Light Alloy is an ultra-configurable media player
At first glance, Light Alloy looks and feels much like any other free media player. Drag and drop your source files, open discs, play and pause individual tracks, manage playlists, all the usual core basics.
The program handles this well, too, with strong support for just about every format you’ll ever need (and plenty you won’t). But that’s just the start. For us, Light Alloy’s real highlight is its interface.
Build full HD animated video slideshows with Cofeshow
Cofeshow is a free Windows and Mac program for converting your chosen images into full HD animated video slideshows.
It’s a familiar idea, but Cofeshow is a little different, and that became obvious from the moment we realized it was a 250MB+ download.
VMware Workstation 11 gains Haswell speed boost
VMware Inc has released VMware Workstation 11, a major update for the powerful hypervisor, along with its companion tool VMware Player 7 Pro.
The company claims new support for Haswell CPU extensions delivers up to a 45 percent speed increase for CPU-intensive applications.
Certified True Randomizers: let one app make all your decisions
Left, or right? Chicken, or fish? Where are we going next?
Life is full of decisions. Some you’ll want to think about, carefully evaluate and discuss. But if they’re not so important -- or you’d just prefer a more surprising life -- then you could let your phone choose the outcome, with a little help from Certified True Randomizers.
View and convert EPS/ PS files with EPS Viewer
Adobe’s Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) is a powerful graphics format which first appeared almost 30 years ago, so you might have expected there to be plenty of viewers around by now. But no: it’s so horribly complex that most image viewers either ignore the format entirely, or offer basic support, but with very unreliable results.
There are specialist tools which claim they’re different. The free EPS Viewer not only displays EPS/ PS files, but can also convert them to a few bitmap formats (JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF). Is it really better than the leading image viewers, though? We grabbed a test copy.
Track weather for any ZIP code with WeatherDan
Rain? Wind? Ice? Snow? Just about everyone needs to know what’s happening next with the weather, and there are a vast number of tools and websites to keep you up-to-date.
Most weather monitors try to win you over by piling on the features: multiple locations, detailed long-term graphs, customized alerts, whatever it might be. The results can be very powerful, but also bulky and complex.
East-Tec Eraser 2015 debuts 'intelligent Risk Monitor'
East-Tec has released East-Tec Eraser 2015, the latest edition of its comprehensive PC privacy tool.
This version introduces the Risk Monitor, which warns you of potential privacy risks as soon as they happen, removing them with a click.
Send emails from the command line with SendSMTP
If your PC is always running, even when you’re not around, then you might want it to alert you about important events. Some backup programs have an email notification feature, for example, which keeps you up-to-date with backup progress.
Alternatively, you could use the free SendSMTP to send emails and files directly from your own scripts, perhaps alerting you when a PC is turned on or off, an application is launched, maybe sending you a daily copy of a text log.
Anvisoft releases 1-click repair tool PC Plus
Anvisoft has released PC Plus, a simple tool which provides one-click solutions for 30 common PC problems.
The issues include missing desktop icons, Internet Explorer crashes, assorted DLL error messages, can’t run Task Manager or Regedit, 3D games not running full screen, and more, all organized across five categories: Desktop, Network, System, Software, Games.
Manage PC processes, services, drivers with Listsp
Is your PC slow? Unstable? Whenever your system is misbehaving, it’s wise to take a look at how it’s configured, and the various processes it might be running.
You could get a basic view with Task Manager and assorted Control Panel applets. But the open source Listsp is a more complete solution, and gives you access to processes, services and driver information from a single interface.
How far has your mouse cursor traveled today? Mousotron tells all
Point, click, tap, tap -- using your favorite PC programs can become a near automatic process. But have you ever wondered how much work is really involved, how far your mouse is moving, how many left or right-clicks you’re making? That’s what the free system monitor Mousotron can help you find out.
After an adware-free installation the program displays a very lengthy status bar, with various statistics on your keyboard and mouse use. There’s the distance your mouse has traveled (miles/ yards/ inches, or the metric equivalent); the total numbers of left, right, middle and double-clicks; the average mouse speed, X/ Y coordinates, active and idle time, and more.
Xshell is a one-stop SSH, SFTP terminal emulator
Most internet resources are accessed through a web interface, which means they’re normally very easy to use. You might have menus, text prompts, graphics, maybe wizards to walk you through whatever you’re trying to achieve.
For more low-level control, though -- micro-managing your own web space, maybe setting up a remote server -- you might still need a terminal emulator like the free-for-personal-use Xshell 5.
Get free real-time backup and versioning with AutoVer
AutoVer is a small, simple, and surprisingly capable free backup tool. Not only can the program monitor folders, detecting new and modified files, and backing them up in real time -- it can maintain a library of their previous versions, too.
The program opens with a very straightforward interface. No menus, no complex dialogs or status displays, just a four-column table and a small toolbar.
Select random files in Explorer with Random Selection Tool
Launch Windows Explorer and typically you’ll have some specific task in mind: a particular folder you need check, some files you’d like to open.
Occasionally, though, your requirements might be a little more vague. You want to watch a video, maybe, or play some music, but you don’t know and can’t decide which files to choose.
Batch rename your photos with Exif ReName
Everyone has their own idea of how digital photos should be named. This might change from time to time, cameras usually produce something entirely different, and the end result can be a hard-to-browse tangle of mismatched images.
It's a familiar story, but the open source Exif ReName tries to restore order by renaming and sorting your pictures based on the date and time they were taken.
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.