Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #486 issued August 29, 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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

Gift Quest v1.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Gift Quest is a game where you must match the colored gifts to make them disappear. It features 4 modes (Adventure Quest, Miracle Quads, Fable Puzzle & Amazing Action), 40 unique Adventure Quest levels, 100 Fable Puzzle levels, bonuses to collect, excellent animated graphics, timed gameplay, and more. This is a game that is both easy to play and very addictive. The game varies somewhat between the four modes but, generally, you must match up three or more colored gifts (horizontally or vertically) to make them disappear and have more gifts tumble down from the top of the screen. The animated graphics are excellent and the game has a "must play" feel about it. With its variety in game modes, Gift Quest is a surprisingly good puzzle-type game that will keep you coming back for more and more. We liked! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 7.75MB download from: Win98 General Games

REAPER v0.999 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
REAPER is a tool for recording, arranging, editing, mixing and rendering audio. It features powerful editing facilities, routing capabilities, many recording options, MIDI support, drag 'n drop, customizable user interface, bundled effects & 3rd party plug-in support, comprehensive keyboard shortcuts, 45 pre-set color schemes, and more. Suitable for both amateurs and professionals, REAPER is an awesome audio tool that is so much more than just an audio editor. It offers split, resize, fade/crossfade, pitch shift, timestretch, copy/paste, and loop media items. Ripple editing is also available. With its routing capabilities, you can send tracks to any number of other tracks or hardware outputs, with lots of options (pre-fx, post-fx, independent faders, mono or stereo). It supports pre-fx, post-fx recording, can record mixed output of multiple tracks, etc, supports switching record inputs/modes on the fly, input monitoring options (including tape-style auto input monitoring mode), auto-punch-in/punch-out, and more. You can add sound files to the editing table by using drag ' drop – for some reason there is no import function listed in the menu. It also does not seem to accept some popular audio file formats, like WAV. However, MP3 is fully supported. REAPER offers much more than simply being an audio editor and, if you are serious about working with audio, we suggest you grab a copy of this little beauty. However, you should be aware that later versions of this program are now shareware – version 0.999 is the last freeware version. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.08MB from: Win98 Multimedia Programs

Alien vs Predator v1.0 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Alien vs Predator is a science fiction themed street fighting (or beat-em-up) game which was originally released in 1993 for Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It features 6 stages, various Aliens & bosses, good VGA-style animated graphics, and more. This is a typical beat-em-up game from the early 90s but with a science fiction theme. In this game you, as the Predator, must battle various Aliens and bosses on Vega 4 in the city of New Shanghai. Many of the boss enemies are Aliens which have gestated in different types of animals and thus demonstrate characteristics of those animals. These include an aquatic Alien that emerges from a dolphin, a primate-like Alien gestated in an ape, a winged Alien gestated in a bat, and a snake-like Alien. Finally, you must battle the Alien queen in the Orion Nebula. Controls are somewhat awkward because they were designed for SNES and those controls do not always transpose well when played on a PC. That aside, fans of the movie, as well as sci fi fans and even street fighting fans will love Alien vs Predator. It is just off-beat enough to be different from most of the other beat-em-up games. Grab a copy and see for yourself! Access this 1.38MB download from: Win95 General Games

XPepius v2.0.8 – WinXP
XPepius is a suite of tools for tweaking, optimizing and tuning Windows XP. It features 8 categories of tweaks, 3 application types (Internet Explorer, Media Player & App Paths), quick access to 5 Windows utilities, optionally minimizes to the desktray, includes 13 built-in skins (or none), good Helpfile, and more. This is a handy suite of tools to get XP running smoothly and quickly. The eight categories of tweaks are: System; Explorer; Start Menu; Icons; Desktop; Logon; Drives & Miscellaneous. The five utilities are: Start-Up Manager; Uninstaller; Cleanup Center; Disk Cleanup & Designer XP. Each category or section generally has a number of tweaks or adjustments you can make and there is a good Helpfile to assist you in making the right decision for your computer. While it lacks some of the high end tweaks, it does offer an excellent way to apply basic tweaks and improvements. XPepius was designed to run under XP. There is a good chance that many of the tweaks and utilities would be suitable for Windows versions from 98 onwards (including, possibly, Vista) but we did not check its compatibility with other operating systems. Within the limitations of the defined tweaks, XPepius works extremely well. It is good to look at and easy to use. The large number of "skins" included (basically just different color schemes) helps dress up the program even more. CFS is hosting this program because later versions, available from the author's Website, are shareware (this version is freeware). XPepius is worth a look if you are running Windows XP. Get this 862kB download from: WinXP Windows Enhancements

Pool Rebel for Windows v1.3.3 – WinXP/Vista
Pool Rebel for Windows is a desktop pool simulation game. It features 1- & 2-player modes, 4 levels of CPU difficulty, 2 levels of player difficulty (Novice & Expert), choice of 5 game variations, choice of 11 table top colors, choice of 16 avatars, realistic physics, aim assist options, intuitive controls, addictive gameplay, tutorial, game rules, and more. This is a superb, if somewhat small, desktop pool game. It offers a sophistication rarely seen in these types of games, including aim assist, spin control, messe control (cue inclination) and power. With a choice of game variations (8-ball, 9-ball, 1-pocket, etc) there should be a game for you and, if you have a friend, you can play against him instead of the computer. The biggest problem with Pool Rebel for Windows is that the window is so small – just 420x300 pixels. However, it should be noted that this game was designed for a PDA (Pocket PC, Smartphone, etc) and has been converted to run on a PC. It should also be noted that only the PC version is free... We were highly impressed with Pool Rebel for Windows. It is an amazing game that even people who don't normally play pool will love. The physics are excellent and the game has a "real" look and feel about it. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 2.00MB download from: WinXP General Games

Titan Backup v1.5 – WinXP/Vista
Titan Backup is a Wizard driven commercial backup suite. It creates self extracting or ZIP archives, offers 256-bit AES strong encryption, incremental & differential backups, file filtering (masks), file synchronization, Windows Registry backup, e-mail backup, task scheduler, e-mail notifications of backups, detailed logs, excellent Helpfile, and more. CFS has partnered with Titan to bring you this commercial backup suite for no cost. The download even includes the registration key and an upgrade offer. Titan Backup offers a professional backup of your essential programs and, if you've ever lost data due to a computer crash, you will realize just how important it is to backup your data every single day. It can backup to virtually any media source, including FTP, CD/DVD, flash drive, USB external drive and internal HDD. It also offers excellent file synchronization (fabulous if you have an external USB hard drive for your backup) and can schedule backups or synchronizations so you don't even have to worry about them. There is a neat "before and after" mode that will automatically launch a program (or do something) before or after a backup. Of course, Titan Backup can be set to shut down the computer when it has finished. One of the nice, understated features is that if it has to close down a program to carry out a backup (like your e-mail client) it re-opens that program when the backup is complete. Neat! Every way we looked at Titan Backup we were really impressed. It is definitely worth grabbing! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Get this 6.53MB download from: WinXP General Programs

Head Space v1.0 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Head Space is an imaginative 2D space shooter, overlayed on real-life video. It features 1- & 2-player modes (a second player can join at any time), powerups (extra lives, better weapons, etc), mouse or keyboard operation, superb live-video, excellent animated graphics, and more. This Adobe Flash game plays in a Web browser and is one of the best games of its type we have seen. Head Space is a daydream come to life. Our hero is gazing forlornly at the rain beating against his window and his mind starts to wander. He imagines that the drops of water sliding down the window are attacking enemies so he creates a space ship in his mind and starts to shoot them down. As he overcomes these attacking enemies, the Bosses start to arrive, each one different, each one needing a different plan of attack to defeat them – and they are fighting back with an artificial intelligence. He must strive hard to overcome them, or perish. The window has become a battlefield as imagination takes over... Head Space is an excellent 2D Space Invaders type shoot-em-up. Gameplay is challenging but the rewards are there for those who can make the grade. It is an adventure of the mind as much as a physical adventure. Are you good enough? Head Space is an excellent way to kill more time than you probably had planned to. It is very, very addictive! Note: even though this game is hosted on the CFS server, it is freely available for everybody to download, not just CFS members. Get this 1.94MB download from: Win95 General Games

SpeedFan v4.35 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
SpeedFan is a motherboard monitor, primarily for fan speeds, temperatures & voltages. It can change fan speeds (reducing noise & power consumption), supports S.M.A.R.T. hard drives (HDD temperatures, etc), can overclock (FSB) some hardware, minimizes to the desktray, has an excellent Helpfile, and more. This tool is designed for the power PC user who wants to not only get the best from his equipment, but also wishes to monitor what is happening under the hood of his computer. SpeedFan puts an enormous amount of power and resources in the hands of the user. Information offered is exhaustive and most PC users will find it of some interest. However, it is suggested that only advanced users adjust clock speeds within the computer. Owners of S.M.A.R.T. hard drives get the bonus of getting an indepth analysis of their hard drive. To complete a superb tool, the author has included an excellent Helpfile which tells the user what to expect and how to read the figures provided. We loved SpeedFan. It is one of those utilities that you just love to use. Grab a copy now! Access this 1.69MB download from: Win95 Desktop Utilities
UPDATE
PNotes – a light-weight, flexible, skinnable manager of virtual "sticky" notes – has been updated to version 4.0.112 with a new, larger download size of 228kB. The author advises that changes in this version include: added search/replace capabilities (for all notes or for individual note); added docking to any side of screen (each note can be docked/undocked individually or all notes can be docked/undocked); added ability to randomize color of newly created skinless notes; added checking for new program version (automatically or manually); setting newly created note "on-top" is now optional; added options to hide/show toolbar on notes; formatting commands (like at note's toolbar) added to note popup menu under "Format" submenu; days interval added to "pester" schedule type; autosave will works only for changed notes; added relational notes positioning; added ability to add any info to skin (up to 255 characters) and displaying this info at skin preview window; common note's font sample is now drawn at skin preview window; added support for vertical skin's toolbars; and some bug fixes. Whew! Grab a copy of this latest version from: Win98 Text Programs
COMMENTS
We would like to thank the regular visitors to the CFS site who have told us their favorite freeware. If you have a favorite program which isn't listed on the CFS pages we invite you to share that information with everyone through this site and this newsletter. If you are an author of a freeware app (or would just like to suggest a program) and would like it listed on these pages, please fill in the Submit Software form.
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