Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #515 issued August 7, 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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

Battle of Worms v1.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Battle of Worms is a medieval, side-scrolling shooter where you must destroy the worms from the back of your dragon. It features 3 levels, 2 powerups (invincibility & health), you can save the villagers to earn extra points, it has good animated graphics, and more. This is a lightweight shooter that offers fun gameplay. You fly your dragon across the landscape, shooting into the mouths of strange-looking worms which are firing bolts up into the air (?). OK, the scenario is strange, but the game itself is lots of fun. If you are looking for a game to kill half an hour or more, grab a copy of Battle of Worms. We liked! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 3.57MB download from: Win98 General Games

myRuler v0.5 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
myRuler is a desktop ruler for sizing on-screen objects (graphics, etc). It features vertical & horizontal modes, it displays measurements in pixels, is re-sizable, includes 4 color schemes, it minimizes to tray, is always stays on top, has keyboard shortcuts, and more. On screen (desktop) rulers are extremely handy for anyone working with images, or who needs to know the size of an on-screen object (program window, table, etc). myRuler is a simple-to-use tool that can be dragged to resize so that any-sized object can be measured. It minimizes to the tray so that you can quickly pull it up, check a measurement, and then minimize it again. Cool. myRuler includes four color schemes (black, light blue, gray and orange) but we found that, on the CFS test computer, only the orange scheme allows the user to read the information on the ruler! From the author's screenshots, he did not experience this problem and we believe it may be to do with either the language version of Windows (the author is based in Egypt), or the selected Windows color scheme (we use Windows Classic Style in XP), so others may, or may not, have the same problem we experienced. However, the orange-colored ruler looks good, and is easy to read, so we were happy to use myRuler in that scheme. We were disappointed that the author only offers measurements in pixels and believe that he should also offer Imperial (inches, etc) and Metric (centimeters, etc) as options. We particularly liked the ability to move the ruler by using the direction keys, allowing for extremely accurate placement of the rule over the object being measured. myRuler could be improved with some more work on the appearance but, as a practical tool, it is excellent. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 453kB download from: Win98 Desktop Utilities

Sothink Movie DVD Maker v3.0 – WinXP/Vista
Sothink Movie DVD Maker is a suite of tools to convert videos (WMV, AVI, DivX, XviD, MPEG, MP4, FLV, MKV, MOV, QT, RM, H.264/AVC, etc) to DVD. It supports PAL & NTSC TV systems, optional 5.1 surround sound, video editing (trim), creates DVD menu, 10 menu templates, built-in burner (supports DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-9, DVD-5, etc disks), burns high definition camera videos (M2TS, MTS, M2T, etc), supports multiple CPUs & multi-core CPU for faster speed, supports embedding subtitles onto video, and more. This is an amazingly powerful suite that uses some open source tools (like ffdshow) to allow the user to create DVD disks from their video clips and home movies. You can quickly trim the ends (either or both) of a video to remove unwanted footage, and you can choose any of 10 menu template options, including not having a menu. The entire package is professionally presented and easy to use. Unfortunately, the free version has a prompt text on interface and will leave information on burnt DVD chapter(s) indicating that DVD video is created by the free version (there is a Pro version with all the same features but no "nag" screen). This screen appears after the menu for about 7 seconds before fading completely away and allowing the video to play. This seriously reduces the value of Sothink Movie DVD Maker, even though it is extremely powerful and includes lots and lots of fabulous features. If you don't mind the nag then you will be in awe of this fabulous suite but it does intrude on the overall value of this program. Without the nag screen we would put Sothink Movie DVD Maker in the same category as top-line (and very expensive) commercial programs... Even with the nag screen we loved Sothink Movie DVD Maker. Try it for yourself. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 22.7MB download from: WinXP Multimedia Programs

PC Wizard v1.88 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
PC Wizard is an extensive system information reporting & benchmarking tool. It features 5 main categories (Hardware, Configuration, System Files, Resources & Benchmark), 73 sub-categories (including 16 benchmarks), displays Windows CD key, passwords, and more. This is an exhaustive display of everything you wanted to know about your computer but were afraid to ask – and a lot more besides. It delves into minute detail about your computer and tells you even more than you really want to know. It is also a benchmarking tool that can save the results in the benchmark database for later comparison – handy if you want to tweak your computer and require a reference point to see the effectiveness of the changes you are making. We found PC Wizard to be an amazing tool in all aspects. The next time you are asked what motherboard your computer is using, what version of Windows is installed, what size hard drive is fitted, or any other of a hundred questions that you may be required to give, PC Wizard will give you that information in spades. We loved! Access this 4.47MB download from: Win95 Windows Enhancements

SVERDYSH-HTML Editor v9.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
SVERDYSH-HTML Editor is an HTML source code & CSS editor. It features an extensive menu system, includes 2 Wizards (homepage creation & child page creation), CSS modules, ASCII control, frame modules, sound controls, video controls, includes 95 background images, has a color options dialog box, the most frequently used commands are on the toolbar, it requires no installation (can be run from a portable USB drive), has a good Helpfile, and more. This is a very basic HTML and CSS editor that requires a reasonable knowledge of HTML to use, even though it has a good Helpfile in HTML format. Generally, SVERDYSH-HTML Editor adds the raw code and the user must fill in all the details – usually without prompting. Like most similar editors, it brings up a small dialog box to enter details about a tag (image, etc) but does not assist in entering those details (eg, automatically adding the height & width of a selected image). This adds more work to user who must extract this information from other sources and manually add it to the SVERDYSH-HTML Editor dialog boxes. It also does not offer syntax coloring – a tool that most users would find invaluable. SVERDYSH-HTML Editor also lacks a spell checker and other refinements common to similar products. All this means that while SVERDYSH-HTML Editor is a step above using Notepad as your HTML editor, it lacks many of the functions which turns a basic source code editor into a powerful source code editor. If you are currently using Notepad as your HTML editor you will enjoy the additional tags and other assistance offered by SVERDYSH-HTML Editor, but lacks functions to really streamline HTML code creation. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 3.78MB download from: Win98 Internet Related

TKexe Kalender v1.0.9.9 – WinXP/Vista
TKexe Kalender is a program that creates photo calendars of any size for single weeks, months or years. Up to 20 images can be added to a month, images can be rotated, special effects can be applied to images, weeks can start on Sunday or Monday, you can add personal events, select national holidays, save customized calendar to an image file or print, and more. If you are looking for a personalized calendar, with your own photos, then TKexe Kalender could be exactly what you want. It offers a huge number of customization options so that the resultant calendar is truly yours. There are additional templates which can be downloaded (a further 20MB), and the entire calendar is created using a Wizard-like interface. You can save your calendar as an image, print it yourself (try printing it on matte photo paper!), or have the author professionally print it for you (at a cost!). While most modern office suites offer calendar creation as an option, TKexe Kalender takes it to the next stage by offering a wide variety of customization options. We liked! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 30.2MB download from: WinXP General Programs

Free Image Converter v1.32 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Free Image Converter is a small utility that converts images from BMP or JPG images to JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG & TIFF image formats. It features some image filters (invert color, grayscale, image brightness, contrast, gamma & color), image resizing, image zoom (25% to 500%), and more. This is a strange little program that seems to be unfinished. For example, while it offers to save your image as WMF, EMF, EXIF or ICO formats, if you try to use them it will generate an error message, limiting the ability to save an image to just five formats instead of the nine listed. Likewise, when you open an image you can set the program to open either BMP or JPG but the option to open all supported BMP & JPG image formats displays nothing, even if the location has many of both types of files. Most strange. The filters work well, but there is no undo feature so, for example, if you decide that grayscale is not what you wanted you must re-open the original image and start again. Free Image Converter obviously requires that Microsoft's .NET Framework is installed but, except for a cryptic (and easily missed) comment during the installation to check you have the latest version of .NET Framework, there is no mention of this requirement with the program or on the author's site – in fact, there is no README file at all. For all our criticism, for converting an image from either BMP or JPG into any of the five actually supported image formats, this little program does a great job. We were less impressed with the resizing function – there was no option to retain the aspect ratio, or to size according to percentage, just to nominate the pixel size required. Finally, when the program closes it is supposed to automatically open the author's Website in your Web browser (assuming you are on-line) but the address is incorrect (it is missing an "s") and you simply get an error message saying that the site is unavailable. With a little more work we think that Free Image Converter could become a nice little image converter – but it isn't there yet! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 480kB download from: Win98 Graphic Programs

Money Grubbing v1.1 – Win 9x/ME/XP/Vista
Money Grubbing is a Monopoly-style boardgame for 2 to 4 players where a player's target is to beat others by making more money. It features different locations for making or losing money (Greed, Wall Street, Lotteries, etc), good sound, good graphics, addictive gameplay, and more. In Money Grubbing the various players share the same token as they roll electronic dice to move around the board, landing on various locations where they can make, or lose, money. Even though one player lands on a square, it may be one of the other players who get a downfall from the play. While much of the game is dice-controlled, it is an amusing way to kill time for potential capitalists as you roll the dice to win, or lose, lottery money or other financial resources. In this game you can win, or lose, millions of dollars in a short time. Money Grubbing requires that you have a friend or two to play against as there is no computer opponent. We were most amused with this fun way to kill an hour or three – a great little game. Grab a copy and try it for yourself! Get this 1.27MB download from: Win95 General Games
UPDATES
Yatzay – dice game (like Yatzee) where you roll five dice to make the best hand possible – has been updated to version 3.6.0.5 with a new download size of 0.99MB. The author advises that this version has been completely re-coded from scratch with a new design. Get this version from: WinXP General Games
Smart Fat Recovery – data recovery tool that supports the FAT 12/16/32 file system – has been updated to version 3.9 with a new, much larger download size of 1.39MB. The author advises that this version has improved performance. Access this latest version from: WinXPDesktop Utilities
Bible Books Memory Helper – helps memorize the books of the Bible – has been updated to version 3.0.0.1 with a download size of 999kB. The author advises that this version has been completely redesigned with a new interface and design. Access this latest version from: WinXP 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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