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CFS Weekly Newsletter #465: issued February 29, 2008
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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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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
Megaman X Wackyland v1.01 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Megaman X Wackyland is a Mega Man clone, platform game. It features 3 levels of difficulty, a choice of 12 weapons, has many powerups & items to collect, you can buy new weapons, includes a mini-game (Survival Mode), it is highly customizable, has challenging gameplay, excellent 2D graphics, and more. This is a great version of the popular old Mega Man game (originally from 1987). By default the right and left arrow keys move Megaman, the Shift key is the jump key and the Z key fires your primary weapon (weapons, where available, can be changed using the C key). When you first open the game you are faced with a notice that says to press the Fire key to start. In fact, you press the Enter key to start. Megaman X Wackyland is one of those timeless games that have a high addictive quality about them. It is suitable for all ages, but younger children may find it hard to play because there is usually lots happening on the screen. Fortunately, you get many lives to start with! It has some nag screens built into the game which are somewhat annoying, and it does want to connect to the Internet when you fire it up but you can use your firewall to block this access without preventing the game from running. Megaman X Wackyland is a fun way to kill an hour or three and is well worth grabbing. We loved! Access this 21.8MB download from: Win95 General Games
AnVir Task Manager v5.0.1 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
AnVir Task Manager is a utility program that gives users more control of their computer. It features an advanced startup manager, a startup guard, a process manager, it can optionally hide Microsoft services, provides access to System tools, has extensive options, and more. This is an excellent task manager that supplies much information about what processes are currently running so that users can decide if they are required (or even if they are malicious). The depth of information is amazing and most users, advanced and novice alike, will find this suite of tools invaluable. It can display two icons in the desktray (next to the clock) showing CPU usage, and disk load (including temperature). There are a few functions which, when activated, simply give a message saying that this feature is not available in the free version. This can be most annoying until you learn what is, and isn't, available. Overall, however, AnVir Task Manager is a superb suite of tools that we are happy to recommend. Grab a copy now! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 598kB download from: Win98 Windows Enhancements
Acala DVD 3gp Ripper v2.9.1 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Acala DVD 3gp Ripper is a program that converts DVD movies to mobile 3GP movies for playing on a mobile phone. It features 5 levels of quality (video bitrates), 3 frame sizes (from 128x96 to 320x240), rips copy-protected DVDs, and more. This is a terrific tool for anyone wanting to turn their mobile phone into a portable movie center. Load a DVD movie into the DVD player in your computer and click on the + (plus) button to load that movie into Acala DVD 3gp Ripper. Then click on the right arrow at the bottom of the program window to start the process. This may take more than half an hour so be prepared for a long wait. You can control the quality of the recording, and the frame size of the finished movie, but you cannot compensate for a widescreen movie – it gets squashed into a 4:3 format (not a letterbox). This is the major aspect of the program we didn't like. The controls are intuitive (because they are basic) but we could not get the program to do most of the advertised features (from shutting down the computer when the copying had finished to selecting just a small part of the movie to copy). Movie quality, when converted to a 3GP file, is poor when compared to normal DVD quality but still acceptable for a small device like a mobile phone. Users should be aware that it may be illegal to remove copy-protection from DVD movies, so using Acala DVD 3gp Ripper to convert commercial DVD movies to 3GP format for playing on your mobile device might leave you at the mercy of the law. Don't say you haven't been warned. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 3.51MB download from: Win98 Multimedia Programs
Desktop iCalendar Lite v1.2.0 – WinXP/Vista
Desktop iCalendar Lite is a stylish desktop calendar that resides in the desktray (next to the clock) until required. It features a to-do list, built-in holiday calendar (mainly US holidays), subscription to Google Calendar (holidays, election, NBA, etc), built-in skin editor, can work with the calendars created by Thunderbird Lightning & Sunbird, and more. This is an excellent desktop calendar program that displays the current date in its desktray icon. There is a to-do list facility, and you can create your own events complete with alarm so you don't forget them. There are a number of US holidays and special events (President's birthdays, etc) but if you turn off the US holidays events, it also turns off other, worldwide events (like St Patrick's Day, Easter, Valentine's day, etc). It really needs a worldwide events list, plus a US events list, instead of placing them all in the US events or holiday listing. While we are criticizing, we were also disappointed that there was no fast way to change the year or the month without laboriously clicking on the month-change button to advance the calendar one month at a time. Not much fun if you want to skip forward, or backwards, a couple of years. That aside, Desktop iCalendar Lite is one of the nicest looking calendars we have seen. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 2.75MB download from: WinXP Desktop Utilities
Alien Onslaught v03.03.0008 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Alien Onslaught is a classic space shooter where you must crush the alien invaders. It features 3 levels of difficulty, 2 campaigns, damage status indicator, lots of powerups, good graphics & sound, easy-to-use interface, joystick support, and more. This is a conventional space shooter where the author has added an enhancement where you create a free account and you get access to increased weaponry and shields that you can purchase (like shareware). However, not only is the game playable without these enhancements, at the time of carrying out the review the account creation facilities at the author's site were closed so new accounts could not be created. Without these enhancements this is yet another vertically scrolling space shooter – it is not particularly unique and plays like most similar games. If you are a keen space shooter fan you will want to ensure you grab a copy of Alien Onslaught for your collection. Even though it is not particularly unique, we liked Alien Onslaught and thought it worthy of playing. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 7.04MB download from: Win98 General Games
AquaSoft PhotoFlash v2.0.08 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
AquaSoft PhotoFlash is a browser for images, sounds, videos and MP3 files. It features a slideshow function, you can carry out normal file operations (copy, delete, move), you can e-mail images, set photos as wallpaper, it reads EXIF data, there are optional plugins (demo plugin provided free), and more. This is a handy program for controlling your image files and, to a lesser degree, your MP3 and movies. There is a Helpfile to get you going, but most people will be able to use this program without too much outside assistance. Generally the interface is based on the Explorer file tree, which most users will find convenient. If you click on an individual file you get the option to work with that file using the toolbar menu, or see the file and EXIF information. AquaSoft PhotoFlash lacks the ability to automatically rotate images to their correct orientation based upon the EXIF information, and this is a major deficiency with this program. It will play a slideshow of all images in a folder, but it cannot save that slideshow so that it can be shared with others (or posted on the Net). This is an excellent image browser, and one that most users would find suitable for handling their images. It would be enhanced if the EXIF data was able to be used to automatically rotate images, and the slideshow could be exported without requiring additional plugins (which are not free!). AquaSoft PhotoFlash is worth checking out if you are looking for an image viewer. Access this 11.3MB download from: Win95 Graphic Programs
InfraRecorder v0.44.1 – WinXP/Vista
InfraRecorder is a CD/DVD burning solution that creates data disks (CD & DVD), audio CD disks & combination audio/data CDs. It features support for dual layer disks, erases rewritable disks, records disk images (ISO & BIN/CUE), creates disk copies, imports session data from multi-session disks, displays disk information, saves audio & data tracks to files (WAV, WMA, OGG, MP3 & ISO), and more. This is one of the better CD/DVD burning programs we have seen. It lacks some of the more esoteric bells 'n whistles but is a good solid performer and offers more features than most users would need. Its one lack is the requirement to download a separate zipped file (also free) so that it can recognize MP3 files. This 188kB download comes complete with a README file to assist in the installation of an IRC file (very simple). We loved InfraRecorder. It does what it says it does, and does it well. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 2.65MB download from: WinXP General Programs
Fun Mice House v2.2 – WinXP/Vista
Fun Mice House is a fun puzzle where you must built a tower of cheese. It features 2 game modes (Quest & Practice), 5 levels in each mode, excellent graphics, addictive gameplay, fullscreen & windowed modes, non-violent fun for all ages, and more. This is a great game for the whole family to play. It starts with a column of cheeses of random sizes and you are offered new cheeses which must be positioned within the column with the idea that you start with the largest cheese at the bottom and the smallest at the top. You can skip a turn if you like, or even opt for a replacement cheese (which you don't have to accept). It only takes a couple of quick games to learn how the game works, though winning a level is much harder because you must beat the computer opponent. Unfortunately, this game contains the highly intrusive AdVantage advertising from MeMedia, though we found that if we used our firewall and anti-virus programs to block it, the game still played OK. We did note that there is not a separate uninstall routine for this adware which remains on your computer (albeit not active if you choose to block it) while this game is installed. With the advertising blocked, we found Fun Mice House a terrific game and one we would be happy to allow small children to play. Don't think it is just for the kids, though... Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 1.73MB download 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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