Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #507 issued May 22, 2009

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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

3D Starstrike v1.0.3 – WinXP/Vista
3D Starstrike is a Star Wars style 3D shooter where you must get to the BattleStar and destroy it. It features 4 stages (The Approach, The Surface, The Equatorial Duct & The Reactor), 3 levels of difficulty (Easy, Medium & Hard), good 3D animated graphics, challenging gameplay, mouse-driven gameplay, and more. This is an excellent space shooter that has been loosely based on Star Wars. In this game you must attack the BattleStar and destroy it, while avoiding the defenders. This is not easy to play and each game only gives you a single life. When you die – and you will, often – you must wait to go through the whole process again while the stage is re-loaded. This places an annoying delay on the gameplay because you just want to get back into the action. 3D Starstrike requires the use of tactics to succeed and you cannot just blast away at anything and everything and expect to win. Your lasers quickly overheat if you overuse them and, in stage 1, you must shoot the laser bolts being fired at you if you are to succeed. Not so easy... The instructions provided with the game are presented as a single, long, PNG file (800x3000 pixels in size) which is a pain to read. It could have been offered as a series of HTML pages, or a CHM Helpfile, and this would have been much easier for new players. It does include some tips for each of the four stages of the game so it is a worthwhile read (unlike many other Helpfiles which are just a waste of space). 3D Starstrike is a superb shooter with a good, Star Wars theme. The game is challenging, but a little frustrating in the time taken to load after a crash and burn. Overall, a fabulous game that is worth grabbing. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 24.4MB download from: WinXP General Games

TweakNow PowerPack v1.0.1 – WinXP/Vista
TweakNow PowerPack is an integrated suite of utilities, in 10 categories, to fine-tune the computer's operating system. It features hundreds of tweaks (includes 11 sections of 'Windows Secret' tweaks), up to 4 custom desktop configurations, a Registry cleaner, it manages RAM, gives a complete picture of all aspects of the computer's hardware, and more. This is an excellent tool for intermediate and advanced PC users. It offers lots of system tweaks, plus some for the Internet Explorer Web browser. TweakNow PowerPack also offers more information about your computer than most people would need to know. It includes a good program uninstall manager (better than the one provided with Windows) and also helps manage your startup programs (those programs that automatically start with Windows). TweakNow PowerPack even helps you tune your Internet connection. Our biggest criticism was in the lack of assistance for users so they can understand the ramifications of making changes – in some cases you are on your own and you must make an educated guess what changes need to be made. Not good... However, there is often a simple checkbox with sufficient information to make a reasonably intelligent guess at what you might want to see changed and what you might not. We were most impressed with TweakNow PowerPack. It offers good control over your operating system, plus it adds lots of handy utilities and tools that makes life behind the big Window easier. And that is what we all want. If you are a reasonably experienced PC user you will find TweakNow PowerPack a worthwhile acquisition. Grab a copy now! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 5.46MB download from: WinXP Windows Enhancements

PlusOffice v3.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
PlusOffice is a fully-featured set of MS Office compatible office applications, based on OpenOffice.org office suite. It includes Writer (text editor), Calc (spreadsheet editor), Impress (multimedia presentations), Math (mathematical formula editor), Draw (graphic program) & Base (data bases creator & editor). This is an excellent suite of Office-style applications which is suitable for home use, schools, businesses, governments, etc. Based off the popular OpenOffice.org suite, PlusOffice suffers from many of the same problems as OpenOffice.org and other Office-style suites (including MS Office itself) – it tries to do too much. For example, there are many free drawing programs better than Draw which is a relatively basic image editor and drawing program. Undoubtedly the best part of the suite is Writer, the word processor (with built-in spell checking) that doubles as a WYSIWYG HTML editor. It can even save documents to the PDF file format. Neat. The worse part of the suite is its compatibility with MS Office documents (DOC, XLS, PPT, etc) – any document from the MS Office suite with even mildly complex formatting gets screwed in PlusOffice and requires a rebuild before it can be considered similar. We opened an existing HTML file, one with very basic HTML coding but with lots of tables, in PlusOffice and was somewhat disappointed in how it displayed on the screen. We then exported it to PDF and watched the layout get destroyed further. A page with fewer tables displayed much better, and even the PDF export was closer to the original. PlusOffice uses ODF (Open Document Format) as the default format for its documents. The author says that this "format allows you to view and edit files using any text editor. The ODF standard is becoming widely used by business and public sector, including US State and foreign governments. Microsoft has recently announced that the ODF is going to be supported in Microsoft products." If you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on an Office suite then grab a copy of PlusOffice. We don't think you will be too disappointed. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 175MB download from: Win98 General Programs

SearchSelected Search Tool v1.0 – WinXP/Vista
SearchSelected Search Tool is a fast way to open any highlighted text in the search engine of your choice using a hotkey combination. It is tray-icon based, offers a choice of 8 search engines (Google, AltaVista, AOL, ASK, Lycos, Google Blog Search, MSN & Yahoo!), and more. This is a terrific way of getting more information about a text you are reading. Simply highlight the words you wish to search for, use the hotkey combo (Ctrl-Shift-C), and an Internet Explorer window will open with that word or phrase displayed in the search engine of your choice. Results may vary depending on which search engine you choose but it definitely saves a lot of hassles by just highlighting and using the hotkey combo to carry out the search. Don't forget to set your favorite search engine in the icon's context menu before starting your first session. This leads us to a couple of annoyances we found with SearchSelected Search Tool. The first is that there is no option to automatically load the program with Windows so it must be manually loaded for each session. We would love to see an option (and we stress the word "option") to auto-load the program with Windows. The second is that it does not highlight the name of the previously used search engine (used in a previous session), even though it will still open with that search engine without it being checked. Confused? So were we. That aside, SearchSelected Search Tool is an excellent little tool that takes a lot of the hassle out of doing quick searches prompted by the text you are reading. We loved! Note: the author told us that it was only suitable for Vista, but we found it worked (as described) in Windows XP – it might even work with other verssions. Access this 567kB download from: WinXP Internet Related

Find Bible Words v1 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Find Bible Words is a Bible-based word finder puzzle where you must find words from the Bible. It features 100 levels, show hint function, show all function, no installation required, high score list, and more. Specifically designed for Christians, Find Bible Words uses themed words from the King James version (KJV) and some from the Apocrypha. It is a fun puzzle with sufficient levels to make it really interesting. The download is small and Find Bible Words requires no installation – simply unzip it into the folder of your choice and start playing by double-clicking the FindBibleWords.exe file. You select words by swiping with your left mouse button and, if the word is valid, each letter will be ringed and the word will appear in the list on the left. The only complaint we have is that we swiped some words and they were not accepted by the program – even when we swiped them three or four times. Eventually the program did accept the words and we were given credit for finding them. We hope the author can fix this for future versions. If you have an interest in the Bible, and like word finder puzzles, then grab a copy of Find Bible Words and enjoy yourself. A great little game. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.40MB download from: Win98 General Games

LMMS v0.4.4 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
LMMS (Linux MultiMedia Studio) is a cross-platform alternative to commercial programs, like FL Studio, that produce music on a computer. It features a Song-Editor, Beat+Bassline-Editor, Piano-Roll, mixer with 64 FX channels, full MIDI support, samples, and more. Unfortunately CFS was unable to review this program. The author says that it allows you to: "produce music with your computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. You can have fun with your MIDI-keyboard and much more; all in a user-friendly and modern interface." LMMS is compatible with many standards such as SoundFont2, VST(i), LADSPA, GUS Patches, and has full MIDI support. It can import MIDI and FLP (Fruityloops Project) files. LMMS includes more than 40 sample projects plus over 950 sample sounds. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 15.1MB download from: Win98 Multimedia Programs

Free Language Translator v1.91 – WinXP/Vista
Free Language Translator is a desktop language translator using the Google translation service. It supports 41 different languages, offers optional reverse translation to check accuracy, has customizable dictionaries, variable keyboard layout, optional vertical or horizontal frames, and more. This is a fantastic way to translate words, phrases, or entire documents, from one language to another. As sometimes the translation is less than perfect, there is a reverse translation option that translates back to the original language so you can see the changes. An accuracy percentage is also offered so you have an idea of the accuracy of the translation. Text can be copied into, or out of, any of the frames so it can be pasted into other documents. If you select a language (other than the native language for your computer) you are prompted to install the correct keyboard layout from Windows. This prompting can be turned off if not required. Apart from requiring an active Internet connection (broadband is desirable), Free Language Translator places few demands on your computer and can be left running without it sucking up all your free RAM. Our only complaint (apart from the bland appearance of the program) was that it does not minimize to an icon in the tray – helpful if you want to have it handy but not "in your face". We were most impressed with Free Language Translator. It uses the excellent Google translation service so its translations are reasonably accurate (none are perfect). The reverse translation facility assists in ensuring that your translated text is not totally screwed up and you are not accidentally telling your Korean boss that he looks like the south end of a north facing ass. Free Language Translator is a "must have" utility. Grab a copy now! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 895kB download from: WinXP Desktop Utilities

Territory: the Mountain Men v1.0 – WinXP/Vista
Territory: the Mountain Men is a 3D historical strategy/adventure game where you play a fur trader in the 1800s seeking fame and fortune. You will establish a trading post, battle natives, grizzlies and wolves, search out mountain passes, and find natural wonders. Like many other RPGs, Territory: the Mountain Men has a number of sub-games built into the main game and you are expected to carry out the nominated tasks (kill ducks for dinner, etc) while building up your fur empire. It has many historical aspects which add enormously to the gameplay and you have a limited period of time (15 years) in which to build your empire. 3D graphics are good but, at times they are a little reminiscent of the old clunky pixelated VGA graphics – but it is not the negative that it might be in some other games. Territory: the Mountain Men is a broad-scope game that encompasses many aspects of the old mid west. It is fun to play, yet challenging at times. If you are looking for something a little different, then check it out. Like us, we think you'll like Territory: the Mountain Men. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 74.2MB download from: WinXP General Games
UPDATES
Clouds Kingdom 3 – a run 'n jump arcade game with Ninja fighting sequences – has been updated to version 1.5 with a significantly larger download size of 13.1MB. The author advises that changes in this version includes a complete new soundtrack containing 10 tracks, a vast amount of bug fixes, updated gameplay and graphics, new attack moves, and more. Get this excellent game from: Win98 General Games
Dany's Virtual Drum – a realistic drum simulator – has been updated to version 2.0 (alpha 9) with a new, smaller download of 13.5MB. The author advises that changes in this version include: fixed musical bases manager; now supports 29 types of sounds; added metronome option; improved performance; and more. Grab this latest version from: Win98 Multimedia Programs
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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