Gaim and Trillian: Making Multi-Protocol Instant Messaging Possible - 8/31/2004 For those that cannot imagine life without a real-time link to friends and co-workers and for whom one instant messaging client is simply not enough, you're in luck. Several vendors have stepped up to the plate with products that can handle chatter from multiple IM services at the same time. Today we'll take a look at two, Gaim and Trillian, to give a sense of what's possible.
Windows XP SP2: A No-Brainer Upgrade? - 8/26/2004 If there's one phrase to sum up the raison d'etre of Windows XP's long-awaited Service Pack 2, we would submit that it should be, "It's the security, stupid." Almost all the features of SP2, and certainly all of the most important ones, concern security in some way, shape, or form. And that's definitely not a bad thing, but does it make the new service pack a must-have upgrade?
RoboForm: Efficient and Convenient Password Management and More - 8/25/2004 RoboForm is a useful tool for automating the often tedious processes of filling out Web forms, storing and entering logon credentials for sites, and creating new passwords. The newly released Portable RoboForm does an efficient job of taking these capabilities and making them mobile, allowing you to utilize the convenience of RoboForm on nearly any computer.
Geek Superhero: Waging War Against Malware and More - 8/23/2004 While its comic-inspired motif may come across as a bit distracting – and even goofy – Geek Superhero has quite a bit to offer under its somewhat flaky exterior. The $25 client protects your computer from a wide variety of nefarious and annoying activities that can stealthily infiltrate your computer, including adware and spyware components, programs that secretly install and automatically run when Windows starts, and poorly trained apps that leave unwanted detritus littered across your desktop.
Style Master: Complex CSS Coding Made Easy - 8/18/2004 Creating a layout with CSS can be quite complicated. And even though some WYSIWYG HTML editors offer visual CSS authoring capabilities, many Web designers still end up needing to tweak the CSS code by hand. Style Master (formerly called Layout Master) is a powerful editing tool designed to help remedy that problem.
AntiVir and AVG Free: An End to the Elusive Search for Free Virus Protection - 8/11/2004 A virus scanner that offers free real-time scanning, free regularly updated virus definition files, and free technical support is a rare find indeed. Our exhausting search for just such a beast has finally come to an end in the form of not one but two completely free virus scanners — AntiVir and AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition.
Zoom Player Pro: A Player for Every Type of Media File? - 8/8/2004 Can you play multimedia files on your computer? Of course you can, but which of the multitude of file formats can you actually use? Zoom Player from Inmatrix claims to support the widest variety of multimedia formats, including the most recent formats, while also giving you ultimate control over your viewing and listening environment.
WinRAR: A Worthy Competitor for WinZip? - 8/4/2004 In this age of outsized hard drives and files of equally generous proportions, file compression capabilities are a virtual necessity. In the PC world that usually means the ZIP format, but ZIP isn't the only game in town. RAR is one alternative format that claims better compression than ZIP as well as a variety of essential capabilities you won't find in RAR's ubiquitous rival. Joe Moran reviews a feature-rich client that adeptly handles the RAR format, WinRAR.
Anti-Spam Round-up: Stop the Spam-sanity - 7/29/2004 We don't have to tell you that unsolicited email, or spam, is completely out of control. If you've been searching for that perfect spam-fighting solution, you're in luck. Here are some of the hottest spam filters currently available, each of which brings to the table a different collection of tools for attacking and eliminating unwanted email.
PKZIP and SecureZIP: Low-Carb Diets for Your Files - 7/20/2004 To cut the fat from files, PKWARE's PKZIP and SecureZIP, a kind of PKZIP on steroids, offer the goods. They competently compress files, create archives, and extract files to save hard disk space and reduce file sizes for e-mailing and archiving.
Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla Firefox: Microsoft Alternatives Come of Age - 7/14/2004 If you're looking to explore the internet without being tied to Internet Explorer or if you yearn for a new "Outlook" on e-mail, Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird, respectively, serve as solid alternatives with some intriguing extras. And the price is right — both are available for free.
Abobe Photoshop Elements: Elements of the Real Thing - 7/14/2004 Adobe's sub-$100, trimmed-down version of Photoshop is a well thought out response to the rash of requests from its customers for affordable image editing software. Photoshop Elements includes a reduced set of Photoshop features along with some handy additions to enhance overall ease of use.
Norton AntiSpam 2004 - 7/7/2004 As part of Norton's Internet Security suite, Norton AntiSpam makes sense as the spam detection and removal client of choice for current users of the Symantec suite. Its appeal to newcomers, on the other hand, is not quite as certain. While definitely not without its limitations — the client is neither the most powerful nor the most efficient anti-spam utility available — Norton AntiSpam is also not without its merits.
RSS Round-up: SharpReader and FeedReader - 6/30/2004 RSS feeds have started to emerge en masse and now populate countless web sites in the form of the familiar orange XML and blue RSS buttons. In our first look at RSS readers, we put two of the more popular aggregators, SharpReader and FeedReader, through their paces.
SnagIt 7.1 Review - 6/25/2004 Imagine your keyboard Print Screen key connected to the dashboard of a Ferrari, and you've got TechSmith's SnagIt 7, a sub-$40 screen capture and customization utility that will wow software testers, trainers, and webmasters alike.
Trillian and Gaim: Making Multi-Protocol Instant Messaging Possible - 6/24/2004 For those that cannot imagine life without a real-time link to friends and co-workers and for whom one instant messaging client is simply not enough, you're in luck. Several vendors have stepped up to the plate with products that can handle chatter from multiple IM services at the same time. Today we'll take a look at two, Gaim and Trillian, to give a sense of what's possible.
NetOp Remote Control 7.65: Support Tool or Trade Secret? - 6/24/2004 Mike Houghton puts this super secret, supercharged Cadillac of remote tools through its paces and finds a world-class support and help desk application that you've probably never heard of.
Avant Browser - 6/21/2004 This free, custom web browser application sits on top of Internet Explorer, adding a wealth of features and functionality to the basic Microsoft offering. A built-in pop-up blocker, tabbed browsing, search engine toolbar, integrated Flash animation filter, browser trace eraser, and URL aliases are just a few of the useful additions Avant Browser brings to the table.
OpenOffice.org - 6/16/2004 While not as flashy an upgrade as Microsoft Office 2003, v1.1.2 of OpenOffice.org adds to what was already the best value in Windows software. The free, open-source, Office-compatible word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and drawing combo gets a facelift, a speed bump, and improvements ranging from PDF export to macro recording.
Qurb - 6/12/2004 A white list-based spam filter that integrates seamlessly with Outlook or Outlook Express
Hypertext Builder 2003 - 6/10/2004 As more and more web sites are being coded with XHTML, a new generation of software editors are now XHTML-specific. One of the best is Hypertext Builder 2003, a true XHTML editor.
Ad-aware Reference File - 6/10/2004 The latest reference file for Ad-aware can be downloaded directly or through Ad-aware's Web update tool to ensure protection from new and emerging adware threats.
SyNET nTracker - 6/7/2004 If you travel frequently with a notebook, you know how valuable that piece of equipment can be — not just because of the significant amount of money spent to purchase it, but even more so due to the important (and often even sensitive or confidential) information it contains. nTracker purports to safeguard your notebook and its data by encrypting your sensitive data and surreptitiously tracking your hardware via the Internet should the notebook be lost or stolen.
Kermit for Windows - 6/2/2004 Kermit and a whole lot more for Windows 95+ users
AVG Free and AntiVir: An End to the Elusive Search for Free Virus Protection - 6/1/2004 A virus scanner that offers free real-time scanning, free regularly updated virus definition files, and free technical support is a rare find indeed. Our exhausting search for just such a beast has finally come to an end in the form of not one but two completely free virus scanners — AntiVir and AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition.
RSS Round-up: FeedReader and SharpReader - 6/1/2004 RSS feeds have started to emerge en masse and now populate countless web sites in the form of the familiar orange XML and blue RSS buttons. In our first look at RSS readers, we put two of the more popular aggregators, SharpReader and FeedReader, through their paces.
QuickView Plus 8 - 6/1/2004 The aptly named QuickView Plus is like having the features and capabilities of hundreds of applications condensed into one super-deluxe application.
NetObjects Fusion 8 - 5/25/2004 The first major upgrade since June, 2002, version 8 of NetObjects Fusion adds major improvements to the web-building software package, including advanced publishing options, a component manager, a table properties interface, data importing ability, and more.
CuteFTP Pro - 5/25/2004 The business class, ultra-secure commercial release of CuteFTP
CuteFTP - 5/24/2004 One of the best File Transfer Protocol clients available on the 'net
Cloudmark SpamNet - 5/22/2004 Reap the benefits of a spam-fighting community for instant and highly accurate protection from spam
Cloudmark SafetyBar for Outlook - 5/22/2004 Reap the benefits of a spam-fighting community for instant and highly accurate protection from spam
Spybot Search and Destroy - 5/19/2004 With its powerful malware detection and removal capabilities, recovery and immunization features, handy set of additional security tools, and price tag — or lack thereof — it's hard to find fault with Spybot Search and Destroy.
Spybot-S&D Reference Update - 5/19/2004 With its powerful malware detection and removal capabilities, recovery and immunization features, handy set of additional security tools, and price tag — or lack thereof — it's hard to find fault with Spybot Search and Destroy.
Mailshell AntiSpam - 5/15/2004 A comprehensive anti-spam solution that offers four spam detection engines for the highest accuracy possible
Death2Spam - 5/12/2004 Requiring no software downloads or installations, Death2Spam serves as an intriguing alternative to software-based anti-spam solutions, working with your existing e-mail client and freeing up your PC resources for processing more important tasks than weeding out unwanted e-mails.
Ad-aware - 5/10/2004 Ad-aware arrives as an easy to use, must-have utility for detecting and protecting yourself against data mining, advertising, and tracking components — in other words, all forms of adware.
Spam Interceptor - 5/9/2004 A free web-based solution for efficiently eliminating spam
Microsoft Works Suite 2004 - 5/5/2004 Even Microsoft admits that not every PC user needs the sumo-sized Office suite: Though it keeps an ultra-low profile, the company continues to refine its bargain-priced home/school/party-projects bundle. But with neither Works 7.0 nor Word 2002 changed from Works Suite 2003, does this year's edition have enough to catch consumers' attention?
Corel WordPerfect Office 12 - 5/1/2004 You say the office suite war is over? Corel must not have gotten the memo. With purchase and upgrade prices that undercut Microsoft Office, plus enhanced file compatibility and transition assistance — including a mode that mimics Microsoft's workspace and interface — the underdog makes the best case yet for its elegantly powerful word processor, spreadsheet, and presentations package.
