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This electronic newsletter is registered – ISSN 1441-6840
Welcome to the CFS Weekly Newsletter.
The programs listed here are completely free for non-commercial use, even though some may be shareware or commercial products. None are time-limited and all are fully functional. If you know any that aren't exactly as specified, please let us know and they will be removed immediately.
If the link below does not work (does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid. Please use the CFS Site Search facility (above) to locate the program.
COMPLETELY FREE SOFTWARE
Bounty Hunter SX v1.1 – Win9x/ME/XP
Bounty Hunter SX is an asteroids-style space shooter game where you fly around space collecting minerals to upgrade your ship, finally battling an evil pirate lord to get the Pirate pearl. It features many upgrades (about 6 shields, 5 weapons, etc), 7 different weapons, radar, and more. This is an excellent game where you must first upgrade your ship before you can tackle the evil pirate lord and find the Pirate pearl. Upgrades are purchased with money you make by selling ore from asteroids, etc. This is not just a great space shooter but incorporates other elements as well. Yes, you have to be quick on the firing button but it takes more than just that to win. This highly addictive game will bring you back for more, and more, and more. Bounty Hunter SX doesn't have to be setup, just download the archive, unzip it, and start playing. A "must have" game! Access this 3.69MB download from: Win9x General Games
KeyTweak v1.11 – WinXP
KeyTweak is a tool which remaps the keyboard using Microsoft's Scancode Map registry key. It features optional remapping of virtually any key, includes implementation of 'Specialty Keys' support for some keyboards, you can remove all re-mappings with a single button, allows you to enable/disable annoying keys, displays exactly what is written to the 'Scancode Map' registry value & how to interpret its binary data, user warnings help ensure Ctrl-Alt-Delete sequence is maintained, and more. Simply put, KeyTweak is superb. It allows you to change (remap) virtually any key on your keyboard so that it performs another task. This means that keys you don't normally use (say, the Scroll Lock key) can be changed so that it performs a different function. This could be as simple as using it to open the Windows calculator, or it could be used to open your e-mail client or Web browser, change the volume of your sound card up or down, play a CD, or do something else. It offers a huge inventory of potential uses for a key, or keys, you don't normally use. KeyTweak does not have to be loaded for the changes to continue to work because it writes to the Scancode Map registry key and becomes an integrated change within the system. KeyTweak also has a well-presented and detailed Helpfile in HTML format. If you have Windows XP then we recommend that you grab a copy of this program. It puts the power back into the user's hands! Access this 170kB download from: WinXP Windows Enhancements
SpamPal v1.50 – Win9x/ME/XP
SpamPal is an e-mail spam filter that tags potentially unwanted mail so it can be automatically filtered by your e-mail client. It features use of DNSBL lists to identify spam, whitelisting & blacklisting controls, it is highly configurable, supports all e-mail clients using POP3, IMAP4 & SMTP (Outlook Express, Eudora, etc), includes 2 plugins, and more. However, it does not directly work with AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, Juno, MSN, or any other proprietary mail system. By adding a tag to the subject of an e-mail (the default is **SPAM** ) you can use the filtering tools of Outlook Express, Eudora, etc to remove this potential spam to a separate folder so it can be manually checked prior to deleting. This tool is incredible. During a prolonged test at the CFS office it identified over 90% of the spam mail we received and did not tag even one item of legitimate correspondence. We had that mail filtered so that it went directly to the Eudora trashcan where we manually delete unwanted mail four or five times during a day (we get many hundreds of pieces of spam every day). The program takes about 10 minutes to configure because you must re-direct your mail through SpamPal so it can be tagged. Fortunately there is excellent help provided, and it even offers help for specific e-mail clients, for setting up the program with firewalls, anti-virus programs, LAN mail servers, and more. SpamPal offers a tremendous range of control and configuration, though we found the default settings to be excellent – you probably won't want to make too many changes (if any). This is one of the most valuable tools we have installed on our computer and we have given it a resounding 10 out of 10. SpamPal is a "must have" tool for everyone who uses a POP3, IMAP4 or SMTP mail account. Get it! Access this 570kB download from: Win9x Internet Related
Fiolex Media Express v1.0.1185 – Win98/ME/XP
Fiolex Media Express is an image viewer & editor which also manages, views & plays multimedia files. It features support for 19 image formats (JPG, BMP, TIF, PNG, etc), 10 audio formats (AU, MIDI, MP3, WAV, etc) and 10 video formats (AVI, MPEG, WMV, etc). For legal reasons it does not support GIF or LZW-compressed TIF files. This is an amazing tool. It offers a thumbnail view of all images in a folder, allows you to select individual images and apply many editing filters to them, and it also allows you to print them. An image can be rotated, its brightness, contrast & gamma settings can be changed, you can adjust hue, saturation & luminance, individually adjust the RGB settings, apply any of 16 separate filters (many of which have slide adjustments), and 7 special effects (like Buttonize, Pinch, Ripple & Twist). Fiolex Media Express also offers a slideshow facility with cross-fading effects and the background music of your choice. It also plays a huge range of multimedia files, though support for some requires that DirectX is installed. This program is technically "nagware" as it displays an ad for other Fiolex products when the program opens. This is a "passive" ad which does not use your Internet connection to "report home". It is hard not to over-enthuse when describing Fiolex Media Express. It looks terrific, it is extremely functional, and it offers a huge range of features (only a small percentage of which are listed above). If you are looking for a superb image viewer and multimedia player then you have found it with Fiolex Media Express. Its only limitation is that it currently does not support GIF and compressed TIF files. Irrespective of that limitation, it is a "must have". Note: this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 3.09MB download from: Win98 Graphic Programs
Poker Mania v2.0 – Win9x/ME/XP
Poker Mania is a Vegas-style card game with an easy-to-use interface. It features the creation of multiple accounts, you can save scores between sessions for marathon play, it has on-screen prompts & help system, it is a good training tool to improve poker game skills, includes sound effects, and more. This is a nice version of Vegas-style poker. It has excellent help and even includes a section on strategies (when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em). The graphics are simple, the sound effects basic, but the game itself is quite addictive. To play you select the amount you want to bet (every new account opened starts with $10,000) and then click on the Draw button (or click the F12 key). From the cards presented, you can select the cards you want to keep by clicking on them and then clicking on the Draw button again. Winning hands are "paid" according to standard Vegas rules – one pair (must be Jack or higher) gets 1:1, two pairs get 2:1, up to a Royal Flush which gets 1000:1. When first installed, there is a license which must be agreed to. This license says that this is a shareware game and can only be played free for the evaluation period. That is not true as the game is now completely free. Handy if you want to learn to play, or hone your existing poker skills, Poker Mania is a fun game for all. Note: this game includes a "passive" ad for another game but does not access the Internet unless clicked. Access this 571kB download from: Win9x General Games
TaskBuddy v1.0.0 – Win9x/Me/XP
TaskBuddy is a tool which manages daily, weekly & monthly tasks. It features a task tree view (add, modify & delete tasks), alarm notification, event manager, sticky notes, customized reports, assignments by categories, auto updating feature, and more. This is a stylish looking utility program though it is a huge download. There is a special Windows ME & XP version which is "only" 6.47MB, but the main download is a whopping 12.8MB. It is skinnable, but skins are an extra download (only the default skin is included). TaskBuddy offers a great way of managing your tasks but lacks some basic controls – like preventing the program from automatically looking for updates. The Helpfile is virtually non-existent but the program is so easy to use most people won't really miss it. TaskBuddy is a handy program, just a shame about the large download size... Access this program from: Win9x Desktop Utilities
Bidayuh Multimedia Player Pro v2.5 – Win98/ME/XP
Bidayuh Multimedia Player Pro is a video & audio player, which can also convert WAV to MP3 files. It supports ASF, AVI, CDA, DAT, M3U, M3L, MID, MIDI, MOD, MP3, MPEG, MPG, RMI, WAV, WMA & WMV file types. This is a neat little audio player which plays CDs as well as the popular MP3 and WAV files. It is also a file converter. Bidayuh Multimedia Player Pro can recognize, and save lists to, the popular M3U playlist format. Sound quality is excellent. The program has some awkwardness which detracts from its use. For example, it requires you to input the file type (MP3, etc) you want added, and also the location of the files. It won't go back to the last used format and even requires this clumsy access when you want to play audio CDs (you have to "search" for CDA files in the audio CD drive). This awkwardness extends across the program and makes it much less valuable as a small, fast WinAmp replacement than some other players. Overall, Bidayuh Multimedia Player Pro is almost a terrific player but lacks the polish to make you want to use it exclusively. Note: not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.21MB download from: Win98 Multimedia Programs
Weblink Checker v1.0 – Win9x/ME/XP
Weblink Checker is a small tool which checks local or internal links (from within the host domain) by checking HTML files on a PC before they are uploaded to the Net. It features a simple link editor which allows the easy repair of broken links. This is a terrific utility which checks local links on pages, spidering an entire site from a hard drive. This program requires that your Website is mirrored on your hard drive (we consider this essential in case the server data is lost) and it squirrels down through your site looking for any bad local links. It doesn't check links to an outside domain, just local links – links within the host domain. It is blindingly fast and can check hundreds of pages in seconds. However, the results are not always what you expect. It cannot find Javascript links so they are reported as errors, and it cannot find name anchors (the identifier at the end of an address which starts with a # and links to a section of a page). Checking the CFS site we ended up with a whopping 2553 errors, only 4 of which were actual errors (though we were grateful to find, and fix, those). It is easy to assume that all of your internal links are OK and only worry about links to other sites, but that can be a wrong assumption. Internal links also need to be checked. We would have preferred that Weblink Checker was able to handle Javascript and name anchor links a little better than it does, but it is worth sifting through some incorrectly reported problem links to find those occasional real errors. This is not a program which needs to be run every day, but run once each week or month will help pick up errors you may not have realized were there. If you own a Website then you will probably consider Weblink Checker to be a "must have" program. Get it! Note: this program contains static ads which do not connect to the Internet. Access this 216kB download from: Win9x Internet Related
ColorTetris v1.65 – Win9x/ME/XP
ColorTetris is a game which includes four different Tetris-clones (Tetris, Color Tetris, Pentix & Super Tetris). It features a multiplayer mode (via LAN or Internet), optional music (you can select your own too), optional 'show next piece', choice of 6 block sets, and more. One of the better Tetris clones, ColorTetris also features great animated graphics (completed lines explode) and even minimizes to the desktray (next to the clock) when you press the Escape key (don't forget to turn off the sound first or you won't be able to pretend to be working). The four games are all excellent, and the different block sets offer you a choice of how your game will look. It saves the high score, and does virtually everything else that any well-behaved Tetris clone should do. Every way you look at it, ColorTetris is a great set of games and you don't have to be a specialist Tetris collector to appreciate them. It even offers a detailed Helpfile! If you are looking for a serious challenge, or just a quick game to refresh the brain, ColorTetris is for you. Try it – and be prepared to be impressed. Note: this game requires free on-line registration. Access this 850kB download from: Win9x General Games
COMMENTS
We would like to thank the regular visitors to the CFS site who have told us their favorite freeware. If you have a favorite program which isn't listed on the CFS pages we invite you to share that information with everyone through this site and this newsletter. If you are an author of a freeware app (or would just like to suggest a program) and would like it listed on these pages, please fill in the Submit Software form.
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