Audacity is a free, easy-to-use and multilingual audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. Audacity is used to Record live audio, Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files.
Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together, Change the speed or pitch of a recording.

Overview:

Audacity was started in 1999 as part of a research project, and then over time was developed into a general audio editor. More recently (the mid-years) other people started helping with development. Today, Audacity is being developed by a team of volunteers under the open-source model, using Sourceforge, an online service that allows people around the world to collaborate on free software projects. Dozens of people have contributed to Audacity, and progress is continually accelerating. Audacity is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). You are free to use this program for personal or commercial purposes. Audacity is now localized to many languages other than English.

Audacity 1.3.9 beta Features:

•    Recording – Audacity can record live audio through a microphone or mixer, or digitize recordings from cassette tapes, vinyl records, or minidisks. With some sound cards, it can also capture streaming audio. It Record from microphone, line input, or other sources and Dub over existing tracks to create multi-track recordings. Also it record up to 16 channels at once (requires multi-channel hardware). And its level meters can monitor volume levels before, during, and after recording.
•    Import and Export – Import sound files, edit them, and combine them with other files or new recordings. Export your recordings in several common file formats. Import and export WAV, AIFF, AU, and Ogg Vorbis files. It Import MPEG audio (including MP2 and MP3 files) with libmad and Export MP3s with the optional LAME encoder library. It Create WAV or AIFF files suitable for burning to CD.
Have the ability to Import and export all file formats supported by libsndfile.
Open raw (headerless) audio files using the “Import Raw” command.
•    Editing- Easy editing with Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete. It uses unlimited Undo (and Redo) to go back any number of steps. Very fast editing of large files. Edit and mix an unlimited number of tracks. Use the Drawing tool to alter individual sample points. Fade the volume up or down smoothly with the Envelope tool.
•    Effects – Change the pitch without altering the tempo, or vice-versa. Remove static, hiss, hum, or other constant background noises. Alter frequencies with Equalization, FFT Filter, and Bass Boost effects. Adjust volumes with Compressor, Amplify, and Normalize effects. Other built-in effects include:
Echo, Phaser , Wahwah, Reverse, Sound Quality. Record and edit 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit (floating point) samples. Record at up to 96 kHz. Sample rates and formats are converted using high-quality resampling and dithering. Mix tracks with different sample rates or formats, and Audacity will convert them automatically in real-time.
•    Plug-Ins – Add new effects with LADSPA plug-ins. Audacity includes some sample plug-ins by Steve Harris. Load VST plug-ins for Windows and Mac, with the optional VST Enabler. Write new effects with the built-in Nyquist programming language.
•    Analysis – Spectrogram mode for visualizing frequencies. “Plot Spectrum” command for detailed frequency analysis.
•     Free and Cross-Platform – Licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Runs on Mac OS X, Windows, and GNU/Linux.

ATI’s Windows Radeon driver package is called CATALYST. The CATALYST software was instituted after the release of the Radeon 8500, as a marketing effort to match nVidia’s universal Detonator driver packages. This new driver development paradigm at ATI promised monthly driver updates which included performance enhancements, bug fixes, and new features.

Overview:

AMD is introducing its new ATI Catalyst driveres for Radeon series graphics cards. The Catalyst driver is regularly updated once in a month, the new version being number 9.8. The driver is WHQL-certified by Microsoft and is the second Catalyst version to support the new operating system Windows 7 besides the widespread Windows XP and Windows Vista. In this report

New changes are declared for the new Catalyst drivers. The new interface of the Control Panel has been inherited by version 9.8 (00_cat98) from the previous 9.7, and it is indeed more user-friendly and intuitive. However, it is gaming performance that all are interested in. Radeon HD 4870 X2 and HD4xxx-based CrossFireX tandems are claimed to deliver a 50% performance boost at resolutions of 1680×1050 and higher in certain games

Besides, AMD says that AMD-based graphics cards may perform better if installed in PCs with AMD’s CPUs but most users stick to Intel’s platform. However these drivers are not suitable for Radeon x1650 series as Windows 7 has serious problems with hardware.

Features:

•    Battleforge DirectX 10/DirectX 10.1 performance improves of up to 50% with the largest gains in configurations using ATI CrossFireXTM technology.
•    Company of Heroes DirectX 10 performance improves of up to 77%.
•    Crysis DirectX 10 performance of ATI CrossFireX technology in dual mode improves of up to 10% and quad mode performance improves of up to 34%.
•    Crysis Warhead DirectX 10 performance of ATI CrossFireX technology in dual mode improves of up to 7% and quad mode performance improves of up to 69%.
•    Far Cry 2 DirectX 10 performance of ATI CrossFireX technology in dual mode improves of up to 50% and quad mode performance improves of up to 88%.
•    Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. DirectX 10/DirectX 10.1 performance of ATI CrossFireX technology in dual mode improves of up to 40% and with quad mode performance improving of up to 60%.
•    UnigineTropics OpenGL performance improvements of up to 20%.
•    UnigineTropics DirectX 10 performance of ATI CrossFireX technology in quad mode improvements of up to 20%.
•    World in Conflict DirectX 10 performance improvements of up to by 10
•    Support for OpenGL Shading Language 1.30 and 1.40.
•    Instanced rendering with a per-instance counter accessible to vertex shaders (GL ARB draw instanced).
•    Data copying between buffer objects (GL EXT copy buffer).
•    Primitive restart (NV primitive restart). Because client enable/disable no longer exists in OpenGL 3.1, the PRIMITIVE RESTART state has become server state, unlike the Nvidia extension where it is client state. As a result, the numeric values assigned to PRIMITIVE RESTART and PRIMITIVE RESTART INDEX differ from the NV versions of those tokens.
•    At least 16 texture image units must be accessible to vertex shaders, in addition to the 16 already guaranteed to be accessible to fragment shaders.
•    Texture buffer objects (GL ARB texture buffer object).
•    Rectangular textures (GL ARB texture rectangle).
•    Uniform buffer objects (GL ARB uniform buffer object).
•    SNORM texture component formats.
•    RHEL 4.8 production support
•    Ubuntu 9.04 production support
•    Display rotation
•    Multiple display arrangement and desktop sizing

A-squared is a free tool which finds and deletes malware. It is specialized in finding worms, Trojans, dialers and spyware in order to remove them from your system. It is a useful addition to a real-time antivirus tool. It scans computer for malicious software (Malware), including Trojan Horses, Dialers, Worms, Spyware, and Adware. It is well know in finding and removing them securely. The disk scan checks all files on your system disks for Malware. The scanner scans for Spyware Traces. It knows about 20,000 Trojan horses and is absolutely free.

It is not just any scanners, but a combination of two world class products – the a-squared Anti-Spyware, and the Ikarus Anti-Virus engine. Latest tests approve that both are cutting edge in Malware detection.
No doubling of the scan duration as it would be the case with two separate scanning programs. Considerable performance improvement is possible thanks to the integration of the two engines on the lowest level.
Overview:

A-Squared Free 4 is one of the better free malware removers, but it’s not flawless and some users question its efficacy.

The program starts off with a sluggish detection file update that also requires a program restart. This took about 10 minutes. Normally, though, it opens to the Security Status page. From there, you can run scans, update the program, access the A-Squared knowledge base, and choose from among 20 display languages. Program options are arranged on the left nav, and they are Security Status, Scan PC, Quarantine, Logs, and Configuration tabs. Scan PC contains four scanning options: Quick, Smart, Deep, and Custom. Quick Scan is the fastest and most superficial, while the Deep Scan can take several hours.

If you choose a scan that examines your cookies, the app will recommend closing your Web browser. Custom not only lets you choose which folders to scan, but also lets you opt out of heuristic, tracking-cookie, and spyware-remnant scans. There is also a white list, from where you can add folders or files, which is accessible at the bottom of the main Scan tab panel. The Quarantine tab uses a spreadsheet-style layout to manage isolated files, and the Configuration tab has options for Context menu scans, Update behavior, and Permissions settings. The Quarantine tab has a neat option to rescan quarantined objects after a definition file update.

There’s one annoying design quirk: important options like the white list are placed in the bottom left of the active panel, making them accessible only by a text link. For a standalone anti-malware program that lacks a built-in scheduler and antivirus features, A-Squared Free 4 is a secure choice

Unlike other malware scanner products, a-squared Free was designed to run parallel with other antivirus and firewall software without troubles.

Features:

•    Log section speedup.
•    Plaintext password transmission on file submits changed to crypted.
•    Cookie scanner bug fixed.
•    Memory usage optimizations.
•    Introducing new header image with new icon style.
•    Bug with 4 updater retries fails fixed.
•    Engine and quarantine bug fixes.
•    Crash while adding objects to white list during scan fixed.

System requirements:

A-squared free runs on Windows XP, Vista, 7 as well as on 2003/2008 Servers in all 32 bit and 64 bit editions. During scan are approx. 100 MB free RAM required. We suggest to use it on computers with at least 512 MB RAM, best would be 1 GB RAM.

The basic introduction of Microsoft Surface is an endeavour on the part of the company to initiate “multi-touch and multi-user experience” that is bound to revolutionize the world of Information technology. Microsoft Surface can simply be described as a unique and amazing product which has no example before in the market. The most striking feature of Microsoft Surface is that it responds to natural hand-gestures and the real-world objects.  It is probably for the first time that multiple users are able to operate on the surface of one computer. All the users have the same options of work and they can collaborate on a number of combined work assignments. Leave aside your keypad and mouse now. Microsoft Surface Table enables you to use all features with screen touch. With the support of the latest technologies, the interface is helpful in responding every touch with incredible accuracy and perfection.

Microsoft Surface is also compatible with your mobile phones as well as cameras. You can easily download matter from all these devices without any problem. It is instantly done with the help of swift softwares installed on your Microsoft Surface Table. With these amazing and incredible features, the device proves to be the best companion in your work. It is equally helpful in maximizing the pleasure of your happy hours of entertainment. All the digital modes of entertainment are possible on Microsoft Surface Table. You can watch movies and can play games as well.

The benefits of Microsoft Surface with regards of business are immensely appreciated. It has an outstanding capability of making your communication easier and prompt. It can also run all the softwares thought to be necessary in the business world. What makes Microsoft Surface Table more desirable is that you never find it difficult to operate the different functions of the Table. A person with a limited knowledge of computer operations can run it without any difficulty. It is just like a table where many people can sit and collaborate on a combined project. Thus it proves to be the best solution to sharing and group effort.

Microsoft Surface Table has a wider screen that is 30 inches, enough to allow the working and participation of more than two users on it.  You enjoy a face-to-face meeting experience on Microsoft surface. The screen allows every users to utilize the features of the computer and they need not wait for their turn on it. Thus it offers a perfect collaborating experience. The amazing world of Microsoft Surface is quite extensive and has too many wonders for you. You can put different physical objects on the screen and get specific responses. This devise has complex working system and the recognition of different objects on the screen is done through the cameras and the infrared spectrum.

It has got so much possibilities you can stop thinking about getting more possibilities and start thinking about what you need all those things for.

Ares is a free open source file sharing program that enables users to share any digital file including images, audio, video, software, documents, etc. You may now easily publish your files through the Ares peer to peer network. As a member of the virtual community, you can search and download just about any file shared by other users. Latest versions support BitTorrent protocol and Shoutcast radio stations. With Ares you can also join chat rooms or host your channel and meet new friends.

Overview:

Ares, a successful P2P application that boasts of having its own decentralized network and a simple, quick access interface. The new version has a very sleek and dark interface, not unlike that of WMP 11. When you start Ares, it lets you auto scan your PC to find files you might like to share on the network. Beginners will be relieved to know that there is no complex configuration process involved. Once Ares is installed, all you need to do is select the search tab and type the name of the file you want to download. Once it appears, double click on it to begin downloading. You’ll be able to check its progress in the transfer tab. The recent update adds bittorrent support, opening Ares up to loads of new content.

Of all the P2P programs, Ares probably features the widest preview screen. You can set it to fit to screen or adjust it to your preference. This is a great way of making sure you’re downloading the right movie or to get a sneak peak at your downloads.

Unlike WinMX or FileNavigator, the two other spin-offs Gnutella projects, Ares did not drop into obscurity and unites a flourishing community of users. However, the same old problems usually seem to arise. According to many Ares users the application suffers from constant connectivity troubles making it difficult to properly search for a file or to successfully complete downloads. Others will worry that Ares is a much smaller network than the globally used Gnutella and does not offer quite as much download sources.

If you enjoy exchanging words with other users, click on the chat tab and connect to one of the thousands of channels available. You can pick up tips on how to use Ares better, ask which files other users recommend or just chit chat about your life in general. You can even insert emoticons into your conversation and keep a list of your favorite chat channels.

Features:

•    Fast multisource downloads: Ares automatically finds more sources and downloads files from many users at once. This can increase remarkably the speed of your downloads.
•    Powerful library organizer: Your shared files are organized into categories in a library section. You can sort your files by type, category and easily change your share settings. An handy quick-search feature locates your files by typing a keyword.
•    Built-in audio/video player: You can preview files while their download is in progress and organize a playlist made of your favourites. Ares supports mouse drag and drop operations, now you can add files or import playlists with just one click.
•    Filesharing chat rooms: You can host your chat room and join other available channels. Creating a chat channel has never been easier, now you can chat and meet new friends while you download files

Pros & Cons:

Pros:

•    Big preview screen
•    Built-in browser
•    Decentralized and quick network
•    Auto-scan your PC for files
Cons:

•    Connectivity problems
•    Fewer sources than Gnutella

OS requirements for Ares:

•    Win98/98SE/Me/2000/XP/7

First released in 2001, Windows XP is now somewhat of a dinosaur, yet because Vista never really caught on, it’s the OS that’s installed on most PCs. Microsoft made the Release Candidate (RC) of Windows 7, the newest version of the OS, available to download.

Why Upgrading from XP to Windows7?

If, like me, you stuck it out with XP and skipped Vista, you should consider upgrading. As Martin
Brinkmann at gHacks explains, Windows 7 greatly improves on XP in several key areas:

Speed and Performance: This is perhaps the most important reason for upgrading. Windows 7 beats XP in all performance benchmarks.

Security: Windows 7 will provide much better “out of the box” security than XP, while at the same time cutting down on the annoying UAC prompts that plague Vista.

Hardware Compatibility: While it should be possible to continue running XP for quite a while, some future devices might not support the older OS.

Design: Windows 7 features a much more contemporary design scheme, coupled with a huge range of customization options and themes.

Multitouch: There is also some brand-new functionality multitouch.

Hardware Requirements for Upgradation:

The requirements of Windows 7 are not much more onerous that those of Vista:

•    1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
•    1 GB of RAM
•    16 GB of disk space (or 20 GB for 64-bit users)
•    DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
•    For adding XP Mode (a virtualized copy of Windows XP that ensures full backwards-compatibility), It will need 2 GB of RAM, an additional 15 GB of disk space and a CPU that supports hardware visualization.

Upgradation Vs Clean Installation:

Some users do not know what to do when deciding to install a new operating system or setting it up is because they are only end-users. End-users work strictly with applications software. You would be surprise that most firms know the tricks to the technology trade of installing operating systems software, disk utilities programs, and controlling other programs to work in other ways. I learned how to install a clean installation of Windows on to a brand-new disk by the technician who services the brand computers like mine. It is a straight-forward process that requires no intermediate techniques to perform before running the software to complete a full operation. I like the idea of adding a clean installation of Windows 7 instead of wasting money on intermediate upgrade versions of a systems program. With a clean installation, the proper Microsoft Windows updates can be downloaded and utilities programs may be added without any software glitches. Do remember that not all computer users can use a screwdriver to work on computer hardware, and that other users can do nothing else besides word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation slide, information management and other office-related tasks. If in doubt, you can teach a computer operator how to set up a program like a technician.

Conclusion:

As the RC is not the final version of the OS, you won’t get much in the way of support from Microsoft, so if you’re not reasonably tech-savvy it would probably be better to wait until the full retail release (due out in October, if the rumor on Pocket-lint is correct). You’ll need to be able to burn an installation DVD from an ISO and be able to back up and restore the applications and data on your computer, because if you have XP you have to do a clean install of Windows 7. Microsoft has posted full installation instructions. The RC should be available to download through July, and you’ll have until March 1, 2010, to buy a full Windows 7 license.

Windows 7 is out and if either just installed it or bought a new PC running Windows 7, then here is some help for you to get the most from it. Look beyond the headlines about interface tweaks and Windows 7 is crammed with lesser known, but still important, new and enhanced features, which taken together deliver improved performance and productivity, better troubleshooting, stronger security and a whole lot more.

Windows 7 , Seven Tips:

1.    Burn images

Windows 7 finally introduces a feature that other operating systems have had for years – the ability to burn ISO images to CDs or DVDs. And it couldn’t be much easier to use. Just double-click the ISO image, choose the drive with the blank disc, click Burn and watch as your disc is created.

2. Troubleshoot problems

If some part of Windows 7 is behaving strangely, and you don’t know why, then click Control Panel > Find and fix problems (or ‘Troubleshooting’) to access the new troubleshooting packs. These are simple wizards that will resolve common problems, check your settings, and clean up your system and more.

3.    Calculate more :

At first glance the Windows 7 calculator looks just like Vista’s version, but explore the Mode menu and you’ll see powerful new Statistics and Programmer views. And if you’re clueless about bitwise manipulation, then try the Options menu instead. This offers many different unit conversions (length, weight, volume and more), date calculations (how many days between two dates?), and spreadsheet-type templates to help you calculate vehicle mileage, mortgage rates and more.

4.    Get a power efficiency report

If you have a laptop, you can use the efficiency calculator to get Windows 7 to generate loads of useful information about its power consumption. Used in the right way, this can help you make huge gains in terms of battery life and performance. To do this you must open a command prompt as an administrator by typing ‘cmd’ in Start Search, and when the cmd icon appears, right-click it and choose Run as administrator.
Then at the command line, just type in ‘powercfg -energy’ (without quotes) and hit Return, and Windows 7 will scan your system looking for ways to improve power efficiency. It will then publish the results in an HTML file, usually in the System32 folder. Just follow the path it gives you to find your report.

5.    Add network support

By default Windows Live MovieMaker won’t let you import files over a network, but a quick Registry tweak will change this. Run REGEDIT, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live\Movie Maker, add a DWORD value called AllowNetworkFiles and set it to 1 to add network support.

6.    Hiding the Windows Live Messenger icon

If you use Windows Live Messenger a lot, you’ll have noticed that the icon now resides on the taskbar, where you can easily change status and quickly send an IM to someone. If you prefer to keep Windows Live Messenger in the system tray, where it’s been for previous releases, just close Windows Live Messenger, edit the shortcut properties and set the application to run in Windows Vista compatibility mode.

7.    New WordPad formats

By default WordPad will save documents in Rich Text Format, just as before. But browse the Save As Format list and you’ll see you can also save (or open, actually) files in the Office 2007 .docx or OpenDocument .odt formats

VirtualBox comes in two editions. The full VirtualBox is free for personal use and evaluation, but doesn’t come with the complete source code. VirtualBox OSE (Open Source Edition), also free, does come with the source code and includes several enterprise-level features, such as an RDP (Remote Display Protocol) Server and USB support. (Other virtualization applications, like Xen, require tweaking before they’ll support USB.) Both versions can run Windows 7.

In general, user’ll need at least 1GB of RAM to run VirtualBox and a guest operating system. More RAM is always better. As per testing, it was found that Windows 7 would actually run on as little as 512MB, while Vista really needs at least 1GB of its own. VirtualBox should run on any recent CPU, but it does best with high-end processors that support hardware virtualization enhancements such as Intel’s VT-x and Advanced Micro Devices’ AMD-V.

Setting VirtualBox VM Environment for Windows 7:

Next step is to set up a new virtual machine for Windows 7. You do this by clicking the new button, which will then ask you how big a hard drive you want for the operating system. The default is to give it a 20GB virtual hard drive. With Windows 7, I decided to give it a more generous 40GB. You can also let VirtualBox dynamically determine how much hard drive room an operating system can have, but I prefer to decide for myself.
After this, you set up how much RAM and video memory Windows 7 can have. I prefer to give the operating system an ample 1GB of RAM and 128MB of video memory. You can get by with less, but you’ll start noticing system delays.

VirtualBox also lets you set up 3-D graphics acceleration and access optical discs, USB devices, shared drives and so on through its main interface. You can set this up after you have Windows 7 installed, but I prefer to get this basic configuration out of the way first.
Using Windows 7 with VirtualBox:

With this done, you’re ready to actually install Windows 7. You can either run the installation from a DVD or just load the Windows 7 ISO image file. Since I hate wasting time, I loaded the ISO. VirtualBox can load ISOs over both a network or from a local drive.
On both the Linux and Windows test systems, the Windows 7 installation was a snore. It took about half an hour, and the only thing I had to do was to set the proper time zone and enter the Windows 7 beta product key.

Once in place, I also loaded VirtualBox Guest Additions — an additional set of functions that includes mouse integration (so you can mouse over from Windows 7 to your host desktop and back again without needing to hit the right-hand control button) and the ability to run the VM as a full desktop. They only work with Linux and Windows guest operating systems. But in either case, they’re darn useful.

To install the Guest Additions (which downloads automatically with VirtualBox), you need to be running the VM and choose Devices –> Install Guest Additions from the VirtualBox main menu.

I found Windows 7 to run quite well as a VM under both MEPIS Linux and Windows XP SP3. As far as I’m concerned, the Windows 7 beta actually runs better than Vista SP1.

Conclusion:

User should be aware, though, of some fundamental differences between running an operating system in a VM and running it natively. The most common problem is the inability to use the higher performance features of graphics, audio or network cards. That’s because, like most virtualization software, VirtualBox provides the guest operating system with a virtual VESA-compatible graphics card, a virtual Intel ICH AC ‘97 audio and several virtual network cards. In short, your virtual Windows 7 can’t use your high-end graphics card or what-have-you because only the host system has access to it, not the guest operating system, which must use virtual drivers instead.

Still, unless you want to run a high-end game, you’re not going to notice these lacks. VirtualBox gives you everything most of you will need to decide for yourself whether Windows 7 will be worth your time.

As far as I’m concerned, Windows 7 and VirtualBox are a great combination.

You need not to be worried about internet browsing on iPad as it appeared in other devices of the same kind. With a large screen it is quite easy and do your work feeling ease that of a laptop. The wider screen is also helpful in enjoying movies on iPad. It really proves to be the best entertainment device which you can carry with you to different place during your journey. iPad uses the latest technology named as in-plane switching and thus makes it possible for you to watch videos and images on all angles. Moreover, with iPad you need not to move photos up and down. The images are displayed on iPad in portrait or landscape form.

The multi-touch screen of iPad is highly responsive in different operations. The technology behind multi-touch functions is completely re-engineered. The most-striking feature of iPad is its slim and smart size that makes it possible for the users to carry it anywhere they want. If you notice the multiple purposes and the facilities iPad offers you, you could hardly believe that it is so light weight. But it is!  It is only 1.5 pounds while it is 0.5 inch thin. Apple seems to be justified that iPad would usher in a revolution in the field of Information technology. The developers of iPad are even more emphatic about the device branding its appearance as the beginning of an era which will open up possibilities of numerous new devices in the market of the same nature.

Another striking feature of iPad is its battery timing that make makes it potentially working for you up to 10 hours. It is the fruit of untiring efforts of Apple engineers. They have utilized lithium-polymer batter technology to maximize your working hours on iPad. Now you are able to browse the internet, listen your favorite music and watch videos for a long time on iPad. It proves to be your real companion and never lets you feel bored. Just like your laptop, iPad has both the options for internet connection. It is equipped with Wi-Fi as well as 3G and keeps you always connected on the internet. Its built-in 802.11 n, accelerates the progress of Wi-Fi and immediately get connected with the internet.

The storage capacity on iPad is extensive enough and incomparable to other devices so small and light weight. There are three different types in this regard. You can choose iPad with 16GB, 32GB or 64 GB. It has enough room to keep your documents files and photos. You can attach camera, keyboard and the connection kit to iPad with the help of 30-pin connector. You may use also headphone with your iPad for listening music and watching videos. There are highly quality built-in speakers in iPad which provides a real fun time. iPad is available with a complete pack of accessories. There are iPad Dock, iPad camera Connection Kit and iPad Power Adapter within the pack. Apple iPad is the best product for those who love to buy handy and slim devices. iPad meets their demands in all respects.

Alt-Tab Replacement is a free Power Toy created by Microsoft that adds a live preview of the open windows to the Alt-Tab screen. Its Alt-Tab task switcher is a keyboard short-cut (hot-key) to enable fast switching between applications/windows. Alt-Tab Thingy is a replacement to add brand new features to help you switch tasks faster and more efficiently than ever before!

Overview:

Alt-Tab Thingy is a keyboard shortcut (hotkey) that enables fast switching between applications/ windows. This feature has been in Windows since Windows 3.0 and is largely unchanged since Windows ‘95. Alt-Tab Thingy is a replacement that adds brand new features to help you switch tasks faster and more efficiently than ever before.

This shortcut allows us to switch faster between applications/windows. It is working great and it’s useful enough for most of us however what happens if we need to open a lot of windows at one time? We will need to press the Alt+Tab key combination until we reach a particular window. This will become annoying when many windows are opened for the same application
This is where Alt-Tab Thingy, the windows xp, vista and 7 alt tab replacements comes in to action. Shortly, this application performs the same thing with the classic Alt+Tab key combination in Windows but it offers you a lot of features which makes it more powerful and useful.

Features:

•    Use the cursor keys to make your selection
•    Use the mouse & mouse-wheel as well as the keyboard
•    System tray icon
•    Drag and Resize windows by clicking anywhere on the window
•    Window preview
•    Can be disabled (handy for games players)
•    Settings window for enabling/disabling features
•    Informative tool tips
•    Ghost windows!
•    Auto Off feature (user controlled variable timer)
•    Allows minimizing of windows to the system tray
•    Monitors windows for change of caption/z-order/dead tray icons etc…
•    Display resolution selector – easily change your desktop resolution in 1 click.
•    Icon/List view
•    Variable preview size
•    Mouse wheel support
•    Automatically minimizes or closes Explorer windows
•    Blacklist feature removes apps from the task preview (right-click on them to enable)
•    Access ATT with an alternate “Alt+Key” combination, without altering the standard Windows Alt-Tab function (use both at the same time!)
•    Taskbar Previews – When you hover the mouse over a taskbar, you will see previews for open windows above the taskbar

What’s new in Current Release?

•    Now works with all versions of XP & Vista.
•    Dragging and resizing has been amended. The ALT key has been replaced with the CONTROL key. This is to avoid conflicts when using the ALT key with the task list. Also the user must now Double-Click the mouse (holding the 2nd click).
•    Mouse wheel integration: Move the scrollbar with the mouse wheel. Clicking the wheel (middle mouse button) toggles between moving the scrollbar and the highlighted selection.
•    Right-click menu: Sort the task list into different orders: Z-order, Alphabetical, Description, or Window Size. The taskbar and start menu can also be accessed from here. Handy if you’re the sort of user that has the taskbar on auto hide and beneath other windows.
•    Holding the SHIFT key whilst selecting a resizable window (e.g. explorer) toggles between normal and maximized views.
•    The preview pane can now be either to the left (default) or to the right of the task list.
•    Clicking the Alt-Tab Thingy™ icon will now open the task list (if there are no tasks running, the settings applet appears). If the Settings applet is already open, clicking the short-cut icon, or clicking Settings on one of the menus will cause it to re-appear.

AIMP is a powerful audio player that allows you to listen to your favorite music with an outstanding sound quality. Its appearance resembles that of another classical audio player, so you’ll get used to it very quickly. It can also be customized with skins. The program includes a 18-band equalizer, a visualization window to display rhythmic visual effects and a play list editor to organize your audio files. A nice fading effect makes your list of songs look like an endless music loop and a handy volume normalizing feature avoids drastic volume changes between tracks. Also, the player’s main functions can be conveniently controlled by global hotkeys. Besides playing music, AIMP features three extra utilities which also enable you to record any sound on your computer, convert audio files from one format to another and view or edit tags. AIMP is based on the well-known audio engine BASS, so it’s easy to connect new plug-ins and expand the player’s functionality.

Overview:

Program AIMP is a multifunctional audio center. With its built-in utilities, user can easily recode music from one format to another, record audio from a microphone or other audio device, edit tags of music files, as well as group to rename or sort them. AIMP based on the well-known audio engine BASS and also user can easily connect the plug-ins from this library to AIMP.
Crystal-clear sound, technology of reproduction essentially differs from Winamp and WMP. It has Sensitive equalizer, A maximum of functionality from a minimum of resources, Multilingual support, Support of set of formats of audio, Adjustment of global and local hot keys (patterns from WinAmp and WMP), Flexible options of the program and various covers will allow you to make A.I.M.P. completely individual, Support of plug-ins with which help it is possible to expand opportunities of the program, the audioconverter codes music from the most different formats in wma, mp3, wav,  its AudioGrab allows to overtake Audio CD in Mp3, OGG, WAV or WM, The sound recording will allow  to write down a sound from any audio of the device in system, The built – in editor of tags, support WMA, MP3, OGG, An opportunity of record Audio CD, MP3-disks and disks with given.

Features in AIMP 2.60.505 RC1:

•    Audio formats supported: MP1, MP2, MP3, MPC, MP+, AAC, AC3, OGG, FLAC, APE, WavPack, Speex, WAV, CDA, WMA, S3M, XM, MOD, IT, MO3, MTM, UMX
•    Good functionality and friendly user interface
•    18-sliders equalizer and build-in sound effects: Reverb, Flanger, Chorus, Pitch, Tempo, Echo, Speed
•    32-bit sound processing: for crystal clear sound
•    Works with few playlists: Listen one, work with other
•    Plug-Ins support: You can add new urls or extend already exists, and connect some winamp plugins: Input, Gen, DSP
•    Auto shutdown manager
•    Internet-Radio: Listen and Capture!
•    Bookmarks and Queues
•    Hotkeys: Customizable local and global hotkeys
•    Multilingual interface
•    Multi-user mode support: Few users work under one computer? It’s no problem!
•    Full Unicode support
•    File search: File search by all opened playlists
•    Many program options & Small distributive size
•    Audio Converter: Any supported audio file can be encoded to WAV, MP3, WMA or OGG format
•    Audio Grabber: Audio CD Track can be encoded to WAV, MP3, WMA or OGG format
•    Sound Recorder: Capture sound from any audio device in your system to mp3, ogg, wav or wma format
•    Advanced Tag Editor: Edit ID3v1, ID3v2, Vorbis, WMA tags. Grouping rename, Group editing and sort files by one of templates.
•    Audio Library

System Requirements:

•    Requirements: Windows XP/2003/Vista/XP64/Vista64
•    License: Freeware