14 Best Free Clipboard Replacement Utility The regular clipboard in Windows has limitations – one item at a time and no retention after logging off. Clipboard replacement utilities provide the ability to hold multiple items and store them for future use, even after logging off. There are many free clipboard replacement utilities available, including CLCL, Clipboard Magic, Clipboard Recorder, Clippy 2001, Ditto, DzSoft Paste & Save, and Yankee Clipper III. While none of these have the very extensive set of features of the class-leading shareware product ClipMate 6 ($29.95), they all offer the basic clipboard replacement features that 95% of us really want and need.
If you just need a basic clipboard replacement utility, look no further than Clipboard Recorder [1]. It will store up to 99 items that can be easily selected and pasted from the popup history list by pressing the shortcut key (Ctrl-Alt-V by default). It supports a variety of formats (text, RTF, HTML, CSV, Bitmap, etc.) and has the ability to transfer copied items between computers. In addition, it is a very small program and uses very little resources. Clipboard Recorder is what the regular clipboard in Windows should have been!
However, if you need advanced features such as the ability to support additional item types, create groups of items, search previous items, and synchronize clipboards across multiple computers, then I would recommend trying Ditto [2]. In addition to its extended feature set, its user interface is very clean, easy to use, and has many configurable options that you can configure to meet your needs. Note that Ditto requires DAO to be installed [3].
DOWNLOAD NOW
[1] [url]http://www.lw-works.com/[/url] Windows 98 and later, 382 KB
[2] [url]http://ditto-cp.sourceforge.net/[/url] Windows 95 and later, 422KB
[3] [url]http://ditto-cp.sourceforge.net/dao_setup.exe[/url] .3MB
14 Best Free Clipboard Replacement Utility
The regular clipboard in Windows has limitations – one item at a time and no retention after logging off. Clipboard replacement
utilities provide the ability to hold multiple items and store them for
future use, even after logging off. There are many freeclipboard replacement utilities available, including CLCL, Clipboard Magic, Clipboard
Recorder, Clippy 2001, Ditto, DzSoft Paste & Save, and Yankee
Clipper III. While none of these have the very extensive set of
features of the class-leading shareware product ClipMate 6 ($29.95), they all offer the basic clipboard replacement features that 95% of us really want and need.
If you just need a basic clipboard replacement utility, look no further than Clipboard
Recorder [1]. It will store up to 99 items that can be easily selected
and pasted from the popup history list by pressing the shortcut key
(Ctrl-Alt-V by default). It supports
a variety of formats (text, RTF, HTML, CSV, Bitmap, etc.) and has the
ability to transfer copied items between computers. In addition, it is
a very small program and uses very little resources.Clipboard Recorder is what the regular clipboard in Windows should have been!
However,
if you need advanced features such as the ability to support additional
item types, create groups of items, search previous items, and
synchronize clipboards across multiple computers, then I would
recommend trying Ditto [2]. In addition to its extended feature set,
its user interface is very clean, easy to use, and has many
configurable options that you can configure to meet your needs. Note
DOWNLOAD NOW
[1] [url]http://www.lw-works.com/[/url] Windows 98 and later, 382 KB
[2] [url]http://ditto-cp.sourceforge.net/[/url] Windows 95 and later, 422KB
[3] [url]http://ditto-cp.sourceforge.net/dao_setup.exe[/url] .3MB
15 Best Free HTML Editor
This is one of my most requested items but I've not been able to give any product
my full endorsement. There have been any number of contenders: Amaya
for example, impressed with its standards compliance but was incomplete
while Selida looked slick but had just too many bugs. Finally a
reasonably competent contender has arrived on the scene in the form of
the Open Source Nvu [1]. It's not perfect by any means but it's the best out there.
In reality Nvu is nothing new but rather a reworking of the old Netscape Composer. Composer was always a solid product and the revamp has lifted the product
into another class. Here is an HTML editor and site manager that's easy
enough for beginners to use but powerful enough to build large sites.
It's closer in concept to Microsoft's FrontPage more than any otherproduct
but unlike FrontPage it, thankfully, produces standards compliant code.
Its easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor will delight HTML newbies while HTML
honchos can simply click a tab to switch to code view. Multiple tabs
can be kept open to allow simultaneous editing and there is excellent
support for forms, tables and templates. An internal spell-checker is
included. CSS is handled through the CaScadeS editor from Mozilla
Composer. Nvu also has the handy ability to call W3C's HTML validator
from within theproduct. It's also extensible via XUL.
Nvu can
upload files to your site via FTP and has some basic site management
features but this is not its strength. Indeed the FTP side of the
program has proved so problematic for some users that they have
switched to using an external FTP client for uploading their sites.
Some users have also reported problems with their HTML getting
scrambled.
Because of these bugs I don't recommend the
official version of Nvu but rather the unofficial release called
KompoZer [2]. This version is still not bug free but it's a lot better
than the official release.
Overall Nvu is an impressive product that has yet to achieve its full potential. No, it's not a replacement
for commercial products like DreamWeaver but for those looking for a
free, easy to use, WYSIWYG HTML it's an easy first choice.
If
you want an editor that puts you closer to the code then you might
consider 1st Page 2000. It's a free, earlier version of Evrsoft's [3]
excellent 1st Page 2006 editor and while lacking many of the features
of the latter, is still a soundproduct . It's not the best choice
though for HTML newbies. Note: The download seems to have been removed
from the vendor's site. It is available elsewhere though [3].
HTML coders should also check out PSPad [5]. It's a general purpose programming editor but it supports
HTML syntax highlighting and allows on-the-fly editing of your server
code that relieves you of the need to separately upload code changes
using FTP. As a bonus it can be run directly from the .exe file without
DOWNLOAD NOW
[1] [url]http://www.nvu.com/[/url] Free Open Source, Windows 98 and later plus Linux, 6.57MB
[2] [url]http://kompozer.net/[/url]
[3] [url]http://www.evrsoft.com[/url]
[4] [url]http://www.voodoofiles.com/4836[/url] Free, Windows 98 and later, 5.2MB
[5] [url]http://www.pspad.com/en/[/url] Freeware, All Windows versions, 3.4MB
16 Best Free Spam Filter for the Average User
This is a difficult category as ordinary users need products that are easy to use and frankly, most free spam filters
are way too complex to set up and use. The best products in this class
are in fact, shareware not free. That said, MailWasher [1] is for most
folks, thebest free option.
MailWasher is an email preview
utility that allows you to check your email on your mail server before
you download it to your PC. The advantage of this approach is that you
can kill unwanted messages including spam, viruses and large
attachments before they get anywhere near your computer. MailWasher
flags for you any messages containing possible spam and viruses for you
to quickly check. It's a simple idea but quite effective and one which
average users find easy to understand.
At the Mailwasher site
you can download a free or "Pro" commercial version. The former lacks
quite a few of the features of its commercial cousin. the most limiting
of which is the ability to a access multiple accounts. However the last
free version of MailWasher before it went commercial is still floating
around the web [2] and it will handle multiple accounts. It too lacks
many of the advanced spam detection features of the current commercial
version but is still very effective. Alternatively, try XTerminator [3]
which works much the same way as MailWasher and is totally free. I must
say though, I prefer MailWasher's user interface.
If you use
Outlook or Outlook Express for your email you have another choice, an
excellent one actually, if you are prepared to have a small advertisement appended to the end of your outbound email.
SPAMfighter
[5] is a network based spam filtering system that uses the opinions of
over two million users worldwide to help classify spam and what's not.
Like all network based spam filters it requires no training: it's ready to go the minute you install it.
Each
email is checked after it is received. If the email has been classified
as spam by a lot of other users on the network then it deleted from
your in-box and placed in a spam mail folder.
It works like a
charm and is a commanding choice or Outlook users. If you can't
tolerate the ads in your email you can have them removed for $19.95 a
DOWNLOAD NOW
[1] [url]http://www.mailwasher.net[/url] ( 3.05MB)
[2] [url]http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/page2.html#Mailwasher[/url] (1.57MB)
[3] [url]http://www.artplus.hr/adapps/eng/xterminator.htm[/url] (1.87MB)
[4] [url]http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-antispam.htm[/url] <=brief review of the best spam blockers
[5] [url]http://www.spamfighter.com[/url] Windows ME and later, Outlook Express 5.5 and later or Outlook 2000 and later, 842KB,
17 Best Free Spam Filter for Experienced Users
There
are many different spam filters available employing lots of different
techniques. In my experience "learning" spam filters that use the
Bayesian statistical approach out-perform most other types of filters
I've tried. Not only are they better at detecting spam they are also
less liable to classify your real mail as spam. This effectiveness
takes a little time to develop as the filter has to be trained to
recognize your spam from your normal mail. It takes a week or so before
results start becoming accurate and best results may take a month or
more. POPFile, a free, open source spam filter, was one of the first
Bayesian filters and is still one of the best. It works as a proxy mail
server so that means that it can be used with any POP email client.
Setup is reasonably straightforward for experienced users but beginners
may be better off with Mailwasher. If you use Outlook there are several
excellent free Bayesian spam filters available including SpamBayes and
K9. Both are simple to install though, like all statistical filters,
they need to go through a training phase before they reach full
DOWNLOAD NOW
http://popfile.sourceforge.net/old_index.html (4.3MB)
[url]http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/[/url] (3.6MB)
[url]http://www.keir.net/k9.html[/url] (113KB)
18 Best Free Popup Stopper
The
need for popup stopper utilities has fallen away in recent months as
many browsers such as Firefox now have this function built in. If you
need a separate popup stopper and have good PC skills I suggest you try
The Proxomitron. It operates by filtering and transforming all your Web
pages on the fly. As a result you can not only stop pop-ups but
pop-unders, ads, flash animations, status bar scrollers and just about
anything else. Besides, next time you are asked what pop-up stopper you
use, you can answer; "why, I use The Proxomitron" and how cool is that
;>)
The product's author Scott R. Lemmon unfortunately has
passed away but support for The Proxomitron continues through its large
enthusiast following. This is evident from the main download site [1]
which offers several versions of the product including the last version
Scott released before his death. The site also has setup instructions,
resource links and lists of sites where you can test whether the
product is working. There are a number of other enthusiast sites [2],
[3] that offer additional information.
If you are a novice PC
user I suggest you try the Google toolbar [4] rather than The
Proxomitron. It's free as well and has an excellent popup filter built
in. It's nowhere near as flexible as as The Proxomitron, but it
DOWNLOAD NOW
[1] [url]http://proxomitron.info/[/url] Freeware, All Windows versions, 1.38MB
[2] [url]http://accs-net.com/smallfish/prox.htm[/url]
[3] [url]http://www.sankey.ws/proxomitron.html[/url]
[4] [url]http://toolbar.google.com/[/url]
19 Best Free Desktop Search Utility
A
couple of years back there were no contenders for this title. Today we
have a wealth of choices. In a close race I would have to say X1
Enterprise Client [1] comes out in front because of the clear way it
presents search results. It used to be a $99 product but as from mid
2006 is now free for non-commercial use. It's fast, reliable and can
index the contents of 370 different file types including Word, Excel,
PowerPoint, PDF, Outlook, Outlook Express, HTML, text, ZIP and Adobe
PhotoShop It also indexes files for most of the popular e-mail clients
such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Netscape, Eudora and
Lotus Notes. Note: If you want to use X1 commercially then you can
download Yahoo Desktop Search Program which is actually powered by X1.
Unfortunately the Yahoo product includes quite of other stuff as well
including the Yahoo browser search bar though some of these "extras"
can be disenabled during the install.
X1 can index html files
but can't index your web browsing history. If the later is important to
you, you may want to look at Google desktop search [3]. It not only
will search your web history but offers an Outlook toolbar, integrated
Gmail search and a novel desktop sidebar that allows personalized
search, news, weather, photos and more. The Sidebar also includes a
quite effective application launcher. Some folks love the Sidebar but
others, me included, find it intrusive.
Exalead is a little
known but highly impressive desktop search program from France. It's
great strength is the highly customizable nature of its search,
probably the best of any product. It can also do fuzzy searches as
well. If you need to make highly specified searches then do try
Exalead, you wont be disappointed. Versions are available for English
and French speakers.
All the products I've mentioned require
Windows 2000 or later. If you are stuck with an earlier version of
Windows then try the free Copernic Desktop Search. Just because I'm
mentioning it last don't think it's inferior to the others - it's a
very competent and balanced product and one of the few freebies that
supports network shares. Indeed many experienced users think that
overall, it's the best available. If the email search results were as
DOWNLOAD NOW
[1] [url]http://www.x1.com[/url] X1 Enterprise Client, Free for personal use, Windows XP, 12.9MB.
[2] [url]http://desktop.yahoo.com[/url] Freeware, Windows 2000 SP3 or later, 5.3MB
[3] [url]http://desktop.google.com[/url] Freeware, Windows 2000 SP3 or later, 2MB
[4] [url]http://corporate.exalead.com/enterprise/l=en?p=produits_exalead-desktop_screenshots[/url] Freeware, Windows 2000 or later, 8.7MB
[5] [url]http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/index.html[/url] Freeware, Windows 98 and later. 3MB
20 Best Free Digital Image Viewer
Three
good choices here. First there's the classic IrfanView. Irfan [1] is a
first class product but one for which I have mixed feelings. That's why
it's been in and out of my "46 Best Freeware" list several times. It's
an amazingly capable product but it just doesn't work the way I want it
to. Other users though, just love it.
A product I feel more
comfortable with is XNView [2]. Like Irfan it is very versatile; it can
read and display nearly 400 types of graphic files and convert any of
these to over 50 formats. It displays pictures very quickly and these
may be viewed full screen, as slideshows or thumbnails. It's quite
capable at processing images, too; you can adjust brightness, color,
apply filters or effects, crop photos, re-size, convert format and
more. These operations can also be carried out from a batch file, which
makes it ideal for converting large digital photos to smaller sizes for
the web or emailing. It supports drop and drag, has many plug-ins, is
available in 44 languages and has full cross-platform support including
Mac. XNView has a lot of similarities with IrfanView, so many in fact,
that it comes perilously close to plagiarism. Put positively, one may
say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery however the
developer of IrfanView must feel more than a little miffed. XNView is
free for non-commercial use, all Windows versions plus many other
platforms. The standard version for Windows is 3.3MB but I suggest you
download the complete version with all plug-ins which weighs in at
6.8MB.
My third choice and personal favorite is FastStone
Image Viewer [3]. This is a speed demon with a zippiness in displaying
images that's reminiscent of the old ACDSee before it suffered feature
bloat. It supports all major graphic formats and popular digital camera
RAW formats as well. It's also got good basic image editing facilities,
a great slide show and a very cute interface. Much to like here. Free
DOWNLOAD NOW
[1] [url]http://www.irfanview.com/[/url] (874KB)
[2] [url]http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pierre.g/xnview/endownloadwin32.html[/url] (3.3MB)
[3] [url]http://www.faststone.org[/url] (3.0MB)
21 Best Free Digital Editor
I
used to recommend The Gimp [1] but after dozens of letters from newbies
who couldn't manage to install it or work out the idiosyncratic user
interface, I've decided to confine that recommendation to more
experienced users. If that's you and you patient enough to learn the
product's sometimes quaint ways then you may not need to consider
anything else. If you are used to Photoshop you might like to look at
GIMPShop [2] , which changes the user interface of GIMP to something
more familiar though frankly, I prefer the original.
For other
less experienced users there is Paint.net, an amazingly sophisticated
piece of work from computer science students at Washington State
University. It's not quite as powerful as The Gimp but a lot easier to
use and install. It's also getting better; the new V3 beta continues
this product's impressive development record. However V2.x is only for
Windows 2000 while V3 requires XP SP2. You will also need Microsoft's
bulky .NET framework installed on your PC.
Another possibility
is PhotoPlus 6.0 from a company called Serif [4] . It's an impressive
piece of work; again it installs easily and it's loaded with features
including layer support. In fact, it looks and feels like a "lite" and
slightly clunky version of Adobe PhotoShop. Note: You need to register
with your email address to get PhotoPlus and you may receive
promotional material as a result.
Recently I've had a lot of
positive reader feedback about a French product called PhotoFiltre [5].
It's available in a number of languages including English and ( for a
digital editor) is a tiny 1.6MB download. Like PhotoPlus it looks and
works like an old version of PhotoShop. It can read and save files to
JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PNG, RLE, comes with an impressive range of
tools, brushes and filters. However it can't handle layers. That said,
it offers a lot of functionality for a small program.
All of
the above products are for editing rasterized images. If you want a
vector based editor the top choice is the Open Source Inkscape program.
To quote the website "Inkscape uses W3C standard Scalable Vector
Graphics (SVG) file format. Supported SVG features include shapes,
paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients,
patterns, and grouping. Inkscape also supports Creative Commons
meta-data, node editing, layers, complex path operations, bitmap
tracing, text-on-path, flowed text, direct XML editing, and more. It
imports formats such as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and others and exports PNG as
well as multiple vector-based formats."
Equally attractive is
its small size compared to most other vector based editors, a mere 24MB
versus several hundred for Illustrator. It's a product in its early
stages; the current release is only at V0.45 and doesn't, for example,
yet support SVG filter effects, animation, and SVG fonts. It is,
however, totally usable. That usability is enhanced by an excellent
user interface and the impressive set of tutorials that come with the
product that help wean the user away from the world of digital images
to the nodes, lines, curves and shapes that form the basis of vector
DOWNLOAD NOW
[1] [url]http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html[/url] (7.7MB)
[2] [url]http://www.gimpshop.net/[/url] (7.4MB)
[3] [url]http://getpaint.net/index2.html[/url] Freeware, Win2K and later, 3.6MB
[4] [url]http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PhotoPlus/default.asp[/url] Freeware, all Windows, 19.4MB
[5] [url]http://www.photofiltre.com/[/url] Free for personal use, Windows 98 and later, 1.6MB
[6] [url]http://www.inkscape.org/[/url] Free Open Source, Available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, 20.7MB.