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The Completely Free E-mail Update #46
Issued June 10, 1998
Welcome to the forty-sixth edition of the 'Completely Free Software E-mail Update'. This is a selection of the programs we've added over the past week.
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 functionable. If you know any that aren't exactly as specified, please let us know and they will be removed immediately.
PLEASE NOTE
During the past week we've had complaints that The Viewer Pro, which was featured last week, 'time-out' in certain sections after 30 days. Mike O'Rourke from Brandyware Software (the authors of this program) made the following statement:
"Unisys Corp. owns the compression for GIFs and by law every program out there has to disable GIFs after 30 days or they break the law and the license. If a program does not disable it after 30 days it's an illegal program. I tell users to convert to JPGs or any of the other 40 formats before the 30 days is up. Nothing else gets turned off."
COMPLETELY FREE SOFTWARE
Mario Blaster – W95
Don't ya just hate those people who wander all around your screen dropping fire balls on you? Wouldn't ya like to get a laser and blast them? Well now you can. Mario Blaster is a graphically simple game but if arcade-type shoot-em-ups is your thing then this is one for you. You have to place the mouse curser on Mario and then left click to fire the laser there. Of course, you have to be quick because Mario isn't going to sit still for anyone, no siree. Everytime you get him with the laser he loses a little of his health, and everytime he gets you with a fire ball you lose a little of yours. Last one to zero is the loser of that life (by default he has 99 lives and you have six). This game has so many options (including cheat options) you can make it do just about anything you want. Make the laser beam thicker? No worries.How about making the laser more powerful? Yep. Want more lives, more free hits, or do you want to slow down Mario so it's easier to hit him? Easy! Mario Blaster is a little hard on the mouse button (it will make your electronic rodent squeak) but the sounds are good, even if the laser does look suspiciously like a handheld scanner! For terrific, if mindless, arcade fun, blast over and grab this 245kB download from: W95 General Games
Amiglobe 98 – W95
Amiglobe is a world atlas and country database which is remarkably up-to-date. The atlas is offered in four projections (flat, Lambert's, Mercator's or spherical) with extensive zoom facilities which automatically adjusts the detail level as you close in on a region or country. With detailed information on over 200 countries, you can compare details between countries or just browse through the excellent database supplied. Information categories are: general; geographic; history; people; government; overview; economy; transportation; and military. Not all the categories have a lot of detail but most do. Included in the database is the flag of the country and its national anthem (and not just a 5 second grab either – the anthems we checked included full verse and chorus). Maps can be printed and information evaluated in this fabulous program. You couldn't use this atlas to plan your next vacation but for most needs it would be quite sufficient. With a 2.41MB download, you can map out a path to it at: W95 General Programs
QuickPage – W95
QuickPage is an amazing HTML source code editor. While lacking some bells and whistles found on other editors (mostly not used!) it's strength lies in two areas. First is its size – only a 43kB download for the basic module which needs DLLs commonly found on most systems, though you can download a version which includes most of the static DLLs, or even download the DLLs separately from the author's website. The second strength is in its character toolbar – offering everything from the less than < and great than > symbols through to more exotic pound (currency) and Yen signs. The toolbar features 25 characters which can be inserted into your documents with the click of a button. Handy! To make everything super fast for the operator, QuickPage has a keyboard shortcut for almost every function. Why don't other editors do this? It can handle multiple files and offers support for the latest HTML 4.0 coding which means that it doesn't offer tags like the old <CENTER> </CENTER> tag. Unfortunately, what it does offer is the <DIV> </DIV> command but without the elements like 'align=CENTER' which must be hand coded. This means that <DIV> must be converted to <DIV align="CENTER"> for it to work. Why, oh why, wasn't that element added! Centering text and graphics is an important function in HTML. The only other point we found disappointing was that tags were not colored, though the author does explain why not on his webpage. QuickPage has a definite place on our desktop – even if only to be used as a super small (and therefore fast) editor which can quickly add special characters to existing pages and carry out basic coding. With a download of only 43kB don't expect a Helpfile – maybe that's for a future version. QuickPage requires that either IE3.x is/has been loaded on to your computer or that you get the comctl32.dll installer from Microsoft. With its modern 'flat' button look, QuickPage is a great looking program which will get much use on our desktop. Try it, we would be amazed if you weren't as impressed as we were. Access QuickPage from: W95 Internet Related
Quick Notes –- W95
Like the name says, Quick Notes is a handy notetaker utility which lives in the desktray near the clock. With only one 'page' you can't jump between notes but there are other compensating features. You can e-mail your notes, print them, save them, or purge them. You can add the time and date, just the date with a separator bar, or just add the separator bar. You can also change fonts, the font style, its size, even its color. The background 'paper' color can be changed too. For people who want a handy note pad which lives in the desktray and which can be quickly brought to the fore for notes and then relegated back to the desktray when not required, Quick Notes is well worth the 173kB download. Access it from: W95 Text Programs
Time For Toddlers – W95
If you have a toddler who is learning the ABCs or 123s – or you know of a youngster who is – then Time For Toddlers is an essential download. The program presents in two distinct sections, one for the alphabet, the other for the numerals from one to 20. The alphabet section has both graphics and sound to accompany each letter, though the choice of the word 'ostrich' for the letter 'O' we thought a little odd for very young children. How about 'orange'? The numerical section is simple with not just the number displayed but also that number of items (planes, umbrellas, etc). The whole program is easy to use though parents would be advised to at least supervise toddlers using computers. The download is 3.83MB which includes many DLLs, etc which most people already have. Access Time For Toddlers from: W95 General Programs
TinyExplorer & TinyDOS – W95
Even though two separate programs, TinyExplorer and TinyDOS are so similar that it is easier to describe them together. TinyExplorer puts an icon in the desktray next to the clock which gives you instant access to Windows Explorer. TinyDOS also sits in the desktray but gives access to, you guessed it, the DOS prompt. Both programs give you the option of being included in the Startup menu so they will always be available every time you use the computer. TinyDOS offers DOS from the directory in which it lives and we would recommend that you put this program in the root directory of the C:\ drive so the DOS prompt will be from there. TinyExplorer is a 40kB download and TinyDOS 38kB (neither download is archived, the uncompressed EXE file is downloaded). The link below is to TinyExplorer, you'll find that TinyDOS is the program listed beneath it: W95 Desktop Utilities
HTML Buddy – W95
This is an interesting HTML source code editor which offers so much. With Wizards and color pickers and large document file handling (dependant on RAM) and multi-document opening and floating toolbars and a character table and, well, there are lots of 'ands'. This editor seems to have it all. We also noted that the author included 27 free images (buttons, bars, backgrounds, etc) with the program. When we first loaded this program we did it with great expectations, and we were definitely impressed with its floating toolbars and modern 'flat button' look. We then loaded an existing document and started to have a close look at HTML Buddy. As a regular user of colored tags (makes life easier for hand coding) we clicked on the shortcut key to color the document and waited while it colored the tags. And we waited, and we waited, and we waited. Finally, after 12 and a half minutes (timed), our document had single-color colored tags! True, there were 671 lines of text to color, but less than a line per second? No thanks. We then decided to see how it handled multiple documents and found out that while you could open multiple documents, you had to open them one at a time. We are used to highlighting half a dozen files then clicking on open to get them all loaded. Not with HTML Buddy. We also wanted to jump between documents but there was no list of open documents in the Windows menu – we had to cascade the documents, switch to the one we wanted, and then make it 'full screen'. After closing and re-opening HTML Buddy we found out that it hadn't 'remembered' our previous settings (word wrap 'on', last used directory, etc) and there was no facility to set defaults. We are always interested to see how an editor handles images – do they offer to put them in the same directory as the HTML file, do they automatically add height and width tags, etc – so we tried them in HTML Buddy. Height and width tags were noted in the information section of the dialog box but when we clicked on 'insert' what we got was height=0 width=0! It didn't even close the dialog box when we clicked on 'insert' (the equivalent to 'OK' in most dialog boxes). Truly, we were disappointed. This fabulous looking HTML editor, with a bucketful or two of great features, lacked the one feature which you would think would be first. It was not practical in day to day use. We were looking at version 1.2 and will be pleased to look at version 3 when it becomes available. In the meantime, get a copy by all means and have a look at what a good looking HTML source code editor is like. We feel it will be a fabulous source code editor when it matures a little more. To access this 897kB download go to: W95 Internet Related
Directory Duplicator – W31 (suitable W95 but no LFN support)
Directory Duplicator is a simple and easy to use utility which will copy an entire directory but, alas, not sub-directories. With good help, an extension exclusion option (you could copy everything except, for example, EXE files), an 'update newest file' option, and an 'add new files only' option, Ditto is a handy utility. Without support for long file names (LFN), it's value for Win95 users is more limited. Get your copy of this 58kB download from: W31 Desktop Utilities
Ruscell95 – W95
Ruscell95 is a Freecell cardgame from Russia with terrific cardfaces and backs and also a great background scheme. There are alternative cardfaces, cardback and backgrounds supplied with the program. This fabulous looking cardgame requires hi color and an 800x600 minimum screen. The main drawback to the program is the slowness of the card movement. Access this 133kB download from: W95 General Games
wFortune – W95
Emulating the UNIX 'fortune' command where an epigram is displayed upon command, wFortune not just offers random 'cookies' or witty sayings, but these can be copied to the Clipboard and even automatically inserted into e-mail signatures. You can also download UNIX fortune files for inclusion or create your own list of sayings, convert them into the UNIX format, and then convert that UNIX-style file into a special data file which can be read by wFortune. All utilities are included to do these conversions. There are an enormous number of options available with this program but they can only be instigated with command line arguments or by modifying the program's INI file. If you enjoy epigrams you are bound to enjoy wFortune. Access this 841kB download from: W95 Desktop Utilities
COMMENTS
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