[Alec69]

ive been running "vista transformation pack 8.1" for some months now and i cant fault it,if ya like the look of vista but want to keep xp give it a try and let me know!! http://www.jcxp.net/forums/index.php? showtopic=31326

[WhitPhil]

http://shellcity.net/

[Tombob1861]

I'm pretty sure these will already have been meantioned but:

Audacity - best audio recording software you can get before you start shelling out serious cash, and its free. It gets better if you get the plugins to go with is, all should be available on this site, you want the lame pluggin for MP3 and the LADSPA gives you the full pack of editing FX
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

VLan/VLC - Video/Audio player, pretty much any format you can throw at it, and theres a version for every OS (I think)
http://www.videolan.org/

Media player classic - same as VLC^, if vlc wont play it this will and if this dont and vlc dont, it aint worth playing.
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/...er_Classic.htm

If i find anymore ill put em up.
ToM

[Computer_Genius]

Hey...

Be sure to download this fun program.

Pivot stick figure allows you to make your own stick man cartoons in minutes... you can add backgrounds, make your own characters and props.
It is lots of fun and you can get really good at it

Check out some of the awesome videos on You tube under pivot stick figure.

Here is the Link http://www.snapfiles.com/get/stickfigure.html

Let me Know if you like it =]

[KennyB221]

YO-
Stickfigure is great! Lots of fun n games :-)

[Computer_Genius]

Hey people

I came across this the other day and it seems to speed up download time significantly, its called- "Download Accelerator Plus"

Here is the link-
http://www.speedbit.com/

Let me know if you like it.... =]

[imserver]

The following free download site is greatly recommend, my favorite site!!!
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/N...Messenger.html

[stantley]

Originally Posted by imserver

The following free download site is greatly recommend, my favorite site!!!
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/N...Messenger.html

You may like it, but McAfee Site Advisor warns of trojans and other malware at that site http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/fre...os_ver=5.1.2.0

[John Burns]

I had to replace my keyboard and the new one does not have extra functions keys like the old one - so I found this free program which I can use to bring up Internet-Firefox, plus other keyboard shortcuts - relatively simple and easy to use - does not use many resources. Thought I'd share it with people in this forum.

http://www.mystercrowley.com/sw_keyboardlink_en.php

[ChuckE]

Most of those keyboard functions I have setup on all of my computers, whether they have the keyboard specific function keys or not. I set them up, with identical keystoke shortcuts, on all the computers, because that way I don't have to re-learn the strokes from one computer to the next.

I just use the Window's already built-in ability to register any shortcut keystroke you want (within some limits, of course) to any shortcut icon to any program you want.

What some people may think is that they need to put a shortcut icon on their desktop first and do a [Properties] to set up the 'Shortcut key' sequence.
NO, you don't. (While that does work, who wants a lot of shortcut icons placed on their desktop?)

INSTEAD, you already have shortcut icons to any of your installed programs in your Windows "Start>Programs>" selections. Just do a right-click on any of those items - they are all shortcuts, and setup some key sequence that you can always remember. Do not move the Start menu items out of the Start menu!

Some examples that I use:
Ctrl+Alt+W for Word
Ctrl+Alt+E for Excel
Ctrl+Alt+R for Powerpoint
Ctrl+Alt+T for Outlook
Ctrl+Alt+Q for Access (notice they are the 5 first QWERT keys for Office programs, that's easy for me to remember)
Ctrl+Alt+X for Internet eXplorer
Ctrl+Alt+N for Notepad
Ctrl+Alt+C for Calculator
Ctrl+Alt+P for Paint
Ctrl+Alt+I for IrfanView

I have a few others, that I might set up as well.
So, after I set those up, I am comfortable at the keyboard of any computer. It just takes a minute or two.
And! if you change the keyboard, the keyboard shortcuts remain, since it is Windows that has the sequences remembered.

[rob.rice]

linux just about any distro has tons of great soft ware almost all of it open source all of it free
http://google.com/linux

[1002richards]

Good link to Linux distros here:
http://www.livecdlist.com/

[~Candy~]

Originally Posted by ChuckE

Most of those keyboard functions I have setup on all of my computers, whether they have the keyboard specific function keys or not. I set them up, with identical keystoke shortcuts, on all the computers, because that way I don't have to re-learn the strokes from one computer to the next.

I just use the Window's already built-in ability to register any shortcut keystroke you want (within some limits, of course) to any shortcut icon to any program you want.

What some people may think is that they need to put a shortcut icon on their desktop first and do a [Properties] to set up the 'Shortcut key' sequence.
NO, you don't. (While that does work, who wants a lot of shortcut icons placed on their desktop?)

INSTEAD, you already have shortcut icons to any of your installed programs in your Windows "Start>Programs>" selections. Just do a right-click on any of those items - they are all shortcuts, and setup some key sequence that you can always remember. Do not move the Start menu items out of the Start menu!

Some examples that I use:
Ctrl+Alt+W for Word
Ctrl+Alt+E for Excel
Ctrl+Alt+R for Powerpoint
Ctrl+Alt+T for Outlook
Ctrl+Alt+Q for Access (notice they are the 5 first QWERT keys for Office programs, that's easy for me to remember)
Ctrl+Alt+X for Internet eXplorer
Ctrl+Alt+N for Notepad
Ctrl+Alt+C for Calculator
Ctrl+Alt+P for Paint
Ctrl+Alt+I for IrfanView

I have a few others, that I might set up as well.
So, after I set those up, I am comfortable at the keyboard of any computer. It just takes a minute or two.
And! if you change the keyboard, the keyboard shortcuts remain, since it is Windows that has the sequences remembered.

In Vista, that doesn't appear to work, or at least I don't see any way to enter the shortcut key. It says none, but you can't overwrite it.

[John Burns]

Originally Posted by ChuckE

Most of those keyboard functions I have setup on all of my computers, whether they have the keyboard specific function keys or not. I set them up, with identical keystoke shortcuts, on all the computers, because that way I don't have to re-learn the strokes from one computer to the next.

I just use the Window's already built-in ability to register any shortcut keystroke you want (within some limits, of course) to any shortcut icon to any program you want.

What some people may think is that they need to put a shortcut icon on their desktop first and do a [Properties] to set up the 'Shortcut key' sequence.
NO, you don't. (While that does work, who wants a lot of shortcut icons placed on their desktop?)

INSTEAD, you already have shortcut icons to any of your installed programs in your Windows "Start>Programs>" selections. Just do a right-click on any of those items - they are all shortcuts, and setup some key sequence that you can always remember. Do not move the Start menu items out of the Start menu!

Some examples that I use:
Ctrl+Alt+W for Word
Ctrl+Alt+E for Excel
Ctrl+Alt+R for Powerpoint
Ctrl+Alt+T for Outlook
Ctrl+Alt+Q for Access (notice they are the 5 first QWERT keys for Office programs, that's easy for me to remember)
Ctrl+Alt+X for Internet eXplorer
Ctrl+Alt+N for Notepad
Ctrl+Alt+C for Calculator
Ctrl+Alt+P for Paint
Ctrl+Alt+I for IrfanView

I have a few others, that I might set up as well.
So, after I set those up, I am comfortable at the keyboard of any computer. It just takes a minute or two.
And! if you change the keyboard, the keyboard shortcuts remain, since it is Windows that has the sequences remembered.

Curious - I have tried this with my Internet Firefox shortcut and it doesn't seem to work. It will accept my KB shortcut under "properties", but then when I hit the key set up (ctrl+ F5), it doesn't work. Is there something special I need to know about that one?

[DaveBurnett]

I've not tried this, but for small business/home accounting it is an upgrade from Money or Quickbooks.
It works with XP upwards (inc Vista)
It IS big - but what MS application isn't
It IS free
US and UK versions only
MS Office Accounting Express 2008