Yet Another Freeware Blog

Reviews of hand-picked freeware/free software, with a special focus on lesser-known software and indie devs. Run by Chocoportals. About | Tags

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metapath

Slim, no-nonsense file browser. It's set to open every file with the same application (e.g. a text editor) but this can be changed in 'Setup Target.' No-install and 64-bit version available.

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VistaSwitcher

Despite its name, it works on XP, Vista and 7 (and has a 64-bit version as well!). It seamlessly replaces the Alt+Tab window with one that some users will find a bit more elegant, as well as customizable. It has a few more features as well, and while it's not for everyone, it's definitely still worth a try.

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BN+ Converter Pro

This is a tool for several different things - hashing of plain-text, conversion between numerical systems, and all sorts of things bundled into one program. It requires the .NET Framework 4.0, but it's well worth a look at.

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7-Zip Theme Manager

If you use the 7-Zip archiver, this little tool lets you alleviate a lot of its dated look by letting you easily change the toolbar icons. With around 90 themes available there's likely something for everyone's taste available.

Note on 7-Zip Portable: The PortableApps version of 7-Zip applies some compression to the executable files. To make it work with the Theme Manager, overwrite the portable version's 7zFM.exe with a copy from the installer-version.

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Download SVN

If you've ever had to install a rarely-used SVN client for a one-off download of an SVN repository, you'll likely appreciate this. It hasn't got the prettiest GUI, but it does the job.

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Fahrenheit to Celsius Converter

This does literally one thing and is a single, 20 KB executable. Google can do the same thing, but Google requires an internet connection and this doesn't. I don't think much more needs to be said on the matter.

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Long Filenames Finder

For whatever reason, you might need to find filenames over a certain number of characters--the author's site specifies CD backup, but I expect other reasons as well. This small, no-install program does exactly that, as well as let you rename the files right in the program.

The website says that the program is free "for a limited time," but seeing as they haven't updated the page in years (look at the bottom!) I'd safely say this has passed into the freeware category.

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Courier Prime

Today's offering is something an oddity -- it's actually a font.

It's a redesign of the Courier New font, specifically designed for screenwriters, although I actually use it for general text-editing. It's also got real italics!

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Notepad Replacer

Okay, so the Windows Notepad kind of sucks--the ridiculously barebones approach can be dealt with to some extent, but there's also the issue of it ignoring Unix linebreaks.

Because of this, you may want to use another text editor (Notepad2 and metapad are two good choices), but often changing all those file associations and such can make it a hassle.

This is where Notepad Replacer comes in. It silently replaces the default Windows Notepad with whatever text editor you choose, without changing any system files. And if you decide you want to change back to Windows Notepad, crappy as it is? Simply uninstall.

[yetanotherfreewareblog]

QuiteRSS

RSS feeds, for some people, are one of those things you never really payed attention to until you realize how damn useful they are, and QuiteRSS lets you manage them quite easily.

While I prefer Mozilla Thunderbird (personal choice), this is a very good application for managing RSS feeds, can be minimized to the system tray for convenience, and has a portable version.

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metapad

This is one of my favourite Windows Notepad replacements. (My favourite all-around text editor would have to be Notepad++.) It's fast, tiny, can be made portable, and packs a bunch of useful features. If you find Windows Notepad too limiting, give it a try.

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tabbyFile

Dual-pane tabbed file manager; while not nearly as stripped-down as Snowbird, it's still rather minimal. Still, it's a solid file manager, especially when moving around files, and one useful feature is the "tab sets," which lets you save favorite groups of tabs.

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4t Tray Minimizer Free

This is a neat program, and definitely a keeper for me. As the name implies, it lets you minimize any program to the system tray--but it also lets you keep a window on-top or even roll it up to just the titlebar.

It's pretty well customizable, and you can add exceptions for certain programs if you don't want the extra titlebar buttons on it.

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openAviToGif

When I don't use VirtualDub to create animated GIFs from videos, I tend to use this. Its main disadvantage is that it converts the entire video, rather than just a selected portion, so you need to edit the input file beforehand with whatever video editor of your choice. Otherwise, its easy to use so I recommend it.

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TreeCopy

If you've ever wanted to copy a directory structure, but not all of the files inside them, this is what you're looking for.

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ClocX

If you've ever wanted an analog clock for your desktop, here it is! It's got both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, comes with a lot of different clock images, and on top of that is pretty decently customizable.

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Free Extended Task Manager

While not as advanced as Process Explorer or the like, this is decent little task manager that's an improvement over the Windows Task Manager and can even seamlessly replace it. Definitely worth a try.