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9 free tools that make Windows much better
karamihan sa atin dito ay mga windows user at alam kong halos lahat na tayo ay familiar na sa mga softwares na bundled na kasama sa windows installation natin...alam nyo bang meron mga free na mga softwares na pwedeng gamitin sa windows para mas maganda ang paggamit nyo dito...tingnan nyo ang list sa ibaba...
by Alex Castle, PCWorld
Windows is packed to the rafters with features, many of them great-and others, just meh. Luckily, there are free alternatives that are more powerful, more efficient, and take only minutes to install. Read on, and well show you 9 built-in features of Windows that arent up to snuff, and the free software you can use to replace them.
Search
The search functionality in Windows 8 is fast and well-integrated with the new Start Screen. Still, the Start Screen search isnt perfect: It cant find files that arent executables or documents. If you want to search through every file on your system, you have to use the excruciatingly slow File Explorer search. Or, you can use Everything.
You type and Everything finds what youre looking for, narrowing down the results letter by letter like a faster, local Google Instant Search.
"Everything" is an indexed search utility that lets you search through every single file on your system, practically instantly. Just type a file name, and before youre done youll see what youre looking for. Yes, it really is that fast. For even faster access, pin it to your toolbar.
File Transfer
Its ironic that one of the simplest things you do in Windows can be one of the most frustrating. File transfers have gotten better in recent versions of Windows, but they can still take a long time, and faulty transfers are a great way to ruin your afternoon (especially if your afternoon consists of shuffling numerous files around).
eracopy makes shuffling large batches of files an absolute breeze.
Particularly in Windows 7 or earlier, you should immediately update your system with TeraCopy, a free utility that speeds up file moves substantially and protects you from failed transfers-itll skip over a file that generates an error, rather than sending the entire transfer grinding to a halt. It also allows you to pause and resume transfers at any time, and even better, it integrates directly with Windows Explorer, so once its installed you can just drag and drop files like usual but with the full benefits TeraCopy provides.
Screenshots
In Windows 8 you can take a screenshot by pressing Win-PrtScn, but to take a whole bunch at once, you should get a dedicated screenshot app.
Greenshot gives you granular, customizable controls for quick and "just-right" screenshot taking.
There are more contenders than youd expect, but we recommend Greenshot. It lets you bind hotkeys to all sorts of screenshot commands (capture the whole screen, just a window, and just a region, for instance), and specify what will happen with those screenshots. You can automatically open a Save As dialogue, open the screenshots in a lightweight image editor, or save them directly to your hard drive using a naming scheme of your choice.
Process manager
The Windows process manager, which pops up when you hit Ctrl-Esc-Shift or open the "Processes" tab in the Windows task manager, shows you which programs and processes are running and how much system resources they are using. For the most part, Windows built-in process manager works fine, and it was substantially improved in Windows 8, but sometimes you need a little more.
Process Explorer is a task manager for power users.
For that, theres Process Explorer, an advanced tool offered by Microsoft itself for digging deeper into your active processes.
Process Explorer groups processes into a convenient tree structure, so that its easy to see your web browsers 30 processes-for example-all in a single place. Process Explorer also color-codes processes, so you can tell at a glance which ones are your programs and which are background system processes. It also can connect to the Internet to help you identify mysterious processes that are bogging down your computer. Check out our full Process Explorer review for a lengthier explanation of the tools wondrously granular capabilities.
Notepad
As a plain-text editor, Notepads the sort of program that its hard to imagine upgrading. After all, isnt simplicity the point with Notepad? If you wanted more, wouldnt you just switch to Word or (heaven forbid) Wordpad? Not quite.
Notepad++s numbered lines is a huge improvement in and of itself if youre a programmer.
Notepad++ is a free plain-text editor that keeps the simplicity of Notepad but adds a bunch of useful new features. In particular, Notepad++ offers a nicely customizable user interface that lets you edit multiple files at once and even includes spell-check. Some features are designed specifically for programmers, but even if you never touch those, youll appreciate the upgrade.
Decompression
Sometimes you want something a little more exotic than a standard, compressed .zip file. RAR is the second-most common archive format, with a number of advantages, but Windows cant open .rar files by default. To do that, youll need a better archive program-one like 7Zip.
Rooting around a RAR with 7Zip.
7Zip is a free utility that can open .zip, .rar, and virtually any other archive file format. You cant use it to create RAR files (for that, youd need the for-pay WinRAR), but you can create .zip and .7z files, which offer the best compression of any archive type. If you want to compress tons of big files and save as much space as possible, 7zip is a necessity.
Media Player
Media playback can be a real quagmire. Between all the various file extensions and codecs, you can never really be sure what youll need to play any particular file. The only thing you can predict with certainty is that Windows Media Player probably isnt going to do the job.
VLC can play pretty much any media file you want to throw at it.
To take the guesswork out of media playback, get VLC. VLC is a compact media-player application that will open and play pretty much any media file under the sun. With VLC, you can even play DVDs directly from your DVD drive-a feature that was removed from Windows Media Player in Windows 8. If you care to dig even deeper, VLC is chock-full of deep features and intriguing tricks, which you can discover in PCWorlds guide to mastering the media player.
Paint
Opening up Microsoft Paint is a bit like looking into the past. Its been included in every version of Windows since version 1.0 in 1985, and it hasnt changed much in that time. If you need any sort of image-editing power at all, download a replacement, stat.
Paint.NET is simple and powerful, a rare combination in free software.
For most users, the free Paint.NET is a stellar choice. Its got all the features you expect to see in a modern image editor, like layers, filters and a history pane, all wrapped up in a nice, tidy, UI. If youre looking for more advanced photo editing options, GIMP is also free, and incredibly powerful, though the complex interface isnt quite as user-friendly as Paint.NETs and suffers from the occasional bug.
Audio
The built-in audio recorder in Windows is a rare feat of minimalism on Microsofts part: The whole things about 25 pixels tall, and it consists of a single button. You dont have to be an audio engineer to find that a little underwhelming.
Audacitys no looker, but its a beast when it comes to sheer utility.
For all your audio recording and editing needs, download Audacity. Audacity lets you record multiple channels of audio at the same time, and then edit, splice and mix them as you see fit. Whether youre recording a podcast, or editing audio from your kids piano recital, Audacity is all you need-though the stark, option-filled interface can be imposing at first glance. Check out PCWorlds guide to jumpstarting your recording career with Audacity to learn the ropes and ease into the softwares oh-so-deep waters.
Ayan...alam nyo na kung anu-anong mga softwares ang pwede nyong ma download para mas magiging maganda ang paggamit nyo ng windows...pero depende na rin sa inyo kung alin sa mga softwares ang gagamitin nyo..yung nakasanayan na..? o yung mas magandang gamitin...
Source: PC World
karamihan sa atin dito ay mga windows user at alam kong halos lahat na tayo ay familiar na sa mga softwares na bundled na kasama sa windows installation natin...alam nyo bang meron mga free na mga softwares na pwedeng gamitin sa windows para mas maganda ang paggamit nyo dito...tingnan nyo ang list sa ibaba...
by Alex Castle, PCWorld
Windows is packed to the rafters with features, many of them great-and others, just meh. Luckily, there are free alternatives that are more powerful, more efficient, and take only minutes to install. Read on, and well show you 9 built-in features of Windows that arent up to snuff, and the free software you can use to replace them.
Search
The search functionality in Windows 8 is fast and well-integrated with the new Start Screen. Still, the Start Screen search isnt perfect: It cant find files that arent executables or documents. If you want to search through every file on your system, you have to use the excruciatingly slow File Explorer search. Or, you can use Everything.
You type and Everything finds what youre looking for, narrowing down the results letter by letter like a faster, local Google Instant Search.
"Everything" is an indexed search utility that lets you search through every single file on your system, practically instantly. Just type a file name, and before youre done youll see what youre looking for. Yes, it really is that fast. For even faster access, pin it to your toolbar.
File Transfer
Its ironic that one of the simplest things you do in Windows can be one of the most frustrating. File transfers have gotten better in recent versions of Windows, but they can still take a long time, and faulty transfers are a great way to ruin your afternoon (especially if your afternoon consists of shuffling numerous files around).
eracopy makes shuffling large batches of files an absolute breeze.
Particularly in Windows 7 or earlier, you should immediately update your system with TeraCopy, a free utility that speeds up file moves substantially and protects you from failed transfers-itll skip over a file that generates an error, rather than sending the entire transfer grinding to a halt. It also allows you to pause and resume transfers at any time, and even better, it integrates directly with Windows Explorer, so once its installed you can just drag and drop files like usual but with the full benefits TeraCopy provides.
Screenshots
In Windows 8 you can take a screenshot by pressing Win-PrtScn, but to take a whole bunch at once, you should get a dedicated screenshot app.
Greenshot gives you granular, customizable controls for quick and "just-right" screenshot taking.
There are more contenders than youd expect, but we recommend Greenshot. It lets you bind hotkeys to all sorts of screenshot commands (capture the whole screen, just a window, and just a region, for instance), and specify what will happen with those screenshots. You can automatically open a Save As dialogue, open the screenshots in a lightweight image editor, or save them directly to your hard drive using a naming scheme of your choice.
Process manager
The Windows process manager, which pops up when you hit Ctrl-Esc-Shift or open the "Processes" tab in the Windows task manager, shows you which programs and processes are running and how much system resources they are using. For the most part, Windows built-in process manager works fine, and it was substantially improved in Windows 8, but sometimes you need a little more.
Process Explorer is a task manager for power users.
For that, theres Process Explorer, an advanced tool offered by Microsoft itself for digging deeper into your active processes.
Process Explorer groups processes into a convenient tree structure, so that its easy to see your web browsers 30 processes-for example-all in a single place. Process Explorer also color-codes processes, so you can tell at a glance which ones are your programs and which are background system processes. It also can connect to the Internet to help you identify mysterious processes that are bogging down your computer. Check out our full Process Explorer review for a lengthier explanation of the tools wondrously granular capabilities.
Notepad
As a plain-text editor, Notepads the sort of program that its hard to imagine upgrading. After all, isnt simplicity the point with Notepad? If you wanted more, wouldnt you just switch to Word or (heaven forbid) Wordpad? Not quite.
Notepad++s numbered lines is a huge improvement in and of itself if youre a programmer.
Notepad++ is a free plain-text editor that keeps the simplicity of Notepad but adds a bunch of useful new features. In particular, Notepad++ offers a nicely customizable user interface that lets you edit multiple files at once and even includes spell-check. Some features are designed specifically for programmers, but even if you never touch those, youll appreciate the upgrade.
Decompression
Sometimes you want something a little more exotic than a standard, compressed .zip file. RAR is the second-most common archive format, with a number of advantages, but Windows cant open .rar files by default. To do that, youll need a better archive program-one like 7Zip.
Rooting around a RAR with 7Zip.
7Zip is a free utility that can open .zip, .rar, and virtually any other archive file format. You cant use it to create RAR files (for that, youd need the for-pay WinRAR), but you can create .zip and .7z files, which offer the best compression of any archive type. If you want to compress tons of big files and save as much space as possible, 7zip is a necessity.
Media Player
Media playback can be a real quagmire. Between all the various file extensions and codecs, you can never really be sure what youll need to play any particular file. The only thing you can predict with certainty is that Windows Media Player probably isnt going to do the job.
VLC can play pretty much any media file you want to throw at it.
To take the guesswork out of media playback, get VLC. VLC is a compact media-player application that will open and play pretty much any media file under the sun. With VLC, you can even play DVDs directly from your DVD drive-a feature that was removed from Windows Media Player in Windows 8. If you care to dig even deeper, VLC is chock-full of deep features and intriguing tricks, which you can discover in PCWorlds guide to mastering the media player.
Paint
Opening up Microsoft Paint is a bit like looking into the past. Its been included in every version of Windows since version 1.0 in 1985, and it hasnt changed much in that time. If you need any sort of image-editing power at all, download a replacement, stat.
Paint.NET is simple and powerful, a rare combination in free software.
For most users, the free Paint.NET is a stellar choice. Its got all the features you expect to see in a modern image editor, like layers, filters and a history pane, all wrapped up in a nice, tidy, UI. If youre looking for more advanced photo editing options, GIMP is also free, and incredibly powerful, though the complex interface isnt quite as user-friendly as Paint.NETs and suffers from the occasional bug.
Audio
The built-in audio recorder in Windows is a rare feat of minimalism on Microsofts part: The whole things about 25 pixels tall, and it consists of a single button. You dont have to be an audio engineer to find that a little underwhelming.
Audacitys no looker, but its a beast when it comes to sheer utility.
For all your audio recording and editing needs, download Audacity. Audacity lets you record multiple channels of audio at the same time, and then edit, splice and mix them as you see fit. Whether youre recording a podcast, or editing audio from your kids piano recital, Audacity is all you need-though the stark, option-filled interface can be imposing at first glance. Check out PCWorlds guide to jumpstarting your recording career with Audacity to learn the ropes and ease into the softwares oh-so-deep waters.
Ayan...alam nyo na kung anu-anong mga softwares ang pwede nyong ma download para mas magiging maganda ang paggamit nyo ng windows...pero depende na rin sa inyo kung alin sa mga softwares ang gagamitin nyo..yung nakasanayan na..? o yung mas magandang gamitin...
Source: PC World
