Lessfuss News

Google Chrome

Andy

If you've not heard already, Googles' own web browser (Google Chrome) is now a available for download. A few of us have tried this out where I work, and we like it!

"Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier."

It will be reviewed in more depth by lessfuss later, but in the meatime you can download it and try it for yourself by clicking on the heading of this post ... enjoy!

Featured Free Software

Andy

Having touble with spam emails - as most of us are? Well, help is at hand with the aid of MailWasher. This program allows you to view the email on the server before it gets downloaded to your computer enabling you to get rid of it before it gets into your email client. It has a number of useful features, and should be seriously considered if you want to help filter this annoyance.

New Addition!

Andy

We love Paint.NET here for its range of features, and ease of use, but if you need a graphics/photo editor more on par with Adobe Photoshop - in looks and features - then you can't go far wrong with GimPhoto. Based on the popular Open Source program the GIMP, it has a more Photoshop like interface, with quite a number of additional plugins, filters, brushes and gradients, plus better colour handling and more.

Notice: Serious Bug

Andy

If you use the Teen Spirit media player and organizer, then check to see what version you are running. [from the Teen Spirit website]: "Please update to the latest version as soon as possible. A serious bug which produces crashes has been found in all versions before 0.94b. It deals with web site parsing and was revealed after a certain site change in mid July."

Local Cooling Removed

Andy

Sadly we have removed the Local Cooling (www.localcooling.com) program from Lessfuss due to continuing problems with their website. This software was a great idea, and and provided a nice tool to manage your computers power which saved energy, and therefore helped the environment. We are sorry to see it go, but we want users of Lessfuss to only have access to reliable software and services, which the Local Cooling hasn't been able to achieve for a few months.

Featured Free Software

Andy

Most people use Acrobat (Adobe) or Foxit PDF Readers, but have you tried PDF-XChange Viewer? This has got to be the top free PDF reader available right now. It has many features that you'd have to pay for if you used other software, plus it's reasonably fast starting. For features, this free software cannot be beaten! View the listing for a screenshot, feature overview, and even a short movie clip so you may see it in action.

Software Videos

Andy

There are a lot of movies, and video casts for many of the free software listed on lessfuss. So I am now in the process of locating these and linking them from the relevent titles. You are able to see if a program also has video, by a film strip icon in the listing. Video is a great way to get an overview of a piece of software and see if it's what you need. It's also a quick way to get started with many programs, as they often show you some of the basics. I hope you find these of use (where they are available), and if you know of, or have produced a movie for any software listed on this site, then drop me an email so that I may provide a link.

AVG 8 & Filezilla

Andy

Any of you who are using AVG anti-virus have probably seen the 'nags' lately to upgrade to AVG's latest version. This is an all new version with numerous additional features. If you havn't upgraded to version 8, then I highly recommend you do so. It's well worth it, and will stop the reminders that keep popping up. Filezilla (FTP Program - in 'Internet & Web Utilities' category) has had a few updates over the last month so it's worth downloading the latest version to keep your software upto date.

Updates (or lack of!)

Andy

Sorry for the lack of updates over the last month. This was due to a couple of reasons. I moved house and have been very busy there with decorating and the likes! Secondly, my PC went bang, which left me with nothing to work on from home for a while. Anyway, I'm back up and running now, and I have a number of updates to follow. So, watch this space!

Mind Map - New Resource

http://www.lessfuss.co.uk/free-software-office.php#freemind

If you've ever used mind mapping software, such as Freemind (listed on the LessFuss site), then you'll probably know how useful it can be for 'brainstorming' sessions, or starting any new project to get those ideas out into the open, and in some sort of order! But what if you want to collaborate? What if you want to collaborate with people who are miles away? Now it's possible with MindMeister. Just set-up your project, and invite those you wish to join you. You'll see the mind map change in real time as they change or add to it, along with you. So, get those new joint projects off the ground with a flying start!