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Today's batch of awesome open-source (or freeware) applications centers on a single word: wow. No, they don't help you level up in that MMO. We're going to show you a batch of free programs whose features are cool enough to make your jaw hit the floor, a small puddle of drool to escape from your lips and into your keyboard, and your twitter to light up with all messages you'll be sending your friends about these must-have applications.
We're serious. Prepare to be amazed. But if you haven't checked out the twenty other themed applications we've hit up in our last four open-source updates, now's the time to fill in the backstory! Once you're ready for greatness, continue on with our list. And be sure to get your bib on standby.
If you've been reading Maximum PC, you know exactly what Synergy does and why we must have this on our list of "wow!" applications. But we'll break it down for those new to the scene. Synergy links two computers together--two computers to a single mouse and keyboard, that is. Your mouse travels across the screens of the two PCs (or notebooks) as if you were using the displays in a dual-monitor configuration. Synergy also unifies the clipboard between the two devices and, geekier still, synchronizes the screensavers. This application is the program you need to have running if you use two computers in close proximity to each other, period.
If you're like us, the prospect of using the Print Screen button to capture your display's contents, pasting it into an open-source graphics editing program, and cropping the huge screen image to the appropriate size is maddening. Jing solves this tedium by simplifying the art of screen capturing and recording to the extreme. Its user interface is perfect, in that the program highlights different areas of your desktop depending on where you hover you mouse. Pick a window, draw out a cropped box, and presto -- instant screenshot. As we mentioned, you can record videos of your desktop as well. This turns Jing into a one-stop shop for all your computer capturing--activities that would normally require a few separate programs.
Revo Uninstaller is better than most of the uninstallation utilities that come with your favorite programs. Not only does it perform the same basic functions as these, but it goes one important step further. The application scans your drive for any leftover files that typical uninstallation programs overlook (or ignore). It gives you the option to nuke these out of existence (we often spring for this), cementing Revo Uninstallers place as one of our favorite drive clean-up applications. But that's not all. Revo Uninstaller also packs a junk-file scanner and startup manager into its treasure trove of file management, as well as a file shredder-like feature which overwrites your deleted files past the point of recovery. It's a one-stop shop for eliminating clutter, and we'll turn to it every time we need to say a fateful farewell to an application or game.
Comments are closed on this article
metric_inch
October 07, 2008 at 11:25am
Launchy kicks ass.
No need to waste time trying to organize the start menu after installing applications.
No more trying to remember the name of some obscure company who decided to put the shortcut in Programs > Obscure Name > The Program nameJust hit Alt + Space (not alt+enter) and up pops launchy.
The best part is that how learns over time. I type f for firefox, t for thunderbird, v for vnc viewer, exc for excel, c for calc, no for notpad++ etc(notepad++ should be on this list, or the free/oss office list you posted earlier today) it kills the default windows notepad in terms of features and usablity.
Tekzel
October 07, 2008 at 12:01pm
Launchy is ok I guess, but it pales in comparison to the greatness that is "Find and Run Robot" or FARR from DonationCoder.com. This launcher gets installed on every machine I use and I get agitated when its not available on someone elses PC. haha
I agree with Notepad++, best text editor I have ever used. Period.
b_boy_69_00
October 07, 2008 at 1:13pm
I downloaded it and it didn't recognize half of the stuff I wanted it too. I changed all the options and added the folders directly to the list and still nothing. So less than half an hour after installation it was uninstalled. To bad, seemed like a great idea.
Tekzel
October 08, 2008 at 6:45am
Are you talking about Launchy or FARR? If FARR, and you are running Vista, I had the same issue. It doesn't have the "Start Menu" location for all users or your profile under Vista in the search folders location. I added it on mine when I upgraded. I really need to talk to Mouser about that so he can fix it, in fact I think im going to go do it now.
vintagegold
October 07, 2008 at 11:04am
XBMC was originally designed to work on a modded first gen Xbox. The shear ease of use and power this application brought made it an essential media streaming device, and why I have one hooked up to every TV in my house (4 in total). The ease with which it handles most media types is astonishing, to say the least. The biggest downfall was always the limitations of the first gen Xbox.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but XBMC has all the codecs built into
the application, so you aren't relying on the server system (wherever your files are store) to transcode
files for you (ala TVersity) but relies instead on host processing
power. With only a 733 MHz processor and 64 MB or RAM, it plays AVI files, MP3's and other standard definition files flawlessly all day long, but throw something encoded in H.264 (without doing a bunch of extra work to the file, I know people claim to have this working great) and it results in dropped frames or stuttered audio. Being able to run this on a more powerful machine should eliminate all of these problems. Now if someone can just get it to run on my Xbox 360, I won't have to hook my laptop or a small computer to my living room LCD.One of my more favorite things about this application compared to TVersity is how it handles files over a network. All you have to do is share a directory on your computer and look for that shared directory (or directories) from XBMC. You can even create shortcuts to specific folders (and title them) like TV, Movies, or whatever else you want. Basically, you don't have to "build" a media library on the server machine, just share the folders or drives on the network and XBMC should be able to find them. If you copy a new file into the directory, no need to rebuild the library, your XBMC machine will just see it over the network.
XBMC is powerful, beautiful, and simplistic in operation and highly recommended for everyone to check out!
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They say the best things in life are free, but are all free thing the best?
SirBC
October 07, 2008 at 11:22am
Just this morning I found myself wondering why Maximum PC has never had an article on Untangle, the open sourece UTM. Anti-virus, anit-phishing, anti-spam, intrusion prevention, webfilter, spyware blocker, protocol control, etc... It's easy to install and has a noob frienly GUI.
WWW.untangle.com
XBMC on an Apple TV unit looks tasty too.
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