Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #349 issued May 6, 2005

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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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

William Tell Sideshow v1.0 – Win9x/ME/XP
William Tell Sideshow is a playable demo of a fun arcade game where you, as William Tell, must shoot the apple off your son's head at a sideshow. It features 15 levels (50 in the full version), interactive (allowances must be made for wind, etc), etc, good audio background, good cartoon-syle animated graphics, and more. This is a great little time waster with a fun concept. If you hit your son with an arrow he bleeds cartoon-style blood (more fun than macabre) and loses some of his life. If he bleeds to death, or you finish all of your arrows without hitting the apple, the game is over. While this is only a demo of the full game, it does include the first 15 levels and is immensely playable in its own right. To play the game you elevate or lower the bow using the up and down arrow keys, and fire the arrow using the spacebar (the longer you hold it down before releasing the faster and straighter the arrow flies). William Tell Sideshow is a terrific game. It is lighthearted and, in its own way, challenging. We really enjoyed this game. Worth a look! Access this 6.11MB download from: Win95 General Games

PC Power Optimizer Lite v1.0 – WinXP
PC Power Optimizer Lite is a system tweaking tool to optimize and beautify Windows XP. It features 7 main categories (Windows, File & Folders, Input & Output, Boot Options, Privacy & Security, Network & Internet, and Miscellaneous), over 40 sub-categories, a good Helpfile, and more. This is an excellent way to personalize your operating system. It allows you to make changes to settings that would normally be too hard or complicated without serious Registry hacking, and to modify items, like the Windows bootup. It is backed with a good Helpfile, though it does lack some information that might be considered essential for most users. This includes recommended settings for items like the MTU (Maximum Transfer Unit) – the program allows you to change the setting, the Helpfile describes what the MTU is, but nowhere does it offer you a recommended figure to help optimize your network settings. This is the only area that lacks in PC Power Optimizer Lite. Except where figures are required, there is sufficient help in the other areas so that you understand what changing the setting will accomplish. It allows the user to change items that we think should be standard Windows controls – like removing the display of a ZIP archive as a folder (this makes your system very, very slow when you have many zipped archives in the same folder on your hard drive). The program has a nag screen when it closes (to purchase the full version) and there are links within the program to encourage you to upgrade. However, none of the ads are malignant and none will "phone home" unless you want more information. Overall, PC Power Optimizer Lite is an impressive tweaking tool, and one of the better ones we have seen. Get it now! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 1.99MB download from: WinXP Windows Enhancements

NASA's World Wind v1.3.1 – WinXP
NASA's World Wind is a 3D satellite view of the world that can be zoomed down to 1 pixel for 15 meters & rotated to display a full 3D representation of the landscape. It features overlays for cities, boundaries & flags, topography views, city search, and more. This is one of the most awesome programs we have seen. Starting with a full view of the planet as seen from satellites, you can either do a search for almost any city, specifying how high off the ground you wish to view it, or use the built-in 3D engine and your mouse's scroll button to zoom in for the best view. By holding the right mouse button you can alter your plane of reference and view the world from a simulated 3D perspective. This means that you can, for example, view Mt Everest from a side view, or travel across the sands of the Sahara. Image quality is awesome and while you may not be able to pick out your house (though even this is possible for the enhanced US maps) you can get a high altitude aeroplane view of your neighborhood. NASA's World Wind uses the Blue Marble maps to give a resolution of 1 kilometer per pixel and, if you zoom in even closer, it switches to the Land Sat 7 data which gives an amazing resolution of 15 meters per pixel. There are so many features of this program it would be impossible to list them all in the limited space available. Let it be suffice to say that it does just about everything except make coffee (and you can be assured that NASA is working on that!). It is hyperlinked to the Internet and, if you click on a landmark, information about it will be opened in your Web browser. It also uses the Internet to download the huge Land Stat images, as you require them. Because of their size you may find a broadband Internet connection essential. Not just for students, not just for specialists, NASA's World Wind is a worthwhile download for everyone. If you get half as much from as we did you will probably think it is the best program you have grabbed this year (and probably last year too!). Get it! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 170MB (that's right, 170 megabytes!) download from: WinXP General Programs

Player CEREMU Suite v4.4 – Win98/ME/XP
Player CEREMU Suite is a multimedia suite for movies, sounds & DVDs that includes file encryption & compression. It features support for DivX, AVI, MPEG1 & MPEG2, VOB, WMV, DVD & more, converts WAV files to MP3, has a rapid launch menu, a codecs detector, allows you to load & save playlists, you can change backgrounds & schemes, and more. This is a well presented program that is almost a Swiss army knife of multimedia playback. It supports all of the popular multimedia file formats and has so many backgrounds and schemes (virtually "skins") that you will wonder just how many it has! It includes many GPL (public domain) codecs, including LAME and DUCK DVD. So far so good. Unfortunately Player CEREMU Suite has some annoying "features" that lessens its appeal for us. For one, it does not "remember" where you last looked for an audio file and defaults back to the Desktop every time you want to open a new file. It has a "rapid launch menu" that resides in the top left hand corner of your screen or, if "minimized" (it goes from 400 pixels wide to 320 pixels...) relocates to the bottom right of the screen. We could not find any way to change these locations. We also had a problem with the DVD player, which would not play the assortment of DVDs we tried. These included both PAL & NTSC formats, and DVDs coded for various regions (1, 2 & 4). All DVDs played normally with PowerDVD so we can only assume that the DUCK DVD codecs and our DVD player were not compatible. Finally, it includes the intrusive NavExcel advertising, though you can refuse to load NavExcel without it preventing the main program from running. Player CEREMU Suite has a huge potential – it is a great concept that is generally well executed. However, it falls down in some small areas that lessens its appeal for us. If you are looking for an all-in-one multimedia player then Player CEREMU Suite could be what you are looking for though, like us, you may find some aspects less than perfect. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 10.0MB download from: Win98 Multimedia Programs

Pure Patience v1.0 – Win9x/ME/XP
Pure Patience is an interesting and challenging solitaire card game where cards are arranged in 13 columns and 4 rows. It features quick help, unlimited undo/redo, save game (in native MPP format), save as HTML, and more. This is a different form of the traditional Klondike solitaire (also called "Patience") where you build suits starting in the top left corner (that card is locked). The rules are somewhat complex but the quick help feature assists beginners. Not only are cards arranged in order (from 2 to Ace) but suits must also be in order (Clubs, Hearts, Spades & Diamonds) so that if the locked card in the top left hand corner is the 10 of Spades then the next card along the top should be a Jack of Spades and the last card on the top line should be a 9 or Spades. Subsequent rows are descending and ascending in order. Therefore, the card below the 10 of Spades must be the 9 of Diamonds (followed by the 8), the one under that the 10 of Clubs (followed by the Jack), and the bottom row should start with the 9 of Hearts (followed by the 8). If all of this sounds complicated, it is – but it is worthwhile learning the rules because the game itself is challenging and a lot of fun to play. Pure Patience will truly test your patience as you battle to win this interesting card game. Access the 872kB download from: Win95 General Games

AntiSpye v1.0 – Win98/ME/XP
AntiSpye automatically blanks the screen, displays an image, or activates the screensaver when the mouse cursor is placed in one of the corners of the screen. It features optional tracking of screenshots (whenever the PrtSCR key is pressed), adjustable sensitivity zone size, adjustable activation time, and more. While we are careful about Internet based spyware, we rarely think about the spy standing behind us who can see what we are doing over our shoulder. AntiSpye caters for anyone who is worried about this by creating hotspots in any of the 4 corners of the screen (or all of them) which, if the mouse cursor is placed over that spot, will activate the program. This will blank the screen, an image will be displayed (it may be a screenshot of a spreadsheet or other work), or it will activate the screensaver, according to the settings. The screen is restored by pressing the tilde key (the ~ key in the top left hand of the keyboard) or, in the case of the screensaver, simply by moving the mouse or pressing a key. AntiSpye is probably most effective in displaying an image of a "working" screen which can be displayed if you have to leave the computer for a few minutes and do not want sensitive work to be viewed by others. Of course, if they knew you were using this program they might also know that pressing the tilde key would free the screen and revert it back to "normal". This means that it has limited security and we that suggest a password option would be helpful. We were more impressed with the screenshot saver that secretly makes a copy of any screenshots made using the PrtScr key – great if you think that someone is trying to copy your work through the PrtScr key, or if a child was using the PrtScr facility to grab "inappropriate" images off the Net. There is another version of AntiSpye for Windows 98 and ME users who wish to use PNG images. This version is 1.08MB in size. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 359kB download from: Win98 Desktop Utilities

Paint.NET v2.1a – WinXP
Paint.NET is an image and photo editor developed at Washington State University with additional help from Microsoft. It features full image editing, supports layers, includes 10 special effects, unlimited undo/redo, all major tools (magic wand, text, eraser, etc), supports BMP, JPG, GIF (not animated), TIF & PDN (the program's native format), and more. Designed to be a "full strength" replacement for the crippled MS Paintbrush program supplied with Windows, Paint.NET is an outstanding photo editor with an amazing number of tools and effects. Apart from some minor omissions, like the lack of a shadow effect tool, this editor is powerful, easy to use, and a superb replacement for MS Paint. While it does not support a huge range of image formats, the ones it does are the popular ones and the only real lack is that it does not support animated GIFs (only the first frame is opened). Its support for layers is terrific, as is its undo/redo feature. We undid over 25 moves, and then reinstated them, all without hassle. Of course, programs like this suck the RAM out of a computer, and the more RAM available the more information about an image it can store. While Paint.NET might not (yet) be a serious alternative to PhotoShop and PhotoPaint, it is one of the best free all-round image editors we have seen. Get it! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 & ME. Access this 4.68MB download from: WinXP Graphic Programs

View Source Editor v1.0 – Win9x/ME/XP
View Source Editor allows you to easily changes Internet Explorer's default "View Source" program from Notepad to whatever text editor you desire. When you right-click on any page in IE you see an option to "View Source" so that you can see the underlying HTML coding that makes up the page. Normally this opens only in Notepad, not the best program for this type of viewing, but View Source Editor allows you to change that to any program you care to nominate (it must be able to read ASCII text, so any Notepad replacement or HTML source code editor is suitable). There is no setup or install with this little utility, simply unzip the program, browse until you have identified the editor or viewer you wish to use, then click on the "OK" button. The program can then be closed until you want to change the editor again so there are no on-going system resources being used to maintain the new editor. Simple. If you use IE (even occasionally) you will want to use View Source Editor to free you from the horrible Notepad program. Get it! access this 158kB download from: Win95 Internet Related

AstroQuest v0.6b – Win9x/ME/XP
AstroQuest is a fast paced, asteroid smashing, vertical scrolling, space shooter with photo-realistic graphics. It features 5 powerups, "enemy" asteroids of various sizes & enemy space mines, great explosions, good sound effects, and more. This is a terrific game and a "must have" for anyone who likes space shooters. It doesn't offer more than most other space shooters, though what it does offer is well presented and very playable. There are a number of powerups to enhance your gameplay, plus the usual guns and bombs. We liked AstroQuest. It has a nice feel and is well paced for fast action. Try it for yourself. Access this 3.07MB download from: Win95 General Games
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