Windows Softwares for free

Some Free Softwares for Windows

Here are some of the best software programs and utilities for your Windows computer that are completely free and still extremely useful. With all these wonderful choices, why pay?
Audio Editing: For some basic audio recording, use Audacity - it can record, filter noise from audio and also mix multiple sound track. You can use Audacity to record live streaming music from Internet radio stations.
Video Editing: Windows Movie Maker from Microsoft is a good choice for video. It has all the basic video editing tools and a good collection of transitions and video effects. For advanced usage, get the powerful VirtualDub - it has a number of filters (like video rotation), can create videos from image sequences, split videos or even extract sound from video tracks.

Instant Messenger: If your friends are spread across different services like Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, MSN and others, get Pidgin and connect to all popular IM services using a single software. Pidgin provides a tabbed interface so the desktop won't look cluttered even if you are simultaneously chatting with multiple buddies.
Computer Security: Your computer needs a firewall program like ZoneAlarm or Comodo Pro to stop spyware programs from connecting to websites secretly and for blocking any Internet intruders. For removing viruses from infected systems, AVG Antivirus and Avast are very reliable and unlike other commercial software, they are not heavy on system resources.
Multimedia Players: VLC Media Player is light-weight and supports almost everything including DVDs and Flash Videos that you have downloaded from YouTube. Another option is GOM player.
Digital Photography: For organizing your vast picture collection, get Google Picasa or Windows Live Photo Gallery. With Picasa, you can create Screensavers and Picture Collages while Live Gallery has a wonderful photo stitching feature for making panoramas. Both let you transfer pictures from the desktop to Flickr. For advanced photo editing, use Paint.NET or GIMP.
Windows Enhancements: If you like using keyboard more than the mouse, get Launchy - it helps you start your favorite programs (and documents) without touching the Windows Start Menu. TweakUI is another desktop enhancement to help you control the appearance of Windows, change the location of default folders and so much more.
Spring Cleaning: WinDirStat gives you a visual overview of files and folders that are consuming the bulk of space on your hard drive so you know where to hit the delete key when the drive is full. CCleaner with automatically find and remove all the unnecessary temp files from your computer reclaiming valuable hard drive space. It also clears all the junk from Windows registry so your system runs faster. MyUninstaller will help you remove software that do show up in Windows Add Remove control panel.
Desktop Email: If you like checking and replying to your web email from the desktop, Windows Live Mail and ThunderBird are worth considering. They let you check multiple e-mail accounts in one place, apply filters to incoming email, add another layer of protection from junk email, built-in RSS reader and best of all, you can work offline.
DVD Tools: Use DVD Shrink for creating backup copies of your DVD video disks onto the hard drive. For extracting movie scenes and MP3 music from DVDs, HandBrake is a good choice. Use it to export your DVDs into portable players like the iPod.
Other Worthy ones: HTTrack helps you create a mirror copy of any website on the hard drive for offline reading. Orbit Downloader lets you save streaming music and videos from almost every website. Copernic Desktop is an excellent software for finding emails, documents, photos and other multimedia files on your computer. Microsoft SyncToy provides a visual interface for synchronizing file folders between computers and external drives.

The Big Keyboard Shortcut List

The BIG Keyboard Shortcut List

What is the allure of keyboard shortcuts? Do they really save time? Why bother since my mouse is permanently attached to my hand?

I like to use keyboard shortcuts, especially if someone is watching me, because they make me look like a pro. With just a few key strokes I can leave a mouser spinning his wheel! Whatever your motivation, here's a big list of keyboard shortcuts:

GENERAL SHORTCUTS

ALT- F4 - Quit a program / Shut down

ALT-TAB - Hold down the ALT key and hit tab to cycle through open windows.

CTL-ESCAPE - Display the Start menu

SHIFT - TAB - tab backwards through a form

CTRL - X - Cut

CTRL - C - Copy

CTRL - V - Paste

F1 - Help menu

CTRL - Z - Undo

SHIFT & Restart - To restart just windows and not your whole computer, hold down the shift key when you click the OK button on the shutdown screen. Saves lots of time. (not for XP)

CRTL-TAB - Navigate tabs on a tabbed screen

FILE & DESKTOP SHORTCUTS

Hold SHIFT while inserting a CD - Prevents the CD from "autorunning"

If an item is selected:

CTRL while dragging a file - Copies the file

CTRL - SHIFT while dragging a file - Creates a shortcut to the file

SHIFT - DELETE - Deletes an item without sending it to the recycle bin.

ALT-ENTER - Display a file's properties.

F2 - To rename the file

In Windows Explorer:

LEFT ARROW - Collapse the current selection if it is expanded

NUM LOCK-MINUS SIGN (-) - Collapse the selected folder

RIGHT ARROW - Expand the current selection if it is collapsed -Or- Select the first subfolder

NUM LOCK- * Expand all folders below the current selection

NUM LOCK- PLUS SIGN (+) - Expand the selected folder


F6 - Switch between left and right panes

In My Computer:

BACKSPACE - View the folder one level up

ALT- RIGHT ARROW - Move forward to a previous view

ALT- LEFT ARROW -Move backward to a previous view

INTERNET BROWSER SHORTCUTS

For Internet Explorer 6 and Netscape 7 (may work in older versions)

Open History Window Ctrl+H
Reload Ctrl+R
Back (Previous Page) Alt+Left Arrow or Alt+Backspace
Forward (Next Page) Alt+Right Arrow
Stop Esc
Home Alt+Home
Go to Bottom of Page End
Go to Top of Page Home
New Window Ctrl+N
Close WIndow Ctrl+W
Go Up one Line Up Arrow
Go Down One Line Down Arrow
Full Screen (toggle) F11
Find on Page Ctrl+F
Add Current Page to Favorites Ctrl+D

Print Current Page
or Active Frame Ctrl+P

Organize Favorites (IE)/
Manage Bookmarks (NS)
Ctrl+B
Maximize a Window Alt+Space+x
Minimize a window Alt+Space+N
Scroll page up Alt+Up Arrow
Scroll page down Alt+Down Arrow

Internet Explorer ONLY

Open Favorites Bar Ctrl+I
Select text in address bar Alt+D
Force Reload (not from cache) Ctrl+F5

A faster way to type in addresses with IE is to just type in the name of the site:

worldstart

and hit CTRL + Enter. The "http://www./ " and ".com" will be added for you!

Netscape ONLY

Open / Close Sidebar Panel (toggle) F9
Select text in Location Bar Ctrl+L
Force Reload (not from Cache) Ctrl+Shift+R
Zoom Text Smaller Ctrl+- (minus)
Zoom text larger Ctrl+= (plus sign)

WINDOWS KEY SHORTCUTS

The Windows key can be used in conjunction with other keys to act as a keyboard shortcut for faster access to menu commands. Now, while the Alt key tends to open program menus (ex: Alt+F opens the File menu and Alt+E opens the Edit menu) and the Ctrl key performs actual operations (ex: Ctrl+C will copy and Ctrl+V will paste), the Windows key will open various Windows tools...


Win key + R will open the Start menu's Run box
Win key + F will open the Start menu's Find window
Win key + E will quickly launch Explorer
Win key + Pause/Break will open the System Properties window
Win key + M will Minimize all windows
Win key + Shift + M will undo Minimize all windows
Win key + D will switch between minimizing all open programs and showing them all
Win key + Tab will cycle through items on the taskbar
Win key by itself will open the Start menu

You can also open programs or folders on your desktop by pressing the Windows key + the first letter of the program/folder/shortcut + Enter . Sounds kinda tedious, but if you're in a bind with your mouse, it can come in quite handy.

ARROW TRICKS

Here's a cool little arrow trick to try with word processing programs. Next time you're using your arrow keys to go from one area of a sentence to another (left and right arrows), hold down your CTRL key. Instead of moving one space at a time, you'll go one word at a time.

If you're using the up and down arrows to go from line to line, holding down the CTRL key will make your cursor jump from paragraph to paragraph (well, from carriage return to carriage return anyway).

One last thing, if you hold down the SHIFT key while you do this (i.e. hold down SHIFT + CTRL at the same time), you select text as you arrow along.

I've tested this in MS Word and Wordpad, but it *should* work no matter what word processing program you use.

HOME / END KEY FUN

Do you ever find yourself scrolling through a huge folder ? Well, if you need to get to the beginning or the end quickly, just press Ctrl+Home . If you want to get to the end, click Ctrl+End.

Hey, that's not all!

This little trick works on more than just folders. If you use the Home key in a word processor, it goes to the beginning of the line you're currently working on. If you hit the END key, it should head to the end of the current line. If you pair Home & End up with the Ctrl key in a word processor, you will be whisked away to the beginning or end of the document. Again, this should work, but it depends on your word processor.


Speedup your work by using keyboard more and mouse less.

Useful Shortcut:

Start + M: Minimizes all open windows
Start + Shift + M: Maximizes All Windows
Start + E: Runs Windows Explorer
Start + R: Open the RUN Dialog Box
Start + F: Open the Search Results Dialog box
Start + CTRL + F: Opens the Search Results-Computer dialog Box (if the computer is connected to a network)
Start + Pause (Break): Opens the System Properties Dialog Box

Windows System Key Combinations:

F1: Help
CTRL + ESC: Open Start menu
ALT + TAB: Switch between open programs
ALT + F4: Quit program
SHIFT + DELETE: Delete item permanently

Windows Program Key Combinations:

CTRL + C: Copy
CTRL + X: Cut
CTRL + V: Paste
CTRL + Z: Undo
CTRL + B: Bold
CTRL + U: Underline
CTRL + I: Italic

Mouse Click/Keyboard Modifier Combinations for Shell Objects:

SHIFT + right click: Displays a shortcut menu containing alternative commands
SHIFT + double click: Runs the alternate default command (the second item on the menu)
ALT + double click: Displays properties
SHIFT + DELETE: Deletes an item immediately without placing it in the Recycle Bin

General Keyboard-Only Commands:

F1: Starts Windows Help
F10: Activates menu bar options
SHIFT + F10: Opens a shortcut menu for the selected item (this is the same as right-clicking an object
CTRL + ESC: Opens the Start menu (use the ARROW keys to select an item)
CTRL + ESC or ESC: Selects the Start button (press TAB to select the taskbar, or press SHIFT+F10 for a context menu)
ALT + DOWN ARROW: Opens a drop-down list box
ALT + TAB: Switch to another running program (hold down the ALT key and then press the TAB key to view the task-switching window)
SHIFT: Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature
ALT + SPACE: Displays the main window's System menu (from the System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the window)

ALT +- (ALT + hyphen): Displays the Multiple Document Interface (MDI)child window's System menu (from the MDI child window's System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the child window)
CTRL + TAB: Switch to the next child window of a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) program
ALT + underlined letter in menu: Opens the menu
ALT + F4: Closes the current window
CTRL + F4: Closes the current Multiple Document Interface (MDI) window
ALT + F6: Switch between multiple windows in the same program (for example, when the Notepad Find dialog box is displayed
ALT + F6: switches between the Find dialog box and the main Notepad window)

Shell Objects and General Folder/Windows Explorer Shortcuts For a selected object:

F2: Rename object
F3: Find all files
CTRL + X: Cut
CTRL + C: Copy
CTRL + V: Paste
SHIFT + DELETE: Delete selection immediately, without moving the item to the Recycle Bin
ALT + ENTER: Open the properties for the selected object
To Copy a File: Press and hold down the CTRL key while you drag the file to another folder.
To Create a Shortcut: Press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT while you drag a file to the desktop or a folder.

General Folder/Shortcut Control:

F4: Selects the Go To A Different Folder box and moves down the entries in the box (if the toolbar is active in Windows Explorer)
F5: Refreshes the current window.
F6: Moves among panes in Windows Explorer
CTRL + G: Opens the Go To Folder tool (in Windows 95 Windows Explorer only)
CTRL + Z: Undo the last command
CTRL + A: Select all the items in the current window
BACKSPACE: Switch to the parent folder
SHIFT + click + Close button: For folders, close the current folder plus all parent folders

Windows Explorer Tree Control:

Numeric Keypad *: Expands everything under the current selection
Numeric Keypad +: Expands the current selection
Numeric Keypad -: Collapses the current selection.

RIGHT ARROW: Expands the current selection if it is not expanded, otherwise goes to the first child
LEFT ARROW: Collapses the current selection if it is expanded, otherwise goes to the parent

Properties Control:

CTRL + TAB/CTRL + SHIFT + TAB: Move through the property tabs

Accessibility Shortcuts:

Press SHIFT five times: Toggles StickyKeys on and off
Press down and hold the right SHIFT key for eight seconds: Toggles FilterKeys on and off
Press down and hold the NUM LOCK key for five seconds: Toggles ToggleKeys on and off
Left ALT + left SHIFT+NUM LOCK: Toggles MouseKeys on and off
Left ALT + left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN: Toggles high contrast on and off

Microsoft Natural Keyboard Keys:

Windows Logo: Start menu
Windows Logo + R: Run dialog box
Windows Logo + M: Minimize all
SHIFT + Windows Logo+M: Undo minimize all
Windows Logo + F1: Help
Windows Logo + E: Windows Explorer
Windows Logo + F: Find files or folders
Windows Logo + D: Minimizes all open windows and displays the desktop
CTRL + Windows Logo + F: Find computer
CTRL + Windows Logo + TAB: Moves focus from Start, to the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray (use RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to move focus to items on the Quick Launch toolbar and the system tray)
Windows Logo + TAB: Cycle through taskbar buttons
Windows Logo + Break: System Properties dialog box
Application key: Displays a shortcut menu for the selected item

Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType Software Installed:

Windows Logo + L: Log off Windows
Windows Logo + P: Starts Print Manager
Windows Logo + C: Opens Control Panel
Windows Logo + V: Starts Clipboard
Windows Logo + K: Opens Keyboard Properties dialog box
Windows Logo + I: Opens Mouse Properties dialog box
Windows Logo + A: Starts Accessibility Options (if installed)
Windows Logo + SPACEBAR: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType shortcut keys

Windows Logo + S: Toggles CAPS LOCK on and off

Dialog Box Keyboard Commands:

TAB: Move to the next control in the dialog box
SHIFT + TAB: Move to the previous control in the dialog box
SPACEBAR: If the current control is a button, this clicks the button. If the current control is a check box, this toggles the check box. If the current control is an option, this selects the option.
ENTER: Equivalent to clicking the selected button (the button with the outline)
ESC: Equivalent to clicking the Cancel button
ALT + underlined letter in dialog box item: Move to the corresponding item

Changing Programs That Start Automatically

WindowsXP has a similar program, MSCONFIG, that was available in Windows98.
This allows you to view and change what programs are automatically started each time you log in.
The new version also allows you to view and edit the boot.ini file (as well as check for errors and use several advanced switches)

Top 300 Freeware

TOP 300 Freeware software!

Office

OpenOffice - office suite
PC Suite 602 - office suite
AbiWord - text editor
Atlantis Nova - text editor
Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer - power point files viewer
Adobe Reader - pdf reader
Foxit PDF Reader - pdf reader
PDFCreator - create pdf documents
Doc Convertor - document convertor
Convert - unit convertor
Converber - unit convertor
Sunbird - calendar/organizer
EssentialPIM Free - calendar/organizer
PhraseExpress - speed up your writing
ATnotes - create notes on the desktop

Archive managers

7-Zip - compression program
IZArc - compression program
TugZIP - compression program
CabPack - compression program
Universal Extractor - extract files from any type of archive

Internet

Firefox - web browser
Internet Explorer- web browser
Maxthon - web browser
Opera - web browser
Avant Browser - web browser
Thunderbird - email client
PopTray - check for emails
Free Download Manager - download manager
FlashGet - download manager
WellGet - download manager
Download Master - download manager
WGET - commandline download manager
HTTrack - offline browser
WebReaper - offline browser
Yeah Reader - RSS reader
GreatNews - RSS reader
RSSOwl - RSS reader

P2P this is sharing files on your computer with someone else.

?Torrent - torrent client
Azureus - torrent client
BitComet - torrent client
ABC - torrent client
BitTornado - torrent client
eMule - p2p client
SoulSeek - p2p client
Shareaza - p2p client
DC++ - Direct Connect network client
PeerGuardian - IP blocker

Chat

Miranda - chat client
MSN Messenger - chat client
Yahoo Messenger - chat client
QIP - chat client
Gaim - chat client
JAJC - chat client
HydraIRC - IRC client
Talkative IRC - IRC client
IceChat - IRC client
Skype - VOIP client
Google Talk - VOIP client
VoipStunt - VOIP client
Gizmo - VOIP client
Wengo - VOIP client

Security

AVG Free - antivirus
Avast Home Free - antivirus
AntiVir PersonalEdition - antivirus
BitDefender Free - antivirus
ClamWin - antivirus
CyberDifender - Internet Security Suite
Ad-aware - anti-spyware
Spybot: Search & Destroy - anti-spyware
Windows Defender - anti-spyware
SpywareBlaster - anti-spyware
Spyware Terminator - anti-spyware
Tootkit Reveaker - rootkit detection utility
Winpooch - system protection
HiJack Free - system protection
HighJackThis - hijackers detector and remover
Kerio Personal Firewall - firewall
Sygate Personal Firewall - firewall
ZoneAlarm - firewall
AxCrypt - file encryption
Simple File Shredder - securely delete files
PuTTy - SSH client
KeePass - password manager
LockNote - password manager
nPassword - password manager
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer - identify security misconfigurations

Network

Hamachi - VPN client
RealVNC - remote control
UltraVNC - remote control
Ethereal - local area network administration
The Dude - network administration
Wireshark - network administration
Angry IP Scanner - IP scanner
IP-Tools - IP scanner
Free Port Scanner - IP scanner
NetMeter - network bandwidth monitoring

Servers

FileZilla - FTP client
FileZilla Server - FTP server
EFTP - FTP client/server
XAMPP - integrated server package of Apache, mySQL, PHP and Perl
WAMP - Apache, PHP5 and MySQL server

Audio

Foobar2000 - audio player
WinAmp - audio player
1by1 - audio player
JetAudio - audio player
XMPlay - audio player
Xion - audio player
Apollo - audio player
MediaMonkey - music organizer
The GodFather - music organizer
dBpowerAMP - audio converter
Audacity - audio converter
WavePad - audio converter
Kristal Audio Engine - audio editor
Exact Audio Copy - CD ripper
Audiograbber - CD ripper
CDex - CD ripper
Mp3 Tag Tools - tag editor
Mp3tag - tag editor
Taggin? MP3 - tag editor
Monkey?s Audio - APE compressor/decompre ssor
mpTrim - mp3 editor
WavTrim - wave editor
EncSpot Basic - analyse mp3 files

Video

Windows Media Player - audio/video player
VLC - video player
Media Player Classic - video player
MV2Player - video player
CrystalPlayer 1.95 - video player
Zoom Player - video player
GOM Player - video player
viPlay - video player
DSPlayer - video player
VirtualDub - video editor
CamStudio - video screen recording
AviSplit - Avi splitter
Video mp3 Extractor - rip audio from video files
Free iPod Converter - convert all popular video formats to iPod video
MediaPortal - turning your PCinto a Media Center
The FilmMachine

Image

Gimp - image editor
PhotoFiltre - image editor
Paint.net - image editor
ArtRage - image editor
Artweaver - image editor
IrfanView - image viewer
Picasa - image viewer
XnView - image viewer
FastStone Image Viewer - image viewer
FuturixImager - image viewer
Easy Thumbnails - create thumbnails from images
JoJoThumb - create thumbnails from images
iWebAlbum - create web photo albums
JAlbum - create web photo albums
3D Box Shot Maker - design quality box shot
FastStone Capture - screen capture
WinSnap - screen capture

3D

Blender3D - 3D renderer
3Delight Free - 3D renderer
SketchUp - 3D modeling
Maya Learning Edition - 3D modeling

Developers

AutoIt - task automation
SciTE4AutoIt3 - text editor for AutoIt
AutoHotkey - task automation
PHP Designer - PHP editor
Notepad++ - text editor
ConTEXT Editor - text editor
PSPad - text editor
FoxEditor - text editor
Crimson Editor - source code editor
Elfima Notepad - text editor
Notepad2 - text editor
Nvu - HTML editor
Alleycode - HTML editor
BlockNote - web page editor
Weaverslave - web page editor

CD/DVD

DeepBurner - CD/DVD burner
CDBurner XP Pro - CD/DVD burner
BurnAtOnce - CD/DVD burner
Express Burn - CD/DVD burner
Zilla CD-DVD Rip?n?Burn - CD/DVD burner
ImgBurn - ISO, BIN burner
Daemon tools - virtual CD/DVD
DVD Decrypter - DVD ripper
DVD Shrink - DVD ripper
Nero CD-DVD Speed - CD/DVD info and quality test

Codecs

GSpot - codec information
AC3Filter - audio codec
Xvid - video codec
QuickTime Alternative - video codec
Real Alternative - video codec
K-Lite Codec Pack - all codecs

System Ulilities

CCleaner - system cleaner
xp-AntiSpy - OS setup
jv16 Powertools - system utilities
XP SysPad - system monitoring utility
What?s Running - process guard
Registrar Lite - registry editor
WinIPConfig - replacement for ?ipconfig.exe? and ?route.exe?
Unlocker - file eraser
Eraser - secure file eraser
Undelete Plus - file recovery
freeCommander - file manager
ExplorerXP - file manager
Duplicate File Finder - find all duplicate files
Ant Renamer - file renaming
ReNamer - file renaming
Icons From File - icos extractor
Chaos MD5 - MD5 generator
HashTab - MD5, SHA1 and CRC-32 file hashes
Rainlendar Lite - desktop calendar
Weather Watcher - weather firecast
Subtitle Workshop - subtitles editor
Ant Movie Catalog - movie organizer
Disclib - CD organizer
Dexpot - virtual desktops
DriveImage XML - create partition images
MozBackup - backup and restore bookmarks, etc.
SyncBack - system backup
Atomic Cock Sync - syncronize your clock
Citrus Alarm Clock - alarm clock
TaskSwitchXP - Alt-Tab replacement
Launchy - application launcher
allSnap - make all windows snap
Sysinternals Tools - various system tools
StrokeIt - mouse gestures
Net Profiles - create profiles of your network settings
ResourceHacker - view, modify, rename, add, delete
Java Runtime Environment - java for Windows

UI Enhancements

RocketDock - application launcher
AveDesk - desktop enhancer
IconPhile - customize windows?s system icons
CursorXP Free - change mouse cursors
MacSound - volume control
LClock - Windows Longhorn clock
Y?z Dock - application launcher
Y?z Shadow - shadow effect to the windows
Y?z Toolbar - change the toolbar icons in Explorer and Internet Explorer
Taskbar Shuffle - rearrange the programs on the taskbar by dragging
Visual Task Tips - thumbnail preview image for each task in the taskbar
Badges - put badges on any folder or file
Folderico - change icons of the folders
Folder Marker - mark your folders
Folder2MyPC - add favourite locations to My Computer
Microsoft TweakUI - system settings
BricoPacks - shell packs
ShellPacks - shell packs
Tango Shell Patcher - shell patcher
XPize - GUI enhancer
Vista Transformation Pack - complete visual style
Vista Sound Scheme - Windows Vista sound scheme
Royale Theme - visual style

Hardware monitoring/Benchmar king

CPU-Z - cpu information
CrystalCPUID - cpu information
Central Brain Identifier - cpu information
Everest - system information
SiSoft Sandra - system information
SpeedFan - hardware monitor
Memtest86 - memory test
PowerMax - HDD test
3Dmark 06 - 3D game performance benchmark
Aquamark - performance benchmark
rthdribl - 3D benchmark
Fraps - 3D benchmark, fps viewer and screen recorder
Prime 95 - cpu benchmarking
SuperPI - cpu benchmarking
CPU Rightmark - cpu overclock
Core Temp - cpu temperature
ATiTool - video overclock
ATI Tray Tools - Radeon tweaker
aTuner - GeForce and Radeontweaker
RivaTuner - video overclock
Nokia Monitor Test - monitor adjustmets
UDPixel - fix dead pixels

Games

123 Free Solitaire - solitaire games collection
Arcade Pack - classic arcade games
Live For Speed - online racing simulator
Enigma - puzzle game
Freeciv - multiplayer strategy game
Tux Racer - race down steep, snow-covered mount?ins

Education

SpeQ Mathematics - mathematics program
Dia - diagram creation program
Google Earth - explore the world
NASA World Wind - 3D virtual globe
Celestia - explore the space
Stellarium - planetarium

Miscellaneous

nLite - Build your own custom Windows disk.
VirtualPC - create virtual machines
grabMotion - webcam capture
iDailyDiary - simple page-for-a-day diary
Pivot Stickfigure Animator - create stick-figure animations
Wink - create presentations
Scribus - professional page layout
FreeMind - mind mapping software
Windows Live Writer - WYSIWYG blog authoring

Wallpapers

Michael Swanson - 1920 x 1200; 1600 x 1200; amazing wallpapers
Mikhail Arkhipov - 1920 x 1200; 1600 x 1200; amazing wallpapers

Flash memory may signal end of hard disk drives

This might well be the beginning of the end for the hard disk drive. In mid-May, Dell became the first manufacturer to market a laptop using flash memory instead of a hard drive. Other manufacturers will be joining the company before the year's end with Solid State Disk (SSD) technology of their own. For users, this is all good news.

Hard drives (HDD) use 'ferromagnetic' storage media: to record data. The surface of special metal plates is magnetized. SSD, by contrast, works purely digitally. The fundamental difference between SSD and its other flash storage brethren and HDD lies in the fact that flash technology has no moving parts, explains Dell's Christoph Kaub.

SSD is already in use in MP3 players and cell phones, and like other flash storage media is not sensitive to jolts, notes Joerg Wirtgen from the Hanover-based magazine c't.

'If you drop your laptop, for example, the data will almost certainly remain undamaged,' he says. Another benefit of SSD is that it makes little noise and generates less heat, Kaub claims. One can also expect it to use less energy. Another bonus: speed. 'SSD memory is several times faster than normal laptop hard drives,' Wirtgen says.

Dell is currently offering flash memory with 32 or 64 gigabytes of storage - relatively small compared with hard drives. That's because SSDs are currently more expensive to produce.

'The costs are significantly higher than for a comparable laptop with a traditional hard drive,' says Christoph Kaub. Consumers should plan on shelling out several hundred more dollars. 'We hope that the prices will drop significantly by the end of this year or the beginning of 2008,' Kaub says.

Other manufacturers nevertheless also want to bring SSD laptops onto the market. Fujitsu Siemens, for example, has indicated it will release a model this summer. The Lifebook Q - a business model -- will hit the stores with flash memory inside. Samsung too reports intentions to release an SSD device.

The usefulness of flash memory in desktop PCs is questionable. Conventional disk drives and RAM maintain a significant cost advantage over SSD.

'I think the prices for traditional drives will continue to sink, meaning that SSD will have a hard time competing in the near future,' Kaub says.

Flash memory does not just work in the form of SSD: Intel has a model that supports hard drives. The technology, known as Robson or turbo memory cache, consists of a 512 megabyte (MB) or 1 gigabyte (GB) hard drive. It notes which programmes are used heavily and saves portions from them, explains Intel spokesman Hans-Juergen Werner. It can help programmes load and run faster.

Intel plans on offering the turbo technology for desktop PCs soon - with 2 or 4 gigabytes of memory. Wirtgen from c't sees the trend more likely to head toward hybrid hard drives, namely traditional drives with turbo memory modules.

'Those could be interesting if the flash buffer is large enough,' says Wirtgen.

By IANS

Introducing Gmail Paper (April Fool from google.)

Everyone loves Gmail. But not everyone loves email, or the digital era. What ever happened to stamps, filing cabinets, and the mailman? Well, you asked for it, and it’s here. Gmail is bringing it back.Gmail started a new service......

A New Button

Now in Gmail, you can request a physical copy of any message with the click of a button, and we'll send it to you in the mail.

Simplicity Squared

Google will print all messages instantly and prepare them for delivery. Allow 2-4 business days for a parcel to arrive via post.

Total Control

A stack of Gmail Paper arrives in a box at your doorstep, and it’s yours to keep forever. You can read it, sort it, search it, touch it. Or even move it to the trash—the real trash. (Recycling is encouraged.)

Keep it Secret,

Keep it SafeGoogle takes privacy very seriously. But once your email is physically in your hands, it's as secure as you want to make it.

Is it free?
Yes. The cost of postage is offset with the help of
relevant, targeted, unobtrusive advertisements, which will appear on the
back of
your Gmail Paper prints in red, bold, 36 pt Helvetica. No pop-ups,
no flashy
animations—these are physically impossible in the paper
medium.
How about
attachments?
All part of the deal. Photo attachments
are printed on
high-quality, glossy photo paper, and secured to your Gmail
Paper with a paper
clip. MP3 and WAV files will not be printed. We recommend
maintaining copies of
your non-paper Gmail in these cases.
Is there a
limit?
You can make us
print one, one thousand, or one hundred thousand
of your emails. It’s whatever
seems reasonable to you.
But what about the
environment?
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Gmail Paper is made out of 96% post-consumer
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healthier.

IT HUMOR

Once upon a time, there was a software engineer who used to develop programs on his Pentium machine, sitting under a tree on the banks of a river. He used to earn his bread by selling those programs in the Sunday market. One day, while he was working, his machine tumbled off the table and fell in the river. Encouraged by the Panchatantra story of his childhood (the woodcutter and the axe ),

He started praying to the River Goddess. The River Goddess wanted to test him and so appeared only after one month of rigorous prayers. The engineer told her that he had lost his computer in the river.
As usual, the Goddess wanted to test his honesty. She showed him a match box and asked, " Is this your computer ?" Disappointed by the Goddess' lack of computer awareness, the engineer replied, " No."She next showed him a pocket-sized calculator and asked if that was his. Annoyed, the engineer said "No, not at all!!" Finally, she came up with his own Pentium machine and asked if it was his.The engineer, left with no option, sighed and said " Yes."The River Goddess was happy with his honesty. She was about to giveHim all three items, but before she could make the offer, the engineer Asked her, "Don't you know that you're supposed to show me some better computers before bringing up my own ?"The River Goddess, angered at this, replied, "I know that, you stupid donkey! The first two things I showed you were the Trillennium and the Billennium, the latest computers from IBM !". So saying, she disappeared with the Pentium!!

********Moral :If you're not up-to-date with technology trends, it's better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Ultimate Boot Cd

UBCD4Win is a bootable "live" CD which contains software that allows you to repair/restore/ diagnostic almost any computer problem. All software included in UBCD4Win are freeware utilities for Windows. UBCD4Win is based on Bart's PE. Bart's PE builds a Windows "pre-install" environment CD, basically Windows booted from CD. With network support, the ability to modify NTFS volumes, recover deleted files, create new NTFS volumes, and scan hard drives for viruses. This project includes almost everything you need to repair your system problems.Version 3.0.4 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.
You need the Ultimate Boot CD if you want to:
Run floppy-based diagnostic tools from CDROM drives. More and more PCs are shipped without floppy drives these days, and it is such a royal pain when you need to run diagnostic tools on them.
Free yourself from the slow loading speed of the floppy drive. Even if you do have a floppy drive, it is still much much faster to run your diagnostic tools from the CDROM drive, rather than wait for the tool to load from the floppy drive.
Consolidate as many diagnostic tools as possible into one bootable CD. Wouldn't you like to avoid digging into the dusty box to look for the right floppy disk, but simply run them all from a single CD? Then the Ultimate Boot CD is for you!
New! Run Ultimate Boot CD from your USB memory stick. A script on the CD prepares your USB memory stick so that it can be used on newer machines that supports booting from USB devices. You can access the same tools as you would from the CD version.
http://www.ultimate bootcd.com/ download. html
or
http://snipurl. com/1d59h
Tutorials: http://67.19. 82.66/ubcd/ website/tutorial s.html
Format: Software Size: 179,862KB Date: Mar 2007 Version: 3.04 System Requirements: Windows XP License: Free

Crispyblogspots

Crispyblogposts is a social bookmarking site strictly restricted to blog posts. In simpler words, it's like a Digg just for blogs. By Digg, I don't mean it's a just another Digg clone based off Pligg. It's completely brand new and one-man project by Gabor Imre Farkas. I was introduced to Crispyblogposts by the founder himself. He asked to share my opinion about his new service with you folks, I readily agreed as I loved discovering new service.

Crispyblogposts is somewhat a mix of Digg and Wikis. Users don't need to register inorder to submit their stories or vote on other stories. All blog posts are categorized into different channel, if you can't find a suitable channel, you can create your own (that's why I called it a Wiki). Each Channel gets its own RSS Feed.

Inorder to submit you story, you need to go to an appropriate channel and click "Submit a new blog post". Once the story has been submitted, it goes to a page called Pools. Pools is a section where users of the site rate blog posts, you can add points to the story by clicking "Crispy!" or if you didn't like the story, you can give negative points by clicking "Soggy!". Crispyblogposts also provides a widget for your blog, which displays the points earned by your blog.

Popularity Algorithm of Crispyblogposts: Inorder to calculate the popularity of the story, they have a really simple four level algorithm. If a post has less than 25% of the points that the most popular post has, it's rated "not popular". It it's bigger than that, but smaller than 50%, it's "almost popular", from 50% to 75% it gets rated "popular", anything above that becomes "extremely popular".

Reasons to love Crispyblogposts: Firstly, they have an extremely clean layout, compared to both Digg and Blog-Buzz. Since, registration is not required to submit posts, everybody gets equal share, nobody rules. There is no scope for mafia or control over homepage.
Source... http://tech-buzz.net

Caring For Your Digital Camera

Perhaps one of the greatest invention in the 20st century is the digital camera. With its many outstanding features, novices in photography can produce great photos at less the effort. Not only does the digital camera provide convenience to photographers or those that are interested in the art but also savings to ordinary consumers.

There is no need to buy films or have the pictures developed in the darkroom or in the nearest developing center. One only need to click the camera, upload the files to a computer and print them out with a colored printer. Everything is so easy.

Of course, despite being so easy, there are things that one needs to know about digital cameras and digital photography. Here are some tips that will help you make the most out of your digital cameras and make the experience of digital photography truly memorable.

1. Know your camera

Without really studying the features that your digital camera has, how can you make the most out of it? Before using it, try to explore the different features of the gadget. Read the manual and take experimental shots. This will help you be familiar with the various parts of the camera. Doing it and trying it out will also help you remember the operations as opposed to just reading the text in the manual.

Reading the manual will also help you from pulling something that you should not be pulling. Often, gadgets like digital cameras get broken because owners do not allot any time to read the instructions in the manual especially the don'ts and the section where it teaches you how to take care of it.

2. Practice

There is nothing more educational than practice. Gadgets like digital cameras actually get broken not only because it is often used but also when it is not used at all. Do not keep it inside your cabinet, gathering dust. Shot away. Every chance you get, take a picture. This will help you get used to the feel of the camera and will also allow you to discover some of its many features.

3. Take care of your camera

Although it may seem a bit too much to always put it inside its case every time you are not using it or not putting it directly under the heat of the sun, digital cameras are delicate gadgets that need taking care of. Make sure that you always protect it and prevent it from hitting hard surfaces.

More Life From Your Black Ink Cartridge

Having a printer is great, but the costs for the ink cartridges can get out of control, especially for businesses that a large number of printers to purchase ink for. Having your office at home can be costly as well, as you will most likely be using your printer on a daily basis, not to mention the kids using it for their homework. Many homes today have multiple computers, which means multiple printers. Of course, the easiest way to go would be paper-free but unfortunately that doesn't always work. By following a few simple guidelines, you can extend the life of your black ink cartridge.

The use of draft printing will extend the life the cartridge immensely, as this option allows you to print with minimal ink. This also speeds up the printing, as well, so you get the paper in half the time as you would have, printing it in the best quality mode. Save the best or top quality for your final print.

You can choose this option from the file tab and choosing the print option. This will open the box for printing and print choices. You will want to choose the paper/quality tab and select the setting for printing such as the draft quality. Your file will print at a lower resolution allowing you to save on the ink.

If you're dealing with a long document, print two sheets to a page if you can. Your printer may allow you to print two pages side-by-side in 'landscape' orientation -- and you'll save on paper costs, too.

Reduce your inkjet costs by economizing on ink when you are able to do so. Make sure to keep your ink cartridge supplies ready for when you need to do high resolution printing.

You may want to consider out-sourcing your big printing jobs as it may be cheaper to have a print shop print your big jobs than it is to buy a new cartridge to get the job done at home. Many places will allow you to place your order online, allowing you to pick up at your convenience or you can even have them mailed to you.

If you are not using your ink often, you may want to consider an ink cartridge case. This will keep the cartridge from drying out and will keep it free from dust and particles that can clog when it sits too long.

Stretching your ink doesn't have to be difficult. Just use the ink wisely and follow a few simple guidelines to help you get the most out of your ink.