Software

FrameDummy creates a simulated Windows frame on your desktop, complete with title bar, icon, and other features and functions of a normal window. FrameDummy's main window is transparent and shows whatever is behind it on the desktop, but you can also embed images and even fill, center, and stretch them to fit, just like desktop wallpaper. In most ways, FrameDummy behaves like any window: You can drag it to resize or move it around the desktop, change the border color and transparency, and customize the title bar; and FrameDummy's Minimize, Maximize, and Close buttons work just like they … Read more

If you'd like to be able to whip up short videos and post them online but don't quite know where to start, Blueberry's BB FlashBack Express might be the tool for you. It records your screen activity, with sound, and posts finished videos to YouTube and other sites. BB FlashBack Express lets you create instructional videos that record every onscreen step, or narrate a slideshow or series of clips to create your own documentaries and short films. It's designed to be as easy to use as possible without sacrificing the capabilities you're looking for. It'… Read more

AVAST Browser Cleanup removes the annoying toolbars, plug-ins, and add-ons that gum up your Web browser, including some that the average user would find difficult to remove, while leaving your safe or approved toolbars and extensions alone. Like AVAST's basic antivirus program, Browser Cleanup is free. It's also portable, so it runs without having to be installed. AVAST Browser Cleanup is for Windows XP, Vista, and 7, and worked with all three of our installed browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome.

Since AVAST Browser Cleanup is portable software, it doesn't need to be installed or uninstalled: It … Read more

Kalkules triples the number of built-in buttons and functions on the PC calculator to make advanced mathematical functions easier. With dozens of new options, a massive list of menu options and function operations, Kalkules is a powerful tool that you will find yourself using frequently, whether to complete your most recent homework or while working on a new application.

After installation, Kalkules will open to the full calculator view, showing more than 75 buttons onscreen, including standard number pad and operations, and then everything from cosine and arcsine to exponents, logarithms, and derivatives. Separate tool menus are also available for … Read more

Kapow is a useful tool for online freelancers or individuals who work at home while still on the clock. Tracking time spent without recording your actions on screen, it is a very easy tool, but will fulfill a need for many hourly, at-home workers who would prefer not to use invasive online tracking tools.

Kapow opens with a clean, almost bare-bones interface. Create a project in the left pane, define your task at the top, and click "Start" to record time as you work. With a minimal GUI and no colors or buttons onscreen, it is very rudimentary, … Read more

PhoneTrans removes many of the barriers that are built into the backup, sync, and restore process for your iPhone. This alone makes it an invaluable app, but combined with a well-made interface, and speedy, responsive upload and download speeds, it is a great tool that you will find yourself using far more often than the built-in transfer tools provided by Apple in iTunes.

PhoneTrans is designed to move files between your computer and your iPhone. There are few menus and the software does almost nothing until you have loaded your phone by connecting it to the computer. It is compatible … Read more

PodTrans reduces some of the headache inherent in moving files to and from your iPod and computer. With a drag-and-drop interface to move different types of files between the iPod Classic, Touch, Nano, or Shuffle, you can easily get files from your device back to your computer or vice versa without having to reformat your entire device and start from scratch.

The interface for PodTrans is relatively easy to use and setup takes only a couple of minutes, though you do need iTunes installed on your computer for the transfers to work properly. Once you plug a device into your … Read more

QR Photo to iPhone MP4 Converter will take your digital photos and create a video that can be played back on your iPhone or other MP4-capable portable device. The resulting videos are of a decent quality and size, though the process of creating them can be cumbersome due to a roughly-designed interface and not-always clearly-labeled options in the software.

When you first open QR converter, you can choose a selection of images for use in your video. These images can then be edited in a number of ways. From adding transitions between frames, to adding soundtracks, panning and zooming on … Read more

QR Photo to iPod MP4 Converter is an effective tool but has some issues in terms of interface and conversion speed. While it allows you to effectively convert any of your images to MP4 videos, complete with soundtracks, transition effects, and pan/zoom options, the interface and tools used to do so are cumbersome and time consuming to sort through.

After installing QR Photo to iPod MP4 Converter, which was relatively quick and required no additional installations, we were able to start moving photos into the tracks for conversion. The process of finding the images and adding them to a … Read more