VM to be installed for it to work, which can easily add up to 50 MB more to download from their respective sites. Also, the different views need to be downloaded each time you try to access them, which can take a considerable amount of time. You need a broadband connection for this.

For: Polished look, beautiful views.
Against: No way to download the panoramas separately.

Come, Play

K-Lite Mega 3.5.3

There isn’t a commonly found audio or video file that you won’t be able to play after installing K-Lite Mega. The best part is that unlike VideoLan, the K-Lite codec Pack lets you play your files right off any player. It does this because it is essentially a pack of several codecs which helps any multimedia player play any file.
A codec allows decompressing and/or compressing data, so when you try to play a Divx movie the appropriate codec decompresses it for you to view. The codecs in this all-rounder pack include DivX, Xvid, x264, MPEG ½, MP3, Monkey Audio, OGG, Real audio/video, Quicktime, On2 V6/V7 and many others. The installer lets you choose which ones to install, or you can use the recommended default profile which installs all of them.
The pack also has its own feature-rich Media Player Classic. For the technically inclined, K-Lite codec Pack also provides great utilities such as G-spot codec information tool, bitrate calculators and advanced configuration options for each codec available. Remember to uninstall all other codec packs before you install this one to avoid conflicts.

For: Enables to play all multimedia files.
Against: None.

‘C’ Safe

Returnil

Returnil, as the name suggests, doesn’t let anything affect the main drive where Windows is installed, namely, c:\. It archives this through virtualization technology, creating an abstract layer over the main drive. This means that any changes made will automatically be saved for only the current virtual session, and will be automatically erased upon reboot.
This technique can easily thwart viruses and malicious spyware programs as any changes made to the system are simply reset when you restart the system. This is also perfect if you want to test software. However, you need to be extra cautious as to where you save data. If you save personal files on the C drive after the protection is activated, say goodbye to it the next time you reboot. The software is great as an added layer of protection, but is easy to forget about (in spite of a bar runs constantly at the top of your screen) in daily use. The program uses hardly 25 MB for the virtualization process which is incredible, and is simple enough for even inexperienced users.

For: Resets any changes made to the system, so no spyware, viruses etc.
Against: Needs to restart for protection.

Peek-A-Boo

Process Explorer 11.04

You can peek under the hood of windows and know what’s running with Windows Task Manager but process explorer shows you much more! This recently updated application has a knack of helping you identify every little process/application/dll/handle that is running under windows.
Process Explorer is an application made for advanced users. Unlike Windows Task Manager, Process Explorer’s display consists of two panes. The right pane shows a list of the currently active processes and the left pane displays the description of the file, CPU resources and memory used, etc. Hovering over a process name such as explorer.exe pops up the path where the executable file is located. This is excellent for identifying where spyware apps for identifying where spyware apps may be hidden.
Double-clicking a process name brings up extremely detailed information including security information such as the names of user accounts, performance information, the strings and environment of the application, the threads utilized etc.

For: Very detailed view of system processes, no installation required.
Against: Can get overwhelming for newbies, features not clearly explained.

Spic n Span

CCleaner v2.03

CCleaner v2.03 is an extremely simple tool that cleans out every nook and cranny that windows has, be it the browser cache, temporary files that installations leave behind, old prefetch data that windows forgets to clean or the windows registry.
It isn’t limited to only bundled window applications but also takes care of many popular programs that leave behind a whole lot of junk such as log files, temporary files, and the lists of most recently used files in applications, etc. Ccleaner allows one to define files/folder to exclude from being cleaned up, and also choose to exclude cookies that you want to keep for favorite sites. This wonderful free tool even proactively informs you that some of your settings may change if you select the advanced options that it offers. Under ‘Tools’, you’ll find Uninstall and Startup features that remove the disappear from your Add/Remove Program list.
This utility even offers secure deletion for security-conscious users, wherein it removes files using multiple passes and not just one single pass.
For: Intuitive interface, very easy to use, single-click cleanup, fast, informative.
Against: None.

Jot and Stick

NoteZilla 7.0

Developed by Conceptworld, NoteZilla is a handy application that allows you to manage your daily appointments and tasks. Once installed, it settles on your taskbar and makes it easy for you to place colorful notes on your desktop. Once a note is placed, enter the text you want to be displayed inside the note. You can then decide whether you want to keep it pinned on screen, in which case, the note becomes translucent so that you can see the icons under the note. The notes are fully customizable. You can underline text, use bullets, or insert a picture into the note.
However, despite the -zilla suffix, NoteZIlla is not an open-source or free software. All in all, this is a neat utility for all you fanatics out there who need to be organized. You can get this product at a 30% discount if you enter the Coupon Code 'ILOVEINDIA' in the order form.

For: Customizable notes, Note Browser helps keep track of your notes, notes can be sent over a network.
Against: Free software on the net does the same thing; though not as well.

Golden Words

WordWeb 5.01

With so much work and entertainment happening on the computer, it has become essential to have a digital dictionary to look up words. WordWeb is a dictionary and thesaurus that makes looking up words a pleasure.
WordWeb is easy to install and run. During installation you will be given the option to have it permanently in your system tray. To look up a word, you can also simply select it and invoke the default hot key Ctrl+Alt+W (which is changeable) to bring up the WordWeb window.
This incredible offline dictionary offers definitions (With audible pronunciations), synonyms, proper nouns and related words. The latest version has a facility to look up your words using Wikipedia, Wiktionary or any other online word reference tool.
WordWeb is available only in English, but it does show differences in spelling and usage between British, American, Asian, International English etc.
There is only one thing that this dictionary lacks – it isn’t available on any platform other than windows, and there is no portable version for use on mobile devices.

For: Quick and efficient, Offline.
Against: Only windows compatible.

Anti-Thesis

No-IP 2.2.1

Contrary to the name, No-IP doesn’t hide or encrypt your IP address but rather gives you a way to see your external dynamic IP address. Your IP address is a string of numbers that identifies your PC on the internet. This address is not always easily identifiable; therefore No-IP makes your job simpler.
What’s the use of it really, one might ask? Well, with your external IP displayed, you can quickly host a web server or a multiplayer game server and not break your head over it. And since the program works by syncing with No-IP.com’s free DNS service, you don’t need to keep track of your address even if it keeps changing. You get a free server address to connect to.
Therefore when hosting a website or running a game, simply choose a name from the drop down-list at No-IP.com and prefix a username to it. In order to use the service you have to register for a free account and add host names at the No-IP.com website. This is your ticket to getting the software.
Once you have everything set up, don’t forget to checkmark your server name in the client; a yellow smiley will assure that everything’s ok.

For: Relatively easy to set up for novices.
Against: Can get confusing at times.

Free View

PDF-XChange Viewer 1.0

Since its introduction, the PDF has been the most preferred file format for storing documents electronically. The major benefit of using PDFs is that you can combine and store files of various formats into a single file and enable easier sharing of documents. There are numerous PDF readers out there including one from the creators of the PDF format themselves -- Adobe. But there are alternatives to Adobe Acrobat Reader. One of them is PDF-XChange Viewer that you can use to not only view PDFs but also annotate them.

PDF-XChange viewer offers more features compared to other PDF readers, such as Foxit. The Typewriter Tool along with the geometric tiil is quite useful when you need to add your comments to the PDF file. While the former feature can add the text, the latter can highlight portions of the document as per requirements. The interface of PDF-XChange viewer is quite appealing when compared to its rivals and that gives us one more reason to prefer it over other. You will find it easy to work with PDF-XChange viewer beacuse the interface is intuitive as well.

For: Tabbed windows for viewing multiple documents.
Against: None.

Long Drive

DriverMax 3

There is one thing more annoying than to re-install windows from scratch after a virus attack or hardware failure: finding drivers that came along with the hardware!
DriverMax backs up all the drivers on your system and stores them in one convenient location. In case you need to reinstall your driver(s), you can do so from the backup straight away without needing any driver CDs. This utility allows you to choose to back up all or only a few selected drivers and optionally compress them into a zip file to save space.
The interface is extremely slick and the backup process is quick. The free application requires your e-mail address to start, or you can simply use the trail version till you get a key. Once the app is open, you can update both the necessary drivers present (which aren’t working as of now) and the software itself.
The program can also identify unknown hardware devices and usher you in the right direction. Restoring backed up drivers is as easy and pain-free as it can be. This application will easily appeal to everyone; newbies as well as advanced users.

For: Slick interface, zip-compression.
Against: Automatic driver download not supported yet, listing of detected drivers in text view only.

Unchallenged Encryption

Challenger 2.3.9

Data security has always been a prime concern for many PC users, and these days when personal details are stored electronically, data security becomes a necessity. One of the popular ways to protect your data is encryption. If you can afford the expensive vista Ultimate, you can feel safe because it already has an integrated encryption routine. All those who are not so lucky must try using the freeware challenger.

Challenger 2.3.9 is an encryption utility that encrypts your data using a two-key-process. This means that each file has two layers of protection and that makes Challenger 2.3.9 better than its competitor PGP. Besides a user password, the tool also encrypts the data with a random number. So, to encrypt and decrypt, one always need two pieces of information. The big advantage is that if an attacker has installed a key logger on your system and reads your password using it, you need not worry; your files will still be safe. The hacker still does not have the random number to decrypt the data. Take a backup of the Challenger-Directory so that you do not lose both keys.

For: Excellent encryption functionality.
Against: Unattractive interface.

Seek'em All

ICQ 6

Instant messengers have been a craze especially among teenagers since their introduction because they are an exciting medium to remain in touch with friends. These days there are quite a number of instant messengers available and each of them is claiming to be better than other ones. ICQ is one of the oldest instant messaging applications and its distinct feature is the numeric user it provides for each of its users.
ICQ 6 is the latest version of this application and offers some really cool features. The developers of ICQ 6 have thoughtfully reconstructed this Instant Messenger.
But at first glance, it seems the changes were uncalled for. For instance, ICQ now offers 'Tabbed chatting'. It combines all the current discussion in a single window in which one can switch between conversations over small tabs. But can anybody pursue more than three chats simultaneously? However, the 'Quick IM' feature is quite useful. If the cursor is placed over a contact name, ICQ displays all the latest available methods of communications such as messaging, calling and transferring data. This functionality at least saves the user a couple of clicks.

For: Features such as history and Quick IM.
Against: Doesn't allow interaction with Users from other IM Networks.

Click and Manage

Zoner PhotoStudio 9

Managing multimedia files on the computer can be a real hassle, especially image files. With images hogging the majority of the space on most people's PCs, it becomes necessary to have the right tool to manage them -- Zoner PhotoStudio 9 does just that.
Zoner PhotoStudio 9 is anything but just another Photography Tool. It can not only manage images but also edit them and burn them on to CDs and DVDs. Its simple interface belies the fact that so much more lies beneath the surface, making it much more than just an image viewer. For instance; the revised batch processing, with which one can easily select the desired function and filters in a list; or the vertical panorama tool. which is ideal for pictures of high buildings. Even the Eiffel tower can be captures in a single frame! The result required only a little touch up during the test.

A smart extra, which is also mastered by the competitor ACDSee is the slide show in PDF format. It is opened in Adobe reader on any computer in the full screen mode and pepped up with a little music if desired. If you have a camera with a GPS navigator, you can click on the picture of Eiffel tower and fly to Paris through Google maps. The co-ordinates cannot be added directly from the Google map. This can be a disadvantage.

For: PhotoStudio 9 is an excellent tool for amateur photographers
Against: Competing applications offers smarter finishing touches

In-house Director

CyberLink PowerDirector 6

The advent of affordable HDV cameras has given rise to a number of prosumer centric software and hardware. Now, users can easily produce a good quality movie or a holiday video with just their computers and a handycam and share it with their friends on their iPods and PSPs or even show them across the world through websites like YouTube. Cyberlink has recently updates PowerDirector with a new version that supports H.264 encoding and direct uploading to YouTube. It also has an easy-to-use DVD menu designer, a Slide Show designer, video overlay and PIP options, and new easy-to-use tools such as Magic Style, Magic Music, Magic Clean, Magic Cut, Magic Fix and a movie making wizard called Magic Movie.

The Magic Cut automatically edits video based on criteria like dialogs, pans, zooms, movement, or duration of scenes. There is Magic Clean that corrects levels; manages white balance, color adjustment on images, and video; and applies noise reduction when used on audio. Magic Fix can clean up red eyes and stabilize video taken with jittery hands. There is also Magic Style that converts slideshows to pan/scan type stylized videos and Magic Music that provides stock music that can be fitted to the user's video.

For: Lots of features at a low price, easy to use.
Against: Very basic controls.

Quite Capable

Ability Office 4 Professional

Office suites are among the most widely used applications on desktop computers. Whether it's creating documents, spreadsheets or a presentation, office suites have always been a great boon. While MS Office is clearly the most widely used office suite in the commercial category, Open Office is the rightful winner among the freeware.

The ease of use and features offered by commercial application may not be as good as in the free ones. Hence, you are either required to buy an expensive suite or humbly settle for the freeware. But there might be a solution to this in the office category. The answer is the lesser known Ability Office 4 -- an MS office 2003 look-alike office suite that offers more features than MS Office and is cheaper. We reviewed the Professional edition, which is the complete office suite from Ability's stable.

The main applications; Write, Spreadsheet, and presentation are very similar to their MS Office 2003 counterparts; Word, Excel and PowerPoint. So don't be surprised if you have a feeling of déjà vu while using Ability Office 4. The option to save documents as PDFs, which is not available even in Office 2007, unless you download a plug-in, is available in Ability Office.

For: Cheap alternative to Office 2003
Against: None

Winamp the essential

Winamp 5.51

The first one to be posted in my blog of free software information is this - a freeware giant, big daddy of all freeware, which turned out to be a MUST-HAVE for all PC users. The Winamp is basically a music player, but it does everything from playing music to rendering high quality videos. It has added many features like online music store, tagging of album artwork and support for your IPOD etc., So this easily becomes a Must-Have for every individual having a PC.

Publisher's Description:

Nullsoft Winamp is a fast, flexible, high-fidelity music player for Windows. Winamp supports MP3, CD, WMA, Audiosoft, Mjuice, MOD, WAV and other audio formats, custom appearances called skins and audio visualization and audio effect plug-ins. Download and enjoy it free of charge, free of guilt.

Features:

Drag and drop playlist editing
Create and save new playlists or load a previous playlist.
Edit song information via ID3 tag editor.
Sort by title and filename or randomize.
Playlist displays current song duration and complete playlist duration for easy dubbing.
Playlist can run without the main window, and includes mini-controls, time display, and visualization.
Ten band graphic equalizer and built-in pre-amplifier
Create and save new pre-amplifier and equalizer settings or load previous setttings.
Create and save song-specific pre-amplifier and equalizer settings.
Get up to the minute in information on Winamp.
Browse Winamp´s Plugin and Skin collection to customize your copy of Winamp.
Support for .wsz files in your skin directory as well as .zip files

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The Key

Unlocker 1.8.5

Have you ever faced those annoying error messages that read "Cannot delete file: Access is denied" or "The file is in use by another program or user"? These errors generally occur if a file you are trying to access is currently in use by a program. The error message is to remind you to shut it down before trying to modify the file. However, sometimes in spite of closing it, Windows insist that the file is still being accesses and doesn't allow you to do anything. This little freebie software simply unlocks the file/folder access restrictions and allows you to modify it-- You can delete, rename or move it anyway you please.
Unlocker is a surprisingly easy to use application; all that one needs to do is right-click the file, select ‘unlocker’, and preventing the file from being accessed after which you need to choose the action. The program helpfully displays the reason why your life is locked. In some extreme cases, Unlocked can also remember and dutifully unlock a file or folder after a reboot.
Unlocked cannot circumvent administrator privileges (so be sure you are working in administrator mode). Visa users will need to temporarily disable UAC.

For: Extremely easy to use.
Against: Doesn’t work in all cases.

VLC VideoLAN 0.8.6d

VLC (VideoLAN) for Windows 0.8.6d

Unlike the music files, viewing a video has never been as easy as it seems. The music files somehow managed to get a standard format like mp3, but the video files has many formats like .avi, .divx, .mpeg, .mpg, .vob, .3gp, .mp4, and recently the .MKV format. You don’t need to install new software for playing each and every format.
VLC Media Player is one player that can play most of the formats that are available now, and what’s more important is that, it doesn’t need separate codec installed on your system.
VLC Media Player gets into the MUST-HAVE list due to its stand alone capability.

Publisher's Description

VLC (initially VideoLAN Client) is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.
It is a free cross-platform media player
It supports a large number of multimedia formats, without the need for additional codecs
It can also be used as a streaming server, with extended features (video on demand, on the fly transcoding, ...)

Input formats:
MPEG (ES,PS,TS,PVA,MP3)
ID3 tags
AVI
ASF / WMV / WMA
MP4 / MOV / 3GP
OGG / OGM / Annodex
Matroska (MKV)
WAV (incuding DTS)
Raw Audio: DTS, AAC, AC3/A52
Raw DV
FLAC
FLV (Flash)

Additional skins are available at the developer's website.

Download Link:

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