All of the software below is free for personal use. I have come to rely on these programs for my day-to-day use of the computer. They are certainly worth the price of the download.
| 7-Zip |
| | a long, long time ago in a far off system, lived compression software PKZIP. Like a foot to an overflowing garbage can, the zip utility would make a file smaller. The only problem was PKZIP was written for DOS and was not very user friendly if you tried to use it inside Windows. Along came WinZip. This nifty piece of shareware was super easy to use because of a well designed user interface (the controls and buttons). But (you knew a "but" was coming didn't ya'?) WinZip cost money if you wanted to use it. Now this caused a dilemma because more and more files were being put on the Internet in the .ZIP format. A couple of years ago Igor Pavlov had a better idea for an open source (FREE) zip utility that had a better compression algorithm than PKZIP or WINZIP. The result is 7-Zip. It will read and write in the ZIP format (along with a bunch of other archive formats) but what I love (besides the free part) is the .7Z format. This new format routinely is 5% to 20% smaller than a ZIP file. Why even the .ZIP files created with 7-Zip are smaller than .ZIP files created with other ZIP programs. So why do people still pay for WinZip?
Get 7-Zip here
Here is the official description:
Highest compression ratio in new 7z format with LZMA compression
- 7-Zip is free software distributed under the GNU LGPL
- Supported formats: 7z, ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, CPIO, RPM and DEB
- For ZIP and GZIP formats 7-Zip provides compression ratio that is 2-10 % better than ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
- Self-extracting capability for 7z format
- Integration with Windows Shell
- Powerful File Manager
- Powerful command line version
- Plugin for FAR Manager
- Localizations for 47 languages
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1) Crimson Editor
2) metapad |
| | Windows has always included a simple little program called Notepad for reading and creating text files (.TXT). Notepad is a great program but it has a few shortcomings. It cannot open large files and you cannot do a find&replace command. I've looked at a lot of replacements for Notepad and like Goldilocks they are either too big or too small. I used EditPad for a while and really liked it but at times it was too large and I cannot use it at work (license only allows personal use for free). After a lot of downloading and installing I finally found what works for me. Not that I am picky but it took two editors to please me.
I found metapad to be the perfect replacement for Notepad. It is smaller, faster, stronger, and just flat out better. I literally replaced Notepad - renamed Notepad.exe to Notepad-orig.exe, and then renamed metapad.exe to Notepad.exe. No registery changes or messy installs. Sometimes I need more fire power than metapad offers. I tweak a lot of webpages in a text editor and I do a lot of cut-n-pasting of text in my day to day routines. For these task I use Crimson Editor. What sold me where the scope of functions it offers. I can configure the font (sometimes I really need a fixed font like Courier, other times tahoma is fine) including the size. It has tabs so I can open a bunch of files and only have a single program running. I can do a full blown find and replace. It has syntax highlighting for working with code. And many, many more features. One of the most impressive things about the Crimson Editor website is the page of links. They provide links to the competion. That says a lot right there about how well the product compares to others. Both of these products boost my productivity. If you are lazy like me give them a spin around the harddrive.
Get Crimson Editor here
Get METAPAD here
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| KeyNote |
| | I hate to organize my desk but I love to organize data. For years I used a great product called Treepad and was amazed when I found something better called KeyNote. Both of these organizers are hard to describe. You just have to play with it a bit to comprehend the power at your fingertips.
Imagine your three-ring school notebook. Now imagine those little colorful tab dividers you had in there - want to get to your history notes just flip to the green tab. Now imagine you open that tab and you have a bunch of little tabs inside to further organize. Now move to the cyberworld. You open Notepad and enter some names and phone numbers and recipes and save it to your drive. Now you do this many times and you have a bunch of small tiny files that you are always searching through. What if you had a single program. You name the tabs across the top for your subjects. Within each subject you can create a single page in a tree format. You start with the main node and add children or sibilings (nodes). Each node has a title and a notepad type area to enter information. Actually it is a Wordpad type area with RTF - Rich Text Formating - kind of a mini-word processor. Change fonts (color, face, size) make things bold or italic. Paste images from the clipboard. Here is a small screenshot. Very configureable - want the tabs on the side or the bottom? No problem.
select here to see fullsize screenshot (opens a new window)
I was sold on TreePad so this took about five minutes to convince me to switch. The biggy for me are icons. KeyNote lets me add my own icons so I can put visuals on my tabs. Being a shapes-and-color type guy it really helps.
I initially tried to stuff EVERYTHING into KeyNote. The file got large real fast when you start adding images. KeyNote has the ability to link to a .TXT file or an .RTF. When you open KeyNote your nodes are there ready to use but the actual file for that node is seperate. When you update it in KeyNote it updates the actual file on the harddrive. I use this at work with several co-workers. I created a folder on the network drive and store the RTF files there. All of us can access the data (even if they don't use KeyNote). If anyone updates a file it is there for the rest of us. Each of us can organize the pages anyway we want in KeyNote and still share the data. (note: you can create and edit RTF files with 99.9% of the wordprocessors out there). In case you are wondering what happens if two people try to access the same file at the same time, Keynote will warn you the file is in use and give you the option of opening it READONLY or wait until it is free.
like any new process to organize things it takes a little work (and trial and effort) up front but the rewards are huge. If you can't find a use for KeyNote you are not thinking hard enough.
Did I mention it is open source and published under the Mozilla Public License. If you are already using TreePad the switch to KeyNote is painless, it reads TreePad files.
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| Zonealarm |
| | This is a must have. Stop now and download it. read why after you download it. ZoneAlarm is software called a "firewall". In buildings a firewall is a physical barrier that is suppose contain a fire to one section and protect the rest of the structure. A firewall on the computer protects the structure by blocking intruders that are trying to access your machine from the world wide web. Not only does ZoneAlarm make your computer invisible to outside intruders, it also keeps sneaky software from "phoning home". If a program tries to connect to the Internet for whatever reason (check for updates, register, etc.) ZoneAlarm intercepts the request and makes it ask you for permission. It can be quite startling to launch Microsoft Word and see it try to connect to Microsoft. Just imagine a child's game (like Reader Rabbit) that wants to send the manufacture information about where you surf on the Internet. Of course you control the level of security (and trust) for each application. After all it doesn't make since for the browser to ask for permission to connect since that is its main purpose in life. ZoneAlarm is free for home use. Don't think you need it? Try it for one hour while you surf and see how many times it blocks outsiders from accessing your computer. If you are still not convinced then uninstall it.
Get Zonealarm here
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| CookieWall |
| | This is one of many gems from AnalogX. If you are not familiar with the site it is worth a visit. Now where was us I ? Oh yeah CookieWall...Ever gone to a restaurant and had to wait. The hostess ask your name and writes it on the clipboard. No big invasion into your privacy (unless you are trying to lay low for some reason). Shoot you can even give her a fake name. Well the many sites on the Internet use something similar called a cookie. Nothing more than a little bit of data about your computer. Maybe they use it to tell repeat visits so they can show you different advertisements. Maybe they want to see how often (hours, days, weeks) you visit. Maybe the cookie was placed there by an advertiser. If you have not registered information they don't really know who you are, except your unique IP address. If the same advertiser has ads on multiple sites then they can connect the dots and see your surfing patterns, all to better "serve" you (marketing ads that is). So you set your browser to not accept cookies - HA HA HA I thumb my nose at your cookie. Oh wait some sites won´t let you enter without taking the cookie. GRRRRRRR. Oh yeah there are probably a handful of sites that you interact with that must have your personal information. The cookie actual makes your life easier at these sites. So now what? Well use the CookieWall. Think of it as a firewall for cookies. You configure to say allow a site to place a cookie on your machine, that lets you in the door to access the site. Sixty seconds later CookieWall eats the cookie or if its a site you have refused cookies it is immediate. Now what about the site like your bank? You tell CookieWall to permanently accept cookies from that site. Takes a day or two to get all configured. Very simple click the cookies to keep and hit a button. Try it for a day and watch how many cookies are shoved down your throat.
Don´t forget to dig around on AnalogX - not only does he write great software but he composes some pretty good songs. Yep, Mr. AnalogX is quite the Renaissance man
Get CookieWall here
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| LeechFTP |
| | sooner or later you will need a FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to upload/download files. I tried quite a few and found this the best of the freebies. Last updated in 1999. This is a meaningless endorsement but it is the official FTP program of Qube5 Labs.
Get LeechFTP here
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| WnBrowse |
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WnBrowse is a multifunction ASCII, EBCDIC and Hex file viewer. Unless you are a programmer-type that description may be meaningless to you. PCs talk in ASCII and mainframe computers talk in EBCDIC. To see the actual data either computer is using you need to view it in hexadecimal. You in the back I saw you yawn - now pay attention to this - WnBrowse will safely open any file and let you see the data. It may be foreign gobbledeegook but frequently you can make out strings of characters at the beginning and end. Got a mystery file? Use WnBrowse. Curious about what hidden data is in your Word DOC? Got a suspicous email attachment? Thought I could get your attention. Now you can use Notepad (or better yet MetaPad) to see displayable charcters but WnBrowse gives you the option to toggle between Text or Hex. Here is the offical description:
View any size file, including files within zip archives.
Search for text, hex and UNICODE strings
Print the entire file or a selected portion
Integrated with the Windows Explorer for two-click file browsing
Works with Windows 95/98 and Windows NT/2000/XP
Get WnBrowse here
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1) Maxthon
2) Mozilla Firefox
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| | Tabbed Browsers:
You have heard the hype by now about the new browser Firefox. The switch is definitely on to Mozilla. I switched to Mozilla Firefox for a few weeks but switched back. I've been spoiled by Maxthon (previously called MyIE2) for years. Unfortunately Maxthon uses the IE engine so it is only as secure as IE. If the Mozilla code gorillas keep up the pace I figure Firefox will equal Maxthon in another year. Guess I should shut-up if I am not helping them code. No matter which one you choose, once you try a tabbed browser you will have a hard time going back to IE and the one-eyed view of the world it gives you. I wonder if Maxthon will be ported to the Mozilla engine? that would be sweet.
Bottom Line: plain IE users should switch to Firefox. If you find Firefox will not work at critical sites (like your financial institution), switch to Maxthon.
You can still use IE if you install either of these browsers.
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| RikBlok ToolBar |
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I really, really, really rely on Rik Blok's ToolBar. Simple little application that sends characters at the push of a button. Why keep typing the same commands and text over and over?
Get RikBlok ToolBar here
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| Regshot |
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RegShot is a slick little program that scans your registry and saves the data. You can backup your registry this way. You can compare two scans for differences. I use it when I install programs, I do a before and after scan and let the compare show me what the install did to the registry. WARNING: Running RegShot is supersafe, going into the registry (with regedit or similar tool) and pruning items is very risky. I do it all the time but accept the risk and keep lots of backups. I know people that have trashed Windows by messing with the registry. Took them days to reinstall everything. Consider yourself warned.
Get Regshot here
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