Description: The KM Player is a free media player that supports a comprehensive range of media format, including broad DVD support using all internal filters and codecs. It is extremely feature-rich, offering a range of features such as applying filters during playback (sharpening, denoise, color effects, etc), excellent subtitles support, playing (and capturing) streaming media over the internet, playing incomplete files, bookmarking parts of videos, and others.

The KMPlayer (not to be confused with simply “KMPlayer”, which is another product) is the kind of free software that is so good it makes you wonder how anyone can still manage to charge money for a program in the same category. The reason I give it such a high endorsement is that software manages to juggle four things at once, each of which is remarkable in its own right:

1. Supports a very wide range of formats: (including obscure ones).It includes all essential decoders internally (including RealMedia, Flash video, and Quicktime) that are not registered to the system, but also interacts with system filters through a “fully controlled environment”. This means that The KM Player will (a) eliminate any possible errors due to codec conflict, (b) none of its internal filters will be running in the background at all times, taking up resources, and (c) If you have a media file that you cannot get to work this program will most certainly play it.
2. Has a very light footprint: takes up only 16 megs in memory and a (negligible) 50 megs on your hard drive.
3. Delivers an unusually rich selection of features: from those features that make you think “finally someone thought to include this” to “I can’t believe they thought of this”.
4. Delivers a simple and straightforward interface: despite all the supported features, everything is context-menu based, and the program can be used in a simple way without overwhelming the user with the diversity of options. On-screen tooltips are displayed on hovering over an element that tell you what it is.

This does not mean that this program is perfect but, in my view, is very close to it. There are a number of drawbacks which I will get into in my “wish list” section below. For now here is an overview of some of the features on offer:

• Formats supported: a listing would take a lot of space and would be superfluous. Suffice it to say: every conceivable video format (including DVD), audio format, playlist format, image format, and even disk image formats.
• Image processing: allows you to apply a wide range of effects to your video as it is being played, including color controls, (e.g. greyscale, auto-level control), sharpening, blurring, denoise, resize, flip/rotation, etc. Resize, flip, etc. Variable playback speed also supported.
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Description: Click&Clean is a free tool that works alongside CCleaner to provide 1-click hard drive and browser cleanup from within Internet Explorer, Firefox, or the desktop Quick Launch bar. It can perform an instant, complete uninterrupted cleanup with CCleaner without exiting the browser or dealing with prompts and dilags.

If you use CCleaner to clean your hard drive (temp files, internet activity, cookies, history, etc.) you already know that it is an indispensable and excellent program. What Click&Clean does is simply provide a 1-click complete cleanup using CCleaner from within Internet Explorer, Firefox, or the desktop Quick Launch without having to interact with any of CCleaner’s prompts or dialogs. Moreover, if Click&Clean is used from within a browser, the cleaning operation will be performed without the need to shut down the browser first. Here are more notes on this program:

• Adding browser buttons: in IE right click on the IE toolbar then ’customize command bar’ then ’add or remove commands’. Select the blue ’Cleaner’ icon and add it to the IE toolbar. For Firefox, right click the toolbar and select ’customize’, then drag the blue Cleaner icon to the Firefox toolbar. A desktop “quick launch” icon is added by default upon installation.
• How it works: clicking on the Cleaner button in a browser or otherwise launching it from the Quick Launch bar will start the process. In Firefox, Click&Clean seems to also kick-start Firefox’s “clear private data” option (seems to be a workaround designed around CCleaner’s inability to clean the Firefox environment without shutting it down first). To configure Firefox properly, go to Tools > Options > Privacy, clear a check mark beside “Ask me before clearing private data” (see this page for more info).
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Description: Ulteo Virtual Desktop installs a virtual Linux environment inside Windows. This free program shows up as a panel inside the Windows desktop and allows you to access Linux applications within Windows with little effect on performance, enabling users to run both Windows and Linux apps simultaneously and to switch between them at will.

For those who would like to run Linux inside Windows “Ulteo Virtual Desktop” provides a virtual Linux environment inside Windows. Ulteo is based on Debian Linux and comes pre-bundled with a wide range of Linux apps, including Firefox, OpenOffice, KPdf, Kopete, Skype, Thunderbird, Enigmail, GIMP, Digikam, Inkspace, Scribus, and many others.

Why run Linux in Windows?: I am assuming that you have a need to access both Windows and Linux apps or, like me, you have the desire and/or curiosity to run Linux applications. Or perhaps you would like to learn Linux or want to use it because you are looking into it as a replacement for Windows. Having the Linux environment inside Windows will save the time spent switching between operating systems and will circumvent the need for messing around with partition tables and other technical details (and, of course, let’s not forget the sheer coolness factor!). Here are more notes on this program:

• Downloading/Installing: once you get the 500 meg installer downloaded installing it is a breeze; however it will take up some 6 gigs on your hard drive, so make sure you have the space for it. Once installed (does not even require a reboot), the program will show up as a panel on top of your screen, and you can simply run the application you need to use from the Ulteo panel and its window will show up like any other Windows application.
• Performance: is very good, from my experience, but of course this is difficult to measure objectively. The Developers state that this software doesn’t run “traditional virtualization software”, and that instead they built it using “a special Linux kernel patch called coLinux that achieves great performance, close toa native installation on the PC”.
• The virtual file system: this is a 5 gig virtual file system that lives in a file (C:\Program Files\Ulteo\Virtual Desktop\os\vdisk ). What you see as a user is a Linux file system that can also access the root (C:\) and “My Documents” folders in your Windows filesystem. You can thus easily transfer documents back and forth across the two OS’s. Also note that the Linux vdisk can be both resized or mounted into Windows (see the FAQ for info on this).
• Access to your computer’s resources: Ulteo virtual desktop supports sound and is able to print from your regular printer. The Linux apps can access the internet (no proxy support but it’s promised), and I am assuming that they can also use the other hardware resources (e.g. CD/DVD drives, etc.)
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Description: Stick is a free program that introduces tabs attached to the sides of your screen (called "Screen Tabs") that can display notes, folder contents, web pages, RSS feeds, as well as mini apps such as a calendar or calculator.

If you have folders that you always work with, or a web page that you like to always be easily accessible, notes that you frequently refer to or, say, an RSS feed that you like to check frequently you might want to give this program a try. "Stick" enables you to use "Screen tabs" attached to any of the four sides of your screen that you can easily expand and retract, and that can display the following: rich text notes, RSS feeds, folders, web pages, a (non-interactive) calendar, and a calculator app.

What I like about this program:

• It can look elegant: meaning that (a) you can use this to good effect in your quest to reduce clutter on your desktop, and that (b) of the handful of "skins" available is possible to use a configuration that looks good and adds to the desktop experience. (Conversely, you can end up with some pretty ugly tabs on your desktop, but you can only blame yourself if that happens).
• Favorite folders as Screen Tabs: having a handful of your favorite or frequently used folders easily accessible through retractable tabs on the side of the screen is a very good idea; esp as these support drag and drop, context menu commands, different views, and navigating the directory structure. There’s even a little arrow button that opens the actual folder for you in explorer.
• Web pages as Screen Tabs: I didn’t think much of this at first, until I thought to put my main Gmail account in one of the tabs, which was certainly an interesting setuip.
• Customizable tab behavior: you can control the color, skin, transparency level, the speed by which the tab opens, always on top, whether it opens by hover or click, and whether it closes by hover away or click.
• RSS feeds as Screen Tabs: for those must-view RSS feeds that you want to be able to access quickly and easily - e.g. Freewaregenius - the RSS Screen Tab will be very handy. The RSS function has some quirks (e.g. newer items are shown on bottom, no Atom support) but is overall a good option if you want RSS on your desktop.
• Keyboard shorcuts: for each tab you create you can define keyboard shortcuts that make it visible.
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Description: CookiePie is an open source plugin for Firefox and other browsers that allows the user to open multiple accounts for services such as Gmail, Yahoo, eBay, Facebook, Twitter, or others in different tabs or browser windows simultaneously. It can also be used by developers who want to work with different versions of web pages with each tab or windows having its own distinct cookies environment.

Those of us who have multiple accounts on Gmail, Yahoo, eBay, Facebook, Twitter (or just about any online service) know that, because of the way these accounts store information in the browser cache, it is not possible to work on more that one account at any one time in the same browser.

Until now, that is; with CookiePie you can simply right click on a browser tab or window in order to give it its own unique cookies environment. Here are more notes on this program:

• How it works: right click on the browser tab and select "Toggle on/off CookiePie", then log into your desired account. Do the same thing in other windows/tabs as you please and you can be working with multiple accounts of the same web services (Gmail, in my case) at the same time.
• New tabs: created by right-clicking a CookiePie-enabled tab will not share the latter’s cookie environment.
• Supported browsers: Firefox, Flock and GNU IceWeasel. I used it with Firefox 3.
• Bugs/issues: although it worked perfectly for me, it seems that this plugin is still somewhat of a work-in-progress. (From the developer’s website) re-ordering tabs might in some instances not work properly, might conflict with some other extensions such as Tab Mix Plus.
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Description: "Types" is a lightweight open source configuration utility designed to enable users to edit the program associations, icons, context menus, and other properties of various file types.

If you’ve ever wanted to change the program used to open a certain file type, or change the icon used for a filetype, or add or remove a context menu entry that appears when right clicking on a file type then this program is for your. Here are some notes on this program:

• Finding the file type in the interface: pressing a key within the program interface will cause it to jump to the extensions which start with that key. From that point you can simply navigate with the arrow keys to hone in on the extension you want.
• Changing used icon for a file type: in the Types interface, right click filetype then properties. In the icon tab you can select any of the icons displayed or browse your hard drive for an icon or icon library (ICO, ICL, DLL, or EXE). Once selected, exit the dialog and then the Types program. You might need to wait a few seconds for the new default icon to kick in.
• Changing filetype program association: right click filetype then properties. In the class tab scroll down the list of apps under "Use linked class"; you will need to select the appropriate class (e.g. for mp3’s, "iTunes.mp3" rather than simply "iTunes"). As such in most cases it may be easier to simply re-associate file types using the windows "open with" context menu (more info here).
• Adding/removing context menu entries: this is one of the coolest parts. You can add or remove context menu entries that are displayed when right clicking on a file type. When using an external app for your new context menu entry you will need to know the command line syntax that get it to function correctly.
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Description: Melloware Placesbar Editor is an open source program that allows you to change the default folder shortcuts that are found in the Windows open/save dialog known as the PlacesBar. Moreover, it can also customize the MS Office open/save dialog by enabling the addition of 5 new user-defined folders for a total of up to 10 locations.

You might have noticed that there is a bar to the left of the dialog with 5 pre-defined folders on the default Windows open/save dialog. These folders allow you to quickly access folders when opening or saving files. By default these point to the following locations: My Recent Documents, Desktop, My Documents, My Computer, and My Network Places.With Melloware Placesbar Editor you can actually customize these to any folders that you like or frequently use. Note: you can also do this using Microsoft’s excellent TweakUI and a program I previously reviewed on Freewaregenius also named Placesbar Editor.

MS Office Placesbar customization: because MS Office does not use the standard windows open/save dialog, it’s placesbar has to be approached separately. Melloware Placesbar Editor will in fact allow you to add 5 extra locations to the Office open/save dialog (something which the other programs mentioned above do not), and these do not have to be the same ones you used in the Windows open/save dialog. Here are more notes on this program:

• Installation: although it comes as a normal installer, it is in fact a single 900K executable.
• Reverting back to defaults: there’s a button on the interface that is supposed to do this, but in fact what it does is delete the user defined folders. You will then need to select the original folders using dropdowns.
• Remote folders: I was able to define folders on the network, which was cool (obviously I had to do it while connected to the network).
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Description: ATunes is an open source program that combines a powerful, full-featured music player with a Last.fm-powered recommendation engine. Available features include CD ripping, internet radio, audio podcasts, smart playlists, support for portable audio devices, and others.

When it comes to great freeware audio players it seems we are spoilt for choice. ATunes is another program that offers a wide range of functions. Here is what sets this program apart to make it interesting:

• It looks and feels great: and by this I mean a kind of appealing simplicity of design and an intuitive user experience.You can do everything by right clicking on individual or multiple tracks.
• Last.fm integration: in practical terms this means that (a) ATunes can connect with your Last.fm account if you have one - not a requirement - and scrobble the tracks you listen to, (b) can recommend related music in real time for each track or artist in your playlist (with the option to click and listen on the Last.fm site), (c) it will automatically display information on the playing artist as well as download and display song lyrics, and (d) can tag genres for files in your library according to the Last.fm database. See the image to the right for Last.fm info.
• Last.fm and album art: album art pulled from Last.fm is automatically saved inside the tag for that audio file (you can optionally switch this off, but I am loving it believe me). This essentially means that you can fix your album art (for most of your tracks, not all) simply by playing your music library. How cool is that? You can also right click and save the pulled lyrics into the audio file tag as well.

ATunes offers a collection of cool functions in one place but lacks some features offered by other freeware music managers. I will start by listing the functions that it supports:

• Audio formats supported: mp3, ogg, wma, wav, flac, mp4, ra, and rm.
• CD Ripping: does this very well, including grabbing tag info from Amazon.
• Internet Radio: provides a good collection of built in internet radio stations, and you can easily add your own.
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Description: FusionDesk Starter is a to-do/project management and time tracking program that is influenced by the”Getting Things Done” (GTD) methodology. It offers a simple interface that supports both tabbed and hierarchical organization, as well as a number of GTD-inspired organizational tools such as contexts, time estimate, and tags. Other features include portability, automatic backups, the ability to add notes and file attachments to tasks, and others.

This is a very competent and nicely designed program that offers a number of really nice features, most notably the multiple ways that you can organize and view your items. It incorporates a number of GTD-influenced features (contexts, time estimates, tags), and enough flexibility for organizing tasks and allowing each user to use the program differently depending on their needs and work style. Here are more notes on this program:

• Organization: you can organize the different areas of your life by tab, and then through a hierarchical folder structure within each tab. You can also tag or “contextualize” your entries and view them that way.
• Different views: this is one of the most value-added functions. FusionDesk Starter affords different ways to view your to-do’s, aside from the hierarchical directory structure. You can view items by context, by tag, or view all items across all folders.
• Fields: FusionDesk Starter employs the following fields (columns) that you can use to qualify your to-do’s. Note that you can choose to use the ones that work for you, and can display or hide the any of the fields/columns in your view. Also note if there’s a field you want that is not used you can probably substitute tags for it instead.
  • Status (not started, in-progress, waiting, deferred, completed)
  • Priority (a 5 point priority scale)
  • Start and end dates (you can any or both if you want)
  • Completion estimate (in any of minutes, hours, days). More on this below.
  • Context (user definable); more on this below
  • Tags (user definable)
  • Elapsed and remaining time
  • Assigned to.
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Description: Kong is a free 2D top-down shoot em up in a full 3D environment. It can be played single player or multiplayer over LAN or the internet, and features all the usual game modes such as capture the flag, deathmatch, and team deathmatch. It offers a variety of weapons to use and objects to interact with.

I am often amazed at the amount of effort and attention to detail that is put into creating some free games, and Kong is a good example of this. Viewed top-down from a 2D perspective, it could be a 2D clone of Unreal Tournament or Quake 3. Except technically the environment and everything in it is 3D-modeled, which means that if you have a good 3D card you can get the game to look really good. I’ve also seen screenshots where the game is depicted in more of a first person shooter mode, although I’m not sure how to get that (or even that it is desirable in the first place). Here are some notes on this one:

• The game experience: is fast paced and furious, as you might expect from this sort of game. I will say that the game has somewhat of a learning curve; stick with easy bots to begin with or you’ll be toast. One thing I would suggest is to go to the controls section in the settings and set the mouse sensitivity (there’s also a "look sensitivity" though I’m not sure what that is).
• Single/multi player: you could play single player against the computer (you need to add the bots once the game starts) or you could find a LAN or internet multiplayer game. The game will quickly find internet games for you if you are connected to the internet, but there aren’t many of these on account of the game being so new, but I was able to find them nonetheless. Although playing against the computer is cool, playing against humans is much more fun.
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