Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #443 issued August 31, 2007

Home > CFS Weekly Newsletter #443: issued August 31, 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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

Fraxy v20070713 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Fraxy is a top-view arena shooter with a space theme. It features practice & full game modes, 36 bosses (over 400 in "pack" version), 320x240 or 640x480 window sizes, up to 5 weapons (default is 2), optional random play, includes a boss editor (to create your own bosses), radar inset, combo mouse & keyboard control, and more. This is a typical shooter with the trademark Japanese frenetic style. In its standard download it offers a good selection of bosses, etc but CFS is offering a "pack" version which has over 400 bosses to battle (many of which appear to be nearly impossible to beat). You can even create your own using the boss editor which is included in the download. Because of this boss editor, there are many, many bosses available on the Internet for you to download. The game plays well but even the 640x480 window is too small for most modern monitors and, if you decide to run it fullscreen, the image losses clarity when stretched (specially on a widescreen monitor). Fraxy is played with a combination of keyboard and mouse, though you can change the configuration using the separate config program supplied with the game. In fact, you would be wise to run this config program before starting the game or it will run in the default 320x240 mode (which gives the best clarity, even though it is a very small window). The download from the author's site includes the boss information in Japanese, but there is an optional "enemies" zip file (only 16kB) which converts them into English. We liked Fraxy. It has its problems (not the least being the small window) but overall it is worth grabbing if you like Japanese-style space shooters. A great little game (specially the CFS "pack" version). Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.37MB download from: Win98 General Games

Softwire v1.01 – WinXP/Vista
Softwire is a small utility that finds software and keeps existing programs up-to-date. It features a database (regularly updated) of about 120 programs in 12 main categories, downloads & installs programs or updates, and more. This is a handy program for both finding software (mainly freeware) and for keeping it updated. At this stage of its development it only has a relatively small database of about 120 programs but this should quickly grow as new programs are added. When the program is first opened you are asked to get an update. Unfortunately, each time we tried we received an error message and the program database was not updated. However, if you click on the Refresh List button it will connect to the Internet and present you with current list of supported programs. While the vast majority are freeware, there are some shareware and trial programs included too so you should check carefully before committing yourself to a download. One good feature of SoftWire is that once a program or an update has been downloaded, it will install it for you. Cool. We were most impressed with this fledgling tool that we know will become more and more valuable as its database increases. A "must have" for all PC users. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME – it also requires an active Internet connection. Access this 278kB download from: WinXP Desktop Utilities

FastStone Capture v5.3 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
FastStone Capture is a powerful screen capture utility that can capture windows, objects, full screen, rectangle regions, freehand-selected regions and scrolling windows. It features a built-in viewer/editor, it can capture the mouse cursor, it offers hotkey operation, includes additional tools (zoom, color picker, opens file in editor), is skinnable (4 skins included), and more. This is a sensational screen capture tool. It offers a huge range of options, including an excellent image editor to dress up your screenshots (adds drop shadow, torn edge, watermark, text, lines, image resizing, etc) plus a sophisticated image viewer. It can grab a wide variety of screen objects but the one aspect we really liked was its ability to capture scrolling windows. That means you aren't just limited to just capturing what you can see, but you can scroll down a document (like a long Webpage) and capture it all. Awesome! Later versions of FastStone Capture are not free and this version, available directly from CFS, is the last of the free versions. Even then, it should not be used for commercial applications and is free for personal use only. FastStone Capture is probably the best screen capture tool we have seen to date and we were extremely impressed with this superb tool. An essential download for anyone needing to capture screenshots. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Get this 1.35 download from: Win98 Graphic Programs

Efficient WMA MP3 Converter v0.99.2 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Efficient WMA MP3 Converter is a program that can extract audio and convert most popular audio files (MP3, MP2, WMA, OGG, APE, FLAC, WAV, RealAudio, AAC, AC3, M4A, M4B, MPC, etc), saving the audio to MP3, WMA, OGG, APE, FLAC or WAV formats. It supports ID3 Tag v2, batch conversion, you can specify all files in a folder (and, optionally, its sub-folders), and it can extract audio from most video file formats (MPEG, WMV, FLV, SWF, AVI, MP4, MOV, RV, RMVB, VOB, 3GP, 3G2, ASF, etc). This is an excellent audio file converter that has the added advantage of being able to extract audio from many video file formats – including the popular YouTube FLV format and the VOB DVD format. You can carry out batch conversions, vary the bitrate and make other changes to the output quality, and be confident that there are not too many audio file formats that it cannot handle. The only popular file format that it cannot convert is CDA – it cannot rip your audio CDs and save the files as MP3s or one of the other supported filetypes. However, there are so many audio CD ripping tools available that we think this omission is not critical – specially with the huge number of filetypes already supported! Efficient WMA MP3 Converter is a superb audio file converter and a "must have" for anyone wishing to convert audio files. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 5.19MB download from: Win98 Multimedia Programs

Tic Tac Toe Trio v1.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Tic Tac Toe Trio is a variation on the traditional pen & paper game, Tic Tac Toe (also called Noughts & Crosses), where you must get 5 crosses in a row on an ever increasing board. It features sensational 3D-style animated graphics, 3 levels of difficulty, single game or tournament play, choice of 8 skins, demo mode, high scores, and more. This is a terrific version of an old favorite. Whereas the traditional version was played on a 3x3 board and you needed to get 3 in-a-line to win, in this version you must get 5 in-a-row but the board will keep growing so you cannot end up in a draw with your computer opponent. The human player starts by placing an X on the board (you might as well place it in the middle as going for a corner position offers no advantage) and then taking turns with the computer (which uses a 0). You can change the look of the board considerably using the built-in skins and the whole game has a professional look 'n feel that encourages gameplay. If you want more of a challenge than from the old Noughts & Crosses, grab a copy of Tic Tac Toe Trio – like us, we think you'll love it. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.89MB download from: Win98 General Games

Snap Shots v1.1 – WinXP/Vista
Snap Shots is a Web browser add-on that enhances Weblinks with visual previews of the destination site. It offers interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace & IMDb profiles, Amazon products, plus displays inline videos, RSS feeds, MP3s, photos, stock charts, and more. This is an interesting browser add-on (versions for IE, Firefox & Safari browsers) that pops up a small window with information from a link over which your cursor rests (assuming that the Webpage is made interactive with the use of some JavaScript code). It works with many major sites, like Google, and Amazon, but also with some other sites, like CFS (virtually all of our pages are now interactive). As the author says: "Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you 'look ahead' before deciding if you want to follow a link or not." When visiting a site that has links to, say, Wikipedia, placing your cursor over one of those Wikipedia links brings up information from that page you can read without actually visiting Wikipedia. Of course there is a downside to having Snap Shots activated (it can be turned off any time you like) – sometimes it takes time for page information to be gathered, and it can be annoying if you accidentally let your cursor move over an external link (you usually have it turned off for internal links) with little windows popping up all over the screen and preventing you from reading what is underneath. We found it annoying to use it with Google for that reason but you can selectively turn off any of the major sites. About 30 sites are listed in the Options menu, and each can be turned off or on at will. Clicking once on the Snap Shots button in your Web browser toggles the program on and off. There are three different versions of this program – one for Internet Explorer that works with versions 6 and 7, one for Mozilla's Firefox that works with versions 1.5 to 2.0, and one for Safari that works with versions 2.0.1 and above. Snap Shots is a tool you will come to like as you get to use it more often. Even with those small reservations, we liked. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 146kB download (for IE, about 15kB for Firefox) from: WinXP Internet Related

FET v5.2.13 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
FET is a free timetabling program for educational institutions. It features a fully automatic generation algorithm, powerful flexible modular XML format for the input file, possibility to view the currently generated timetable without stopping the ongoing simulation (as HTML on hard disk), resultant timetables are exported to XML & HTML formats, very flexible students (pupils) structure, possibility to consider a weight (percentage) for each constraint (from 0% to 100%), up to 30 hours (periods) per day, up to 14 working days per week, up to 700 teachers, up to 5,000 subgroups (sets) of students, up to 1,000 subjects, virtually unlimited number of subject tags, up to 2,000 activities, up to 300 rooms, adjustable duration for each activity, can add multiple teachers & students sets for each activity (up to 400 students subgroups & 100 teachers), up to 10,000 time constraints, up to 10,000 space constraints, and more. Unfortunately, CFS was unable to review this program. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 5.09MB download from: Win98 General Programs

The Treasures Of Montezuma v1 – WinXP/Vista
The Treasures Of Montezuma is a game where you seek out magic totems and rare artifacts in a quick-moving, fast-acting puzzle. It features 41 levels across 5 episodes, 4 bonus games (8 bonus levels), various bonuses/power tokens/trophies to earn, excellent graphics, addictive gameplay, and more. In this game you must align three or more tokens of the same color by moving a single token one place. This removes the same-colored tokens in that sequence and cascades down more tokens. Quite often there will be a chain reaction and multiple color combos will be removed, with lots of special effects to enhance your enjoyment (well, that's the idea anyway). All the time you are fighting against the clock. There is an involved storyline should you wish to immerse yourself in The Treasures Of Montezuma, though we didn't feel it was really necessary. This game is characterized by its excellent animated graphics, and an option which appealed to us – the provision for widescreen monitors to play fullscreen. Terrific! Unfortunately, The Treasures Of Montezuma is spoilt with a huge download and advertising. To download this game you must first get a small 683kB helper file that, when launched, downloads both the game browser or agent and the game. We are unsure of the size of these two programs, but the game itself claims to be 20.49MB, though we noticed over 79MB of traffic when this file was being downloaded and installed! The game browser (which you can use for other games from the same publisher) is a further 11MB. This makes The Treasures Of Montezuma a massive download. The game browser installs itself in the Startup folder and loads every time Windows loads. We suggest that you delete the shortcut to this game browser so that it only loads when you want to play the game. The advertising is, at the time of writing, not very invasive and you get to view some comedic television ads (which has nothing to do with this advertising – it appears to be an attention getter). At the time of doing the review, clicking on those TV ads simply tries to sell you some games (ie it is a house ad). This could change at any time. Even with all the negative aspects (download size and advertising), we loved The Treasures Of Montezuma. It is a terrific puzzler and a "must have" for all fans of this genre. If you have the patience (and a broadband connection) try it for yourself. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 683kB download (the helper file) from: WinXP General Games
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