Free software download

CatsCradle is an aid for language translators that provides an easy way to translate web pages. While it does not do any translation, it extracts the text out of evey page and presents it in an easy to editable overview that allows you to translate the text portions without having to deal with any HTML code or other distractions.

The built-in editing screen allows for side-by-side editing, as well as optional real-time browser preview of the translated page. Additional features include a built in glossary that can suggest appropriate words and phrases while you are translating, project file catalog with word count and more. CatsCradle can also handle .hhc and .hhk files for translating of .chm help files. And of course, you can also use the tool to edit text on any web page without translating edit, so it can a also handy tool for webmasters that need some quick no-code text editing.

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It’s considered to be a must have free video player. It can play any type of video including 192 video codec and 85 audio coded – like VLC player, but with a nicer interface. It is also supposed to optimize CPU usage and use as few resources as possible. The package contains optimized builds for Pentiums, Athalons and Dual Core processors. You just select the one suitable for you during the installation process.

The package installs both MPlayer and the front-end SMPlayer, which is the same program but with a nicer looking interface. A number of useful features are included: the subtitles option for example, allows you to load subtitle files and link them to a video. You also have many options to deinterlace, denoise and apply filters to improve the video rendering.

I’ve noticed minor usability issues: when you stop the video for example, the pointer in the status bar should restart from the beginning, whereas with this player it just stays at the point of the film you stopped it, making no difference with the pause function. Also the program doesn’t remember the volume of the sound when you close and re-open the application.

MPlayer supports 192 video codec and also video streaming, QuickTime and RealAudio files making it the perfect choice if you don’t want to mess around with a different player for each video format.

Review by Francesca Migliorini

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Even though eMule is by far our most popular P2P app, BearShare is still going strong and continues to follow closely behind it on Softonic. Like LimeWire, this P2P sharing app is based on the Gnutella network but unlike LimeWire, it comes with adware so be warned. You will be subjected at various intervals to advertising pop-ups and it seems even if you tell it not to install the ad bundle, it still gets turns up on your PC somehow.

Bearshare’s basic interface is functional but very plain. It’s got a very similar feel to eMule and it’s not difficult to use with a simple search box and file type field, although beginners might be thrown off by the amount of technical information relating to servers, which are best ignored.

So most importantly, what results does it throw up and what’s the speed like?. In a nutshell, not half as many or as fast as eMule. We found that the connection speed was quite long and the speeds on the whole slower than you would generally get on eMule. The search times are also rather long sometimes taking up to 10 or 15 seconds to bring up a result. It is also limited to MP3, MPEG, AVI, ASF, MOV, JPEG, GIF and OGG files which is somewhat limited compared to eMule.

BearShare has some pretty basic functions although it does contains a few original tools such as the adult content filter to block or keep adult or X X-rated material from ever touching your hard-drive. This still doesn’t stop fake files getting through but offers you a decent level of protection. The bandwidth throttle is also particularly useful and offers options for enhanced connection management and improved downloading.

One of the better features is an option which allows you to connect directly to other friends’ PC’s connected to BearShare which and enables you to get considerably faster downloads. Of course, all the other standard functions in a P2P app are there – including automatic resume feature, chat, and media player with full-screen preview mode.

If you’re looking for a wide choice of downloadable files, you’re definitely better off trying eMule or even LimeWire but if you are a beginner to P2P file sharing, BearShare is a fairly simple and user friendly initiation into the world.

Review by Nick Mead

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As you’re probably aware by now, there are lots of great web sites out there and loads of online content that can educate and enrich your life. Sometimes though accessing information online can be bad for your computer’s health if the sites you visit contain or link to spyware, adware, spam and viruses.

Running Web Security Guard is like having your own personal digital bodyguard, warning you when the sites you visit might be dangerous and protecting you accordingly. On the face of it the program is just another toolbar in your browser, albeit a comprehensive one. You get lots of useful tools such as a multisearch, eBay search, travel pages, yellow pages, white pages, games, and so on.

You can also bolt on lots of common desktop tasks and applications such as an MP3 player, RSS reader, screensaver, weather information, word-checkers, evidence eliminators and pop-up blockers, making it a pretty comprehensive system.

However, where this program differs from most other browser toolbars is in its security features. The program uses a range of clever methods to help ensure that you stay safe when surfing the web. It offers customer reviews of sites and provides you with a description and threat rating of each site you visit, although these constant notifications can get annoying after a while.

If you’re the kind of person who worries about the security of web sites then be sure to install Web Security Guard for complete peace of mind.

Review by James Thornton

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CCleaner is a small utility that will take care of a few of the important maintenance tasks that every computer user should carry out as regularly as possible to keep their systems in top shape. Fast, reliable and easy to use – it’s one of the best cleaning systems out there.

For me, the beauty of this program is the speed at which it carries out the various scans and fixes. Its main purpose is to clean any unnecessary files from your hard-drive and on opening the program you see the various aspects of Windows that you can search through and clear. It will also detect your installed applications that may hold on to files which are no longer any use, such as Google Earth histories or Flash Player configurations.

The interface is very easy to navigate and before taking any action, you will always be asked to confirm that you are sure about what you want to do. There is a useful registry checker that will quickly check its integrity, and let you fix bad entries after making a backup. The uninstall and startup tools are handy to have and simply add to the usability of this very rounded little maintenance assistant.

The most recent release now works on Vista with Admin permissions where available and features various bug fixes and imrpovements to the translated versions.

CCleaner makes keeping your PC clean easy for beginners and experts alike. It’s small, fast, comprehensive, and free to download it – get cleaning now!

Review by Nick Mead

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I’m a big fan of spot the difference games and have recently become addicted to the ones you get in pubs where you need to touch the screen to find the differences.

Thankfully now I don’t have to stand around drinking for hours in order to get my fix of picture puzzles thanks to Crazy Spot. This well-presented game charges you with the task of finding the differences between two pictures in the alloted time.

The images used are high quality photographs ranging from a herd of giraffes to a girl sniffing a flower. It’s a diverse mix of pictures, though I noticed that some of them crop up again and again, making it easier to solve. To select the differences between the images you simply need to click the appropriate area of the screen on either of the pictures.

The game is a real joy to play, and the multiplayer mode only adds to the fun. Even spot the difference novices will love Crazy Spot thanks to the in-game hints system. The only thing that will really drive you crazy is the horrid techno song that plays in a constant loop.

Crazy Spot is a polished conversion of the spot the difference game.

Review by James Thornton

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It’s always a pain trying to remember to backup things so why not let an application take care of it automatically?

Cobian Backup works as both an application and service. The program is very light on resources for a backup program of its size and runs in the background very discreetly. it makes periodic backups but unlike some programs, doesn’t seem to slow down your PC in the process. It acts too quickly to really slow down whatever you are doing although if it has to backup a very big file, you will notice some lag (more than 1 GB). The program only copies your files and folders in their original or compressed mode to another destination and does not perform any compression itself. This is to ensure that nothing is corrupted during the backup process but if you are backing up particularly large files, you might find this something of a problem unless you’ve got lots of backup space. However, there are limited compression and strong encryption methods available if you need to reduce the size of your files and protect them at the same time.

A very convenient program that backups quickly, quietly and without any further prompting from it’s user.

Review by Nick Mead

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muCommander is a lightweight, cross-platform file manager featuring a Norton Commander style interface and running on any operating system with Java support (Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, *BSD, Solaris…).

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of what you’ll find:

• Virtual file system with local volumes, FTP, SFTP, SMB, NFS, HTTP and Bonjour support
• Quickly copy, move, rename files, create directories, email files…
• Browse, create and uncompress ZIP, TAR, GZip, BZip2, ISO/NRG, AR/Deb and LST archives
• Universal bookmarks and credentials manager
• Multiple windows support
• Full keyboard access
• Highly configurable

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HyperSnap-DX, the screen capture client formerly known as SnapShot/32, offers an extensive collection of powerful features. It also doubles as an image viewing client and includes numerous features and options not currently found in most competing clients.

The program is perfect for capturing images that you want to include in your Help system, online tutorials, manuals, training handouts, presentations, marketing materials, Web pages, emails and more. Use HyperSnap to quickly share a picture-perfect representation of anything on your screen.

Top features include:

• TextSnap feature to capture editable text from almost anywhere on the screen, when running under Windows 2000, XP or newer
• Powerful image capture, editing, annotation and manipulation tools
• Snags difficult-to-grab screens from DirectX and Glide games
• Captures image stamps, frames, drop shadow, free-hand capture, FTP server uploads and more
• Automatic color substitution
• Non-rectangular window capture
• Button Capture – perfect for professional technical writers who need to snap and document dozens of buttons
• Auto-scrolls and concurrently captures long web pages and other documents, enabling it to grab more than is visible on the screen
• Tightly integrates with the Windows clipboard to automate repetitive tasks – will even automatically PASTE capture images where needed
• Automatically saves your captures to graphics files

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WinBubble helps you customize and tweak your Windows Vista easily. It features customization, security and and optimization options for an all-in one solution.

The first thing that strikes you is the sheer number of features this program has. It’s absolutely ram packed with options that will keep you tweaking and fiddling with Windows Vista until the cows come home. The program features a “My Tweaker Tool” which allows you to create your own tweaker customized exactly how you want it. You can add, edit and delete DVD and CD drive names and labels, and the program now features full support for tweaking and optimizing Firefox.

It also supports Internet Explorer with the additional bonus that you can delete specific IE URLs. The program has been further enhanced by allowing it to update automatically instead of having to visit the developer homepage. Don’t be fooled by the small file size – this program has plenty of features, many of which seem unique and original to WinBubble.

The name WinBubble doesn’t really fit the program but there’s no taking away from the fact that this is an excellent tweaker and optimizer for Vista fans.

Review by Nick Mead

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