Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #539 issued March 12, 2010

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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

Falco Fire v1.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista/7
Falco Fire is a top-down tank battle set in Siberia in 2105. It features 2 modes of play (Campaign & Battle), 28 missions, 3 levels of difficulty, the abilty to purchase upgrades & repairs, it has on-screen information & map, fully customizable controls, there is a manual in HTML format, and more. This is a much better top-down shooter than most similar games. In Falco Fire you must battle enemy tanks, etc, collecting the destroyed equipment to help fund your campaign. You can purchase everything from repairs to improved ordnance (bullets, rockets, mines, etc). Generally we are not very enthusiastic about top-down games but Falco Fire stands out above ther crowd because of the depth of its gameplay. Unfortunately it offers so many keyboard and mouse controls, over 35 of them, it takes a long time to learn them. A simplified interface would an advantage. Of course, once you have mastered all the controls you have a decided advantage and it becomes easier to win. It also lacks multiplayer modes, specially over a LAN, so you can only play against the computer. Finally, it offers to install Relevant Knowledge advertising on your computer, but you can decline to receive it and the game itself will still install and play. We were most impressed with Falco Fire. It is one of the better shooters and is lots of fun to play – specially after you master those controls! We loved. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 10.5MB download from: Win98 General Games

FixWin v1.1 – Vista/7
FixWin is a small utility that fixes 50 common System annoyances which may be caused by virus infection, human error, etc. It features 5 categories (Windows Explorer, Internet & Connectivity, Windows Media, System Tools & Additional Fixes), it offers easy access to Microsoft's System File Checker utility, there is a button to create a System Restore Point, and more. This is a great tool for anyone experiencing problems with Windows caused by an external influence. It helps restore your System files to their default settings when you have been locked out from doing so manually. Instructions with the program encourage the user to create a Restore Point before making any changes, and to make only one change before re-booting to ensure that you aren't making the problem worse. This is excellent advice, and one that 99% of the users will fail to do... We really liked the button link to the little known Microsoft utility, System File Checker, which checks all your System files to ensure that they have not been corrupted or changed. If any are found this utility will replace them and then request a re-boot. Most of the fixes made by FixWin are basic, things like fixing the problem of the Recycle Bin going missing from your desktop, or if you are unable to change the homepage in Internet Explorer (usually thanks to a program you have installed). There are a couple of items which improve Windows, like an option to have more than one download at a time in Internet Explorer, or to increase your icon cache limit to 5,000, but generally the fixes are to restore items to their default state. While FixWin may not be the tweaker that some might like, never-the-less it is a very valuable addition to any computer's toolbox. We consider this to be a "must have" for all Windows' users. Note: we have been advised that this program is suitable for Windows Vista and 7 (both 32- & 64-bit versions). Access this 173kB download from: Vista Windows Enhancements

JetPhoto Studio v4.7.2 – WinXP/Vista/7
JetPhoto Studio is a feature-rich photo album creator that supports geo-tagging & XML Web album creation. It creates Flash movies, slideshows, wallpaper, screensavers, organizes your photos (photo calendars, notes, tags, EXIF info, etc), and more. This is a superb photo album creator with many, many features. These include GPS geo-tagging (requires a GPS enabled camera) or manual geo-tagging using Google maps (requires an Internet connection), the ability to publish Web albums using one of the 5 preinstalled templates (requires at least PHP v4.2 on the server), and Flash galleries. With geo-tagging you can not only pinpoint the exact location of your photos but you can also set the direction in which the photo was taken! Albums are created using drag 'n drop from Windows Explorer, or by using the "Open Folder as Album" command in the File menu. JetPhoto Studio is surprisingly easy to use, even with all its high end features, but there is good on-line assistance (including tutorial videos) on the author's Website for those who want to squeeze every possible function from this tool. We found it hard to fault JetPhoto Studio. It carried out every task we set for it, and did them easily. We did not have to resort to the on-line assistance. Every aspect of JetPhoto Studio impressed us and we consider that this is one photo album creator that should be high on your list. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 14.6MB download from: WinXP Graphic Programs

Snippet Manager – WinXP/Vista/7
Snippet Manager is a portable utility for managing code snippets. It supports 37 programming languages (VB, C++, C#, Java, SQL, ASP, PHP, COBOL, Assembler, Fortran, Python, etc) & ASCII text, it has up to 6 categories for each language (Generics, Collections, Serialize, Reflection, General & Object Oriented), it has syntax coloring, a powerful search engine, you can upload snippets via the built-in FTP client, you can print snippets, it is fully portable (no installation is required), and more. This is a great little tool for programmers, or for anyone who wants to save boilerplate text for copying and pasting into documents. You can keep your snippets of code (or text), in any of the categories, under the programming language it was created for. This hierarchial layout makes controlling and finding snippets much easier. Alas, Snippet Manager had a couple of problems. First, while it is reported to support HTML, and it does support PHP, there is no listing for HTML in the programming languages so you cannot save HTML snippets under that language heading. Second, it comes with some C# snippets already included – great for seeing what it can do, and handy if you are using C# and want to use these snippets yourself. However, if you aren't using C# then you cannot quickly bulk delete them from within the program (though each one can be individually deleted). These annoyances aside, Snippet Manager is a superb way of keeping track of your snippets of code, and one that is easy to use. If you are a programmer, or just want to save some boilerplate text, grab a copy of Snippet Manager. Like us, we think you will be impressed. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 370kB download from: WinXP Text Programs

GreenBrowser v5.3.0203 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista/7
GreenBrowser is an IE-based tabbed & skinnable Web browser. It features mouse gesture, mouse drag, auto scroll, auto refresh, auto save, identity, auto submit form, send key to page, external toolbar, collector, URL alias, quick key, link list, speed dial, Boss key, minimizes to an icon in the tray, and more. When GreenBrowser was first released it provided an excellent face-lift to a very tired Internet Explorer 6, but since then Microsoft has updated IE and many of the wonderful features which were available in this browser have been incorporated into IE (tabbed interface, ad filtering, etc). However, GreenBrowser still offers enough features to make it worth grabbing if you are an IE user. For example, it has a drop box so that you can easily drag a link into that box and it will either download a file or open that page link in a new tab (depending on the type of link). GreenBrowser has lots of other clever features, like mouse drag and mouse gestures. Its appearance is similar to the old IE 6. As we liked the basic IE 6 interface, we prefer the look of GreenBrowser to the latest versions of IE. Of course, you still need IE to be installed on your computer for this program to work because it uses the IE engine to power it. Maybe one day Microsoft will catch up and make IE as good as this browser but, until then, we prefer the look, feel and all those extra features of GreenBrowser. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.12MB download from: Win98 Internet Related

BBox Player v3.0.3.1000 – WinXP/Vista/7
BBox Player is a deluxe audio player that can play almost any sound format from any source. It features a built-in CD player & ripper, Internet radio (PLS & ASX), a music organizer, an ID3 tag editor, Smart-Volume (based on ReplayGain), backwards & variable playback speed, equalizer & compressor, it supports Sonique visualization plug-ins, integrates with the Windows' shell, has an optional Deskband toolbar, it minimizes to a tray icon, and more. It plays MP3, WMA, Wave, MP1, MP2, MP4, AIFF, OGG, M4A, M4V, M4P, AAC, AC3, APE, TTA, OFR, SPX, FLAC & CDA audio formats. BBox Player rocks! Not only does it play virtually every popular audio format but it looks cool too. You can bring up the visualizations screen with 13 different visualization formats. There are also lots of other tools and functions – more than most people would ever want – but one of its best features is its ability to hide in the tray next to the clock and not be always in your face, perfect for when you want to listen to music while you work. If you like you can activate the Deskband toolbar and have controls and visualizations right there in the system tray. Cool. The built-in Internet radio has nearly 70 radio stations you can log into, or use BBox Player to play your M3U playlist songs or audio CDs. One of the best audio players we have seen, BBox Player is worth getting even if you only have one MP3 file on your computer. Sensational! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 5.70MB download from: WinXP Multimedia Programs

Folder Size v1.0.0.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista/7
Folder Size is a tool that scans & displays all the file and folder sizes on a drive, and the total space used for each drive. It finds & displays all file/folder sizes, gives detailed information for all files/folders, optional information sorting, deletes folders or files, supports all types of storage devices (hard drives, CD-ROM, USB drives, floppy disks, etc), gives a detailed drive size information list, and more. This is a handy utility to give you all the information you need about file, folder and drive sizes. It has a couple of neat tricks, like being about to remove a file or folder from the list (without deleting it from the computer) to see what difference that would make to disk space. The problem is that you can not add it back to the list without closing and re-opening the program. As Windows Explorer is developed, more and more of the functions unique to Folder Size are being added and this program has slightly less value with each new release of Windows Explorer. That said, Folder Size does offer some interesting statistics and information, and can be handy if you are running out of disk space or are wondering what program(s) or data are "eating" your free space. Worth checking out. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.54MB download from: Win98 Desktop Utilities

Kakuro Dream v4.0 – WinXP/Vista/7
Kakuro Dream is a time-based fun logic puzzle (aka Cross Sums or Kakro) in the same genre as Sudoku. It features 3 levels of difficulty, 5 grid sizes (from 6x6 to 14x14), you can create your own puzzle, it has a hint function, it will optionally show markup (the choices for each cell), it can print puzzles, save puzzles, and more. If you like mathematical puzzles, like Sudoku, you will love Kakuro Dream. You are given what each row and column should add up to and then you insert the correct numbers until the puzzle is completed. The puzzle can be saved (including as an image) and even printed out. With three levels of difficulty, five grid sizes, and the ability to create your own puzzles, Kakuro Dream should keep any Sudoku lover extremely happy. We liked! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 5.70MB download from: WinXP General Games
UPDATE
AllMyNotes Organizer -- an hierarchical information manager -- has been updated to version 1.23 with a download size of 1.87MB. The author has advised that changes in this version are mainly bugfixes. Access this latest version from: WinXP Text Programs
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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