Windows Tools, Help & Guides

If you have been a regular reader here the last 6 months you have undoubtedly read many interesting articles and reviews. Some of which you thought: “Hey, that may come in handy one day, I’ll have to remember about that one”. If you are a new visitor here, you have no doubt missed out on many great programmes. Reading through all the 127 pages containing some 1200 articles will take time.

I have compiled a list of some of the software reviews that I’ve done and which I think deserves a new moment in the spotlight. Where possible I have checked to see if there have been updates and improvements since last.

PhotoMagician (Read it)

PhotoMagician is a desktop tool for resizing and converting images using drag and drop functionality.

Since our review, Andy the developer of Photo Magician hasn’t exactly been lazy. I received a long list of improvements and new features. And this is some of them:

• Photo Magician will watch your selected INPUT folder for changes to it (rename, create, delete, add, files and folders) and dynamically update number of photos to convert.
• Added more input formats: DDS, PSD, PCX, WBMP with the inclusion of FreeImage.NET
• By far the biggest change is the interface to allow languages translations and fixing all the bugs to make it almost perfect!!
• impending new version to be release in June which will include the following:
  Facebook & Flickr Photo Uploading, More Language translations, Command line usage, Restore previously used settings

SDExplorer (Read it)

SDExplorer let you use your SkyDrive account as an ordinary folder or hard drive on your computer.

Since last, they have launched the PRO version 2.1 and done some interface changes. There is also now support for @msn.com accounts.

KidKeyLock (Read it)

This great freeware let you lock your keyboard and mouse while leaving your computer on.

No Changes has been reported since last review

DexPot (Read it)

Dexpot let you create no less than 20 virtual desktops, each with its own settings.

Just a few weeks since our review, but they have had some major upgrades, so it’s worth mentioning again.
Dexpot now support switching the good old ALT+TAB with their own. You may also develop your own plug-ins to enhance the software further.

LogMeIn Express (Read it)

LogMeIn Express is the ultimate solution for Remote desktop sessions, without having to create user accounts or software installations.

The software is still in beta and no significant changes have been made since our last review

MouseExtender (Read it)

MouseExtender is an iPhone-like programs menu

No changes

DVDshrink (Read It)

Create backups of your DVD movies easy and for free

Changes since our review:

• Added Quality Settings tab in the backup dialog, with option to enable AEC “adaptive error compensation” algorithms.
• Updated to NeroSDK 1.05, which includes support for burning DVD-9 dual-layer media. Added DVD-9 target size in preferences window.
• Removed “burn with DVD Decrypter” checkbox and replaced with a selectable backup target.
• Added burn with CopyToDVD as a backup target, this appears if CopyToDVD is installed.
• Added automatic support for splitting ISO files if they are saved to a FAT32 partition. In this case a .MDS file is also output which can be burned with DVD Decrypter and mounted by Daemon Tools. MDS files can additionally be opened with DVD Shrink from the “Open Disc Image…” menu.

Acer GridVista (Read it)

Add AeroSnap functionality to Windows XP

No changes as far as I’ve found

Freeburn MP3 to MusicCD (Read it)

Fast and reliable program for converting and burning your MP3 files to a music CD

No apparent changes has been made

ImgBurn (Read it)

The ultimate freeware burner for your computer.

Too many changes to mention them all. But here is the entire list (loooong read)

phew, that’s all for this time.

As you know we also host competitions on our site. Competitions that let you talk directly to software developers. Giving them your ideas and suggestions. But do they follow through ? Are they actually listening and are they implementing your ideas in their work ?

I decided to contact some of the developers we’ve reviewed in the last 6 months, asking them. When I receive word from all of them I’ll let you know what they told me.