Desktop Enhancements

Though days have become short, dark, and cold here in the Northern Hemisphere; winter has a way of casting its own idyllic spell.

If you can't resist appreciating crystalline icicles, endless banks of soft snow, and intricate snowflakes, you're not alone. Celebrate the season by transforming your desktop into a winter wonderland with this collection of snowy screensavers.

Nothing less than a boon for users looking to manage their file menus, freeware utility FileMenu Tools focuses on function with a simple interface. Most users should have no problem quickly learning to use FileMenu Tools to bend Windows to their will, but a detailed Help file is available for novices.

Operating FileMenu Tools merely means manipulating select pull-downs and function icons. Users choose a menu and use the Actions function list to add commands, submenus, or separators. Deleting and moving menu items also takes only a click. Clicking a menu item displays basic function descriptions and properties when available. … Read more

Find and Run Robot keeps your hands right where you want them, if you're a keyboard addict. This launcher seems to have been designed for people who want to keep their digits pounding the plastic, so every step of the program has been keyed for those with quick fingers.

Hit the Pause/Break key to bring up the launching window, and as you type FARR narrows down your choices. Search results are numbered and automatically sorted using built-in scoring systems unique to the program. If you want returned result number 9, for example, simply type ALT-9 and hit enter--there'… Read more

This handy pair of executables adds muscle to the monitor's power-off function. WinFlog's small multitabbed interface offers four easily invoked functions. WinFlogTurnOff's executable needs no interface as the application simply and immediately turns off the monitor.

Operating WinFlog is very easy, especially for XP users. The program's primary tab lists two options to add a Turn Off Monitor option to the My Computer Icon right-click menu and to the desktop right-click menu. The functions are just as easily removed from the menus using single-click buttons on the same tab. The program's second tab uses a … Read more

This freeware utility is a boon for users looking to manager their file menus. FileMenu Tools's simple interface logically presents all functions and menus. Most users should have no problem quickly learning to operate this application. A detailed Help file is available for those novices new to the file menu.

Operating FileMenu Tools merely means manipulating select pull-downs and function icons. Users choose a menu and use the Actions function list to add commands, submenus, or separators. Deleting and moving menu items also takes only a click. Clicking a menu item displays basic function descriptions and properties when available.… Read more

American Thanksgiving represents a cornucopia of traditional activities and fare, all centered around the celebration of giving thanks for our bountiful resources. Turkeys, falling leaves, pumpkin pie, NFL football, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and crazy Uncle Joe are all a part of the seasonal festivities. Get in the fall holiday spirit with a collection of seven screensavers designed for the Thanksgiving season.

Turkey Thanksgiving screensaver

What could be cuter than turkeys dressed up like Pilgrims and Native Americans? Well, how about turkeys dressed up like Pilgrims and Native Americans who are celebrating the first Thanksgiving? The first turkey Pilgrims set … Read more

They wouldn't want you to believe it, but there's more to powered-up desktop indexing and searching than Google, Microsoft, or Yahoo. Copernic's Desktop Search tool makes it fast and easy to find documents, e-mails, and other files on local drives. Like other desktop search tools, it creates a searchable index of all the data on a computer's drives, and updates it every time a file is added, removed, or modified.

A left-side search column allows simple keyword queries and more refined searches based on file size, date, file type, or folder. Easy-to-read icons at the top … Read more

I used to be a huge fan of Windows desktop themes. Granted, this was over 10 years ago, when I knew little about computers and was ignorant of the amount of system resources themes consumed. I don't use them today, as I prefer to keep my system clean and optimized, but I still understand the appeal. Customizing your desktop with a new theme makes for a new experience.

The Skins Factory is trying to give its users a new experience when installing desktop themes. It has announced that its Windows desktop-theme software, Hyperdesk, is now DRM-free. According to the … Read more

UPDATED: Corrected LogMeIn spelling.

It's great to be able to log in your computer remotely. It's convenient, it saves gas, hassle, and most importantly, time. Personally I've used LogMeIn for a long time and loved it.

The company has actually been cooking up an application for the iPhone (and iPod Touch), too, called LogMeIn Ignition. I tried out the preview version of the app on my iPhone 3G and was impressed overall.

First off, it works! I was able to log in to any Windows machine where I have the Logmein client installed and view its desktop … Read more