Tag: SWITCHEDDOWNLOAD

Evernote What it is: Evernote is a note-taking tool that lets you store information online and quickly reference it from any Web-connected computer or mobile phone. You can clip parts of Web pages, save text, images, or even hand-written notes. It's a place "in the cloud" to store anything you might need to recall at a later date -- be it a to-do list, meeting notes, Web research, a picture ...

TweetDeck What it does: TweetDeck is a client for the burgeoning micro-blogging / social networking service, Twitter. In addition to basic functions like updating your status and delivering your friends' Tweets, the app offers a host of advanced features that make it the client of choice among the seriously Twitter addicted. What we like about it: For one, TweetDeck works on almost any ...

Handbrake What it does: Handbrake converts DVDs and other videos into formats for easy sharing between your computers or loading onto a portable device or console. What we like about it: Handbrake is dead simple to use, with one-click presets that format for the iPod, the iPhone and iPod Touch, Apple TV, PSP, PS3, and Xbox 360. But power users can access advanced controls to fine-tune ...

Songbird What it does: Songbird aims to do for media managers what Firefox did for Web browsers: trounce the standard bearer (iTunes, in this case) with customization, open-source ideology, and sheer performance. Actually built on the same codebase as Firefox, Songbird allows you to manage your music collection, buy songs, and load audio on your iPod. What we like about it: Songbird is the ...

What it is: Hulu Desktop is a free, Flash-based application for Mac and Windows that plays video from the Hulu Web site, including full episodes and clips from ABC, Fox, and NBC television shows, plus a smattering of movies. What we like about it: Hulu desktop brings a high level of polish to what was already a fantastic video site. Once you get the hang of the left-to-right organization, ...

Digsby What it does: Digsby is a multi-protocol chat client that connects you with friends on various instant-messaging networks, including Yahoo!, AIM, and Google Talk. What we like about it: In addition to supporting nearly every instant-messaging platform on earth (including Facebook Chat), Digsby can also check your e-mail and pull in updates and messages from Facebook, MySpace, and ...

Open IT What it does: Open IT is an add-on for Web browsers that lets you open up documents, images, videos, and other files that are sent to you via e-mail or IM directly into the Web-based app (Google Docs, Zoho Office, and the like) of your choice. What we like about it: Previously, users of Web-based programs would have to first download, say, a spreadsheet sent via e-mail onto ...

Do you find the iPhone's stock widget a bit anemic on features? Tired of shuffling through multiple apps for finance news, stock reports, and keeping track of personal portfolios? Then we highly suggest you download the just released DailyFinance (iTunes link) app. This one-stop application culls the best features of various finance apps, and presents them in an exceptionally handsome interface ...

Last week, Microsoft officially unleashed Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) upon the world, and most of us gave a mild shrug. Despite our indifference, we decided to put the new browser through its paces. Truth be told, IE8 has a lot going for it -- in theory. New features like WebSlices (which drops down regularly updated parts of a site from the bookmarks toolbar) and Accelerators (which let you ...

What it is: Got a messy, disorganized iTunes library? Here's a solution: Launched last week, TuneUp is a free iTunes plug-in that is supposed to help you reign in your unwieldy music collection by cleaning up tags, like misspelled song titles and unnumbered tracks, as well as add missing album art. If that wasn't enough, it also tracks down YouTube videos related to artists you're ...

Launchy What it does Launchy is, at its most basic level, an application launcher similar to the search box built into the Windows Vista start menu. But Launchy is a faster and prettier way to find and start-up your favorite programs, and can do so much more if you take the time to find out. What we like about it First and foremost, Launchy is fast. Hit 'Alt+Space' to bring up the dialog ...

The first thing you should do when you get your new laptop is uninstall all that free trial crap that gets loaded on by the manufacturer. Six Months of Earthlink, two weeks of Adobe Photoshop Elements, McAfee Anti-Virus, one month of MusicMatch... who needs it? Not you! (Besides eventually charging you money, a lot of these programs you didn't ask for can slow down your computer.) Now that ...

AVG Free Anti-Virus What it does: The newly updated AVG Free is an Anti-Virus program that performs all the basic tasks you'd expect, without the slow downs associated with Norton and McAfee, or any of the exorbitant subscription fees. The new AVG version 8 also adds a host of new features, making it a much less bare-bones affair than the previous iteration. What we like about it: AVG ...

Foxit PDF Reader What it does: Foxit is a replacement for that unfortunate staple of every computer user's life: Adobe Reader. Foxit reads and even edits PDFs -- those files that look exactly like original documents -- without the slowdown and crashes associated with Adobe's product. What we like about it: Foxit is about as close to perfect as a piece software can get: it opens and ...

VLC Media Player What it does: The VLC Media Player does just what its name implies, and so much more. In addition to playing back video and audio, VLC can even be used to rip DVDs or stream video over a home network to watch on another computer in the house, or across the Internet. What we like about it: First and foremost this free and open source media player is incredibly lightweight, ...