Sunday 13 June 2010

Super

Super is a very powerful video converter/encoder that rivals and in many cases outperforms paid for alternatives. It even comes with a powerful player that will in many cases play those files that no other player will. It's speed is similar to that of other converters but it does have a fairly user friendly interface compared to some. It also supports the recording of internet streams, and while it's a feature I have tested yet, it seems useful to have.

About the only thing I can find to complain about is the official website is somewhat confusing (having to click several things that look like download links before actually getting to the page to download it from) so here is an alternative download link.

Saturday 12 June 2010

Giveaway of the Day (and news)

The first thing I want to mention is an awesome site that gives away a free piece of software every day (software you'd normally have to pay for), Giveaway of the Day. You do have to install the program on the day of the offer (so no reinstalling, etc.) and you generally aren't eligible for updates, so it is fairly limited. However it's certainly an awesome idea.

Also my list of free Windows software is growing and I've added some more Firefox add-ons too. I'm of course open to suggestions on both lists, but I'll only add software/add-ons after I've personally tested them and consider them up to standard.

FileHippo.com Update Checker

FileHippo.com Update Checker is a tiny light weight program that runs in seconds and checks for the latest versions of programs you have installed. It then links you to a convenient page with links to download the latest versions.

It supports a massive amount of programs and is easy to configure to either run at start-up or to be run manually, as well as easily allowing you to ignore updates for certain programs.

It either works effectively as a one stop solution to updating or as a tool for those who think they already do a good job of keeping updated (as an occasional check).

Wednesday 9 June 2010

Audacity

Audacity is an open source sound recorder and editor. It is great for recording sounds from a microphone or for converting records or tapes into a digital format. It supports up to 16 channels at once and makes converting into different formats simple.

It also has a host of editing features and effects, to either clean up poor quality sound files or to completely remix sound files into something new.

It doesn't have quite the same number of features as some more expensive sound editors have (ie. ones that aren't free) but it's easy to use interface still makes it a good solid choice.

Tuesday 8 June 2010

Pidgin

Pidgin is a universal chat client that supports a massive amount of protocols;
  • AIM
  • Bonjour
  • Gadu-Gadu
  • Google Talk
  • Groupwise
  • ICQ
  • IRC
  • MSN
  • MXit
  • MySpaceIM
  • QQ
  • SILC
  • SIMPLE
  • Sametime
  • XMPP
  • Yahoo!
  • Zephyr
However it also has a good number of third party plugins providing things like facebook and twitter integration. It is a perfect replacement for the many messaging clients some people use at once. I even find it preferable to most, I certainly find it less annoying than windows live messenger (you won't find any ads. on Pidgin) so even for users of a single protocol it may be beneficial.

Pidgin can keep track of multiple accounts and allows you to configure them to either automatically or manually login. It easily becomes a one stop shop for all your online communication needs.

PuTTY

PuTTY is a telnet and SSH client for Windows along with an xterm emulator. It has a massive amount of customisation available, numerous types of encryption, an incredibly small file size and requires no installation. It really is the only option when you want an SSH client on a Windows machine.

VLC

While I prefer SMPlayer/MPlayer for Windows for most video watching I still have VLC installed on all of my computers. This is because without a doubt it is the easiest player to make a video "play", it may not do it with the prettiest subs, the best performance, etc. but it will almost certainly make it watchable.

All of its codecs are completely self contained, so it will neither cause or suffer from conflicts from other media players or codecs you have installed. It has support for DVDs and even creating a video stream over a network.