MikeB's Software Recommendations
Productivity & Utilities Portable Applications Development
Introduction
Here are some programs that I use and that I find are very useful and
well written. Most of the programs are freeware, but a few are shareware.
Productivity Software & Utilities
Abakt Backup
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Program Name: |
Abakt Backup |
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Program Type: |
Backup utility |
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Author: |
Erik Dienske |
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License Type: |
Freeware (GNU Public License) |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
Abakt is a powerful backup utility that is both easy to setup and easy to use. The program uses backup profiles for each of your backups. The program can easily be used with a scheduling program since it can be run from the command line. The program has powerful features like compressing backups into ZIP archives. Zip archive names are completely configurable and can include dates and time. The program allows controlling of the number of backups kept. It supports multiple backup types such as differential (changes only) as well as full backups. There are also powerful include and exclude filters. |
AbsolutePrivacy
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Program Name: |
AbsolutePrivacy PIM |
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Program Type: |
Personal iinformation manager |
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Author: |
Idiesse snc Ergondata/Cryptobase Group |
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License Type: |
Freeware (Just email the author to register for free) |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
AbsolutePrivacy is a very well written personal information manager. The program supports a calendar/appointments calander, a tasks/todo list manager, a meno/notes manager, a daily diary, a contact manager/address book, a passwords database, and even a budgeting system for simple management of your credit cards and checkbook. The program is clean and simple to use. You can password protect your data. It is for the most part fully functional, but the authors promise more features in the near future. |
Ad-Aware SE
| Program Name: | Ad-Aware SE |
| Program Type: | Web security |
| Author: | Lavasoft |
| License Type: | Freeware |
| Price: | $0.00 |
| Home Page: | http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware |
| Description: | Ad-Aware is a security program that is designed to detect and remove adware and spyware that you pick up when surfing the web and when you install some software. The program is free for personal use. You should run the program at least once a month to keep your web browser running smoothly. Database updates are usually available every week. |
Agent Ransack
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Program Name: |
Agent Ransack |
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Program Type: |
File search utility |
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Author: |
David Vest |
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License Type: |
Freeware (Free registration code for personal use) |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
Agent Ransack is a powerful file and text search utility. The program can search multiple drives and directories. The powerful regular expression capabilities gives the user full control over searching for text within files. The program has no problems with searching for text within binary files. You'll never use the Microsoft search built into Windows again. |
Avast Anti-Virus
| Program Name: | Avast Anti-Virus Home Edition |
| Program Type: | Anti-Virus |
| Author: | ALWIL Software |
| License Type: | Freeware |
| Price: | $0.00 |
| Home Page: | http://www.avast.com/eng/free_virus_protectio.html |
| Description: | Avast Home Edition is a complete anti-virus solution. It includes on access scanning, web protection, and email scanning. The program even scans files transfered using peer-to-peer transfers. The program ius free for personal home use. You will need to register the software, but this is at no cost. Updates are available as often as daily. Keep your computer secure. |
ClipX 
| Program Name: | ClipX |
| Program Type: | Clipboard Extender |
| Author: | Francis Gastellu |
| License Type: | Freeware |
| Price: | $0.00 |
| Home Page: | http://www.clipx.org |
| Description: | I have used several clipboard extenders over the years, but this is the best one I havr drrm in a long time. I have been a long time user of Clip-O-Matic and have not seen anything that compares to it until this program. The program will keep track of images posted to the clipboard as well as text data. With the "absolutely required" sticky plugin you can add commonly used text snippets to the program to allow you to easily ass your commonly pasted text to a simply keyboard macro. I would have liked it if the program would have supported hotkey events involving nouse buttons (I like CTRL+Right Mouse) but I was able to do this with another program. Worst case you can simply use Ctrl+Alt+V. |
Converter
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Program Name: |
Converter |
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Program Type: |
Mathmatical Unit Converter |
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Author: |
Idiesse snc Ergondata/Cryptobase Group |
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License Type: |
Freeware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
This program is far from fancy but it does what it implies. This utility can convert between several hundred units of measure. Need to convert Acre-Inches into UK Bushels? This program will do it for you. |
Free Commander
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Program Name: |
Free Commander |
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Program Type: |
Dual pane file manager |
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Author: |
Marek Jasinski |
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License Type: |
Freeware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
If you are a fan of Dual Pane file managers like Norton Commander then this program is for you. The program is extremely configurable. You can add your own tools to the program, create your own favorite folders list, and customize the toolbar. The program will even treat archive files as folders and allow you to maneuver inside of them. I did have a few problems when testing with Win98SE, but it works great in a WinNT and all newer Windows environments. |
GIMP
| Program Name: | GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) |
| Program Type: | Image editor |
| Author: | Spencer Kimball, Peter Mattis and the GIMP Development Team |
| License Type: | Freeware (GNU public license) |
| Price: | $0.00 |
| Home Page: | http://www.gimp.org |
| Description: | GIMP is the ultimate paint program. It is the only paint program you need to edit your images and diggital pictures. The program is quite complex and a bit of a challenge to master but it will do just about everything you need. |
Glenlay Gallery
| Program Name: | Glenlay Gallery |
| Program Type: | Online photo album generator |
| Author: | Glenlay.com |
| License Type: | Freeware |
| Price: | $0.00 |
| Home Page: | http://www.glenlay.com |
| Description: | Glenlay Gallery is a simple software application that will allow you to take your digital photos and convert them into an HTML based album that you can store on your hard disk, a CD-ROM, or put online on your personal webpage to share with others. The program is extremely easy to use. Pick the album style, select your pictures, type in descriptions or comments for each picture, select the output directory, and then just press a button and you have your album. The albums generated by the program are very attractive and easy to navigate. |
Gljakal's ToDo
| Program Name: | Gljakal;s ToDo |
| Program Type: | ToDo list manager |
| Author: | Loris Bognanni |
| License Type: | Freeware |
| Price: | $0.00 |
| Home Page: | http://www.gljakal.com |
| Description: | Gljakal's
ToDo is just what you think it is. It is a ToDo list manager.
This program is extremely flexible allowing you to store multiple
ToDo lists into a single hyarchical tree. The user interface is
extremely intuative and you will be an expert at the program in
minutes. Each ToDo item can also have a detailed note/description
attached to it that is available with the simple press of the F4 key. This program requires that the Microsoft .NET Framework be installed. |
GoldenSection Notes
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Program Name: |
GoldenSection Notes |
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Program Type: |
Free form text database |
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Author: |
TGS Labs |
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License Type: |
Shareware |
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Price: |
$24.95 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
This is a very nice program if you are a fan of hiarchichal text databases. The program is RTF (Rich Text Format) based which is absolutely great since you can store web links, email links, tables, and pictures inside of your documents. I looked at a lot of these types of programs and this was the best that I found. It has auto spell checking, customizable toolbars, user settable document icons, import and export capabilities, and more. I guess what really sold me on this program was the data files. I found that the data files from GS Notes were about 1/3 the size of those for other similar programs when storing the same data. This was especially true when storing documents with embedded images (which I do a lot as a means of storing all my program configurations with screen captured images). |
Gyula's
Commander
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Program Name: |
Gyula's Commander |
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Program Type: |
Dual pane file manager |
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Author: |
Gyula Bibernath |
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License Type: |
Freeware/Donationware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
Yet another Dual Pane file manager like Norton Commander. This program has some very nice features. For a program of it's type it is not too large and does not consume a lot of resources. The program has some very nice color options for the display of files and directories. External "packers" are supported. You can specify file viewers and editors by file extension. The program is surprisingly fast for all that it does (it even runs fast on my 8 year old PC). The only feature I really miss with this program is that it does not support inline display and use of archive contents. Instead it relies on the Window associations for the file types and opens the archive using external programs. |
HotKeyP
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Program Name: |
HotKeyP |
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Program Type: |
Keyboard and Mouse Hotkey Utility |
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Author: |
Petr Lastovicka |
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License Type: |
Freeware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
HotKeyP is probably the most versatile HotKey/keyboard mapping utility that I have come across. Not onbly can it assign macros (user defined) to keyboard shorcuts, but it also recognizes mouse keys as well. THIS IS A GREAT program. |
iDaily Diary
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Program Name: |
iDaily Diary |
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Program Type: |
Diary program with RTF support |
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Author: |
Splinterware Software Solutions |
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License Type: |
Freeware (for personal use) |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
This is a very nice diary program. The diary is RTF (Rich Text Format) based, so you can insert web links, tables, and images into your diary entries. Another nice feature is that you can create multiple entries/documents per day so you don't have to mix unrelated data. If you are looking for a diary program or journal then you should definitely check this out. |
Just Checking
| Program Name: | Just Checking |
| Program Type: | Checkbook ledger |
| Author: | Brent Shelton |
| License Type: | Shareware |
| Price: | $9.95 |
| Home Page: | http://www.justapps.com |
| Description: | Just Checking is just what the name implies. It is a simple software application for managing your checkbook. The program supports lists for ccommon payees, ATM deposits and withdrawls, monthly banking fees, and of course the cheks you write. The prgram has a status for all entries to enter when a check clears and will help you reconcile you checking account. If you don't want something comples that is designed for your home budget but still want to keep your checking account in order then this program is for you. |
KeePass Password Safe
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Program Name: |
KeePass Password Safe |
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Program Type: |
Password database |
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Author: |
Dominik Reichl |
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License Type: |
Freeware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
KeePass Password Safe is an excellent password database. It supports a web link, password quality meter, a password generator, and password expiration. The program has a very clean interface. |
KeyNote
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Program Name: |
KeyNote |
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Program Type: |
Free form text database |
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Author: |
Marek Jedlinski |
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License Type: |
Freeware (Mozilla Public License) |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
KeyNote is a very nice free form/hiarchical text database. Since it is RTF (Rich Text Format), you can embed web links, images, and more in your notes. It also supports templates, macros, optional checklist tree, favorites, file links, and plugin support. A nice feature is that it supports a variety of note types making the program very flexible and a bit unique. Although the program has not been updated in a quite some time, it is still definitely worth checking out. |
Mars
Notebook
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Program Name: |
Mars Notebook |
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Program Type: |
Free form text database |
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Author: |
Mars Software |
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License Type: |
Shareware |
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Price: |
$15.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
This is a very nice program if you are a fan of hiarchichal text databases. On top of that, the program is a real bargain. Most of these text database programs I looked at run anywhere from $25.00 to $50.00. This one is just $15 (or $10 if you pay with WebMoney). The program is RTF/RVF (Rich Text Format/RichView Files) based which is absolutely great since you can store web links, email links, file links, local page links, tables, and pictures inside of your documents. I looked at a lot of these types of programs and this was the best that I found for the money. It has auto spell checking, moveable toolbars, user settable document icons, import and export capabilities (including .txt, .rtf, .rvf, .doc, and more. The program is still being actively developed, so more new features are comming all the time. |
MiniMinder
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Program Name: |
MiniMinder |
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Program Type: |
Appointment and reminder |
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Author: |
Vellosoft |
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License Type: |
Donationware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
This is a handy little program. Each time you start your computer you will get a reminder of all your upcomming events and appointments. You can setup one time events or those that repeat on a regular basis. What I really like about this program is that it does not sit around in your system tray consuming memory and resources. It runs at startup. If there is nothing to remind you of you never even see it. Otherwise you see a banner window showing all your upcomming events. When you click [OK] then the program unloads and is gone. Everything is configuarble right down to how much in advance you want to be notified of upcomming events. |
Photo Toolkit
| Program Name: | Photo Toolkit |
| Program Type: | Image/photo editor |
| Author: | VicMan Software |
| License Type: | Freeware |
| Price: | $0.00 |
| Home Page: | http://www.photo-toolkit.com |
| Description: | Photo Toolkit is an excellent program for working with your digital photos. It includes standard type tools like a red eye removal tool, tools for adjusting the lighting and tinting, and a few unusual tools like a characature tool for modifying features. This is a must have tool for anyone with a digital camera. |
RegCool
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Program Name: |
RegCool |
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Program Type: |
Registry editor |
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Author: |
Kurt Zimmermann |
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License Type: |
Freeware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
This is my registry editor of choice. The program is clean and easy to use. It has all the nice feature list importing and exporting, bookmarks, etc. It also has advanced feature like registry backup, registry compare, and a registry monitor. What I really like is the search capabilities. The program expires from time to time, so you do have to update it every once in a while. |
Task Coach
| Program Name: | Task Coach |
| Program Type: | ToDo list manager |
| Author: | Frank Niessink |
| License Type: | Freeware (GNU public license) |
| Price: | $0.00 |
| Home Page: | http://www.taskcoach.org |
| Description: | Task Coach is a ToDo list manager. Unlike many of the programs of this type, this program is much more flexible. The program supports multiple simultaneous lists. Also the lists can be hierarchical allowing you to group tasks together or to create sub tasks. |
Thunderbird Email
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Program Name: |
Thunderbird Mail |
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Program Type: |
Email client |
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Author: |
Contributors (Mozilla Foundation) |
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License Type: |
Freeware (Mozilla Public License) |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
Thunderbird is not a small program, but it is feature rich. This is a great email client. It supports HTML formatted email, multiple accounts, and user defined folders. It is relatively easy to set up and is extremely easy to use. |
Unreal
Commander
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Program Name: |
Unreal Commander |
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Program Type: |
Dual pane file manager |
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Author: |
Max Diesel |
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License Type: |
Donationware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
If you are a fan of Dual Pane file managers like Norton Commander then this program is like that on steroids. The program is extremely configurable. What makes this program fairly unique is that it supports color fioleters allowing you to display groups of file types in different colors. This makes each file type easily identifyable when you look through a directory. The program supports a Quick View Panel that lets you view almost any file type without having to open another program. The program is plugin compatible with TotalCommander allowing you to deal with just about any type of compressed file and also allowing you to view just about anything. |
WordWeb
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Program Name: |
WordWeb |
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Program Type: |
Dictionary with web support |
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Author: |
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License Type: |
Freeware (for personal use) |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
WordWeb is a very nice and compact dictionary program. It has features like bookmarks, synonyms, word types, and web enhancements. |
YPOPs
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Program Name: |
YPOPs |
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Program Type: |
Email tool |
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Author: |
YPOPs Team |
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License Type: |
Freeware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
If you have a Yahoo email account then this program is definitely for you. This program will allow you to use any POP3 based email client with your Yahoo web based email account. It makes managing, saving, and archiving your Yahoo email quick and easy. |
ZSoft Uninstaller
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Program Name: |
ZSoft Uninstaller |
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Program Type: |
Uninstall tool |
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Author: |
ZSoft Software |
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License Type: |
Freeware (for non-commercial use) |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
Everyone has had the occasion to uninstall software. And most of us have found broken uninstall links that we can't seem to get rid of. ZSoft has the solution. The nicest thing about this software is that it is fast. It very quickly processed the uninstall program entries in the registry and produces a list you can uninstall your programs from. It will also show you which uninstall links are broken and allow you to delete them. There is also an "analyze" feature that will examine your installed software and allow you to completely remove it from your computer (don't you hate it when uninstalls leave things behind). |
Portable Applications
KeePass Portable
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Program Name: |
KeePass Portable |
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Program Type: |
Password database |
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Author: |
Dominik Reichl |
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License Type: |
Freeware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
http://keepass.sourceforge.net |
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Description: |
KeePass Portable is the "portable" version of KeePass Password Safe. The program is an excellent password database. It supports a web link, password quality meter, a password generator, and password expiration. The program has a very clean interface. |
KompoZer Portable
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Program Name: |
KompoZer Portable |
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Program Type: |
WYSIWYG HTML editor |
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Author: |
Contributors (Mozilla Foundation) |
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License Type: |
Freeware (Mozilla Public License) |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
http://kompozer.sourceforge.net |
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Description: |
KompoZer Portable is a "portable" version of the NVU WYSIWYG web page editor. It is extremely easy to use and requires absolutely no knowledge of the HTML programming language. It is ideal for creating web pages and for HTML Help based documents. |
PStart Portable
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Program Name: |
PStart Portable |
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Program Type: |
Toolbar/application launcher |
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Author: |
Pegtop Software |
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License Type: |
Freeware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
PStart is a wonderful "portable" toolbar/application launcher. If you have a USB flash drive, then this program is definitely for you. The program uses relative paths for program executables and starting directories so it is ideal. The program supports customizable icons, individual program hot keys, and more. It even has a handy notepad built in. The program runs neatly from the system tray. |
Thunderbird Portable
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Program Name: |
Thunderbird Portable |
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Program Type: |
Email client |
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Author: |
Contributors (Mozilla Foundation) |
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License Type: |
Freeware (Mozilla Public License) |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
http://www.portableapps.com/apps/internet/thunderbird_portable |
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Description: |
Thunderbird is not a small program, but it is available in a "portable" version. This is a great email client. It supports HTML formatted email, multiple accounts, and user defined folders. It is relatively easy to set up and is extremely easy to use. |
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Program Name: |
AutoIt |
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Program Type: |
Scripting language |
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Author: |
Jonathan Bennet |
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License Type: |
Freeware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
AutoIt is a very powerful scripting language. TrayURL and MultiRun are both written in AutoIt. The program has a very strong set of GUI functions to go along with the standard set of functions to manipulate files, directories, and more. A wonderful feature is that the scripts can easily be compiled into Windows executables and generate very small applications that require no supporting DLL files. |
HTML Workshop
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Program Name: |
Microsoft HTML Workshop |
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Program Type: |
HTML help authoring tool |
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Author: |
Microsoft Corporation |
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License Type: |
Freeware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
This program will allow you to take a group of HTML files that you develop and compile them into a HTML Help File (.chm). The program is straight forward and easy to use. There is full support for the Table of Contents, an Index, and a searchable database. With this program and a HTML editor you are ready to create your own help files. |
jEdit
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Program Name: |
jEdit |
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Program Type: |
Programmers editor |
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Authors: |
Slava Pestov, John Gellene, Alan Ezust, and the jEdit development team |
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License Type: |
Freeware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
or for plugins and
other addons, http://community.jedit.org/?q=filestore/browse/0&PHPSESSID=cebc687602c0b667b6b49bfff2d9f531 |
|
Description: |
I have to tell you that I have NEVER been a JAVA fan. JAVA is a memory hungry language that can inspire bad habits in just about any programmer. But I may have changed my mind (at least as far as qhat JAVA can do. jEdit is a WONDERFUL programmers editor, It supports syntax highlightings, auto-indent, auto-complete, and code folding for a viriaty of languages. But the user can add ALL of these features for any language they like.
The base program is quite nice, but with the large number of plugins you can make it do whatever you want. You also don't really need to be a JAVA programmer either as the number of plugins, macros, and syntax definitions files available for download is extensive.
The really nice thing abount being developed in JAVA is that the program will run under Windows, MAC OS, Linux, and most UNIX systems,
I have to telll you, this is a GREAT program. If you work in multiple development environments, this is the editor for you! |
NVU
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Program Name: |
NVU |
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Program Type: |
WYSIWYG HTML editor |
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Author: |
Linspire, Inc. |
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License Type: |
Freeware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
NVU is a WYSIWYG web page editor. It is extremely easy to use and requires absolutely no knowledge of the HTML programming language. It is ideal for creating web pages and for HTML Help based documents. |
PsPad
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Program Name: |
PsPad |
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Program Type: |
Programmers editor |
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Author: |
Jan Fiala |
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License Type: |
Freeware |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
PsPad has to be one of the best programmers editors I have ever used and to top that off, it is 100% free. Along with the standards of syntax highlighting and auto-completion, and templates, the program supports a very nice project manager with support for custom compiler launching and external tools. About the only feature PsPad does not support is "Code Folding", but I can easily live without that in exchange for the wealth of features it does have. |
WinMerge
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Program Name: |
WinMerge |
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Program Type: |
File diff and merge tool |
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Author: |
WinMerge Team |
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License Type: |
Freeware (for personal use) |
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Price: |
$0.00 |
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Home Page: |
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Description: |
WinMerge is an excellent file diff and merging utility. It is ideal for dealing with several versions of source files and for merging changes from one version to another. Since it can work with any text based files it can be used for merging pretty much of any text files where you maintain different version. |