“Yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch!”
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E-mail Update Newsletter #79 |
This electronic newsletter is registered – ISSN 1441-6840
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.
We remind our visitors that they can obtain all the newly listed software from this site on the Completely Free Software “Master Software Collection” monthly CD-ROMs plus get bonus software, graphics, icons, fonts, etc.
COMPLETELY FREE SOFTWARE
GLpro Express Edition v7 – Win9x
GLpro is an extremely power multimedia authoring program with some built-in limitations (well, they do want you to purchase a 'key' to unlock the rest of the program!). You can use it to create awesome presentations but you cannot create a stand-alone EXE from what you build and you also can't create OVR and SCR files. The other limitation is that you cannot remove the titlebar from the top of the presentation or set the position of the window on your screen (it will remain centered). Having said all of that, we were most impressed with this program. Creation of presentations is through a text-based scripting language which is quite fantastic in its scope. The GLpro Player program is a tiny 315k so it is super fast, supporting the claim that this is the fastest Windows-based multimedia tool available. On the other hand, the main Helpfile is a whopping 2.49MB! The following gives you an idea of some of the commands: ABS(expression);
ACOS(angle);
ADDPALETTE name [name]...;
AFREE varname [varname]...;
ALLOC varname size [dimension]...;
ALOAD [path]name [varname] [disk];
APPEND(filename); etc.
As you can imagine, it is a long list! Luckily the Helpfile is more than adequate to get you going. If you require a multimedia authoring program then GLpro is certainly worth a look. Access this 2.48MB download from: Win9x Multimedia Programs
Netropa Internet Receiver v0.82 – Win9x
Netropa is a scrolling ticker window which can be set to automatically load when you connect to the Net and which supplies continually updating current news, stock quotes, music, shopping, etc across the top of your screen. You can change the channel configuration to suit yourself so the information you see is what you want. We found the channels to be a little lacking in content but this should increase as more and more sites are added. Advertiser-supported, Netropa is handy if you want the kind of information offered. Well worth a look, access this 1.22MB download from: Win9x Internet Related
Titans of Steel v1.02 – DOS (suitable for Windows)
Unfortunately we were unable to review this game due to technical problems. However, the author states: "Titans of Steel is a tactical turn based mecha game. It features solo, hotseat and LAN games. Players build and customize giant robots and their pilots, and battle it out on a hex based landscape." The minimum requirements are: 486 DX or better CPU; 24 MB RAM; 15 MB free disk space; VESA 1.2 support; and some patience to learn. There are three modules supplied with the game – the construction of titans (Factory), the management of jocks & their teams (HQ), and the battles itself (Battle). We understand that this is not a game which you can quickly grasp (certainly not its fine details) and there is a learning period before it can be mastered. Graphics, etc seem to the excellent and we were most disappointed that we could not have spent (read: wasted) many hours coming to grips with the game. We understand that from version 2.0 this will be a shareware game. Access this 3.16MB download from: DOS General Games
TransText v0.70 – Win9x
This is a simple little utility which will make icon text backgrounds transparent on the desktop. Icon text backgrounds usually spoil the appearance of desktop wallpaper and this handy utility just hides that background so the text is borderless. The author says: "A shell extension which makes the background in the icon caption area transparent, thus getting rid of the irritating one-colored boxes dotting your nice background image." Access this 106kB download from: Win9x Desktop Utilities
HTML Tag Buddy v2.99 – Win9x
An interesting little program with a terrific looking menuing system. It is really a collection of 10 applets, each generates specific HTML tags which can be copied to the Windows' Clipboard and from there into your webpage. The applets are: Body Tags; Link Tags; Color; List Tag; Font Tag; Meta Tag; Frame; Special Characters; Image Tag; and Table Tag. The neat looking, and very colorful, interface is really a menu which links you to the selected applet where the 'real' work is done. We were most impressed with the control you can apply to the various tags which the program can generate and generally you are offered a wide variety of options which you can choose to include with the tags or not. Once you are happy with the raw data, click on the "Generate Tags" button and the HTML appears in a window. If you are happy with that code you can then click on the "Copy To Clipboard" button so it can be pasted into your document, or go back and make some more amendments. Simple. If you use a source code editor to create your webpages you are sure to find that this little program offers a wider variety of tags than you would have thought possible. Cool bananas! An essential tool for HTML source code writers. Access this 893kB download from: Win9x Internet Related
Lofty Homebrew Helper v2.1.2 – Win9x
If you brew your own beer you will love this little calculator. Designed to calculate the percentage of alcohol from the specific gravity of the brew, it can also tell you what specific gravity you need to obtain a certain percentage of alcohol. The Helpfile supplies the basic information to use the program – what form to insert the information, etc – but there is another Helpfile called The Beer Guide which includes some fascinating reading. It gives the basic information for dozens of different types of beer (ales, lagers, etc) plus information on mead and cider. The Beer Guide also includes some interesting historical notes on beer. This program requires the VB6.0 runtime library files and also the latest version of Tabctrl32.ocx. There is a link on the CFS website to get those files. Even if you don't brew your own beer, get this program just to read The Beer Guide! Slosh over and grab this 225kB download from: Win9x General Programs
Regrun v1.5 – Win9x
This is a terrific utility which allows you to see, add or delete programs which are automatically started on Boot-up from the Windows' Registry (and we all know of programs which insist on starting when Windows starts but which hides itself in the Registry!). With a excellent interface, the lack of help is not a problem (the Helpfile cannot be viewed through an English version of Win9x). The program offers three small windows: the first two for all users of the computer and the third for the current user. You can back-up your registry before you start by pressing Ctrl-S (or the icon on the toolbar) and all changes can be undone if need be. There is easy access (both via the menu and by hotkey) to Regedit, Sysedit and the Windows start-up folder. Terrific! This is one utility which has found a permanent home on our test computer. What are you waiting for? Grab this 232kB download from: Win9x Desktop Utilities
Textview v3.51e – Win9x
This handy tool allows you to view any file – including binary files - in ASCII text format. It offers terrific control of the look of the displayed document (font, text size, color, etc) and also has a 'run' feature so that binaries can be executed from within the program. File properties can also be accessed directly from within the program. With its tiny size (the executionable file is only 50kB when unzipped) it is super fast. There is no install/uninstall, to remove the program just delete the directory where it resides. If you need to view files in text format, this one's for you. Access this 32kB download from: Win9x Text Programs
Friday v1.0 – Win 3.1 (suitable Win9x)
Most role playing strategy games have crude graphics and an even cruder interface which is boring after the first few uses. Friday is different. We were most impressed with both the quality of the graphics (good cartoon-style) and the humor and found that the game was very playable (not that we really delved into it too deeply, unfornatunately we have time limitations). The scenario is this: "You are Arthur Yahtzee, a dole-bludger living in Los Angeles, who is credited with one major event – when the local Federal Research Institute started spawning hideous mutants, he single-handedly stopped them. Now, another branch of FRI in Chicago are spawning more mutants, and this time they're after YOU..." Friday is fun. We really enjoyed our time with the game and are looking forward to getting back to it when we have a few minutes (hours?) to kill. The zipped file is only 424kB but it expands to over 11MB when unzipped (truly!) so make sure you have plenty of disk space. The game (a single EXE file, no install/uninstall) has a readme text document with it (Manual.txt) which is worthwhile reading first, and also a teaser for the sequel, Saturday, which we hope to review next week. If you enjoy RPGs then definitely get this one! Access Friday from: Win 3.1 General Games
Quantum Flux Swirlies v1.0 – Win9x
This is quite a neat screensaver which 'sucks' your screen into a series of black holes over quite a long period of time. This tiny screensaver looks quite good though the screen that you see (and what gets destroyed) is actually an image of your screen when the screensaver was activated (look at the Windows clock). Not large so it's well worth a look. Access this 39kB download from: Win9x Windows ExtrasTRY THIS ONE
An interesting Win98 utility has surfaced called 98lite which breaks the link between Win98 and Internet Explorer. There are two options currently available: Win98 without Internet Explorer using the faster Win95 Shell; or Windows98 with the faster Win95 Shell keeping Internet Explorer. As the program is technically shareware (you are asked to pay a 'donation' in accordance with your income – hey, that means we get it for nothing!) we have not listed or reviewed this utility but it could be an interesting shell control program for Win98 users. Access this 213kB download directly from http://98lite.net/
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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