iCopy is a free and open source software that lets you combine your scanner and printer into a powerful, yet easy to use photocopier by only pressing a button. It let you tweak scanner and printer options (eg. brightness, contrast, number of copies) in a simple interface in just a couple of seconds in a small and no-installation-required application.

Features

System requirements

Download from here.

I lots of files in my hard drive and i burn out gigabytes of data every month to keep my already overcapacitied hard disk from blowing. This translates into hundreds of CDs/DVDs. One thing I’ve noticed is that there is only so much space on the disk label to write down what files are contained within and I hate searching through CDs/DVDs and popping each one in to search for a particular file (despite my best efforts of labelling).

If you are having the same difficulties to locate a file in a CD/DVD and placing then removing a CD/DVD from your CD/DVD Drive a couple of time before you finally found what you’re looking for then Visual CD is the fast and easy way to help you out. What Visual CD does is to help you manage your CD/DVD collection by indexing/cataloguing your CDs/DVDs. You can also catalogue floppy disk (if you happen to still use them), hard disks (thought I think Google desktop should be your default search tool). You can then either search or explore the disk catalogs, searching for files and folders without actually having the physical disks in the drive. It has an intiutive explorer-like interface.

Visual CD is freeware. Download from here

A widescreen LCD is excellent for watching widescreen format media such as TV series, movies, application development IDEs, but the same doesn’t apply to browsing the web.

Due to the plethora of cross-browser issues, many web designers/developers have resorted to restricting the width of web pages to 800 pixels which is somewhat the minimum resolution which most users displays has been set to. As such, opening these web pages end up with a lot of blank wasted space on the left and right of the content on widescreen LCDs.

One way of getting around this is to have 2 browsers open side by side like this:

To get to that state, you would have to resize each window to fit half of the screen besides positioning it. Fortunately, there is an add-on (extension) called Split Browser which enables a single Firefox window to be split up to house multiple tabs. Screenshot of it in action:

Instead of 2 separate Firefox windows, they’re both tabs within one.

Opera users would probably be pointing out that this capability is already built into the standard Opera browser, but I guess this entry is targeted towards Firefox users who would like to have this ‘feature’ without having to switch to another browser. ;)

Open up a command prompt:

1. Start | Run | type cmd | Enter
2. Type netstat -aon | findstr “[port number]“
3. Take note of the numbers on the last line. This is the PID or Process ID.
4. Type tasklist | findstr “[PID]“ and this will return the application corresponding to that PID.
5. Once PID is determined, you can now kill it in Task Manager or kill it typing tskill at the command prompt.

For example:

1. I type netstat -aon | findstr “8080″ at command prompt (I’m on a proxy by the way)
2. I see that the PID is 3624
3. I type tasklist | findstr “3624″ to find what PID 3624 is and it points to msnmsgr.exe which is MSN/Live Messenger.
4. I can now kill MSN Messenger from Task Manager or type tskill 3624

Unfortunately, I absolutely loathe iTunes (slow and clunky) and am already perfectly happy with foobar2000 as my music player. Thankfully, I’m not the only one with that mindset..

One software which I’ve been using for quite awhile now instead of iTunes is called YamiPod. An acronym for ‘Yet another iPod manager’, it is a freeware application with versions for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It does not require any installation and basically runs straight after extracting it to a location of your choice.

For the first start of YamiPod, you would be prompted to select the type of iPod you have (and/or the generation). This would only have to be done once and it would remember the next time you connect your iPod. Once that’s sorted out, you would be presented with a simple interface which supports drag and drop from Explorer/My Computer (for Windows). Screenshots of it can be found here.

A list of other iPod managers can be found here. I have yet to try any others, so if you have tried another which you think is much better, feel free to let us know. :)

And for those of you who think iTunes is the best music player, do try out foobar2000. It’s highly customisable, extensible and not bloated with crap. You can check out the configuration I’m using here.

Here’s a dummy tutorial to show you how to configure VNC under a LAN environment. We’ll call the PC you wish to be remote controlled as “PC A” and the “remote controller” as “PC B”

1. Download TightVNC (TightVNC is used in this example, but there are other choices like UltraVNC and RealVNC as well)
2. Install it in both PCs (straight-forward “next-till-the-end” installation)
3. In PC A, open “Launch TightVNC Server” (under TightVNC group in Start Menu). If there’s any Firewall alert, just unblock it. Some antivirus software may detect it as virus, if that’s the case, just ignore it.
4. Then configure a password for it.

   

5. You need to know the IP address/host name of PC A. If you’re not already know, please execute “cmd” under Start->Run and type ipconfig. For the screenshot below, the IP address is 192.168.1.4

   

6. Go to PC B, open “VNC Viewer” (Fast or best compression) under TightVNC group in Start Menu. Enter the IP address and click “OK”.

   

7. You’ll be prompted for password. Just enter the password you set in PC A just now and here it goes – you’re controlling PC A from PC B!

   

Instead of controlling the PC under a LAN environment, you can also control your home PC from office by using VNC too, using the Internet. In that case you may need to explore Portforwarding and dyndns/no-ip. There are more settings from the server side that you can play around, all you need is just the time to try it.

Clueless about what was the real culprit, I did a google and finally came across a program called “ProcessExplorer“. This useful utility is similar to the good old “Windows Task Manager” but it has some extra goodies that allow me to drill down to another level to see what programs are making use of the generic system processes like explorer.exe and svchost.exe, and even to kill it on the spot. This actually helped me to identify the culprit – Automatic Update was the service that took away all my CPU resource and I’ve eventually set it to “Manual”.

Other than that, there are plenty unique capabilities of ProcessExplorer for handling leaks, troubleshooting, and provide more insight into the way Windows and applications work. What’s more, the installation of ProcessExplorer is effortless (it doesn’t need installation at all, to be precise), and it also supports the latest Windows Vista.

ProcessExplorer can be downloaded here, and for your reference, please checkout the screenshot above for comparison between conventional Task Manager and ProcessExplorer.

While this review is obviously not as complete or professional as other articles that you could find elsewhere, it gives you my very own and neutral opinions on this Microsoft’s flagship product.

Introduction

Windows Vista is the first major OS product from Microsoft since the release of Windows XP, more than 5 years ago. During this period, OSes like MacOS X and some Linux distros have been released and offering much more than what Windows XP is capable of, and because of this, the release of Windows Vista is often being considered “over-hyped”. However, the hype given to Windows Vista is understandable, as Microsoft is still the biggest software company in the planet, and Windows is still the most popular operating system around.

In this article, I’ll concentrate on the improvements compare to its predecessor (Windows XP), rather than comparing it with other OSes such as Linux or MacOS X. It will also not cover each and every aspect of the OS, but only the functions that deserve a mention IMO.

My Windows Vista is being tested with the rig specified here

User Interface

With the introduction of new stuff like Aero, Flip 3D, higher resolution icons, Windows Gadgets (to be further discussed) etc, Windows Vista is indeed an eye candy. Whether or not Windows is copying the idea from other OS (you know it), doesn’t appear to be a problem to me (who cares?) The most important thing is, those functions are eye-pleasing as well as practical.

Anyway, the eye-catching user interface comes with a hefty price (literally), it requires relatively higher hardware requirements. To check whether your system is ready for Windows Vista, you can download the upgrade advisor here. With a low-end graphic card like Nvidia GeForce 7300GS, it only gives me a 3.7 experience index in “Graphics”, however, I’m still able to run Aero smoothly.

For those who are complaining the hardware requirements are too overly high, or Windows Vista is taking up their system resources especially their precious RAM, you always have the option to disable Aero or Flip3D, it’s not like you have no choice. To enjoy the bells and whistles, you must pay for the price, simple as that.

Windows Sidebar Gadgets

Despite the claim that this is a rip off from MacOS X, it is probably a good news for Windows-based Desk modders, since they don’t have to use third party software from Stardock anymore, as it has been integrated into Windows itself.

Windows Gadgets are basically small applications that can be attached to the sidebar, like RSS feeds, calculator, calendar, CPU meter, weather and whatnots.

I personally think this is a great and definitely a nice to have function for users with good system spec (high RAM, to be precise). It’s not only just visually appealing, but some of the gadgets like calendar and clock are also practical to be used.

What’s more, you can always download extra gadgets from the Internet for free, and the installation of gadget is nothing but just a mouse click. This gives users some kind of flexibility.

Security

With the widespread of Internet access, security has become a major concern not only to business users, but also to home users. Microsoft has definitely learned the lessons in WinXP and IE6, and has substantially improved its security in Windows Vista by offering Windows Defender, IE7, a proper Firewall, Bitlocker* and Encryting File system* (in Business and Ultimate version only). However, unlike Microsoft’s previous plan, no Antivirus is bundled with the OS, meaning to say, you’ll still have to look for a third party antivirus elsewhere.

While Microsoft’s effort in improving security is much appreciated, they might have overdone it. By default, Windows is asking the user for confirmation each and every time an executable file is being executed. I understand that this function is good for inexperienced users as well as preventing EXE files from being executed automatically, it does not change the fact that most of the experienced users find it extremely annoying. Anyway, this can be easily gotten rid of, by turning off the UAC (even though Windows Vista doesn’t recommend it)

Compatiblity

The main reason why I go for 32-bit is that, it really takes a long long time for 64-bit to get common. But still, due to the fact that Windows Vista is a new OS, and compatibility issues is inevitable.

Anyway, most of the things work well, I’ve managed to install these applications without any problem (all are latest version to date):

7-Zip, K-lite Mega Codec pack, Paint.NET, Avast!, CCleaner, Flashget, Firefox, OpenOffice, Skype

However, I was facing some problems with my D-link USB Wireless adapter, and the onboard soundcard. It took me a really long time to get those issues resolved (you know, those minor issues).

And also, while there are wide range of free antivirus to choose from, Avast! is probably the only free antivirus that works well in Vista as of now.

What we can do is really just wait, as I’m pretty sure that applications and drivers in near future will definitely cater of Windows Vista.

For the full list of applications/games compatibility, please read here.

Stability

Despite Microsoft’s claim that Windows Vista is the most tested software ever from the software firm, the stability of the system has not yet been convincing. I’ve encountered several situations whereby applications stopped responding, and needed to close.

For example, when I’m configuring my mic with WLM and configuring speech recognition at the same time, the system will hang and I’ll have to end the task by going to task manager. I’m also encountering stability problem with VMWare player that I’ve chosen to uninstall it.

While Windows Vista is working fine most of the time, what I’m trying to say is, stability is really something that Microsoft needs to improve and I hope hotfixes will be released ASAP to solve all these.

Windows Search

Yet another major improvements in Windows Vista is definitely its search function. While it probably takes you 10 minutes just to search a file, you can do it instantly in Windows Vista (a.k.a search as you type).

While this function has been offered by other third party software like Google Desktop search, it’s always good to have it integrated in the OS instead.

Windows Anytime Upgrade

Purchased Home Basic edition, but find out that you REALLY need the functions offered by Ultimate edition?

Rest assured, while not denying that it is a marketing strategy from Microsoft, Windows Anytime Upgrade provides you the flexibility of upgrading your current OS to a more powerful version, without having to buy the full version again, and without having to re-install the whole OS.

Just for your information, this function is not available to Malaysian users yet, as of today. But I’m considering upgrading it to Windows Vista Ultimate whenever it is available.

Untested features

Readyboost, Readydrive, Superfetch etc. Feature like Readyboost is pretty hard to test as it requires a really big USB drive and the difference might be too small for me to notice especially when I’m having 2GB of RAM. However, I might post separate articles regarding these features in future if I’ve found a proper way to test them.

EDIT: Added an article about Windows Vista Speech Recognition here

My Final Say

Some of you might be thinking, I’ve just got my OEM Vista yesterday and it only takes a day for me to fully review it? It must be kidding! For your info, I’ve been testing Vista since the Beta stage, and it took me a whole night to explore the improvements in the final build.

My verdict is, Windows Vista is a much better version if compare to Windows XP, however, considering the rather long development and testing duration, Microsoft could have definitely done much better than this. But anyway, the first service pack is scheduled to be released this year itself, and I’d expect it to be more robust and stable OS by then.

If you insist me to rate it, I’d give a 7.5/10 for now :-)

1. IKEA Planning Tools
IKEA Planner Tools is IKEA’s field marketing tool that enables you to become your own interior designer. It seems to be the same application available at the stores on public terminals used by shoppers. Simple to install and quite intuitive with a drag-and-drop-from-list interface that details the furniture models offerings at IKEA. You’d be able to choose furniture to fit the exact measurements of the rooms in your home and experiment with different combinations and style by swap things around until you’re satisfied with the result. A much more high tech method to would-be home planners than the usual cutting out papers in furniture shapes and moving it around the room, visualizing how thing would look like. The downside? There are 4 different tools for 4 different parts of your home – kitchen, office, bathroom and bedroom – so if you’re remaking your whole house you’re suppose to download all four and install all four respectively.

download from here.

2. BoConcept’s Furnish
If you’re not keen on IKEA furniture or their interior design software then maybe you could give Furnish from BoConcept a try. In the same vein as IKEA’s Planner Tools, Furnish is an interior decorating software which lets you plan the perfect interior for your home. Furnish is much more customizable than IKEA’s Planner Tools allowing you to give color to your walls, ceiling, etc. Furnish also gives you more control by letting you create pieces of virtual furniture with whatever fronts, arm rests, leg designs or veneer types you like. Simply enter the dimensions of your room and start drawing or select from pre-existing furniture i assume belongs to the models offered at BoDesign.

Download from here.

3. Michael Lachmann MLCAD
Not into interior design? Well you could try MLCAD which is an acronym for Mike’s LEGO Computer Aided Design. Written by Michael Lachmann it’s an easy to use virtual modeling program aimed at LEGO enthusiast specifically for use with LEGO parts. MLCad uses the LDraw official parts libary of virtual bricks and/or the tools like LDView or LPub which are bricks currently under developement to enable you to build almost any LEGO model virtually with an unlimited amount of bricks.

Here is a quick tutorial to get you started and downloadable from here. Libarary files are from here. Extract and dump into the same directory.

Installation
At just 2042KB, it can be downloaded within a minute, and the installation process would just take probably another minute. Nothing much to discuss about in this area.

Options/configurations
Usually, before starting with the core functions of the application, I would start it with the options/settings first. Flexibility is the thing I like about Rainlendar. There are a lot of stuffs that you can play around with.You can have the option to choose whether you want the week to start on Monday or Sunday (or whatever day you want), you can lock the panel in place, you can skin your Rainlendar, and there are plenty of advanced options for you to explore in case you’re a power user.

Core features
Compare to the previous versions, there are really A LOT of improvements in term of event handling and also the To-do list.For example, instead of just a simple To-do list, you can now set the due date, location and change the progress of the particular task, there’s a little icon beside the task to tell you about the category. On top of that, you can also categorize your To-do list by status, due date or task category.

To put it simple, I’m really impressed with the new functions that help forgetful ass like me to make my life more organized :)

Rainlendar Lite vs Rainlendar Pro?
If you want me to pick some bad points of Rainlendar, probably this is the only point I can think of (at least for now). Rainlendar used to be free. But now there are Rainlendar Lite (free) and Rainlendar Pro that offers two extra functions (Network Shared calendar and Outlook support) at EUR15.

However, I think it’s reasonable one, as most of the users don’t need the two functions, and in case they need it, it comes with a fee :)

Conclusion
As a conclusion, Rainlendar is a pretty decent and light application that’s going to make your life hell a lot more systematic. If you haven’t tried it, it’s definitely worth a try.