Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #426 issued March 23, 2007

Home > CFS Weekly Newsletter #426: issued March 23, 2007

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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

Star Wraith: Shadows of Orion – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Star Wraith: Shadows of Orion is a 3D space combat simulation where you fly missions for the Alliance. It features 3 combat modes (Dogfight, Team vs Team, & Cooperative), single & multiplayer modes, up to 8 networked players & 8 AI players (a maximum of 16 players),10 different space craft, 11 different weapons, excellent 3D graphics, and more. This is a sequel to the highly popular Star Wraith 2 (also listed with CFS) and, like that game, is a sensational 3D strategy shooter. There is the usual HUD information to assist you in your mission. The game can be played through a joystick (the default), the keyboard or the mouse, and you must use the Options dialog box if you want to change the default method of control. The keyboard offers many commands and the KEYBOARD.JPG (found in the main program folder) should be checked, and even printed, so you know all the additional commands you have available. The 3D graphics are awesome and the background music and sound effects are equally good. Star Wraith: Shadows of Orion is not a demo but a full game and anyone interested in this genre will find it a professionally crafted game that will provide days and even weeks of intense gameplay. Where the earlier version did not provide network gameplay, that is a major feature in this version where you can mix human and non-human players to get an intense gaming experience. Single players are not neglected and they will find the single player modes exciting and fun to play. We loved Star Wraith: Shadows of Orion. It is an awesome game that most will really enjoy. A "must have" game! Access this 9.32MB download from: Win95 General Games

QReminder v1.0 – WinXP/Vista
QReminder is a small desktop toolbar that has some useful tools: a very flexible reminder; a quick access menu; and a notes archive. It features light CPU usage, positionable anywhere on the screen, minimizes to the desktray (next to the clock), and more. This is a useful little suite of three apps that offers a good mix of usable functions. It can be used as a program launcher and/or Website linker, as a reminder tool or alarm, or as a lightweight note taker. It can be positioned out of the way on the screen, or minimized to a desktray icon. There is also an automatic minimization function that leaves the toolbar on the screen but just makes it very small. We really liked the My Link section because you can use it to launch Websites, documents, programs – in fact anything you like! The notes taker is handy for temporarily storing clips (slabs of text, etc) until required. QReminder is a fabulous little tool, and one that most users would find of value. Worth a look! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 860kB download from: WinXP Desktop Utilities

FTP Commander v7.67 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
FTP Commander is a file transfer (FTP) manager for transferring files & folders between a local computer and a remote computer. It features remote file/folder/subdirectory management, resume if transfer interrupted, drag 'n drop, twin-pane view, unlimited connection profiles, ASCII/binary/auto transfer modes, Passive & Active (Port) transfers, custom command dialog box, Helpfile, and more. This is potentially a superb FTP client that you can use to upload files to a remote server, or to download files from a remote server (ie Microsoft, Apple, your own server, etc). It is extremely easy to use and offers the standard controls and features we have come to expect from a good quality FTP file manager – except for one thing. Even though the on-line feature list includes CHMOD (so the attributes of remote files and folders can be changed) we could find no way of doing this through the existing menu structure. Not only could we not find the command within the program, we searched the Helpfile and the on-line User Manual and could not find any reference to CHMOD (except the features list). This is an essential control tool for anyone wanting to, say, install CGI scripts on a server where you must be able to open executionable files so they can be publicly written (read and write), and block visitors from being able to modify information (read only). Without a CHMOD function, FTP Commander lacks the ability to be able to truly manage remote files and folders and, as such, is of only limited value for most users. If you have no need for CHMOD then you will probably find that FTP Commander is an excellent tool. However, if you are a serious user then this is one program to avoid. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 657kB download from: Win98 Internet Related

RainbowPlayer v0.91 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
RainbowPlayer is a skinnable audio player. It features support for 23 different audio formats (MP, OGG, WAV, AIFF, MOD, S3M, XM, IT, STM, DMF, AMF, MED, MTM, etc), Digital Sound Processing (DSP) filters & effects, converts all supported formats to WAV, auto resume, auto minimize, playlist (plus 9 more on hotkeys), equalizer, and more. It saves playlists to its own native format (RPL) and does not recognize other playlist types. On paper this is an awesome audio player that most people would desire. In fact, it is awkward to use because there is no help for any of the functions, and its fancy eye candy does not give much information about what a button does, or does not do. Of course, this is still technically a beta (less than version 1.0) but we would have expected it to have more information as part of the package than it does, In fact, it has very little information of real value and you struggle to find out what some of the buttons do (if the strange shapes in the graphics are buttons because some seem to do nothing). The Settings dialog box mentions fly-over help ("show hints"), but we found only help for some buttons but none for others. You can access many functions through the right-click context menu – but not all functions as it does not duplicate the player's buttons. One function it does not seem to have is the ability to minimize to the desktray (next to the clock) so you can set a playlist going and then go on with your other work while it plays. It seems that many authors of audio player seem to think that people want to stare at their beautiful creations while listening to music – and that is certainly not how we listen to music on our PC. However, even with these deficiencies, RainbowPlayer is still a fabulous little player that has a huge potential. It is skinnable, but you need to be a programmer to be able to create a skin – and there isn't even any instructions for the not-so-brilliant skin creator who might not be able to read and interpret the code for the existing skin. RainbowPlayer is a good player at this beta stage – and we expect it will be an excellent player by the time it reaches version 1.5 or greater. Even so, it is worth a look. Access this 1.64MB download from: Win95 Multimedia Programs

Turn On Green v1.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Turn On Green is a simple but challenging puzzle where you must "flip" the colors and make all the squares green. It features 24 increasingly difficult levels, simple gameplay, has excellent graphics, is suitable for all ages, and more. Even though this is a simple-concept game, don't think that it is easy to get all 24 levels. True, the first few levels are easy but as you advance into the game you will find it gets quite challenging. You are faced with a screen with a mix of red and green squares and you must turn all the squares green. When you click on a square, the surrounding squares (but not the one you've clicked on) flip their color – red to green, and green to red. A level is finished, and you can proceed to the next, once you have changed all colored squares to green. Turn On Green is an excellent game and is truly suitable for all ages. Graphics are very good and the game has a high addictive element to it. When you close the game there is a nag screen, but this can be closed immediately and does not transmit anything across the Internet unless you indicate you want to play more games. We loved Turn On Green. Fun, challenging, good eye candy, and addictive – what more could you ask for in a game? A "must have" for all lovers of puzzles. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.95MB download from: Win98 General Games

PF Image-2-HTML v1.0 – WinXP/Vista
PF Image-2-HTML is a tool that converts images into HTML code without loss of image quality (at the default size). It features support for all major image formats (BMP, JPG, PNG, TIF & animated GIF), option to resize the image larger (with some loss of image quality – 4 sizes, from "Default" to "Very Big"), you can change the background color (or make it transparent), save the original image as JPG, FTP upload to author's site, and more. This is an amazing tool that turns a binary image into a realistic (in fact, identical) image created from HTML code. The resultant image, undetectable from the original if converted at the default size, has one major advantage over a binary image – someone cannot easily steal the image because there isn't a binary image to steal! This is an image in pure HTML with some JavaScript for animations. We converted a 12kB image into an HTML image but the HTML page was a whopping 379kB (and that was without anything else on that page – just the image!). This makes it impractical for normal Internet use because the page size is so large it would take a long time to load, even with a fast broadband connection. However, that limitation does not apply for CD-based projects and you safely could pass around a CD or DVD with quite a few "safe" images in it and not be too worried about someone stealing them (the only way would be to take a screenshot and then convert that screenshot into an image). PF Image-2-HTML includes the ability to upload the finished HTML image to the author's Website and we posted a "Big" version of our test image to http://software.benetonfilms.com/i2html/test3.html (requires at least a 1024x768 screen resolution). The size of the resultant HTML page is such that PF Image-2-HTML has only limited applications but, for people who want the security of not having their images stolen by using the "Save picture as..." command in a Web browser's right-click context menu, it could be invaluable. Even if you don't have a practical use for this program, it is lots of fun just to see an image translated into HTML and then rendered exactly in a Web browser. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 2.49MB download from: WinXP Graphic Programs

freeCommander v2006.06b – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
freeCommander is a twin-pane file manager (like Norton Commander). It features built-in archive support (ZIP, CAB & RAR), a built-in file viewer (hex, binary, text or image format), an optional folder view in either or both panes, folder comparison/synchronization, file splitting, you can modify file dates & attributes, file filters, DOS commandline (even in XP), and more. This is a sensational replacement for the archaic Explorer program shipped with Windows. It adds many more commands and options to the standard Explorer window, yet still allows you to use those extra right-click context menu utilities we all find invaluable. freeCommander adds archive support to earlier versions of Explorer and allows you to both read and write to ZIP and CAB archives, and to view RAR archives. There are dozens of little tools and utilities built into freeCommander and we have listed only a few – it takes time to learn all this excellent file manager can do! Most commands have a keyboard shortcut to make access easier (for example, to change the attributes of a file, including changing its date, simply highlight the file and press Shift-Enter to access its special properties dialog box). Unfortunately it lacks an FTP file transfer function and it uses an older style of display. However, freeCommander is one of the best file managers we have seen and we were most impressed with its function and ease of use. 10 out of 10! Access this 1.59MB download from: Win95 Windows Enhancements

doPDF v5.0.212 – WinXP/Vista
doPDF is a program that converts any printable document to Acrobat PDF format without requiring Ghostscript. It allows the user to modify the paper size, modify the resolution (from 72 to 2400 dpi), change the page orientation (portrait or landscape), change the quality settings, and more. This is an easy way of creating an Adobe PDF file from virtually any printable file – Word documents, Excel sheets, PowerPoint presentations, AutoCad drawings, products list, charts, e-mails, Web pages, etc. All you need to do is to bring up the printer dialog box in the program you are using to create the document in (usually Ctrl-P) and select "doPDF v5" from the list of available printers. By clicking on the Properties button (or Advanced/Preferences button) you can then adjust the paper size, the resolution, etc. Clicking on the OK button to print the page brings up a small dialog box where you either accept the default filename and location or modify either, and the PDF file will be saved to that location with that filename. Once saved, Adobe Acrobat Reader is automatically opened with the just-saved document displayed. Simple. Quality is excellent, and you end up with your work saved as a distributable PDF file. Cool. doPDF is a great way of creating PDF documents without the huge cost of purchasing Adobe Acrobat. We were impressed! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 2.57MB download from: WinXP General Programs

Island Wars v1.20 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Island Wars is an arcade, adventure game for 1 or 2 players where you must defend your island's palm trees. It features 3 battles per day for 5 days, human/computer or human/human gameplay, good graphics, and more. This is an interesting concept because you are involved in a number of battles. The first battle is plane versus island, with one player being the plane and the other the island defenses (a canon), the second battle is the reverse where the one who was the island in the first game is now the plane and is attacking the opposition island (funny, they look exactly the same!). The third battle each day is a dogfight between the planes from opposing islands. Day 2 is exactly the same, as is day 3, 4 and 5. At the end of the fifth day the winner is announced. We suggest that if you are playing against the computer you nominate yourself to be the right-hand side because that side gets the arrow keys and the Spacebar. The left hand team (if it is human) gets the A, D, W and X (or S) keys, plus the left-hand Shift button for firing. For an amusing few minutes (and to help get a feel for the game) set the computer against the computer and watch it battle with itself. We found that controls were generally clumsy and it takes a little while before they can be mastered. However, this is worth the effort because Island Wars is a fun, if basic, game that is surprisingly addictive. It is worth checking out the README file (in HTML) which you'll find in the program's folder. That gives you some information about controls and some trouble-shooting tips if you can't get the game working properly. There is a nag screen when the program is closed but we could not detect any unauthorized Internet access from it and the nag was easy to close. Island Wars is a good way to kill an hour or two. Access this 2.37MB download from: Win95 General Games
UPDATE
Semellone – an anti-spyware scanner to assist in removing malware (malicious software) – has been updated to version 5.0 with a new download size of 2.04MB. The author advises that changes in this version include: many search functions rewritten; more stable program; and fixed a bug in the "download updates" button. Get this latest version from: Win95 Desktop Utilities
COMMENTS
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