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The Completely Free E-mail Update #53
Issued July 28, 1998
Welcome to the fifty-third edition of the 'Completely Free Software E-mail Update'. This is a selection of the programs we've added over the past week.
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.
COMPLETELY FREE SOFTWARE
Studio Anvil – W95
Requiring IE3.x to be pre-installed, Studio Anvil is a superb program for multi-track recording, composing, and editing of music using AUDIO, MIDI, and sampled percussion sounds. With a bevy of special effects (delay, pitch change, volume change, filtering, and reverse) it presents in a most unusual 'book' form (using HTML) with the sections of the program 'built-in' to the pages of this book. Confused? It does sound confusing but the system not only works but works well. There are so many parts to Studio Anvil that you would need the book to read them all! It integrates with a MIDI keyboard and gives you terrific control over your music. If you really work with music files (MIDI format) then you will be hard pressed to find better than Studio Anvil. Access this 2.62MB download from: W95 Multimedia Programs
Scott's Wonderbar – W95
Wonderbar is a handy buttonbar program launcher with 24 buttons which can be preset to launch your programs (and also any files which are 'associated' with programs). The buttons can be labeled by the user to identify the programs they launch. There is good control over the font the buttons can use, and also the color of the button. You can set colors to represent different programs with, say, white buttons representing MS Word documents and yellow buttons for Excel. The button bar program launcher also includes a quick connect to your dial-up network and also quick access to the Control Panel applets (Add/Remove Programs, etc). Overall a neat program which, while quite large, does not need to be permanently displayed on the desktop as it places an icon in the desktray. Access this 2.54MB download from: W95 Desktop Utilities
Bret's DOS Utilities – DOS
Bret Johnson has a collection of eight DOS TSR (terminate and stay resident) programs: clock (shows a clock on your screen with two alarm settings); joykeys (use a joystick with any program); mouskeys (use a mouse with any program); prtscr (sends PrintScreen commands to a file instead of a printer); prtscrff (modifies the PrintScreen command so that each new PrintScreen gets put on a new sheet of paper); scancode (automatically 'types' for you when you are in the middle of another program and can also be used to create macros, create screen savers, or to "remap" the keyboard); serial (shows the status of the serial or 'COM' ports on screen); and slowdown (slows down a fast computer so you can run older programs that require a PC/XT or PC/AT). The author's website allows for individual downloading of utilities or downloading them in an all-in-one zipped file (which is what we did). Access this 192kB download from: DOS Desktop Utilities
Simple Logic Collection – W95
This is a handy set of three logic games – TicTacToe (available in both 2D and 3D versions), StarFire and ColorCode. TicTacToe needs no introduction (though many people call it "Noughts and Crosses"), StarFire is a simple grid game using a 3 x 3 grid, sort of like a cross between Battleship and Minesweeper but set in outer space. ColorCode is better known as MasterMind where you have to guess which colors are being used in a sequence and in what order. The only problem we found with the set was that the Helpfile for ColorCode. The program was looking for ColorCod.hlp whereas the actual filename was ColorCode.hlp. Annoying and unnecessary. We found that the 2D version of TictacToe was beatable 10 out of 10 times, even using the "Hard" setting, which does not make for an enjoyable game. The one we liked best was ColorCode which, while still beatable, was more of a challenge. Access this 130kB download from: W95 General Games
TraySaver – W95
TraySaver is a simple little utility which instantly starts the Windows' Screensaver. Unless you are totally paranoid about a Screensaver being activated the instant you finish a job (instead of waiting the preset delay of 1, 2, 3 or more minutes) you might think that there is no use for such a utility. Think again. If you have your Screensaver password protected you can instantly block the screen should you leave your desk for even a minute. Not even the boss will see that you've been playing HellFighter... If, like us, you don't see the need for a Screensaver per se (the screen doesn't really need 'saving'), you can set the delay period on your Screensaver to the maximum of 99 minutes so that it doesn't come on unless you want it to – which would be to protect the security of what you have on the screen. TraySaver has two other little features we like – one is instant access to the Display Properties applet in Control Panel, and the other is instant access to the Settings section of the current Screensaver. With a tiny download of 10kB what are you waiting for! Go grab this handy utility from: W95 Desktop Utilities
WinVN – W95 (W31 also available)
This comment is from (in his words) an avid CFS subscriber. "Online UseNet newsreader for Windows (16/32-bit) from NASA! This is a public domain package with available source code and documentation in ASCII Text, PDF, Word and PostScript. Text FAQ also available. This baby is better than anything I've tried/found yet for UseNet, and the only one I've found for Win 3.1 that allows inserting text files into outgoing messages! Current/released version is 0.99.9 for all platforms. No install, but a breeze to setup and a joy to use." And we concur. WinVN (short for Windows Visual Newsreader) is one terrific program if Newsgroups are your 'thing'. There are two versions listed on our site – Win95 which is a 351kB download and Win 3.1 which is 311kB. Access both versions from: W95 Internet Related
Limit Edit – W95 & W31
This is an interesting utility which allows you to set a new maximum character size for edit boxes and rich edit controls. An example is a form which, in the address section, only allows for a two-letter State. This might be the norm for the USA but is incorrect for other countries (Australia, for example, in all but one uses three letters, not two). Limit Edit will allow you to temporarily alter the maximum number of characters in an edit box. Another excellent example of how this program works is with NotePad which has a built-in filesize limit. Limit Edit allows you to alter that limit. Are you starting to see some of the possibilities? Limit Edit comes complete with both 32 and 16-bit versions included in the same download, a modest 125kB. Access this exceptional utility from: W95 Desktop Utilities
Cursor Clock – W95
Quite simply, Cursor Clock puts a digital clock (in either 12 or 24 hour mode) at the end of your cursor. It doesn't appear while it is an 'I' cursor (like in text programs), only when you get the standard arrow. While this may be quite handy at times, we found that after a little while it started to get in the way. The download is not small at 718kB, and this doesn't include VB5 runtime files either (another 1.5MB if you don't already have them). Overall it is more a novelty utility but would probably suit some people. Access Cursor Clock from: W95 Desktop Utilities
UPDATES
Cribbage for Windows 95 – an excellent Cribbage game – has been upgraded to version 5.4 with an increase in download size to 1.87MB. If you enjoy a good game of Cribbage then shuffle yourself over to: W95 General Games
Chub Gam 3-D – a terrific Quake/Doom type corridor game which has some really neat twists – has released the Director's Cut version with an increase in filesize to 4.83MB. This DOS game is one of the best freeware corridor games around and we know that if you have already tried it you will be itching to get this latest version. If not, be in for a pleasant surprise. Get your copy from: DOS 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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