# Cool freebie programs... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 10, 2004, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142 "2004-08-10T02:44:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/21 "2004-08-11T00:38:24Z")
I discovered Celestia through an earlier SDMB thread like this one. Verily it doth rock. If you have a geeky bone in your body, download it now. You can get amazing high-resolution maps of the Earth for it too, well worth checking out. I also second the recommendation to Win 9x/ME users to get FreeRAM XP. In my experience it can dramatically improve system stability, if you have to use those OSes. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/22 "2004-08-11T01:33:07Z")
Well, nobody mentioned one of my favorites: [ImageConverter Plus](http://www.imageconverterplus.com/). It makes managing images on disk so much easier because it puts a small preview pane in the rightclick menu of Windows Explorer… rightclick on a graphics file and get a preview. And if that’s not handy enough, you can then select “Copy to Clipboard” right there, and then go paste the image in Photoshop or Powerpoint or whatever. It’s one of those things you take for granted and then can’t live without once you get used to it… ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/23 "2004-08-11T03:42:31Z")
[Zoom Player!!](http://www.download.com/redir?pid=10263606&merid=null&mfgid=null<ype=dl_dlnow&lop=link&edId=3&siteId=4&oId=3000-2139-10263606&ontId=2139&destUrl=%2F3001-2139-10263606.html) I LOVE this. I have it set up as the default for all video files but QuickTime and RealPlayer. You can set it to jump five seconds for every roll of your mouse wheel (one rolling clicking sound jumps 5 sec.) It can keep the list of files you’ve been watching, and will automatically remove them from the list upon boot up if they have been deleted. I like this one enough that I donated to the author. The author maintains a help message board and is active in helping people out. [Mihov’s Image Resizer](http://www.imageresizer.com/) I love this one too. I sent this guy $10. It can batch convert between different image formats, or batch convert a bunch of pictures to a certain size. No need to go back and forth 20 times to get all the pictures to a size suitable for the computer screen. Have your original high quality ones and the ones for online publishing. Then there’s iTunes, but if you don’t know about that, you’re not reading this thread. I second Audacity. It can cut and paste audio files and resave them in different qualities. ---
**Author:** ![hightechburrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@hightechburrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hightechburrito)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/24 "2004-08-11T05:36:54Z")
Almost forgot about this one, its a set of programs that allow you to stich together photographs into panoramas. It’s a little tough to get started, but after a bit of playing around with it, it seems super easy, and it works really well. [http://www.path.unimelb.edu.au/~dersch/](http://www.path.unimelb.edu.au/~dersch/) ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/25 "2004-08-11T12:59:55Z")
> [@](#): > > There is also an AdBlock Extension available, though I have not tried either. Just installed it, and it rocks. I can turn off just about any ad including the large flash ads on CNN and other sites. Also, I blocked the giant yellow SDMB logo at the top of this page so people who come into my office don’t (at a glance) get the wrong impression. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/26 "2004-08-11T13:32:04Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > [Zoom Player!!](http://www.download.com/redir?pid=10263606&merid=null&mfgid=null<ype=dl_dlnow&lop=link&edId=3&siteId=4&oId=3000-2139-10263606&ontId=2139&destUrl=%2F3001-2139-10263606.html) Seconded. Great program. So configurable it’s rather frightening. I have, however, been using [Media Player Classic](http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/) more these days. It’s another extremely light-weight swiss army knife style media player program. Handles everything I’ve thrown at it (dvd’s, all sorts of mpeg’s and avi’s, sound files, Quicktime), except for Realplayer, which nobody really uses anymore anyway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/27 "2004-08-11T14:47:25Z")
For open-source software fans w/ broadband connections, definitely check out [OpenCD.org.](http://theopencd.sunsite.dk/) which has downloadable CD ISOs of numerous free and open applications, several of which have already been mentioned in this thread. It’s far more convenient to have them all on one CD with a handy XML style front-end for easy installation. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/28 "2004-08-12T08:16:09Z")
This is so good it needs bumping. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/29 "2004-08-12T13:57:45Z")
I actually tried out Rainlender at work because of this thread. Filled a void that I didn’t even think needed filled. Very, very handy. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/30 "2004-08-12T15:48:27Z")
What a cool thread! I’ve downloaded Objectdock and a couple things from Karenware…looking forward to trying them out. 🙂 One I nearly forgot: [TransText](http://www.realityrift.com/applications/transtext/). If you are running a Windows OS that doesn’t give your desktop icons a transparent background (which I think is all of them except XP), this nifty little shell extension does the trick: it lets you set the background and text color of your icons. I have XP at home but Win2K at work, and TransText is installed on both my desktop and laptop computers. It’s a little thing, but makes my desktop look so much nicer! (Of course, if I wind up liking Objectdock, TransText may become OBE… 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/31 "2004-08-12T15:51:00Z")
How do you make icons transparent in XP? ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/32 "2004-08-13T01:36:20Z")
> [@Johnny Bravo](#): > > How do you make icons transparent in XP? Um, they just _are_. Not the icons themselves, mind you, but their backgrounds. (As opposed to those ugly rectangles that show up behind them on other versions of Windows.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/33 "2004-08-13T02:13:34Z")
Oh, drat. I thought there was a way to make the actual icons transparent. That would rock. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/34 "2004-08-13T02:55:44Z")
I’ve just discovered the joys of Scilab. Wowee! ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/35 "2004-08-13T13:45:01Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > Well, nobody mentioned one of my favorites: [ImageConverter Plus](http://www.imageconverterplus.com/). It makes managing images on disk so much easier because it puts a small preview pane in the rightclick menu of Windows Explorer… rightclick on a graphics file and get a preview. > > And if that’s not handy enough, you can then select “Copy to Clipboard” right there, and then go paste the image in Photoshop or Powerpoint or whatever. > > It’s one of those things you take for granted and then can’t live without once you get used to it… Call me dumb, but this is another program I dont’ see the point of, at least, not for the functions you described. In Win XP, you can set it up so that when you click on a picture, a preview comes up in the left hand side of the explorer window. And copying to the clipboard? Well, if I’m gonna open it for editing, or put it into another picture, then I’m gonna have to open my picture software anyways, and really, an extra ten seconds to open that picture and copy it isn’t that big of a hassle for me. But if you like it, then by all means keep using it, I just know that I wouldn’t get much use out of it, especially since I don’t do a lot of picture editing. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/36 "2004-08-13T16:04:22Z")
A few thoughts on ObjectDock (FWIW, IMHO, etc.): I installed it on my dekstop computer at work yesterday, but I have too many icons for it to be effective. It winds up having the same function as the Quick Launch toolbar, but takes up more room. It’s definitely cool-looking, and more customizeable than I expected, just not right for my desk. I might try it on my laptop, though, where I have far fewer icons…and where the Mac users at work are more likely to see it and go “whaaaa…??” 😉 Currently I have it installed and working at home, where I also have far fewer desktop icons than at work. I’m not going to delete my My Computer, My Network Places, or Recycle Bin icons, though, so I can’t get a completely clean desktop. Still, it’s cleaner than it was, and I set my taskbar to ‘autohide’ so that I can still access my Start button but I don’t see the redundant taskbar the rest of the time. I like the weather docklet, too. I plan to keep using it at home for a while, and see what I think after a week or so. Basically, my opinion is that it is fun to play with and kind of cool-looking, but it doesn’t make life easier or anything. It was free, though, so I ain’t complaining. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/37 "2004-08-13T19:18:19Z")
Sequoiaview does an incredible tree map of your hard drive. We use it on our network drives at work and it can parse out a TB visually very nicely. ---
**Author:** ![CloudClever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@CloudClever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CloudClever)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/38 "2004-08-13T19:50:11Z")
I like this free program, it’s small and does a good job. [link](http://atnotes.fr.st/) Curse my Dial up internet, I have a couple of these programs DLing, and it’s going to take another couple of hours to finish ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/39 "2004-08-13T21:32:24Z")
Wow, I’m totally diggin’ ATnotes! 🙂 I’ve seen co-workers with similar apps, but they’re always running Solaris or Linux or something…I’d been wanting something like this for Windows. So simple, yet so useful. Thanks, **CloudClever**! ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142/40 "2004-08-13T22:24:00Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > I discovered Celestia through an earlier SDMB thread like this one. Verily it doth rock. If you have a geeky bone in your body, download it now. You can get amazing high-resolution maps of the Earth for it too, well worth checking out. **Usram** , I tried to email you but you’re not allowing emails. Can you tell me where to get these high-res maps of Earth? I’ve trolled around their site for a while now and still don’t see anything for it. This program is awesome. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-freebie-programs/259142.md?page=3)