Surf the web anonymously with OperaTor

Overview:

OperaTor is a portable software bundle which allows you to browse the web anonymously.


Review:

OperaTor is a pretty good way to navigate the web anonymously. Combining the solid Opera browser with the anonymising network of TOR provides a robust way of stopping webpages from getting info about you. Of course OperaTor can't fully make you anonymous specially when using java, flash, shockwave or any other type protocol that gathers information about your PC like your OS but thankfully most of these protocols are disabled by default so you shouldn't worry too much. OperaTor doesn't require installation so it's fully portable and you use it from a pendrive or other portable device.
In conclusion OperaTor provides a good way of surfing the web anonymously. Available for all versions of Windows.


Get it at http://archetwist.com/opera/operator

HoverIP provides a graphical interface to IP related commands

Overview:

HoverIP is a powerful set of IP utilities, all inside a single box !

With HoverIP you can display your IP configuration (on all network cards), perform different tasks like NSLOOKUP, PING, TRACEROUTE, SCAN PORTS or network, and manage your ROUTES in a very convenient way !


Review:

If you have wanted to check some common Windows commands relating to IPs but are too afraid of using the command line then HoverIP is a user friendly alternative. Packed inside the small download there are various network related tools like NSLOOKUP, PING.Etc. It can also display your currently used port along with their purpose. HoverIP worked pretty well except for those times when it hanged when performing a task. Unfortunately it is not portable which is a real shame because it seemed a nice application to keep in my pendrive. In conclusion HoverIP can provide a decent alternative if you want to use IP related commands. Available for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP.


Get it at http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm

SocWall provides high quality wallpapers for free

SocWall is a pretty cool website that deals exclusively in wallpapers. You can browse for wallpapers with standards resolutions (1280x1024) , for widescreen monitors and even dual monitors. The site is pretty easy to use with categories from video games to city landscapes. One pretty nice feature of SocWall is the ability to hover your mouse over an image to see it's resolution and size, that will save you a little time if a wallpaper is just too big for your monitor.
In conclusion Socwall is a pretty good website to get cool wallpapers.


http://www.socwall.com/

SlickRun is a small but powerful application launcher

Overview:

SlickRun is a free floating command line utility for Windows.


Review:

Most application launchers these days can be a little big so if you want something small and simple then maybe SlickRun is the program for you. SlickRun uses command line interface like FAAR or launchy that lets you type and launch files, however it can't index folder or drives. In this aspect SlickRun may seem not so good since is basically a floating command line similar to the one that is built-in into with Windows, except for the fact that SlickRun comes with a lot more features that the standard Windows command line. For starters you can create MagicWords that will let you launch URLs or programs with only typing a single word, use the JOT window to save text by simply dragging and dropping it into JOT complete with timestamps and a search function. Finally there is nice auto-completion feature that will complete paths for you. SlickRun used between 1 to 8MB of RAM in my system which is pretty decent considering all it can do.
In conclusion SlickRun is a lightweight application launcer that is simple but it works very well. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://bayden.com/SlickRun/

PeaZip is solid file archiver

Overview:

PeaZip is a free, open source file and archive manager.


Review:

PeaZip is an open source file archiver manager. It supports the most common formats for both extracting and compressing so unless you need to handle a really obscure compression format you will be fine. So far all of this is pretty standard , however PeaZip has some tricks up it's sleeve. For starters before PeaZip is installed you can select which entries shall be added to the context menu. This is very useful and more file archivers should have an option like this. Also you can securely delete files, split/join files, encrypt archives and run PeaZip from a portable device.
In conclusion i feel that PeaZip is a good compression manager for everyday use. Available for Windows 98/2000/XP/vista and Linux.


Get it at http://peazip.sourceforge.net/

Penumbra is a scary first person adventure

Overview:

Penumbra 2006 Tech Demo uses our in-house develop 3D engine, featuring the latest graphics and physics technologies. Thanks to these technologies Penumbra is able to immerse players into it's world of horror, unlike anything seen before within the genre.

Dynamic shadows, normal mapping and specular effects creates a dark dynamic visual environment, creating a world of constant change. Motion blur, noise filters and bloom is used to create a world where sanity has no place.

Review:

Penumbra is a first person/adventure/survival horror game. It was originally a tech demo that was created to showcase Frictional games's engine but it eventually spawned two sequels. Penumbra is set in an underground base located in greenland and relies heavily in exploration and puzzle solving. With it's heavy use of physics and impressive visuals for a free game, Penumbra sets itself apart from other games out there. However it's short, very short. You will probably get to the end in 2 hours and that's it. In conclusion Penumbra is a good game that just ends too soon. Available for Windows 2000/XP.


Get it at http://www.frictionalgames.com/site/penumbra/

DriverMax will keep all of your Windows drivers up to date

Overview:

DriverMax allows you to download the latest driver updates for your computer. No more searching for some rare driver on discs or on the web. No more driver CD after the other. Just create a free account, log in, and start downloading the driver updates that you need.

Features:

* Download driver updates

* Back up your drivers

* Get detailed reports about each computer component and driver

* Check for driver updates

*Get detailed hardware information before purchasing

* Share your computer's hardware and driver information with your friends


Review:

DriverMax is a program for downloading the latest Windows drivers for your installed hardware. DriverMax will be constantly on the lookout for updates to your drivers and will let you download them. It can also export and import all of your drivers into a single zip for reinstalling later instead of the slow standard way of doing it. DriverMax works as intended but there are several things that bother me about the program. For starters in order to use the program you must create an account and upload all of your currently installed drivers to the DriverMax database, this is annoying to say the least. Furthermore DriverMax won't really download the drivers directly, you see you first gotta open your browser in order to download a file that can only be opened with DriverMax and only then the driver can be downloaded. Also there is the little matter of privacy. Before using the program you must agree to give info about your PC to the DriverMax people and trust me. They will know ALL the hardware that your PC has. I didn't mind but some of you may care about your privacy.
In conclusion i would like to say that using DriverMax beats going from website to website to see if a new version of your driver has been released, however it has several issues that makes me a little wary of it. Available for Windows XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.drivermax.com/

SpaceMonger will show all the crap that is eating your precious disk space

Overview:

SpaceMonger is a tool for keeping track of the free space on your computer. Each file or folder on a given drive is displayed in a box in the main window whose size is a relative comparison to all the other files in your system. So, for example, if the "Windows" box takes up 90% of the screen, the "C:\Windows" folder and all its sub-folders and files are taking up 90% of your "C:" drive.


Review:

SpaceMonger is a small program that shows what is taking the most space in your hard drive. Run it and you will see a bunch of colored rectangles, these represent files and folders in your hard drive. The larger the rectangle, the more space a file of folder is using inside your hard drive. If a folder has too many files you can zoom in on it simply by double clicking it's windows title or choosing "zoom in" in the SpaceMonger's toolbar. SpaceMonger is pretty easy to use and doesn't require installation, however SpaceMonger isn't pretty and the latest versions are shareware. In conclusion SpaceMonger is a pretty good way of checking what is eating your hard drive space, just don't expect many features. Available for Windows 95/98/NT/2K/XP.


Get it at http://www.sixty-five.cc/sm/v1x.php

KillProcess will terminate dozens of processes with a single click

Overview:

KillProcess is an application assassin of the extreme kind. It can terminate almost any process on a Windows machine, including any service and process running in the system. Even protected Microsoft system processes can be terminated. All of this can be done in the matter of milliseconds.


Review:

KillProcess is a small program for terminating processes. With it you can make a list with dozens of processes and terminate them by simply executing the list. Optionally you can set KillProcess to kill the process on sight which is handy if a process just won't go away. Also the killed processes can be quickly "resurrected" if you screwed up and closed a program that you didn't meant to. Unfortunately you either need to have a process running to add to the list or the location of the executable. It would had been really useful to just simply add the name of a process without doing anything extra. On the other hand you can save and load various lists so it's not so bad, you can even download custom lists from the program site.
In conclusion KillProcess is a quick and easy to use way of terminating lists of processes, it's even portable! so you can carry it with you always. Available for all versions of Windows.


Get it at http://orangelampsoftware.com/products_killprocess.php

Task Killer can quickly terminate frozen processes

Overview:

This process manager allows you to quickly terminate applications, processes, windows, to start/stop Windows services and etc. ie. you may "kill" a frozen (hanged up) application, process or service by clicking on the windows taskbar's Task Killer icon and choosing application (process) from the menu list. You will forget clumsy key combination Ctrl-Alt-Del and standard Task Manager window forever!


Features:

• Very fast and neat way to unload ("kill") freezed ("hanged") applications (tasks), processes or services. Shows tasks, windows and(or) services in popup menu.
• "Smart Kill" mode - is more safe mode to kill program than standard windows Task Manager.
• Applications memory usage control.
• Flexible settings.
• Global hotkeys.
• User friendly interface.
• Very low process usage and memory usage.
• Freeware!

Review:

Task Killer is a lightweight program for terminating processes. Task Killer will list of all of the currently running processes and will give you the choice to terminate them. You gotta spend special attention to red processes, this processes are either frozen or unresponding and therefore they should be terminated. Of course this would be hard to do if you are running a full screen application like a game but thankfully Task Killer can be called upon using hotkeys making possible terminating programs that won't let you access the Windows taskbar. Task Killer used between 1 to 7 MB in my system which is pretty awesome considering that it could save you a reboot in a worst case scenario when the Task Manager just won't work. I conclusion Task Killer is a pretty good program if you keep having programs being frozen, however i would wish that Task Killer would have the ability of auto removing system processes from being listed without having to manually selecting them into the "excluded aplications" option. Also it would be awesome if it could automatically terminate frozen processes. But still, this is an excellent program by my standards. Available for Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP.


Get it at http://www.rsdsoft.com/task_killer/index.php4

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is a free, team based online first person shooter

Overview:

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is a free, stand-alone, downloadable multiplayer game in which players wage war as Axis or Allies in team-based combat. It's a team game; you will win or fall along with your comrades. The only way to complete the objectives that lead to victory is by cooperation, with each player covering their teammates and using their class special abilities in concert with the others.


Review:

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is a pretty fun online first person shooter set druing WWII. Originally an expansion of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, it became a free standalone product in 2003. In Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory you can play as both the Allies and the Axis and each side has to complete their own objectives in order to achieve victory. The game is highly team based with special units like soldiers, medics, engineers,Etc. Each special unit has a role to fulfill in the battlefield like for example repairing vehicles, healing teammates and more. The game is fast paced and the battles are really fun, however a lot of servers require you to download extra files before you can join a game which is no fun at all if you a slow connection. In conclusion Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is an excellent online first person shooter that can help past the time in a boring sunday, give it a try. Available for 98/ME/NT4.0 (SP6)/2000/XP.


Get it at http://www.splashdamage.com/wolfet

Open, edit, and save documents that use the Office 2007 format with the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack

Overview:

By installing the Compatibility Pack in addition to Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, or Office 2003, you will be able to open, edit, and save files using the file formats new to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007. The Compatibility Pack can also be used in conjunction with the Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003, Excel Viewer 2003, and PowerPoint Viewer 2003 to view files saved in these new formats.

Review:

Recently i had to open a ppsx file that someone had sent me, however that file is from Microsoft Office 2007 which i don't have. I only have Office 2003 so i was basically screwed until i came across the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack. With this program you can basically view and edit Office 2007 files without having to have Microsoft Office 2007 installed in your computer. Any office from 2003 and before will do. As a 27.5MB download the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack is not exactly lightweight, however if you have to work with Microsoft Office 2007 files and don't want to spend money in upgrading then i suggest you give this useful program a try. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it here

Via www.tenthofmarch.com

DeleteOnClick will securely delete your files from the right click context menu

Overview:

DeleteOnClick is a very simple to use file secure delete utility.


Features:

* Any file can be securely deleted, except files that are being used by other programs.

* Follows the U.S. DOD 5220.22-M secure file deletion standard.

* Completely deletes files in one click.

* Compatible with both Windows XP and Vista.

* Files deleted using DeleteOnClick are permanently erased and can never be recovered.

* Delete files on any physical drive visible by Windows.


Review:

DeleteOnClick is a small program for securely deleting files from the Windows context menu. As a secure deleter it's pretty easy to use. Just a select a file, right click it and select "Securely Delete" to permanently delete it from your hard drive. Unfortunately "permanently" may not be the right word since you can still recover the deleted files with their original names using a file recovery software, however all the content that was inside the deleted file will be unreadable. So if you don't mind having someone seeing the file names of your securely deleted files then DeleteOnClick is an okay choice for keeping important files from prying hands. Available for 98SE/ME/ 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.2brightsparks.com/onclick/doc.html

Auslogics System Information will provide information about your PC using an extremely simple interface

Overview:

Auslogics System Information provides comprehensive and easy to understand information about your system configuration.

It will show hardware configuration, video-card information, OS details, list of running processes, and other information. This information can be saved as a file and sent to technical support. And it's absolutely FREE.


Review:

Some programs that provide system information about your PC can be overly complicated so it's refreshing to see a program like Auslogics System Information that is super simple to use. You just need to click the links on the sidebar to access detailed info about your PC, then you can export these results into a HTML, XML, or text file. Unfortunately Auslogics System Information isn't portable which is something that very is dissapointing considering how easy it is to use. Anyway Auslogics System Information is a solid way of knowing more about your PC. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/system-information

BeClean keeps your PC... clean

Overview:

BeClean is the complete suite of system cleaner. It has Registry Cleaner, Internet Cleaner, History Cleaner, Temporary Files Cleaner, Disk Cleaner, Desktop Cleaner and Start Menu Cleaner. You can even create your own cleaner!


Features:

• Registry Cleaner, clean up registry entries from the files that no longer exist on the system
• Internet Cleaner, clean up internet cache and related
• History Cleaner, clean up common Windows applications recent file lists
• Temporary Files Cleaner, clean up temporary files
• Start Menu Cleaner, clean up Start Menu of broken links
• Desktop Cleaner, clean up Desktop of broken links
• Empty Recycle Bin, clean up all deleted files in the Recycle Bin
• Custom Cleaner, clean up your specified folders and registry keys
• Disk Clean Wizard, clean up your computer drives

Review:

BeClean is a small program for the cleaning of junk files inside Windows. Like CCleaner it allows you to clean the registry, temporary internet files, files history and more. Actually you can clean junk files and the registry at the same time which is something i wish CCleaner could do. However unlike CCleaner BeClean doesn't show you a preview of what you are about to clean so you have to take a leap of faith and just trust that Beclean doesn't erase something important which is a pretty big oversight in my opinion. BeClean however has a slight edge over CCleaner in the aspect of customization. You can make custom cleaners to clean specific folders from TMP,BAK,CHK,Etc. files and if you are an expert you can set it up to erase entire entries in the registry. Finally there is a disk cleaner that can quickly clean entire hard drives from temporary junk files or any other files that you specify by just inputting the extension.
In conclusion while BeClean has cleaned my computer from crap and hasn't given problems yet, i think it lacks certain useful features that could make it stand toe to toe with CCleaner. Available Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP.


Get it at http://www.boozet.org/beclean.htm

7Zip will manage your compressed files while providing an excellent compression ratio

Overview:

7-Zip is a file archiver with a high compression ratio.


Features:

• High compression ratio in new 7z format with LZMA compression
• Supported formats:
  • Packing / unpacking: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR
  • Unpacking only: RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, MSI, WIM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS
• For ZIP and GZIP formats, 7-Zip provides a compression ratio that is 2-10 % better than the ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
• Strong AES-256 encryption in 7z and ZIP formats
• Self-extracting capability for 7z format
• Integration with Windows Shell
• Powerful File Manager
• Powerful command line version
• Plugin for FAR Manager
• Localizations for 69 languages

Review:

7zip is an open source file archiver. It supports a wide variety of formats for unpacking and a smaller selection for packing. 7Zip is pretty fast and works well however the icons for compressed files are pretty ugly in my opinion, you get an ugly icon that consists of a folder with a letter that represents the type of file. Izarc and Tugzip handled this aspect better in my opinion. Also 7Zip doesn't really have a eye popping feature like RAR and ACE compresion in Tugzip or double quick extracting in Alzip but it does offer a better compresion ratio when using the file compression formats 7zip and zip compared to other file archivers. So in conclusion 7zip is not pretty but works very well and is a good file archiver. Available for Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.7-zip.org/

Auslogics Disk Defrag will quickly defragment your hard drives

Overview:

Disk fragmentation leads to system slowdowns, PC crashes, slow startups and shutdowns. Auslogics Disk Defrag is designed for fast optimization of modern hard disks.


Review:

Auslogics Disk Defrag is a program for the defragmenting of hard drives. Just select a disk and click next to start the defragmenting process which i considered to be pretty fast. When the defragmenting ends Auslogics Disk Defrag wil show the percentage of performance gained and optionally a fully detailed report of the defragmented files. Auslogics Disk Defrag is pretty easy to use and it worked pretty fast for me, give it a try. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag

XPlorerSkin will skin your explorer toolbar without any drop in performance

Overview:

XPlorerSkin is a small program that can load skins in the Windows' explorer toolbar.


Review:

XPlorerSkin is an interesting utility that can change the look of your explorer toolbar. What it does is change a Windows registry entry that lets you load up bitmap and icons files into the explorer toolbar. Truthfully i found most of default skins not very attractive to the eye but you can make your own by editing a BMP file in a picture editor like MSpaint. Also there is no unistaller so if you want to get rid of XPlorerSkin you will have to delete it's folder and shorcuts manually.
In conclusion i found XPlorerSkin to have some potential if you find the explorer toolbar too boring, however it has some rough edges. Available for Windows XP.


Get it at http://bugfreetech.com/XPskin.html

Direct download:

MobaLiveCD offers a simple way of trying out your Live CDs

Overview:

MobaLiveCD is a freeware that will run your Linux LiveCD on Windows thanks to the excellent emulator called "Qemu".
MobaLiveCD allows you to test your LiveCD with a single click : after downloading the ISO image file of your favorite LiveCD, you just have to start it in MobaLiveCD and here you are, without the need to burn a CD-Rom or to reboot your computer.


Features:

* No need to burn the CD-Rom anymore
* You can use the right-click menu for an easy and fast start
* Program without installation that you can start from an USB stick
* A clear and easy to use interface
* Light and portable application, packaged in a single executable of 1.6MB only


Review:

MobaLiveCD is a virtualization program that can quickly boot Live CD ISOs from inside Windows. All you need to do is to select the Live CD image that you want to load and MobaLiveCD will run it in a Window. I found the emulation to be a little slower than when using VirtualBox but it was decent nonetheless. You can also optionally setup a virtual hard drive for the Live CD and install a context menu option to quickly load ISOs. Since MobaLiveCD comes packaged into a single executable you can carry it around in your pen-drive or other potable device making this a a very versatile tool in my opinion.
In conclusion MobaLiveCD is a simple way of testing Live CDs. Available for all Windows versions.


Get it at http://mobalivecd.mobatek.net/en/

Make some java programs with JCreator LE

Overview:

JCreator is a powerful interactive development environment (IDE) for Java technologies


Features:

*Selection margin with line numbers and file difference
*Instant color syntax selecting
*Unlimited Undo/Redo capability
*Visible display of tabs and spaces
*A powerful search and replace engine for single and multiple documents
*Auto-indent
*Word completion
*Bookmarking
*Format text capabilities
*Advanced edit commands for selecting and deleting text
*Comment selections
*Code folding
*Block selection
*Colored bracket matching


Review:

Recently i had to have an IDE/compiler for making java programs and i looked for a good free alternative. I ended up using JCreator LE which is the free version of JCreator Pro. Since i have only been using it to create lines in an applet for web browsers i haven't had the chance to try to create a full fledged program with it (not that i can anyway) but JCreator LE worked pretty well and is very easy to use. Even tough JCreator LE has most of the features of the pro version it lacks probably the most useful when coding programs and that is the automatic code completion.That sucks a lot but since i am only making simple programs it didn't bother that much. Anyway i found JCreator to be a competent Java Ide/compiler. Available for Windows 2000/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.jcreator.com/download.htm

Flock is a browser made for social people

Overview:

Flock is the social web browser.


Review:

If you are one of those people that has a bunch of social networking site accounts and want to integrate them all into a single place then Flock is your solution. You can login to your Myspace,Facebook,Etc. accounts and get info about your friends, updates, all that crap that people love. Also you can directly upload pictures trough Flock , check your feeds, Save interesting items like pictures and links in the built-in Clipboard manager, publish blog entries and use a media bar to quickly search and view media from a variety of sites.
As you can see Flock has a bunch of interesting features that are useful for Web 2.0 users. Flock is based on Firefox so the interface is similar but Flock adds a toolbar to quickly access it's features. I found Flock to be pretty use easy to use so i don't think any of you should have any problem getting used to it. Most Firefox extensions should work but the only way to know for sure is to test them which sucks is your depend on a specific extension for your daily browsing only to find out that it doesn't work on Flock.
Flock is a pretty good browser for those people that have a bunch of social accounts on the web. available for Windows, Linux and MacOSX.


Get it at http://www.flock.com/

CamStudio is a powerful screencasting program

Overview:

CamStudio is able to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files and using its built-in SWF Producer can turn those AVIs into lean, mean, bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash videos (SWFs)


Review:

CamStudio is an open source screencasting program with some interesting features. You can record both video and audio at the same time, even the output from the speakers which is good if you are recording a game's speedrun or something similar. You can save your screencasts in several formats like Divx,Xvid,Etc. Also you can either hide, show, or highlight the cursor and even use custom cursors . Also you can place annotations with text over the recording are and convert AVI files to flash. Unfortunately there is a bug with the 2.0 release which prevents flash files from being viewed in Netscape and Firefox. This is apparently fixed in the 2.5 beta tough.
I found CamStudio Pretty easy to use thanks to the keyboard shortcuts and the ability to start CamStudio minimized to the system tray. The resultant screencasts were small in size (when using the microsoft video codec, i didn't try other codecs) and they had good quality.
In conclusion CamStudio is a pretty good screencast program, i liked it. Available for Windows 95/98/Me/N.T. 4.0/2000/XP.


Get it at http://camstudio.org/

Get some free games thanks to Nvidia and Steam

Thanks to the money i got trough adsense i was able to buy a an Nvidia video card, thankfully i remembered that there was a promo for owners of Nvidia cards that consisted of 4 entirely free games. All you have to do to claim these four games is to have an Nvidia card and either login into an existent Steam account trough the steam client or make a new one. Then you can simply download to your hard drive the games that you want. Keep in mind that the games will only be available trough the steam account that you used to claim them.
The four games are Portal: First Slice which is a 11 level demo of Portal, Half life 2: Deatmatch which is the multiplayer component of Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Lost coast which is a cut level from Half Life 2 and finally Peggle Extreme which is a puzzle game or something.


Get your free games if you have an Nvidia card!

Google Earth will allow you to check every corner of the world (well almost)

Overview:

Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings and even explore galaxies in the Sky. You can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places and share with others.


Review:

If you have ever felt curious about far way lands in other corners of the world but don't have the money or time to see them by yourself then Google Earth is your program. Google Earth is extremely easy to use, just input a location and Google Earth will take you there showing you a 2D satellital map. You can also view interesting information about the sites you visit like Wikipedia articles, pictures and even 3D models that are uploaded by users. There is also a flight simulator that some of you might find fun, not me since i couldn't take off...
One thing to keep in mind is that if you have a fast internet connection you will probably get more of the program than a person that uses dial-up since Google Earth is constantly downloading data. People with slow internet speeds may find the wait for maps to load very annoying.
Anyway Google Earth is easy to use and works very well, an excellent tool for visiting sites all over the world without leaving your house. Available for Windows,Linux and MacOSX.


Get it at http://earth.google.com/index.html

Direct Windows download

Direct Linux download

Direct MacOSX download

Backup and restore your Windows drivers using Double Driver

Overview:

With Double Driver you can view which drivers are installed in your system and you can backup the drivers you choose, save and print the drivers list, and more.


Features:

• View installed drivers
• Backup drivers
• Restore drivers
• Save drivers list
• Print drivers list

Review:

Double Driver is a program for the backup and restoring of Windows drivers. To backup a driver just do a scan and either select all the results or using the "provider" option you can quickly choose important drivers for Windows, video card, printers, Etc. Double Driver is pretty fast and is very easy to use. Available for Windows 2000/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm

Neverball makes playing with balls fun

Overview:

Tilt the floor to roll a ball through an obstacle course before time runs out. Neverball is part puzzle game, part action game, and entirely a test of skill.

Also found here is Neverputt, a hot-seat multiplayer miniature golf game using the physics and graphics of Neverball.


Review:

Neverball is a fun open source puzzle/action game that gives you the task of moving a ball trough environments collecting coins. You don't move the ball tough, you move the floor. You have to tilt the floor with your mouse or joystick to make your ball move. This is difficult at first but you'll get the hang of it eventually like i did. There are dozens of levels so you will not get bored soon. Besides the main game there is Neverputt which is a local multiplayer game of mini-golf which is pretty good.
Neverball is a pretty fun time waster that requires an OpenGL card and a 500MHz CPU. Available for Windows 2000/XP , Linux, FreeBSD and MacOS X.


Get it at http://icculus.org/neverball/