Quick Media Converter is a Windows utility that will let you convert practically any audio or video file from one format to another. MPEG to H.264? No problem. WAV to OGG? Sure, why not.
Now let's get something out of the way here. Quick Media Converter is basically just a fancy front end for the open source, command line FFmpeg media encoder. But it's a really useful front end. The utility offers you two interfaces: an easy mode and an expert mode. In easy mode, you can choose from a number of predefiined formats. So just select the media files you want to convert, and click the Audio, Quicktime, WMV, DiVX, Xbox, PS3, or Wii button to create a file optimized for your system of choice.
In Expert mode, you have much more control over the code choices and settings. For example, in easy mode, there's no way to convert a FLAC file to OGG. But you can do that in expert mode.
The program also includes a bundled copy of CamStudio for making screencapturs which you can then convert to other formats using Quick Media Converter. In a nutshell, Quick Media Converter doesn't do anything that MediaCoder doesn't. But if you're looking for an even easier to use alternative, this program might be worth a look.
If you've ever used a keyboard app launcher like Launchy, Executor, Quicksilver, or Gnome Do you've probably asked yourself, why doesn't Microsoft build something like this into Windows? Now Microsoft Office Labs has released a free keyboard launcher called Speed Launch.
Speed Launch adds a little bull's eyee to your desktop. To add a frequently used program, file, or document, to Speed Launch, just drag it to the target. You can then activate Speed Launch by hitting Win+C to bring up the program window. You can either hit the buttons to perform specified actions or type into the box. In other words, it does pretty much what you'd expect any keyboard launcher to do.
But Speed Launch has a few quirks. First, the program doesn't lose focus or go away unless you hit the X button in the upper right. Second, there doesn't seem to be a way to change the hotkeys that bring up the Speed Launch window. So if, like me, you happen to have a computer with an awkwardly-placed Windows key, there's no way to change the hotkeys.
The program is also a bit of a memory hog, using as much as 30MB of RAM, which is far more than similar programs like Launchy or Executor use. That seems strange, especially considering the fact that Speed Launch doesn't index your program files or start menu items automatically, something which both of those other programs do.
Overall, Speed Launch doesn't stack up particularly well against the competition. But it's worth keeping in mind that this is an experimental project that's still under development.
Executor is an application that lets you launch programs open URLs, or perform other actions with just a few keystrokes. At first glance, it looks a lot like Launchy. Both programs are free utilities for Windows that let you run programs without reaching for the mouse. And both will scan default and user-selected directories looking for a list of programs. But Executor wins hands down when it comes to customization options.
Probably the coolest feature in Executor is the ability to assign global hotkeys. You can add keywords for any program by dragging and dropping a shortcut or executable file into the kewyord section under the settings tab. And then you can select a global hotkey to press to bring up that application without even pulling up the Executor window. For example, I can now luanch the Irfanview image viewer either by hitting Ctrl+Z to bring up Executor and typing in "irfanview," or I can just hit Ctrl+I.
Here are a few other features that make Executor stand out:
Supports keyword "find [text]| for using Windows Vista search or Windows Desktop Search
You can configure a drop down menu to display additional results or to stay hidden
You can customize the heck out of the layout by changing the skin, fonts, dimensions, position, and transparency
Use a single keyword to start multiple programs/documents/etc
I understand that Photoshop is a great program. I'm willing to concede that there's really no comparable software for the professionaluser. What I just don't get is why the average user thinks 1) they need Photoshop and 2) they need to pirate it.
A few years ago, no one came in and asked me "Can you put Photoshop on my computer?" Most users hadn't even heard of the program. Now the perception from the public seems to be that if you want to edit photos at all, you've got to have Photoshop to do it - and that you might as well just steal it.
But why? Most users don't need even half of the functionality in Photoshop, and there are plenty of great editors that are easy to use, less hard on computer resources, and completely free.
Clear your conscience and try one of these alternatives!
While I know there are plenty of good replacements out there for Windows Explorer, I'm not ready to jump ship just yet. I don't really need any really advanced functionality, but there are a few things I'd like to add. Vista-style breadcrumbs and tabbed browsing, for example.
QuizoApps has coded two small extensions that do the job quite well with a minimal impact on resources. Both addons are activated by clicking view -> toolbars in any Explorer window.
The Breadcrumbs addon (QtAddressBar) is extremely responsive and even displays links to subfolders (you can see the arrow off the Adobe folder above).
Brad blogged about using QTTabBar to add an up button in Vista a while back, but it also adds several other tabbed browsing functions. You can create groups to open several tabs at once, clone a tab, merge tabs from another window, undo tab closing, use hotkeys, and it even includes enhanced replacements for Explorer's standard buttons. It even maintains a list of recently closed folders for quick resurrection.
Customization offers tons of enhancements, like grid lines, alternating row colors, minimizing to tray, and a lot more. If you want, QTTabBar will restore your tab previous tab layout on launch - I use it to keep the Control Panel and my Printers close at hand.
These are two great addons for any Windows XP. .NET 2.0 Framework is required.
There are plenty of dock-styleapplications launchers for Windows. But most have one thing in common: You anchor them to the top, bottom, or side of the screen and then scroll your mouse over that portion of the screen to bring up a list of applications. Circle Dock is different, because this free application launcher it appears where your mouse already is instead of making you move your mouse.
Like most application launches, Circle Dock comes with a list of icons for frequently used programs, like the Control Panel, your default browser, and the recycling bin. You can add shortcuts by dragging them from your desktop or quick launch bar and customize to your heart's content.
Circle Dock has a ton of visual customization options as well. You can either display your icons in concentric circles, or as a spiral. You can add a rotating animation effect to the spiral to make yourself dizzy. There are a more than 30 skins to choose from. And you can decide whether the dock is always visible or if it disappears when the program loses focus or when you click an application icon. One other feature which I wish every application launcher had (and which many, but not all, do have) is the ability to select from a handful of keyboard shortcuts to show or hide the dock.
Design inspiration can come from a lot of different places. If you find yours from digital sources on the web, Palette Grabber for Firefox might be incredibly useful to you.
Install it, and Palette Grabber sits in the left corner of your status bar waiting to leap into action. A single click (right or left) exports a selective palette based on your current page in Firefox. Palette selection is very intelligent, producing accurate swatch sets for each of the websites I sampled.
Palette Grabber supports several file formats, including Photoshop, Flash, Fireworks, PaintShop Pro, the GIMP, and Mac OS X Color Picker. Minimalists and power users can elect to save a tabbed text listing of RGB values.
For a 25k download, Palette Grabber is definitely worth adding to your Firefox install if you do any digital design work.
Hamachi is a great app. So is VNC. Torrents are great, too. You see where I'm going. These are all great on their own - so when Remobo rolled them all in to one, tasty package, I was pretty excited.
Set it up, add your buddies, and you've got an instant, private P2P network. Click the My Shared Files link and create torrents of your folders and files with two clicks. When your buddies view your shares, they'll see a simple web page with links to the torrent downloads. It's simple, and it works quite well.
Clicking windows file sharing on a buddy will display their Windows file and printer shares (like Hamachi does). File access speeds (even over my sluggish DSL) are good, and at least on par with Hamachi's free offering.
I've used plenty of hotkey applications, but none is as visually appealing or easy to configure as QLiner.
Download and install QLiner, launch it, and then press win + z to open the main window (above). New hotkeys can be added by simply dragging a shortcut from your desktop onto a key - it even works with URLs from your browser.
More than just a launcher, QLiner first tries to match your hotkey with a running application. If it finds a match, it'll bring that window to the front instead of spawning a new process. You can add runtime arguments to your hotkeys as well: for example, /auto on CCleaner to add a one-key system cleanup.
QLiner also has built-in layouts that are tailored for Sony, IBM, Toshiba, and Dell laptop keyboards. Dvorak keyboards are supported, and international users will be thrilled by the massive number of languages available.
Its 45mb memory footprint is a tad on the bulky side, but it's easy to overlook because of QLiner's ease-of-use and flexibility. QLiner is freeware, Windows only.
For those of you charged with the unenviable task of malware removal and defense, keeping your toolbox current can be a lot of work. Lunarsoft's Anti-Malware Toolkit simplifies the process by providing an easy way to handle downloading.
The Toolkit is really just a downloader which fetches the current versions of programs like Super Antispyware, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, HijackThis, Spybot, Autoruns, CCleaner, and LSP Fix. It also grabs programs that you'll want to install to prevent further issues: Avast, Firefox, Comodo Firewall.
Point it to your USB flash drive or network share, hit the download button and grab yourself a cup of coffee.
While you could do this with just about any decent download manager, why bother? Anti-Malware toolkit already targets most of the tools you're going to need and it's as simple to maintain them as clicking a single button.
Wuala is a social file storage application that we first looked at back in February. At the time, Wuala was in private beta, but starting today anyone can sign up for an account.
Unlike other file storage/sharing services, Wuala doesn't provide you with web space. Rather, your files are encrypted and then stored on the computers of other Wuala users. While this might sound a bit scary, the upshot is that you can store large amounts of data. The more space you allocate for Wuala on your hard drive, the more online space you can access. And your files are duplicated on multiple computers so that you shouldn't have problems accessing your files even if some of the folks in your network have turned their machines off for the night.
Wuala has a desktop client for Windows, Mac, and Linux that you can use to upload and download files. Or you can access a web interface. The service is still in beta, so nobody's promising that all the kinks have been worked out. But as of today, Wuala is in public beta, not private.
If installing a program like Trust No Exe isn't your style, you can always use registry edits and policy changes to lock down PCs. That can be a little tiresome, but Nawras PC Supervisor makes it as simple as checking a few boxes.
PC Supervisor gives you control over just about everything you might want to restrict. Control panel access can either be blocked completely or limited to only those options you want displayed. Hide drive letters and features like "run as," network connections, and the places bar.
Use it to disable everything from registry editing and task manager to display settings changes. Set up privacy tweaks like auto-clearing the recent files list and hiding the last logged on username.
Granted, most of these changes can be made using gpedit.msc and secpol.msc (built-in controls in Windows XP Pro), but PC supervisor's interface is easier to get around and it can make changes on XP Home installs as well.
PC Supervisor doesn't require installation, and is completely free. Right now there's no help file, but it's still a nice addition to your admin toolbox.
Rising energy costs and environmental concerns have caused just about all of use to take a good hard look at our usage habits. Verdiem's Edison helps your conservation efforts by picking up where your Windows power saving features leave off.
You may already be familiar with Local Cooling, another similar application. Edison won't hibernate or shut your PC off like Local Cooling will, but it will turn off your screen and hard drive, and suspend your PC to achieve savings.
Set up your work schedule and choose your power savings plan. Edison lets you create different plans for work and non-work times, and you can either use one of nine preset savings plans or customize your own.
While scheduling is a great feature, I'm not convinced it makes Edison a better option than Local Cooling. Edison is a much bigger download, consumes almost four times as much memory, and requires activation.
Either way, grab one of these apps and make your PC a little more environmentally friendly. Every little bit helps!
KlipFolio is a desktop application that lets you access online content like RSS feeds, weather forecasts, Flickr slideshows, YouTube videos, and other web content. We first checked out KlipFolio more than two years ago when it was little more than a widgetized RSS reader. But the application has come a long way since then.
You can now use KlipFolio to subscribe to all sorts of content. Pretty much anything with an RSS feed is fair game, but you can also browse the KlipFolio web site for specialized "klip sets," including email notifiers, social network updates, or content from webcams. There are also klip sets that let you monitor shoutcast streams or see the latest updates to the iTunes music store.
KlipFolio 5 beta D also has a slick new interface. You can dock the application to the top, bottom, left, or right side of your screen or let it float free. You can rearrange your klips by dragging and dropping. And you can choose from a variety of customizable skins.
The Windows application is also pretty lightweight compared with other desktop widget engines, eating just under 10MB of RAM during my test.
If bookmark menus aren't enough for you, All Customized Links offers yet another tweak to speed your Firefox browsing.
A word of warning to privacy fanatics: you must register an account to use this, and your links are remotely hosted (there is no TOS that I could find). While not posting privacy terms isn't cool, your links following you wherever you install this addon is.
Adding new links is a breeze through the preferences menu. Enter a name, url, and choose where you want to open it: current tab, new background or foreground tab or window,
An interesting preview option is included, though it's not so much a preview as it is loading the whole page with it's opacity turned down. I was expecting maybe a pop-out thumbnail of a site, not the exact same thing I'd see if I clicked it's entry. You may want to turn previews off in your preferences, it's just not that useful.
All Customized Links' menu also features a quick option to add the current URL, which will save you a bit of typing over just entering everything from scratch by yourself.
This isn't the kind of addon that's going to revolutionize your browsing experience, but it's a nice option for those looking for additional bookmarking options.
