Maximum PC's Fifth Annual Softy Awards

Posted 04/02/2007 at 12:12pm | by Maximum PC Staff

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Skype 3.0

Go ahead and throw out your phone

Skype allows you to make crystal-clear, absolutely free, encrypted calls to anyone who also has a Skype account—no matter where they are—and calling to a land line or cell phone can cost as little as 2.1 cents a minute. Conferences, video calls, file transfers, and instant messaging are just a few of the other features we love that are included in this program. And with the service installed on your smartphone, you can make low-cost or free international calls from anywhere you can get a Wi-Fi connection.

PortableApps Suite 1.0

You CAN take it with you

Forget about U3 and Ceedo, we’ve got a better portable application package! PortableApps delivers a free bundle of computing goodies that can be loaded onto any device—thumb drive, hard drive, iPod, whatever! Plug your drive into any computer and you’ll be rocking a fully customized PC experience—from your personal Firefox bookmarks, to your Thunderbird email, to IM contacts, to OpenOffice documents; plus, you get portable antivirus and backup programs. All apps run from within the secure and anonymous confines of your PortableApps environment—unplug the drive and remove any trace of your activities.

LogMeIn Hamachi

VPN for noobs

How do we love thee, Hamachi? Let us count the ways, even though there’s really just one. But, boy, are we smitten. Hamachi makes it possible to effortlessly (and we mean effortlessly) set up a VPN connection between any computers jacked into the Net.

Once you’ve connected your rigs, you get secure access to any network function imaginable—fire up your iTunes shared music; rock an old-school, network-based game (IPX, anyone?); spin up your favorite remote desktop application; you name it. And did we mention that the process is effortless?

Torpark

The secret-agent web browser

We take the Vegas approach to web surfing: What happens on the web stays on the web. Or so we hope. The Torpark browser, though, helps provide peace of mind. Designed to fit on a USB thumb drive, Torpark keeps the sites you visit from knowing who you are by running page requests through the Tor network, allowing you to enjoy an anonymous web experience. The network can be slow, but you have the option of “flushing” the circuit you are on for a faster connection, and should you decide to come out in the open, you can seamlessly jump off the Tor network for speedier web browsing.

WinAudit 2.1

A journey through your PC’s every nook and cranny

Really get to know your system with this PC audit and inventory software. The self-contained program, which requires no installation or configuration, runs a thorough scan of all the hardware and software on your PC and presents the information in a comprehensive, categorized, browser-friendly format. You’ll see your system in a whole new light: Learn which extensions, instructions, and technologies are enabled in your processor; peruse a log of all your application errors; learn whether any of your hard disks are at risk of failure; and even discover which motherboard is in your Aunt Edna’s PC. It works with all flavors of Windows from 95 through Vista.

Last.fm

Finally, intelligent internet radio

Other Internet radio stations have promised to intuitively create a mix of music we’d love, but their limited song libraries and imperfect track selections have failed to impress us. Last.fm, however, has us dancing in our seats. In addition to selecting artists or styles of music, with Last.fm you can tag songs as well as create custom stations based on tags, so it’s easier to refine your listening experience and find the music you want. With its great range of artists, expansive search functions, and spot-on recommendations, Last.fm is where we go to discover new music.

Other Web Apps Worth Checking Out

Writely: Google’s web-based word-processing app offers Word functionality and lets you store and share your documents online.

Backpack: It sounds goofy, but sharing your to-do list and notes online is eminently useful.

Spotback: Get personalized news and customize a front page of all your RSS feeds, complete with updated lists and mouse-over summaries of the latest stories.