9.5

Some Mac users want to use their computer as a substitute for an alarm. Alarm Clock Pro for Mac incorporates a number of features and options expected from an alarm app, but normal users may find other options preferable.

Available as a free trial version with a 15-day usage limit, the full version of Alarm Clock Pro for Mac requires a $19.95 payment to unlock complete functioning. The program's native installer functions well and provides the user with basic introductions if it is their first time using it. Activation requires acceptance of a user agreement and a prompt … Read more

Free farm sims are some of the most popular games in any format. Millions play them online, and more and more users are also playing them on the go, thanks to compact versions optimized for smartphone displays and controls. TeamLava's Story series includes the hugely popular Farm Story, now updated with a Halloween-themed edition, Farm Story: Halloween. Despite the Halloween decorations, your job as a farmer remains the same as it is in the basic game, or for real farmers, for that matter: Grow produce, tend your livestock, and improve your property. But your animals are wearing Halloween costumes, … Read more

The Matroska Multimedia Container format (MKV) derives its name from the famous Matryoshka Russian nesting dolls, in which one doll contains many other dolls. Like other container formats, MKV files can contain any kind of multimedia: audio, video, images, and data like subtitle tracks and commentary. Unlike many popular (and common) multimedia container formats, MKV is entirely open source. Zoltan Nemeth's EasyBrake is a free tool that converts just about any digital media format you can name into MKV or MP4 (MPEG-4) files using the HandBrake conversion engine. Among many other updates, the latest EasyBrake version uses less memory. … Read more

Converting videos to play on your phone or tablet isn't as easy as it should be, unless you have 4Free Video Converter. With the easy-to-use Profile wizard, you just pick your device or file type and add your files, and 4Free Video Converter does the rest. It supports the most popular video formats, including HD and Flash, and a lot of less popular ones, too. It also merges files; extracts audio, video, and images; edits video files; and adds effects.

While 4Free Video Converter's user interface isn't exactly a crowd-stopper, it's cleanly and logically configured with … Read more

Vit Registry Fix Free is one of the nicer freeware registry tools we've tried, and one of the more thorough in its actions, too. It creates automatic backups of your registry before it changes anything, so it's safe for beginners.

Vit removes a variety of unnecessary entries from your registry. That usually makes your system boot more quickly and run faster. Vit also packs in some useful extras, including a Registry Optimizer and Disk Cleaner.

Vit Registry Fix has a clean and attractive interface that is a welcome break from the overstyled GUIs so common these days. Before … Read more

Hitachi GST announced today that it's now shipping the Travelstar Z7K500 hard drive. The company says this is the first low-profile (7mm) 2.5-inch hard drive that spins at 7,200rpm, supports SATA 3 (6Gbps), features 32MB of cache, and can handle shock up to 400G.

The new drive uses only one platter and offers up to 500GB, meaning it has a data density of 626 gigabits per square inch. Despite being much thinner, the Z7K500 drive supports standard power and data connectors and can replace existing 9.5mm standard 2.5-inch hard drives, as well as working in … Read more

Folder Size is a free Windows utility that scans your drives or folders and displays detailed information about the size of their contents so you can see where the disk space went. It displays the sizes of files and folders as well as their percentage of total disk size.

Folder Size uses a layout common to many such utilities, mostly because it's the most efficient design: toolbar, left-hand tree view, and main window. Folder Size displayed all our disk drives with their total size, space used, and free space listed below the tree view. We clicked on our C … Read more

TSR Watermark Image Software from andromedaIT is a free program that can add watermarks to your images and documents. You can use it to mark the images you post online to keep them from being reused without your permission. You can make your watermarks barely visible or unmistakable, depending on your needs: a light mark for credit on images you mean to share, and heavy marking to protect images from being reused, such as when photographers post example images on their Web sites.

TSR Watermark's interface resembles a properties dialog but is really a typical three-panel Windows app in … Read more

We can think of two potential uses for Asterisk Key. Perhaps, like many of us, you have allowed your browser to store a password for a Web site you frequently access, only to realize in time that you've forgotten what the password actually is. Or, more nefariously, perhaps you have decided that you need or want to know someone else's password for a particular site. However pure or impure your motives, Asterisk Key can help--sometimes.

The most important thing to know about Asterisk Key is that it seems to work only with Internet Explorer. We tried it with … Read more