Software

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

Play with yourself

Few card programs kill time as effectively and enjoyably as SolSuite 2005. This professional-level repository of more than 400 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 2005 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

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

Mix and match

There's a bonanza for tile-game lovers in the attractive and addictive MahJong Suite 2005. The package comes with more than 50 mah-jongg and several Concentration-style layouts. The convenient game browser organizes layouts by difficulty, number of levels, and several other factors. 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. The backgrounds and sounds also are configurable, though you can't … Read more

An XP toolbox

Although this tweaking program doesn't seem to offer anything not available elsewhere, Ashampoo PowerUp XP Platinum 2 makes enhancing your system much easier and safer. The numerous settings are skillfully packed into a compact, stylish interface. Each tweak has a detailed description accessible with a mouse click. We couldn't possibly enumerate all the tweaks available, but they cover the Windows XP interface, file system, security, and boot options. You will even find a tool that creates several virtual desktops. Besides common enhancements, the program includes a utility to irrevocably delete information, to clean the Registry, and to optimize … Read more

Play with yourself

Few card programs kill time as effectively and enjoyably as SolSuite 2005. This professional-level repository of more than 400 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 2005 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 simple fix

The usability of your site relies to some extent on how long it takes to download its pages. By removing unnecessary tags and characters, HTML-Optimizer Pro reduced the size of pages by an average of 20 percent in our testing. The utility handles both HTML and JavaScript, PHP, and CSS scripting. As you might guess from the Pro in the title, the program does more than reduce page size; it also checks internal and external links and makes Web documents more user-friendly. The Smart Handling feature uploads only the pages that have been changed. Options let you choose what to … Read more

Mix and match

With more than 50 mah-jongg and Concentration-style layouts, the attractive and addictive MahJong Suite 2005 is a bonanza for tile-game lovers. The convenient game browser organizes layouts by difficulty, number of levels, and several other factors. 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. The backgrounds and sounds also are configurable, though you can't add your own, and the included … 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