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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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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
Cubemaster Gold v4.0 – Win9x/ME
Cubemaster Gold is an awesome Tetris game. It features: 5 modes of play (Classic, Pro, Extreme, Gold & Free); up to 32 different shapes; X-Cubes; has 30 tunes, 100 backgrounds, 20 cube textures & 5 skins; you can choose keyboard, mouse or joystick; add your own background images (supports BMP, GIF, JPG & WMF); use your own background music (supports MID, MP1, MP2, MP3, MOD, S3M, XM, IT & MTM); animation effects; and more. This is not your ordinary Tetris clone! It offers a level of sophistication not normally seen in freeware games and an extremely high level of customization. You can personalize Cubemaster Gold to a high degree and create virtually your own Tetris game in the process. Alas, it does require at least an 800x600 screen – and even that is too small to show the entire game window in the Classic mode, and at least a 1024x768 screen is required for the other modes! The old expression "bigger than Ben Hur" springs to mind when discussing this game. It offers more customization, it is larger, it has better background music, etc than any other version we have seen. You can even totally remap the keys, mouse movements and joystick controls! We reviewed version 4.0 of this game but there is a patch file (an additional 787kB) which takes it up to version 4.1. We were surprised that the author didn't just offer 4.1 as a single file. That aside, if you enjoy Tetris, even occasionally, this is the one to beat. Cubemaster Gold is, well, bigger than Ben Hur... Get it now! Access this 8.32MB (v4.0 only) download from: Win9x General Games
911 In Memorium Screen Saver v2.60 – Win9x/ME
911 In Memorium Screen Saver is a tribute to September 11 2001 with a screensaver that includes 33 excellent images, Christian quotes, and 11 pieces of high quality music. It also features an excellent screensaver control program which resides as an icon in the desktray. The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the downed aircraft in Pennsylvania was an horrendous event which has touched many lives throughout the world. While CFS does not normally list screensavers, we were please to make an exception for this one. The photographs are crisp and clear, the message with each photo excellent, and the music is superb. Even if you normally don't use screensavers, the 911 In Memorium Screen Saver is one to make an exception with. Access this 5.18MB download from: Win9x Windows Enhancements
ZSpline Standard v1.0.2 – Win9x/ME
ZSpline Standard is a digital image resizer which can enlarge images without pixelation and with virtually no loss of image quality. It features a strongly enhanced interpolation technology which maintains the sharpness of the original image, supports popular bitmap formats (BMP, EMF, GIF, JPG, PCD, PCX, PNG, PSD, TGA, TIF & WMF), and more. Anybody who uses digital images – Webmasters, digital camera owners, graphic artists, DTP users, etc – needs to be able to resize an image and maintain the original quality. Even the most expensive graphics programs have trouble doing this without the image becoming fuzzy and highly pixelated. This amazing tool allows you to enlarge an image and still keep it crisp and clean. We took a BMP image which was 384 x 256 pixels in size and then increased that image by 300% (to 1162 x 768) and then decreased that new image by 33% so it was virtually the same size as the original (actually 380 x 253). The image that resulted was very slightly darker than the original and it lost only a tiny amount of detail. Compared to what a major photo-editing program would do, it was perfect! We had some trouble getting it to read GIF images and we suspect that it does not like the GIF89a format, which is the most popular GIF format on the Internet. That aside, ZSpline Standard is an absolutely "must have" program for anyone who has to resize images and, in the area of image resizing, it makes $1,000+ photo-editing programs look cheap and nasty. Get it!!! Access this 2.28MB download from: Win9x Graphic Programs
WinLock Millennium v1.00a – Win95/98
WinLock Millennium is a PC security package which provides users with good protection against pesky kiddies, nosy grandmas or any unwelcome users. It features a high level of customization, instant desktop protection, informative log file, messaging feature, desktop logging, application restriction, virtually undetectable, disable Windows functions, disable system key combo, and more. This is a huge suite of tools to provide quite a degree of protection for your PC from prying eyes. It offers Guardian, Keeper, Nanny & Spy functions, most with setup Wizards to make it easy to protect your computer. The Guardian protects your desktop and offers a simple messaging system so that visitors to your work station can leave you a note. When Guardian is turned on the mouse cursor is trapped inside its window and nothing can be done except to insert a password. Keeper has your basic configuration file where you tell the program how many attempts you will allow for password, etc. The Nanny function allows you to control how certain functions are used – for example you can prevent anyone from accessing RegEdit or you can prevent the F4/F8 keys being used on bootup (often an easy way to beat a locked computer). The Spy function allows the computer to be used but takes secret snapshots of the desktop at preset intervals so you can see what those kids are really doing. Like other computer locking tools, WinLock Millennium can be beaten by using a boot disk, but if your intruder wants access to Windows itself, this is one of the best ways of preventing access. The author states that this program only works on Windows 95 and 98, but after a couple of failed attempts we did get it to load and run in a Windows ME computer. However, it is not recommended for use with ME. If you are worried about what the kids are doing, or about someone else sifting through your collection of 1910 French postcard images, grab WinLock Millennium. It truly is an impressive suite of tools. Access this 5.41MB download from: Win9x Desktop Utilities
Look To The Skies v1 – Win9x/ME
Look To The Skies is a fun game where you are an extra-terrestial who pilots a flying saucer to beam up unsuspecting cattle and mutilate them. But watch out for angry farmers and black helicopters which will try to drive you to other pastures. Let's start off by saying straight up – there are no socially redeeming features about this game. It deals with cattle abduction and mutilation, and both supporters of animal rights and members of the Prevention of Cruelty to Dumb Beasts should be incensed over this game. Apart from that it is a mindless time-waster and, surprisingly for a game with no socially redeeming qualities, it is fun to play, and play, and play. We feel that a warning label should be affixed to this game which says... Warning: not suitable for animal rights supporters or little children. If you are looking for mindless fun where you capture poor dumb cattle (and that's a low dig at the sounds which cattle make) then grab a copy of Look To The Skies. Best played with a McChucks all-beef burger beside you (from only the freshest alien-captured and mutilated cattle), and a lot of spare hours... Access this 1.95MB download from: Win9x General Games
Money Manager v1.0 – Win98/ME
Money Manager is a no-frills but powerful home accounting package. It features management of savings/checking accounts, credit card accounts & fixed deposit accounts, reminders for upcoming deposit maturity dates, you can enter & reconcile transactions, organize transactions in various categories, have multiple users, and more. This apparently simple accounting package has depths which aren't obvious until you really start to use it. While it could be seen as just a bank statement reconciliation tool, in truth it is much more than that and allows you to use it to manage your funds. Cool. Without doubt the biggest problem for potential users is the requirement to have Microsoft's .Net redistributable (a 19.7MB download!) already loaded on your computer and, because of that, it is not suitable for Windows 95 users. It does lack a method of visual reporting (charts, export to Excel, etc) but the author has them on his "to do" list for a future version. Hope it isn't too far into the future... If your finances are a mess then Money Manager is one of the easiest tools we have seen to put them in order (alas, it cannot pay those bills for you). We liked! Access this 137kB download from: Win9x General Programs
PhotoTree v1.0 – Win9x/ME
PhotoTree allows you to store photos in an intuitive tree-like structure. You can view the images in each branch of the structure as a slideshow by running the Play Presentation command, or click through the photos one by one manually. It supports JPG, JPEG, BMP, ICO, GIF, JPE & WMF formats, offers good customization of the toolbar, etc, and screens all photos imported into the structure to ensure there aren't any corrupt or unsupported ones. PhotoTree is more than a simple image viewer because it can be used to organize images into categories, groups and sub-groups – as many levels as you like. Images must be imported into the structure so if you decide to leave the originals where they are (the default setting) you will duplicate those images. It offers a good range of customization and has a professional look n' feel. Most functions within the program can be accessed by using the F keys along the top of the keyboard (all 12 are used). With PhotoTree there is no excuse for having your images scattered all over your hard drive, or for having them all clumped together in a single folder so that a picture Aunty Jo is in the same place as a picture of your car. Now they can be organized into groups and sub-groups. PhotoTree is certainly worth a look! Access this 8.79MB (it does include over 4MB of sample photos – there is a 4.71MB download without these images, and an even smaller one without system and runtime files) from: Win9x Graphic Programs
Wtts v12.22.02 – Win9x/ME
Wtts is an e-book (using a card system) to help get the most out of a Windows-based computer by offering a selection of tips. It is offered in 13 categories (Backing Up Your Hard Drive, Windows 95 Tips & Tricks, Windows 98 Tips & Tricks, Windows ME Tips & Tricks, etc, Desktop Tips & Tricks, Laptop Tips & Tricks, AOL Tips & Tricks, and more). The information provided seems quite sound (though we didn't test every suggestion) but more depth in some areas would have been appreciated. For intermediate computer users, Wtts is a handy adjunct to other tools which offer similar information. The author has provided an updater applet so you can ensure that you always have the latest version. If you are at least an intermediate computer user then Wtts is well worth grabbing. Like us, you may find some tricks to make your computer usage a little better or a little easier. Access this 955kB download from: Win9x Windows Enhancements
Cash Invaders v1.0 – DOS
Cash Invaders is a Space Invaders clone where you shoot aliens to earn money and, with that money, buy power-ups. It features 100 levels plus 9 bonus levels, 10 powerups, ray-traced graphics, good sound effects, optional joystick, and more. This is just a fun version of the old classic Space Invaders game. The pace is fast and the enemies just keep on coming, but so too does the cash and you can soon start buying extra lives and a variety of powerups. The purchasing of powerups might be a novelty, but the game itself is every bit as good as any other DOS Space Invaders clone, and better than most. For a DOS game the graphics are excellent and the animation is superb. Cash Invaders played well in our Windows ME test computer and that is good news because DOS programs, specially games, can cause trouble in ME. If you enjoy the Space Invaders concept, and most people do, then this is one to put high on your list of "must haves". Grab Cash Invaders now! Access this 389kB download from: DOS General Games
UPDATE
602Pro PC SUITE 2001 – a fully featured office productivity suite – has been updated to version 2001.1.03.0113 with a new, much larger download size of 16.2MB. We have been advised that this is an entirely new build, but not the specific changes in this version. Access this superb MS Office compatible suite from: Win9x General Programs
Rocket Duel – a fun two-player shooter using a split screen on the same computer – has been updated to version 1.02 with a download size of 2.85MB. The author says: "I have added an install/uninstall program, and in the process merged the download of the playfield editor into the main download. (Since it's so small, I didn't think two downloads was needed.)" He also advises that changes in this version include some cleaned up graphics and a completely new playfield. Grab this latest version from: Win9x General Games
NoteKeeper – a multi-functional hierarchical information manager – has been updated to version 0.9.2 with a download size of 1.32MB. The author advises that changes in this version include adding an optional splash screen and fixing a number of bugs. Get this latest version from: Win9x Text Programs
Color Cop – converts RGB decimal values to RGB Hexadecimal Triplets – has been updated to version 5.2 with a new download size of 322kB. The author advises that changes in this version since 4.0 include the addition of the following features: magnifier with 1x-16x zoom; 3x3 & 5x5 average sampling; snap to WebSafe; minimize to desktray; Visual Basic, Visual C++ and Powerbuilder color code support; mouse wheel support; EasyMove; upper & lower case Hex; collapsible dialog; color history; and complementary color palette. This is a major update over previous versions and is almost a whole new program. Well worth grabbing. Access this latest version from: Win9x Graphic Programs
Stackomania – a challenging and logical card game – has been updated to version 2.5.5 with a download size of 2.38MB (smaller if you don't need VB runtime files). The author advises that he has added Advanced Settings to let users configure the Random play option. Grab this update from: Win9x General Games
@Start – a custom homepage for Internet Explorer – has been updated to version 3.1 with a new download size of 645kB. The author advises that the most significant improvement in this version is the ability to give users all of the functionality without "stealing" their current homepage. He also advised us that he had addressed most of the users' concerns by adding more functionality and content. Additionally performance was improved, appearance enhanced, and all reported problems were fixed. This new version is worth a second look! Grab a copy from: Win9x Internet Related
1 Nutty Santa Screen Saver – an animated screensaver – has been updated to version 2.2 with a new download size of 386kB. We have not been advised of the changes made to this version. Grab this update from: Win9x Windows Enhancements
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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Win 9x/ME/XP
