Add OS X "stacks" to Vista, XP for free

I won't go on record to say that the Stacks feature in Mac OS X 10.5 is the best feature in the OS, but I do use it on a regular basis. If I didn't like it, I'd simply turn it off and go back to folders, I suppose. Having said that, you can easily add the same visual navigation feature to Windows XP or Vista using the free StandaloneStack application that Download Squad just highlighted.

Once installed, you can easily create or customize your own stack groupings in the Taskbar: just click 'em and you can simulate the grid or fan views on a PC. I find that I can navigate a wee bit quicker using Stacks than I can with the standard Windows menu system, but I offset that with the QuickLaunch toolbar to a large extent.

No Freeware of the Moment- StartEase 2 for your netbook

Today's freeware pick is not really just for netbooks but it's a utility that works with Windows XP and that's the OS of choice for many netbooks.  StartEase 2  is the updated version of a PC Magazine utility that adds a ton of functionality to the plain jane Windows XP start menu.  There are far too many features to list them all here but basically StartEase 2 is a program launcher and menu program that is totally configurable so you can build the system you want.  You can bookmark any program on the system in the utility and organize all of those programs any way you wish.  It's free and it's easy to use so if you use Windows XP on your netbook and you want a better start menu then give it a try.

UPDATE:  We are receiving reports that this utility is asking those who install it to pay for it.  There is no mention anywhere on the site that this utility has any cost associated and since PC Magazine is not in the software business we trustingly assumed this was freeware.  Links have been removed to the utility and we are leaving this post up so anyone who may have seen this earlier will understand that the program IS NOT FREE.

10 (plus 1) free netbook tweaks for Windows and Linux: GigaOM

It's always good to see our brethern blogs pick up on the growing netbook trend. Sam Dean penned a nice list over at GigaOM with ten ways to tweak your XP or Linux netbook that's worth passing along. The best news: every single one of them is a freebie!

Some, like OpenOffice and Google's Chrome browser, are likely already on your radar. I'll admit that I haven't seen mention of TinyResMeter before though. I'll definitely be checking out this itty-bitty resource monitor for MSI Wind.

I'd also add one more item to the list: one of any number of cloud-based storage and synchronization services, although they may cost a few bucks. My thought process: although a few may use a netbook as a primary device, for the majority it's really a companion device. As such, you'll want access to documents or files from your primary computer when you and your netbook are out on the town. Consider some of the services we've looked at in the past such as Dropbox, SugarSync, or FolderShare which is now morphing into Windows Live Sync.

MELODIS Voice Dialer for iPhone: can you say 100% accurate?

Every week or two, I hear about a new voice dialing application for the iPhone. And every week or two, I come away generally unimpressed. Until this week. I just got word of a free, new application from MELODIS for the iPhone so I gave it a download and then tested it on a few contact names. MELODIS Voice Dialer nailed them all.

"OK," I said to the phone, "maybe those were softball names and therefore too easy for you." So I pitched a few more... and the app still batted a thousand. No matter what I do in normal usage scenarios, the application hasn't messed up once for me. And that's while streaming music in the background while I work.

Foxit adds more reasons to dump Adobe Reader on PCs

Those wily cats at Foxit Software are at it again according to Business Hacks: the free Foxit Reader for Windows hit version 3 and it offers more compelling reasons to dump Adobe Reader. Foxit is far lighter in terms of its footprint and required resources than Adobe's ubiquitous Reader application. For starters, Foxit Reader 3.0 is a 3.68MB installation package, while Adobe's latest Reader package is north of 20MB. If you're not careful, Adobe will default to an installation that includes Adobe AIR and that brings your install download up to 33.5MB. Of course, both product installs will expand since they're compressed, but having used each product on notebooks and netbooks with minimal memory, I can vouch for Foxit's "less is more" approach.

Freeware of the Moment- MultiClutch, add multi-touch to any Mac app

Our Freeware of the Moment is something that I'm pretty confident Kevin is going to go crazy with.  Reader Phil Lee sent me word about a free (donationware) utility for the new MacBook and MacBook Pro that lets you add multi-touch to any application.  As Phil put it he wanted to supercharge Firefox with multi-touch and after using MultiClutch for just a few minutes all I can say is WOW!  MultiClutch lets you define global gestures that you want available system-wide and also gestures for individual applications as you see a need.  Phil shared his Firefox configuration and it's what I'm using:

This couldn't be easier- three finger swipe down to jump to end of page in Firefox.  Rotate left to jump to the next tab on the left.  This is really sweet so give it a try if you have a new MacBook or MacBook Pro and you want to put multi-touch on everything.  :)  Note that for any event that you don't have a special configuration the system behaves as you normally expect.  Thanks so much, Phil!

Mouse Gesture app launcher, free today only. Good for Tablet PCs?

Giveaway of the Day is featuring a Windows application launcher today and normally, I'd skip this type of utility over. What caught my eye though is that the software brings up your customized application list through a mouse gesture. I presume it would work with a Tablet PC and pen and/or a quick touch gesture on a touchscreen device as well. It looks simple to use and it's free today only so if you need a diversion as we start the work-week, this could be a good one for a few minutes. You'll need a Windows XP or Vista machine for the 6.21MB download.

Here's how the Mouse Gesture Application Launcher works: you record a mouse gesture in the application. Any time you replicate that gesture on your desktop, an application launcher with up to ten of your program or folder shortcuts appears and you just tap or click on what you need. Sure you could just put the shortcuts on your Desktop, but who likes a cluttered Desktop? Besides, this makes for a good party-trick and conversation starter. ;)

Mac Freeware of the Moment- Widemail

UPDATE: I figured out how to get the 2-line message list view working and have added a screen of it below.  It is really sweet.

Kevin recently turned us on to the great Apple Mail plugin Letterbox and I installed it immediately and loved the 3-pane display.  Reader Clayton Lai commented that he preferred Widemail and I gave it a try this morning and it is awesome!  Widemail gives you a 3-pane window in Apple Mail like Letterbox but allows you to completely control the formatting of the display.  It also provides two useful settings, one lets you put the email preview pane below the message list which is my preference and the other lets you display every other line in the message list in a different color.  This makes it a breeze to review folders with a lot of mail.  Here's a couple of screens showing the preview pane on the right and below the message list:

Both screens show the message list with every other emal in blue.  Widemail is our Mac Freeware of the Moment so enjoy.

Letterbox gives Mac Mail three vertical columns

One of the Outlook views I sorely miss when on my MacBook Pro is the three vertical column view. It's a personal preference to be sure, but I like having my folder list on the left, Inbox flowing down the middle and my preview pane on the right... especially when I'm using a widescreen monitor. SvenOnTech turned me on to Letterbox, a free Mail.app package that gives me this view on OS X.

I grabbed it last night and used it happily throughout the day today. On a smaller screen, say the 13.3-inch MacBook, I might opt for the standard view that puts the preview pane under the mailbox contents, but Letterbox is great on my 15-inch MacBook Pro and on the 24-inch widescreen external monitor I have connected.

EeeRotate rotates your netbook display and touchpad

I remember when I had the original Eee PC that folks were asking me about the eBook reading experience was. Specifically, folks wanted to know if I rotated the display orientation from landscape to portrait so I could hold the netbook like a regular book. I never found the need to do that but for those that do on an Eee running Windows XP, you should be able to rotate the display using the Intel graphics software. Unfortunately, that solution doesn't rotate anything else, meaning that your touchpad is still configured for standard, landscape usage.

EeeRotate is a bit of freeware that tackles both issues as it handles rotation for the screen and the trackpad. Ideally, I'd love to see it handle remaping of the arrow keys as well, but for now, it's strictly the trackpad from what I see. Since so many of today's netbook components are the same or similar, there's a good chance this will work on non-Eee devices as well. In fact, TeleRead found a related article showing how EeeRotate works just fine on a Lenovo S10 as well. I still have Windows 7 on my MSI Wind so once I finish with that and get XP running again, I'll give this a try. I'm not sure I personally have many use-cases for it, but if you, this freeware is right up your alley.

(via TeleRead)