Glint – free Windows system activity monitor

Glint monitor shows system activity by making visible system performance counters in local or remote Windows PC.

The program goal is to provide an overall dynamic picture of current system status. Detailed information on system performance can be collected and analyzed with advanced monitoring tools like Process Explorer and Microsoft Performance Monitor.

The utility displays up to 200 indicators, each showing data from a single system performance counter. Recent counter values can be also shown as graphs. The monitor also displays the most active processes in system in descending CPU activity order. System counter names and their last values are shown in tool tips, when hovering mouse cursor over the indicators. View modes can be switched by simply pressing keyboard keys or by using Settings Dialog, that also allows to select available Windows system counters and tune their display modes. For convenience Glint provides several standard display schemes with most common counters on Windows XP and 7 systems. User can change these schemes or create more custom display schemes.

The program does not require installation. Simply unzip it into any directory and run. Press F1 for quick Help, right mouse button for menu or ‘S’ to view/change settings.

System requirements: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7

Download: Glint 1.26

Geekbench provides a comprehensive set of benchmarks engineered to quickly and accurately measure processor and memory performance. Designed to make benchmarks easy to run and easy to understand, Geekbench takes the guesswork out of producing robust and reliable benchmark results.

Multicore

Whether you’re running Geekbench on a single-core Pentium, a quad-core Mac Pro, or a sixteen-core Sun server, Geekbench is able to measure the performance of all the processor cores in your system. Every processor benchmark is multi-threaded and multi-core aware to show you the true potential of your computer.

64 Bit

Geekbench bridges the generation gap between 32 bit and 64 bit computing by providing both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Find out how fast your current 32-bit applications run today, and how fast your future 64-bit applications will run tomorrow.

Rosetta

Use Geekbench to help you with the transition from PowerPC to Intel on Mac OS X. Run the Rosetta version on your Intel-based Mac to figure out how fast it runs PowerPC applications to figure out if it’s worth upgrading to Universal applications.

Cross Platform

Compare apples and oranges. Or Macs and PCs. Geekbench is available for a variety of platforms enabling you to benchmark different computers running different operating systems: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris.

One-Click Benchmark

Don’t spend your time configuring options or changing settings while wondering how other folks ran Geekbench. With just one click you can start benchmarking your system with the same tests and parameters as every other Geekbench user.

Geekbench Result Browser

Share your Geekbench results with other users by uploading your results to the Geekbench Result Browser. Let other users see how fast (or slow) your computer can go. Create an account and track all of your Geekbench results in one easy-to-use location.

Download: Geekbench 2.1.5

Dropbox – Store, Sync, and Share your files online.

Have you ever wished that you could access your files from anywhere? We made Dropbox because we were tired of emailing files to ourselves or carrying around a USB key.

Once installed, any file you drop into your Dropbox folder will synchronize and be available on any other computer you’ve installed Dropbox on, as well as from the web. Also, any changes you make to files in your Dropbox will sync to your other computers, instantly.

Free for Windows, Mac, and Linux

Download: Dropbox 0.7.110

Download: Dropbox 0.8.21 Beta

SpeedFan allows you to have a deeper view of the status of your computer. Almost every computer includes support for hardware monitoring. Accessing digital temperature sensors is really useful. If you are trying to figure out why your pc hangs when under heavy load or after some hours of usage, SpeedFan might help you to find the real cause. Very often it is a poor power supply, or an improperly installed heatsink that lead to behaviours that we tend to associate with errors from the operating system, but that are not. SpeedFan automatically searches your computer for interesting chips: the hardware monitor chips. SpeedFan can expose voltages, fan speeds and temperatures. On rare occasions, the BIOS doesn’t activate such features. SpeedFan tries to enable them as long as this is a safe thing to do. Not only the motherboard is searched, but also some video cards and almost every recent hard disk. SpeedFan can access status info from EIDE, SATA and even SCSI drives, showing, in a consistent way, internal data that can be used to diagnose current and future hard disk failures. This is known as S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology). At the lowest level, SpeedFan is a hardware monitor software that can access digital temperature sensors, but its main feature is that it can control fan speeds according to the temperatures inside your pc, thus reducing noise.

SpeedFan works under Windows 9x, ME, NT, 2000, 2003, XP, Vista and Windows 7. SpeedFan works fine on Vista/Seven 64 bit too.

Download: SpeedFan 4.40 | SpeedFan 4.41 Beta 5

Speccy is an advanced System Information tool for your PC.

What’s in your computer? If you’re like most of us, you can probably name the processor (Intel or AMD, Celeron or Pentium), maybe how much RAM it has, and maybe how big the hard drive is.

When you go to a computer store and see all the bright shiny PCs laid out next to each other, most will have tags or stickers indicating the:

 · Processor brand and model
 · Hard drive size and speed
 · Amount of memory (RAM)
 · Graphics card
 · Operating system

Two or three years later, when it comes time to upgrade your computer, that tag or sticker may be long gone. Speccy was designed as a free electronic “what’s inside” sticker for your PC.

Isn’t this information in Windows?

Yes and no. Some of the basic information can be found by right-clicking My Computer and then clicking Properties. The General tab lists some statistics, and the Device Manager on the Hardware tab lists all of the hardware you’ve got installed. But it misses out lots of information that you need.

Speccy will give you detailed statistics on every piece of hardware in your computer. Including CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Graphics Cards, Hard Disks, Optical Drives, Audio support. Additionally Speccy adds the temperatures of your different components, so you can easily see if there’s a problem!

Why do I need Speccy?

At first glance, Speccy may seem like an application for system administrators and power users. It certainly is, but Speccy can also help normal users, in everyday computing life.

If you need to add more memory to your system, for example, you can check how many memory slots your computer has and what memory’s already installed. Then you can go out and buy the right type of memory to add on or replace what you’ve already got.

If you’re going to be selling your PC, you can use Speccy to quickly list out the components. Or, if you’re buying a PC, you can use Speccy to check that the computer has what the label says it has.

Also, Speccy comes in handy for support. If you’re on the phone with technical support and they want to know what video card you have installed, there’s no need to hunt around Windows. Speccy has all the information on one easy-to-understand screen.

Compatible with Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Download: Speccy 1.00.125 Beta

“Ubuntu” is an ancient African word, meaning “humanity to others”. Ubuntu also means “I am what I am because of who we all are”. The Ubuntu Linux distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

Ubuntu is a complete Linux-based operating system, freely available with both community and professional support. It is developed by a large community and we invite you to participate too!

The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Philosophy: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit.

These freedoms make Ubuntu fundamentally different from traditional proprietary software: not only are the tools you need available free of charge, you have the right to modify your software until it works the way you want it to.

Ubuntu is suitable for both desktop and server use. The current Ubuntu release supports PC (Intel x86), 64-bit PC (AMD64) and PowerPC (Apple iBook and Powerbook, G4 and G5) architectures.

Ubuntu includes more than 16,000 pieces of software, but the core desktop installation fits on a single CD. Ubuntu covers every standard desktop application from word processing and spreadsheet applications to web server software and programming tools.

Download: Ubuntu 9.10

Download: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) Beta 1

Download: Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS

Kubuntu is a user friendly operating system based on KDE, the K Desktop Environment. With a predictable 6 month release cycle and part of the Ubuntu project, Kubuntu is the GNU/Linux distribution for everyone.

The Kubuntu CDs are made up of Ubuntu’s base plus KDE. You can get exactly the same effect by installing Ubuntu and adding the KDE packages (and removing the Gnome packages) from the Ubuntu archives.

Kubuntu CD and DVD ISOs are available for PCs (i386), Mac (PowerPC) and 64-bit PCs (AMD64).

Both live (runs off the CD) and install versions are available. The DVDs are combined live and install.

Download: Kubuntu 9.10

Download: Kubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) Beta 1

Xubuntu is a free, open source operating system suitable for both your desktop and laptop. Whether you use it at home, at school, or at work, Xubuntu contains all the applications you will ever need, from word processing and email applications, to web server software and programming tools.

The Xubuntu development team defines the mission of Xubuntu in the following statement:

The goal of Xubuntu is to produce an easy to use distribution, based on Ubuntu, using Xfce as the graphical desktop, with a focus on integration, usability and performance, with a particular focus on low memory footprint. The integration in Xubuntu is at a configuration level, a toolkit level, and matching the underlying technology beneath the desktop in Ubuntu. Xubuntu will be built and developed as part of the wider Ubuntu community, based around the ideals and values of Ubuntu.

Xfce4 is a lightweight desktop environment. Designed for productivity, it loads and executes applications quickly, while conserving system resources.

Download: Xubuntu 9.10

Download: Xubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) Beta 1

Download: Xubuntu 8.04.1

At dawn of May 13th 2002 a guy called Merkur was dissatisfied with the original eDonkey2000 client and was convinced he could do better. So he did. He gathered other developers around him, and eMule Project was born. Their aim was to put the client back on track where eDonkey had been famous before, adding tons of new features and a nice GUI. They couldn’t imagine what impact this decision would have…

As of today, eMule is one of the biggest and most reliable peer-to-peer file sharing clients around the world. Thanks to it’s open source policy many developers are able to contribute to the project, making the network more efficient with each release.

Download: eMule 0.49c Build 2

Download: eMule 0.50a Beta 2

Earlier this week Microsoft unveiled a preview of the engine behind its next-generation Web browser, Internet Explorer (IE) 9. Microsoft is still diligently working to convince many customers to make the switch from the archaic IE6 to the current IE8, but the march of development never stops so Microsoft is already hard at work on the next version as well.

Justin Saint Clair, Internet Explorer program manager at Microsoft, wrote in a post on the IEBlog “The Internet Explorer Platform Preview is a light-weight frame around the core IE platform which includes the rendering and layout, object model, parsing, and script engines. It’s a way to try out the platform, and the experience improvements we’re making to performance, standards support and interoperability, enabling “the same markup” to work.”

Saint Clair clarified “We will update [the Platform Preview] approximately every 8 weeks on the road to Beta. Each update will provide a more complete look at the IE9 platform. The Platform Preview along with these updates and the reporting tools are designed to speed up the feedback loop between developers and the IE platform.”

Read more: pcworld.com

EverNote is a FREE note-taking application – designed for users of all Desktops, Laptops and Tablets. Quickly create, organize and find any type of notes on an endless, digital roll of paper.

EverNote lets you easily store and quickly access typed and handwritten memos, webpage excerpts, emails, phone messages, addresses, passwords, brainstorms, sketches, documents and more!

This is a FREE version with no expiration.

Requires Windows XP, Vista and 7, Mac OS X 10.5

Download: EverNote 3.5.2.1764

Effective application removal.

AppRemover enables you to thoroughly uninstall security applications such as antivirus and antispyware from your computer.

AppRemover is tested spyware-free using Filterbit.

Supported Operating Systems:

Windows 2000, 2003, XP (32 / 64 bit), Vista (32 / 64 bit), 2008, Windows 7 (32 / 64 bit).

Download: AppRemover 2.2.1.1

IOzone is a filesystem benchmark tool. The benchmark generates and measures a variety of file operations. Iozone has been ported to many machines and runs under many operating systems.

Iozone is useful for performing a broad filesystem analysis of a vendor’s computer platform. The benchmark tests file I/O performance for the following operations:

Read, write, re-read, re-write, read backwards, read strided, fread, fwrite, random read, pread ,mmap, aio_read, aio_write

OS: Windows, Linux

Download: IOzone Filesystem Benchmark 3.345

Free Audio Converter converts different audio file formats, including mp3, wav, m4a, aac, wma, ogg.

Each format is provided with a corresponding profile kit and a preset editor in order to make a personalized preset. So you can create new presets, delete and edit the old ones (change the current parameters).

Free Audio Converter goes with both a single and a batch mode support.

Supports XP and Vista.

Free Audio Converter contains no spyware or adware. It’s clearly free and absolutely safe to install and run.

Download: Free Audio Converter 1.2.4.88

The Parted Magic OS employs core programs of GParted and Parted to handle partitioning tasks with ease, while featuring other useful programs (e.g. Partition Image, TestDisk, fdisk, sfdisk, dd, and ddrescue) and an excellent set of documentation to benefit the user. An extensive collection of fileystem tools are also included, as Parted Magic supports the following: ext2, ext3, ext4, fat16, fat32, hfs, hfs+, jfs, linux-swap, ntfs, reiserfs, reiser4, and xfs.

Parted Magic requires at least a i586 processor and 256MB of RAM to operate or 128MB in “Live” mode.

Features

· Format internal and external hard drives.
· Move, copy, create, delete, expand and shrink hard drive partitions.
· Clone your hard drive, to create a full backup.
· Test hard drives for impending failure.
· Test memory for bad sectors.
· Benchmark your computer for a performace rating.
· Securely erase your entire hard drive, wiping it clean from all data.
· Gives access to non-booting systems allowing you to rescue important data.
· Runs from the CD, no install required.

Download: Parted Magic 4.8

Download: Parted Magic 4.9

MSI Afterburner is a handy overclock utility for MSI graphics cards.

Afterburner is powered by Guru3D’s Rivatuner engine, but this software comes with a few extra’s. AfterBurner will support both ATI and NVIDIA graphics cards, Voltage regulation on the GPU, overclocking on core, shader and memory domains, GPU load levels (ATI), fan speed adjustment, device information .. and a really wicked graphical (configurable) monitor.

So with combined forces MSI will bring you their new AfterBurner overclock software. AfterBurner, as in giving that airplane an extra boost of power. The end-result is a great looking user-friendly overclocking experience, with on-the-fly advanced user options.

Runs on Windows 7/XP/Vista/Windows 7 32bit/64bit.

Download: MSI AfterBurner 1.5.1

Download: Mirror (Guru3D)

Repair & Fix Windows 7 & Vista problems with FixWin Utility

FixWin is a freeware portable application to repair & fix common Windows annoyances & issues.

While there were several tutorials and how-to’s already available on the Internet to deal with such annoyances, FixWin as a single utility was conceptualized, to fix some of the common annoyances which may be faced by a Windows user.

Does your Recycle Bin not refresh correctly? Or maybe you find that for some reason your right click context menu has been disabled in Internet Explorer! Or perhaps things are not fine with your Windows Media Center and you need to flush & rebuild Windows Media Center database! Maybe you opted to be not-warned while deleting Sticky Notes and you now want the warning dialog box back! Or then perhaps, post a malware attack you find that your task manage or cmd or your Registry Editor has been disabled! Fixes for these and many more such common Windows problems are being offered here.

The solutions to repair and fix 50 common Windows annoyances, issues & problems have been categorized under 5 tabs, viz : Windows Explorer, Internet & Connectivity, Windows Media, System Tools & Misc Additional Fixes.

50 problems … 1 solution … FixWin is the Windows Doctor all have been waiting for!

It has been tested on Windows 7 & Vista, 32-bit and 64-bit versions. However, FixWin may fail to run if you have modified Windows 7 or Vista Image using third party app like vLite etc, as it may miss some core components required for FixWin to run and thus cause of failure.

Download: FixWin 1.2

DVDFab Passkey is a Windows-based driver that works on-the-fly to unprotect encrypted movie DVDs and Blu-ray discs. For DVD, it removes all DVD copy protections, like CSS, CPPM, RC, RCE, APS, UOPs, ARccOS, RipGuard, FluxDVD, CORE X2, etc. For Blu-ray, it removes all known AACS and BD+ copy protections, Region Code, BD-Live and UOPs. It allows you to watch any region DVD on your region specific DVD drive and player software. It allows you to watch Blu-ray disc without HDCP-compliant graphics card and without HDCP-compliant display. It also allows you to use any software to access unencrypted DVD and Blu-ray disc content.

Download: DVDFab Passkey 7.0.1.0 Beta

DVDFab HD Decrypter is a simple version of DVDFab Platinum. It copies entire DVD movie to hard disk, and removes all the protections (CSS, RC, RCE, APS, UOPs and Sony ARccOS) while copying. It also comes with full HD-DVD and Blu-Ray support (Removes AACS).

Download: DVDFab HD Decrypter 6.2.1.8

Download: DVDFab HD Decrypter 7.0.2.5 Beta

Turn your photos into beautiful paintings, sketches or drawings in seconds.

FotoSketcher is a 100% free program which can help you convert your digital photos into art, automatically. If you want to turn a portrait, the photograph of your house or a beautiful landscape into a painting, a sketch or a drawing then look no further, FotoSketcher will do the job in just a few seconds.

Thanks to FotoSketcher you can create stunning images to make original gifts for your friends or relatives. Create birthday cards, season’s greetings stationary or simply print your work of art and hang it on the wall.

Different styles are available: pencil sketch, pen and ink drawing, various painting renderings. You can also improve your original photo with simple tools (enhance contrast, sharpen, simplify image, increase luminosity, color saturation etc…).

FotoSketcher is completely free and does not contain any adware, spyware or virus. It runs on any version of Microsoft Windows.

Download: FotoSketcher 1.96

Well, that’s a bit embarassing: Google has had its trademark application for ‘Nexus’ rejected, as a small Oregon firm already owns it.

The threat to the name of the company’s flagship smartphone is rather more serious than the last. In January, the estate of the author Philip K Dick challenged the Nexus name on the grounds that it was used for the androids in Dick’s most famous book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, later filmed as Bladerunner.

Google launched the Nexus brand in January. But Integra Telecom apparently registered the name as far back as 2008, using it for a telecoms service, and says it’s making $60 million a year out of it.

Read more: tgdaily.com