Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #475 issued May 23, 2008

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This electronic newsletter is registered – ISSN 1441-6840
Welcome to the CFS Weekly Newsletter.
The programs listed here are completely free for non-commercial use, even though some may be shareware or commercial products. None are time-limited and all are fully functional. If you know any that aren't exactly as specified, please let us know and they will be removed immediately.
If the link below does not work (does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid. Please use the CFS Site Search facility (above) to locate the program.
COMPLETELY FREE SOFTWARE

True Lies v1.0 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
True Lies is a top-down, omni-scrolling arcade shooter, based off the 1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie of the same name, originally released as a game by Sega. It retains the action and weaponry of the movie but not the romance. In this game, Harry Tasker (played by Arnie) must attach the modem to the computer upstairs in the Chateau and download the files in order to get information on bad-boy Crimson Jihad. To get there he must kill the guards, grab the powerups (health, ammunition, weapons, etc), and avoid killing the innocent bystanders. He is assisted by "Gib" Gibson (in the movie played by Tom Arnold) who provides briefing information and also some advice during the game. True Lies follows the movie quite closely (albeit without the romance) and features excellent VGA-style graphics with lots of fun shooting. The blood is somewhat gratuitous but fits with the theme of the game. We loved True Lies. It is the type of action game that brings you back for more, and more, and more. Worth grabbing! Access this 1.74MB download from: Win95 General Games

Roadkil's Unstoppable Copier v3.2 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Roadkil's Unstoppable Copier is a "brute force" file copier that can recover files from disks with physical damage (such as bad sectors, scratches or if it just gives an error when reading data). It can be paused mid recovery & then resumed, damaged files can be skipped, it offers an optional log, it has a multi-lingual interface (10 languages), and more. This is an awesome tool for copying files from damaged disks. It will keep on trying to copy a file, even if it is totally unrecoverable (hence the word "unstoppable" in the title). Roadkil's Unstoppable Copier can extract every piece of readable data on a disk, and will even attempt to put the pieces together, but it often cannot recreate or copy every piece of damaged data. We all lose files due to faulty disks (specially re-writable CDs and DVDs) but this is one of the best extraction tools we have seen. Roadkil's Unstoppable Copier is a "must have" for all serious PC users. Grab a copy now. Access this 71kB download from: Win95 Desktop Utilities

Ed Air Traffic Control v1.1.4 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Ed Air Traffic Control is an arcade-style puzzle where you direct airplanes to an airport and safely manoeuvre them in to land without causing a crash. It features simple gameplay, becomes increasingly harder as more planes are added, suitable for all ages, and more. This is a fun little game which you can play for a few minutes and use as a diversion. You are faced with an airport in the middle of the window and you must land the planes at the airport. If you click on a plane a window will popup which allows you to change direction (north, south, east or west), adjust the speed of the plane and, when it is over the airport and the "Land" button becomes active, you can click on that button to land the plane. Initially, it is all too easy but, as you land more and more planes, you move to the next level and more planes are added to the sky. Each must be manoeuvred to fly over the airport so they can land, but you must not let them collide or you will end the game. Ed Air Traffic Control is not a complex game to play, but it is more fun than it appears at first glance. If you can persevere you will find that it gets much harder as you play. We liked. Get this 220kB download from: Win95 General Games

WorldWide Telescope (Spring Beta) – WinXP/Vista
WorldWide Telescope is a virtual telescope bringing together imagery from the best ground & space-based telescopes. It features an explore mode (zoom in & scroll around), guided tours from astronomers & educators (requires an active Internet connection), information about planets & stars, infrared & digital satellite images, highly configurable views, and more. This is to the night sky what Google Earth is to this planet. It allows you to go to specific stars or constellations and explore them, to view the planets in our Solar System with Hubble-like detail, and to enjoy guided tours of the galaxy from a variety of experts. This Microsoft program is currently still in Beta and it could become a commercial program eventually. However, this version does not time-out so we assume that you can prevent it from updating to a paid version, should one ever arrive. Even if you only have a slight interest in this universe you will find that WorldWide Telescope is a "must have". Its depth of detail, and quality, is outstanding. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 20.2MB download from: WinXP General Programs

Turtle Shepherd v1.0 – WinXP/Vista
Turtle Shepherd is a fun shooter where you, as Tuki the Turtle, must defend your sheep against the ravages of shoemaking dwarfs (dwarfs use sheep skin to make their smelly shoes). This is an easy game to play but not an easy game to win. You, as Tuki, use your mouse to turn around, the WASD keys to move, and the left mouse button to shoot. Unfortunately, the evil dwarfs (who look huge to you because of your diminutive size) often attack from the other side of the sheep and you must move so that when you shoot at them you don't shoot the sheep too. While you are dispatching one evil dwarf, another is grabbing your sheep. If, however, you prove that you can successfully defend the sheep, the farmer will give you more to look after. With good animated 3D graphics, and a fun storyline, Turtle Shepherd is worth grabbing. Whether you will play it more than once or twice will probably depend on either (a) how successful you were the first time, or (b) how obstinate you are (and how much you dislike losing). We enjoyed playing Turtle Shepherd. It has just enough off-beat wacky humor to wonder, what ever did happen to those Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 10.5MB download from: WinXP General Games

Kigo Image Converter v2.0 – WinXP/Vista
Kigo Image Converter is an image converter that changes the format of existing image files. It converts between most major formats (BMP, JPG, TIF, PCX, TGA, J2K, JPC & PNM), offers image re-sizing, batch conversions, watermarks, is simple to use, good Helpfile, and more. This is an excellent image converter that truly is easy to use. Aim it at your images (you can add them one at a time, or in groups), select the image format you wish to convert them to and where you want them to reside, decide if you want to re-size them and/or add a watermark, and click on the "Convert" button. That's it. Job done. Apart from not supporting GIF images, we were a little disappointed that it always reverted back to the My Documents folder whenever you wanted to add new images – it does not "remember" the last folder used, and that can be quite annoying when you regularly use another folder for your images (as we do). It also reduces the image quality on JPGs, and there is no way of re-adjusting the JPG image quality so that it is set at maximum. That aside, Kigo Image Converter is a great way of converting your digital images. Worth grabbing! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 1.15MB download from: WinXP Graphic Programs

FLaiL v1.3 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
FLaiL is an unusual physics-based platform game where you must cross the screen while avoiding the obstacles. It features 80 levels (locked until completed), includes 2-player co-operative mode (a third can jump in at anytime), level editor, stat tracking, other unlockable features, and more. At first glance, this could be considered "just another platform game" (and one with minimalistic graphics too!) but FLaiL relies heavily on the player mastering the physics of the game to advance, and that is the major strength in this game. When you first start the game you must create your user profile – nominating the keys you wish to use, providing a profile name (must be 4 characters), even specifying the color of your "man". Once you have started you must work your way through the levels, searching out the red band of light that will transport you to the next level. FLaiL gets progressively harder as you work through the levels, trying to overcome the obstacles to get to that next beam of light, and that next level. Graphics are adequate, but you won't be over-powered with fancy eye-candy in this game. We were most impressed with FLaiL and we know that anyone who likes a challenge, and who like platform-style games, will love it as we did. Grab a copy now! Access this 11.0MB download from: Win95 General Games

XP Hidden Application Interface v1.0.0.0 – WinXP
XP Hidden Application Interface is a tool that allows easy access to the programs built into XP that Microsoft didn't reference. It includes Character Map, Disk Cleanup, Clipboard Viewer, Dr Watson, DirectX Diagnosis, Private Character Editor, IExpress Wizard, Microsoft Synchronization Manager, Windows Media Player 5.1, Object Packager, ODBC Data Source Administrator, System Monitor, Program Manager, 32bit Registry Editor, Remote Address Phone Book, Network Share Folder Wizard, File Signature Verification Tool, and more. This small program give access to 24 hard-to-find (or hidden) utilities. The author says: "The programs range from forgotten Windows 3.1 utilities (Program Manager) to Microsoft's experimental Secure XP Account database tools and Driver Verifier Manager. All the programs this software allows access to are built right in to the Windows XP OS." This is a handy program to have around because it gives you access to some rather strange, and normally hidden, tools. While some of the tools may not work in all versions of XP (the Windows 3.1 program manager would not run on our desktop with XP Service Pack 3), most are worthwhile tools that XP users will enjoy having. Some are certainly for advanced PC users only, but most are OK for everybody and, if you don't make any changes to screens accessed through XP Hidden Application Interface, you shouldn't cause any problems. The applets are well described and the program easy to use. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 124kB download from: WinXP Windows Enhancements

Ultimate Racing Showdown v1.0 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Ultimate Racing Showdown is a 3D photo-realistic car racing game. It features 2 game modes (Quick Race & Tournament), choice of 12 cars (initially only 2 are unlocked), choice of 16 tracks (initially only 3 are unlocked), realistic special effects, superb animated graphics, variable camera angles, powerups to collect, challenging gameplay, and more. This is truly an excellent car racing game. Select your vehicle and track, and delve into the high speed world of road racing with this realistic game. Go off the track (as you must sometimes), push the throttle open, and watch the wheels spin and the dirt fly. Hit another vehicle and you get the full reaction – both the action of the cars, and the sound effects, are what you might expect in the real world. This is a challenging game to play and it will take some time to fully master. As you practice you are able to make better use of the powerups scattered along the path – these give you better acceleration, they slow you down, they even turn your vehicle into a ghost car so that you can drive right through your opponents. Neat. We were most impressed with Ultimate Racing Showdown. It is the ultimate game for rev heads. 10 out of 10! Access this 22.1MB download from: Win95 General Games
COMMENTS
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