bolgwrad

Software Reviews by bolgwrad

The reviews and opinions below are posted by SnapFiles visitors. They do not necessarily reflect our opinion, and they are solely based upon the experience of individual users.

Pointstone Internet Accelerator

Who'd have thought it? it works!

Yes, I was skeptical, I've used these kinds of things before. And with Chrome now being such a memory hog, it's almost like being back on dialup sometimes, even with 17Mbps. But with P.I.A. configured, page loading is noticeably smoother, snappier and slicker. No doubt there are geekier ways to do the configuration manually but P.I.A takes one or two clicks and a reboot, then takes no resources after that. Definitely worth a go, especially if you find Chrome to be a hog. Plus points for no ads, nags or over-branding. Price: Free

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ColorConsole

Another keeper from nenad hrg

Every time I have to use the Windows console I think, "If only I could copy and paste; if only I could import and export; if only I could choose funky colors with a click; if only Windows console weren't so BORING. Thanks to Nenad Hrg, who also wrote at least two other stable, full-featured little keeper utilities (Always MouseWheel and OneLoupe), Windows Console is now in the 21st century. The fun begins when you rename it to 'cmd.exe' and put it in the WindowsSystem32 directory. Doesn't quite work. Price: Free

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OneLoupe

A keeper

This seems to be the only Loupe (magnifier) application that works without getting in the way; doesn't bother other mousewheel functions (eg volume), just click to exit, and more configuration options than you can shake a stick at. The 'help' is helpful too. The 'full screen' option is scary on multiple monitors! The only thing I don't like is the turquoise, Windows 8-style skin. But for hassle-free, fit-and-forget functionality, OneLoupe is the business. Price: Free

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EscapeClose

Slightly crippled

I like this enough to have looked at the price of the version that DOESN'T apply 'EscCloseMinimize' to all applications regardless. 19? Hmm. Maybe next birthday. Without the ability to select which applications you want it to ignore, this is effectively a demo. A very good demo, but having the 'Esc' function hijacked in every other application is a dealbreaker. Price: Free

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3RVX

Would be perfect but for major design flaw

...Which is that 3RVX completely takes over your mouse wheel at all times. There's no option (as there is in Volume2) to have 3RVX only operate over the taskbar, desktop or tray etc. Using another application that has mousewheel functions? Forget it. But for this flaw, I'd replace Volume2 with 3RVX; it's got a better skin, it seems less flaky, and uses fewer resources. Price: Free

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CintaNotes

No use to me without drag'n'drop. hangs.

I do a lot of text work that involves compiling a new file from several source text files. Something for which CintaNotes would be suited, don't you think. Well it would if you could sit there with a few open folders and simply drag and drop text into a new file, but with CintaNotes you can't. It also hangs if I try to 'insert new note' from the menu. Disappointing. Price: Free

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Seanau Icon Toolkit

Nothing special

No drag'n'drop from Explorer, very limited range of edit tools - no 'fill'? - Seanau Icon toolkit comes across as an icon editing project that wasn't finished, but they released it anyway. If you're a habitual icon editor, you'll already have your own apps and workflow, which Seanau Icon Toolkit won't do anything to improve, shorten or speed up. It might have one or two dedicated icon routines (eg layering) that other software doesn't do as easily, but it does nothing you can't do elsewhere. And an extra minus point for putting large homepage buttons in the UI. Price: Free

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Ocenaudio

The one you need

Intuitive, works with mousewheel, plenty of options, well designed UI, I'd pay for this. Price: Free

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Rizonesoft Pixel Repair

Well I'll be... - it worked

Had a black pixel on my cheap 22" monitor that's been there for YEARS. Now it's fixed. I thought it was dead but it was just stuck, I guess. Excellent job. Price: Free

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Avant Browser

Great if you want the Windows 95 experience

I use WindowBlinds. Have done for years. Even Microsoft acknowledge that WindowBlinds is a stable, useful and popular add-on for their OS. Avant doesn't recognise it, happily rendering its own version of IE whatever skin you select. And it does it jerkily; not all frames render at the same speed. As for the supplied skins, well, you know what to expect. I wouldn't care if Avant was the best browser on any OS on the planet - which it isn't - I just don't want any application I run to look like it was abandoned in 2003. Price: Free

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RetroShare

Full-featured, but froze every time

Every time I selected a new tab, Retroshare froze, though I was able to exit cleanly. Now this may be WindowBlinds, Directory Opus, Java or whatever, but just be advised that Retroshare doesn't seem to play nicely with those applications. Price: Free

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mp3DirectCut

Just one thing missing...

Please could we have a View-Zoom InOut function? That would make Mp3DirectCut absolutely invaluable. Otherwise, I can't fault it. Price: Free

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VistaSwitcher

Used this for years, excellent.

I use VistaSwitcher in combination with AltTabXP. This means you can use the left-then-right mouse click combination at any time to switch tasks. A keeper. Price: Free

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zBar

Win7 taskbar on multi-monitors

This works flawlessly, and doesn't hog resources. It doesn't seem to display the actual Windows taskbar, but has Win7-style window preview and a nice calendar if you want it. If you want the taskbar on one monitor but not another, zBar does it well and for free. Price: Free

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AIMP

Good ui but crackly playback

I've been using Foobar for ages, and AIMP seemed to have edged it due to the skins and straightforward ease of use. But then I noticed that everything playing on AIMP was crackly - now this is probably a codec issue and nothing directly to do with AIMP, but AIMP is the only audio player on my system that has this problem, and there's no configuration option that helps, in spite of the advanced options panel. So sorry, I can't recommend it at all. Price: Free

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Vintager

Doesn't do much, but does it quick

Want to add a colour filter or vignette to your photos? Vintager does it with very little fuss. That's it. One of those apps that's harmless enough to keep in case you ever need to vignettefilter a lot of photos in a hurry. Installs politely, but not much to write home about. Very limited interface and very limited save options. Price: Free

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BirdFont

Useable, but...

Why do developers bother to create their own navigation interface? Is it because it's easier to go cross-platform? Do M charge to use the Explorer Dlls? Is it simply showing off? Birdfont seems to have come on a lot since the last review - but I've been using Windows since v3: I don't want to have to learn a new navigation interface just to try out a font creator/editor - it just isn't worth my time when there are alternatives available. With the normal Explorer interface, Birdfont might be really good, for free. With this interface, it's just a nuisance. Price: Free

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MediaPortal

Not worth anybodys time; a dead duck

Anybody who actually still uses Windows Media Center might consider MediaPortal a viable alternative. Sadly, you will spend more time configuring MP than using it. Cheesey default wallpapers, a Whack-A-Mole dropdown menu system, no hint that you need a scrollwheel to use the menus, it will probably need to patch your system to work, and in the end it's REALLY SLOW. Please, developers, go back to the drawing board. There are so many other good, free, fast, media players you can use. Price: Free

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Directory Opus

Not cheap, but you do get what you pay for.

How much money have you ever wasted buying gadgets or dumbware in the hope that it would improve your computer experience? DOpus isn't one of those. I first bought DOpus back in v4, it's now v11 - they charge for full version upgrades, but I'm hooked. Insanely customizable interface WITHOUT being confusing and you can view almost every file from the 'explorer' pane - from text to videos to CorelDraw. My favourite is editing RTF files without opening any other app. Save window layouts and recall them from the menu bar, double-click anywhere on the desktop to open whatever window layout you specify, you'll never run out of things to tweak or functions you didn't know you had. And the forum support is excellent; not that you will need support, just that you will have lots of ideas. If you're a tweaker, you won't regret buying it. Price: Free Trial ($89.00)

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Folder Actions

Does not work here on xpsp3

XPSP3. Folder Actions runs OK, but if you try to add a folder, no dice. The button hint balloon pops up but clicking has no effect. The file menu is also greyed out. Therefore no use at all, sorry. Price: Free

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Software Reviews by bolgwrad

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