Software

Mix and match

With more than 50 mah-jongg and Concentration-style layouts, the attractive and addictive MahJong Suite 2006 is a bonanza for tile-game lovers. The convenient game browser organizes layouts by difficulty, number of levels, and several other factors. If you like, the game will choose a random layout for you. The demo doesn't allow reshuffling, but the sheer number of included games will keep most players busy for the 30-day trial. If you do finish them, the built-in editor lets you quickly design more. The game's graphics--especially its three gorgeous sets of tiles--are quite good. You can configure the backgrounds … Read more

Speedy and safe: that's Opera

With a new ad-free version of its browser, Opera has finally taken care of its one weak link--those annoying ads in its interface. The premise of Opera has always been the same: develop the fastest, smallest, and most full-featured browser available. Opera maintains the tradition with its latest version. Offering unprecedented speed and low memory usage, Opera is still embarrassing the big browsers by loading most Web pages in a fraction of the time they use.

In addition to fine-tuning speed and performance, the browser includes support for bidirectional languages such as Arabic and Hebrew, and a slide-show feature for … Read more

Clean up code before putting it online

Web developers: simplify the process of cleaning up code before you put it online with Web Site Maestro X. This tool makes your Web pages load faster by optimizing both HTML and script code. We found that this app did a great job of simplifying the process of cleaning up code such as broken tags and links. The drag-and-drop interface makes for quick cleaning of code. The Smart Handling feature is a nice touch for those running large sites, because the program only processes the pages you make changes to. The program's Optimizer Engine helps deliver faster, more efficient … Read more

Play with yourself

Few card programs kill time as effectively and enjoyably as SolSuite 2006. This professional-level repository of more than 450 solitaire games even includes children's games. The helpful interface lets you browse games grouped by type, time, difficulty, and skill level, or you simply can have the program choose a variation at random. SolSuite 2006 provides a glance at each game's rules, a difficulty rating, and a layout. Players can customize cards and backgrounds, and can add a solitaire game with the rules wizard. Strategies, tips, and hints help beginners, and adepts will enjoy the complete statistics with graphs, … Read more

Mix and match

With more than 50 mah-jongg and Concentration-style layouts, the attractive and addictive MahJong Suite 2006 is a bonanza for tile-game lovers. The convenient game browser organizes layouts by difficulty, number of levels, and several other factors. If you like, the game will choose a random layout for you. The demo doesn't allow reshuffling, but the sheer number of included games will keep most players busy for the 30-day trial. If you do finish them, the built-in editor lets you quickly design more. The game's graphics--especially its three gorgeous sets of tiles--are quite good. You can configure the backgrounds … Read more

Play with yourself

Few card programs kill time as effectively and enjoyably as SolSuite 2006. This professional-level repository of more than 450 solitaire games even includes children's games. The helpful interface lets you browse games grouped by type, time, difficulty, and skill level, or you simply can have the program choose a variation at random. SolSuite 2006 provides a glance at each game's rules, a difficulty rating, and a layout. Players can customize cards and backgrounds, and can add a solitaire game with the rules wizard. Strategies, tips, and hints help beginners, and adepts will enjoy the complete statistics with graphs, … Read more

A perfect mixture

A scrumptious mix of interface tweaks, powerful maintenance tools, and optimization scripts make up this useful utility. Cocktail takes what was once a command-line-only affair and invites everyone to get a bit more intimate with the underpinnings of Mac OS X. A handy Pilot function manages permissions, deletes log files, runs cron scripts, and deletes your cache with one click. The interface enhancements are the most fun, though. Easily enable a number of hidden features to customize the dock and finder to your liking. One drawback we found was the stingy 10-use trial, but even with those 10 launches, you … Read more

Convert pictures to different formats

This all-purpose image editor offers high-end editing tools and support for several image formats, without the high price tag of professional software. GraphicConverter can import and export almost any image format. It offers a simple, yet powerful, set of image-editing tools, batch-conversion capabilities, and compatibility with Photoshop plug-ins. You also can create a slide show of your images. The publisher actively updates the program in response to bug reports and requests for feature enhancements, which explains its longevity as a Mac image editor. The nag screen in the unregistered version can get annoying, which just encourages you to buy the … Read more

Clean up code before putting it online

Web developers: simplify the process of cleaning up code before you put it online with Web Site Maestro X. This tool makes your Web pages load faster by optimizing both HTML and script code. We found that this app did a great job of simplifying the process of cleaning up code such as broken tags and links. The drag-and-drop interface makes for quick cleaning of code. The Smart Handling feature is a nice touch for those running large sites, because the program only processes the pages you make changes to. The program's Optimizer Engine helps deliver faster, more efficient … Read more