Monday, December 3, 2001		Downloads of the week

TODAY the biggest problem of the computer users is managing large files and data. With the modern programming applications and software the user files have grown large in size and are normally bigger than the capacity of mobile storage devices like floppies. Thus, it is quite difficult to transfer the files from one computer to another and also transfer it over the Internet. However, for dealing with this problem there are zipping utilities, which contains the size of the file substantially by packing them in ZIP format. However, there has always been a scope for further improvement and adding more utilities and features. ACDZIP is one such strong file archiving utility, which has a number of special features for compressing and managing files. Moreover, this program is user-friendly and gets integrated into Windows and functions like a normal Windows application using which you can just not zip the files, but can also use it for everyday archiving. Using this software the task of zipping, unzipping and also compression and extraction of files becomes effortless as the easy interface of this software makes it virtually automatic. This software is not just a zipping utility as it also performs many other archiving tasks such as installing software from the downloaded files from the Internet. You can also use this software for downloading the files in an efficient way. However the best feature of this software is its simple interface using advanced features like drag-and-drop, which makes zipping and archiving files in an Explorer like function. Since most of the users are well versed with the Explorer function, thus it does not require any special training or skill to use this software. Moreover, there are five different ways to view archived contents, and a tree view function for creating folders with an archive. The advanced list of the features also includes previewing facility, which can save the computer user from botheration of loading the graphic images fully, that are normally large in size, just to check them. Instead, the thumbnail feature of this software allows the user to preview them as thumbnail before deciding whether to load it or not. Currently, ACDZip is capable of creating eight archive types including the widely used ZIP format. This program offers security in terms of password protection and encryption. Moreover using this software you can also e-mail your archives from within the program as it has a built-in feature for Internet applications. This software can be downloaded from www.acdsystems.com/English/index.htm.

How much will it cost to travel from Ludhiana to New York? Well most of us will not be able to answer this question especially if you are travelling for the first time. It becomes very difficult to assess the cost of living in the other part of the world. But this task can be made easy with the software City’O’Scope. City’O’Scope is an interesting program that has been created with a lot of intuitive thinking in association with Swiss research group, which outlined purchasing power in 60 cities. This software is especially useful for those who go abroad for the first time as it can serve as a ready reference for calculating the cost of living in the city where you plan a visit. It can especially be useful for those who are permanently relocating abroad as it can give them a fairly good idea of their income and expenses and the corresponding standard of living. This software is based on a scientific approach that analyses the cost of living in some of the prominent cities of the world and uses a huge database with lots of variables. This software is user-friendly and information is well presented. For example, the information on each listed city is broken down into more than a 100 different attributes. Therefore, if you are looking for carrier abroad then you can analyse the potential earnings for several professions also. You can assess your professional worth in some of the most advanced cities of the world. The information in this software is so exhaustive that you can even calculate common expenses like rent, transportation, expenses involved in buying a new vehicle, house etc. This software also helps in calculating how much you should earn to purchase a certain item. Furthermore, with the help of this software interactive map, you can work out a comparative study of living in different locations of a particular city. You can also use this data for intercity comparison of cost of living. You can also study the results graphically that can help in analysing the data in a more effective way. However the best feature of this software is that it is free of cost and can be downloaded from www.marcofocus.com

E-mail is history and SMS is the latest buzz word. SMS, that is more popularly known as short message service is a service, using which you can send instant messages to any mobile or hand held device in the world and that too free of charge. Though in some cases the service provider may levy charges, but in a majority of cases it is free. Yes! This is a free communication tool for wireless messaging. This software uses the TAP protocol to send messages via the dial-up modem. However, there is a maximum length of message, which is limited to 160 characters. Though, if you exceed the limit of 160 characters, then it will be considered a new message. To send a quick message, you simply enter the country code, number and the text message. A great feature of this software is that you can keep up to six pre-written notes and add them to the message window with a click. Moreover you can also add date and time stamps to your messages for making it more informative. That’s not all; you can also pick the text from your hard disk by opening text files and use it with this software. This software has a full-featured address book. Thus, you can save your frequent contacts in the address book, which is a standard part of this software and can thus save your self from the botheration of remembering all your contact and also ease your life by simply clicking on them in your addressbook to send your message. This software can be downloaded from www.desoft.co.uk.