Software Solutions

TAB YOUR WINDOWS TASKBAR

Tabbed browsing is one of those software features that didn't seem like a big deal at its inception, but later went on to become more popular than sliced bread. It's simply must-have functionality for any respectable Web browser. Who among us hasn't had 40 different Web sites open in one browser window...and loved it?

Fans of Mozilla Firefox and Opera might claim that their favorite browser invented tabs. However, according to most accounts, tabbed interfaces have been around since the 1980s and in browsers for at least 10 years. Arguments will persist as to the first tabbed browser, but the Internet Explorer shell Netcaptor featured tabs as early as 1997.

Regardless of who invented the feature, once tabs hit Internet Explorer 7 two years ago, tabbed browsing became as much a part of the Web as spam, blogging, Rickrolls, and LOLcats. Favorite extensions for Mozilla Firefox such as Tab Mix Plus, Colorful Tabs, and Tabbrowser Preferences added an entirely new level of customization and control over tabs.

Tabs have become so successful in managing our Web browsing that I've often wondered why Microsoft couldn't apply the same set of features to its Windows Taskbar. After all, the main functionality is very similar--managing unique applications (or sites) in a singular work space.

It turns out that there are several products that beef up your options for managing the Windows Taskbar like browser tabs, and two of the best are free. Today, take a look at some of the favorite taskbar enhancement software, including Taskbar Shuffle, XNeat Window Manager, and Taskbar Manager...

Source: CNET reviews

New Reviews

Utilities & Drivers

Pando 2.0.0.8

License: Free to try; $24.95 to buy
File size: 41.16MB
Minimum requirements:Windows 2000/XP
Category: File Sharing

There are a lot of different options for sharing large files these days, but Pando makes it as easy as e-mail attachments, without having to worry about overloading your e-mail server. Pando uses peer-to-peer technology to make sharing files up to 1GB by e-mail a

breeze.

Productivity Software

AbiWord 2.6.3

License: Free
File size: 8.6K
Minimum requirements: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP
Category: Word Processing

OpenOffice.org gets all the attention when it comes to alternative software for handling Microsoft Word documents, but this other freeware solution will give you most of the same functionality with a much smaller download. Free plug-ins from the publisher's site offer compatibility with OpenDocument formats.

Read the review

MP3 & Audio Software

FreeRip 3.08

License: Free
File size: 1.49MB
Minimum requirements: Windows (all)
Category: Rippers & Encoders

In this age of all-in-one software suites, FreeRip is unique because it performs one task and performs it very well--it converts music from CDs into digital audio files. With support for all the major file formats and a logical interface, there's not much wrong to be found in this freebie.

TRAVEL THROUGH THE UNIVERSE

Last night, Microsoft Research released WorldWide Telescope--new, free software that enables users to explore the universe with impressive content from the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center, and other famed ground- and space-based telescopes. Colorful nebulae, distant galaxies, black holes, and radiation clouds are all accessible from your desktop with a few clicks. The software has been released for free in honor of Jim Gray, a Microsoft researcher who was lost at sea last year.

Google Earth added a similar feature called Google Sky with its Version 4.2 release. Google also offers a browser-based version of Google Sky, while Microsoft requires the download and installation of the WorldWide Telescope software. Google Sky is a bit more user friendly right now, but Microsoft has the advantage of a wealth of content. For example, Google Sky offers infrared, microwave, and historical views of objects in the universe; WorldWide Telescope allows nearly 50 different types of viewing, including infrared dust maps and cosmic microwave background.

Google Sky has the advantage of being quite a bit easier to pick up and use immediately, but in actuality, WorldWide Telescope is a totally different beast. Google Sky is a bonus feature that Google added onto its Earth-imagery application; WorldWide Telescope's primary objective is to create a visual representation of the universe on your desktop. You can peruse telescope images of Earth with WorldWide Telescope, but there's not the detailed satellite imagery of your neighborhood that you get in Google Earth...