Here's a great review of Spicebird from Jeff Needle. Jeff is a welcome contributor here and a knowledgeable member of the alt.comp.freeware news group.
From Jeff Needle, June 2008
For years, software authors have tried to put together a reasonable alternative to the bloated and expensive Microsoft Outlook. I don't know of anyone who has actually accomplished this, but Spicebird comes pretty darn close. And it's free!
Built on the Mozilla engine (it looks and feels much like Seamonkey and Thunderbird), Spicebird offers an e-mail client, a newsgroup reader, an RSS feed reader, a calendar and a to do list, all in one package. Here some of its strengths and some of its weaknesses:
First, when you start Spicebird, you're presented with a totally customizable "home page" that typically contains a calendar, a summary of things scheduled for the next few days, a clock and a series of areas to plant your RSS feeds. All of this is changeable by the user to either include or exclude any part of it. Components of Spicebird are found on tabs at the top of the page, making switching from one module to another very easy. (One of the bugs: you're given the option of including "to do" items with your calendar display, but this doesn't seem to be working right now.)
If you're familiar with any Mozilla mail project, then you'll be right at home with the mail/newsgroup capability. Quite nice and very easy to use.
Calendaring is also done easily, with a nice recurring appointment feature and lots of room to make notes about the appointment.
The address book will be considered pretty bare boned to some, but it is at least as good as the address book found in other Mozilla projects. If you hate Mozilla, you won't like Spicebird .
Instant messaging is also built in. I never use it, so I can't comment on it.
Unlike Seamonkey, Spicebird doesn't have a browser built in. I wish it did. But unlike other products, Spicebird keeps all its data in one place, making for a very easy backup and restore experience.
Spicebird is still in beta, so there are a few snags. I've managed to work around them; I'm hoping they'll be fixed in a public release due out soon. I have begun using Spicebird as my primary mail client. I've found it to be fast and easy to use.
Last week, I posted a review from Claire about Mikogo's free web conferencing service. TeamViewer offers a very similar free service and I decided to try it out for myself. I found out that I like it better than Mikogo. There is no need to register for the TeamViewer service. The same isn't true of Mikogo. Mikogo requires that you give them an email address to set up an account there.
Here's a bit more about this service:
TeamViewer is the fast, simple and friendly solution for remote access over the Internet - all applications in one single, very affordable module. Instantly take control over a computer anywhere on the Internet, even through firewalls. No installation required, just use it fast and secure. TeamViewer can also be used to present your desktop to a partner on the Internet. Show and share your software, PowerPoint presentations etc. Share your files, chat, switch the direction during a teamwork session, and a lot more is included in TeamViewer.
TeamViewer is not freeware, but it is free for personal use.
Get your download:
You can find the downloads right on the front page of the sites as shown on the left. If you want to be the one who controls the session, You'll need to run the "Full Version". If you are helping someone by viewing their PC, then tell them to choose the "Customer Module".
Installing the software:
You can choose the "Run" option and TeamViewer will work as a portable application without installing on your PC. That's what I recommend.
I found that it works just as well from a USB thumb drive.
Starting a session:
Once you have TeamViewer running, you can choose the type of session you want to start. If you are the one who needs to run your friend's PC, then you can leave it set on "Remote Support". When they run the "Customer Module, they'll get a simple no-install executable with no options. Just ask them for the session ID and the password. Within seconds you will have full control of their PC.
There are lots of options for viewing and you can also transfer files between the computers.
This is a fast browser, customization does not seem to slow it down, you can set the engine Trident or gecko from the drop down menu and much more ... give it a try.
Sleipnir is designed to be a highly customizable browser that you can configure to suit your individual needs. With Sleipnir, you can create your ideal browser by changing the design, skin, and visual appearance. You can also add custom functionality to Sleipnir with a wide range of plugins and user scripts. Users love Sleipnir for its unique blend of high-performance and customizability!
Here's a review of PrintMaster Express from Tony at Top Freeware. I've seen this program before. I thought it was only available on those CDs you get when you by a printer. I wasn't aware that it was a freeware download.
Quote from Top Freeware:
PRINTMASTER EXPRESS
PLATFORM: WIN 95 - XP
DESCRIPTION:
Lets you create cards, posters, letter heads, fax covers, newsletters, calenders and more.
Just recently we had mothers day, so I decided to hunt down a program to create a card and this is what I found was the best on offer. Features include adding shadow effects, using guides, different layers, tables and more.
It's easy to use, you can customize to your hearts content and it suited my needs just fine
I've reviewed other start menu replacements. Each has it's strong points and weaknesses.
ViStart's strong points are the slick Vista look but it really shines as a search engine that finds the programs and personal files you were looking for with blazing speed.
It's weakness is the loading time it takes when started. This desktop enhancement may not be for everyone, but it fills a need for those people who don't organize their start menus but still want to find their programs and files fast.
ViStart is offered as a zip download containing a single executable file. There is no installation needed. Just unzip it, move it where you want to keep it, and run it.
click to expand picture
Quote from the website
ViStart is a perfect start menu replacement for Windows XP. ViStart will now index all personal files and program files and give *ACTUAL instant results* thats 4 times faster then the real Vista start menu....
RadarSync is an application that checks your PC and offers advice on what programs and drivers need to be updated. Back in 2006, I tried this program and I didn't like it very much. Firstly, it's LiteWare, which means the free version is limited or crippled in some fashion so that you might be tempted to upgrade to a payware version. Secondly, I seem to recall that it directed you to paid download sites for driver updates.
I guess they discovered that this was a very bad idea. I found a review of the newest version of RadarSync at confessions of a freeware junkie. The author, Max, seems to like RadarSync. Below is a portion of the review.
Quote from Max, the freeware junkie
As always, I've scoured the 'Net for another great find, and I present to you (queue horns here) RadarSync, which is an application that can update your system apps AND your drivers. All for free, of course!
Likes
• The intuitive and easy-on-the-eyes interface - (major)
• Driver updates - (major)
• The initial application/driver scan is fast - (medium)
• The 'Competitors' tab in the 'Details' section - (medium)
• Ability to modify download location of updates - (medium)
While visiting the freewaregenius blog, authored by Samer, I ran across a nice utility for manipulating images with some very cool effects. Those of you who use Photoshop or Gimp may not be impressed, but if your image editing tools aren't that advanced, this may be a great addition to your software collection.
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Quote from Samer, the freeware genius:
The idea behind Phantasmagoria is to provide a collection of tools that can be used to produce interesting images without the need for any other editing program. Alternately, of course, you can use these effects to transform images that you then go on to use in other editing or design applications.
Gary at Internet Fixes continues to amaze me with hundreds and thousands of tips for your PC. Whatever your operating system, or how you use it, a visit to Gary's site will soon have you saying "So that's how you do this!".
An old friend of mine, Tutelage, displayed some photos of chalk drawings from Julian Beever. These are awesome and I just had to share them. I went to SlideShare and found a good selection of them there.
If you want to view these full screen, you'll have to click this link and hit the "full" button, otherwise, just hit the forward and back arrows below.
Another tip from CC. Here's a great set of games and utilities from Poland.
click to expand picture
Quote from the website
Welcome to Programy Aionela (that would be Aionel's Software in English) ! You have just reached a site that contains a rich set of software created by me. You will find here games and utilities - all of them are distributed under Freeware or Postcardware license (so basically they're free). When creating games, I was trying to remember that the most important thing is pure fun, which isn't always connected with astonishing graphic and sound. Similarly, when writing utilities the most important things were: creating intuitive interface, adding lots of options to choose from and making a solid documentation.
COOLSITES is a list of safe, fun, useful, informative and just plain cool websites and programs that are FREE, FREE and FREE. All of the programs and websites I list are free. If I list anything that is so good but isn't free I will list the price with it.
Wow! Over 900 people and still growing! I invite all of you to record your locations on this map. You can include as little or as much information as you wish. I think you'll enjoy seeing yourself there.
Here's a small look at my frapper map.
Get Gmail! and Get Firefox!
You need a free 6 GB Gmail account to access many of the cool features at Google. After more than two years in beta testing Gmail is open to the public. Just go to http://gmail.com and sign up for an account.
I think Gmail works best in the awesome Firefox browser. It's free, easy to use, and it's way more secure than Internet Explorer. My favorite thing to do is to customize Firefox so that it does much more than IE ever could. You can select new button controls for your toolbars, install extensions to add new features, or change the look of your browser with themes - the way Firefox looks and works is under your control.
I get many of the reviews in the newsletter from the readers. You don't have to be a genius or computer guru. Just answer a few questions and send me a review. I'll probably put you in the newsletter.
What do you have to say?
Just tell me what article you are talking about and leave me your comment.
Get your download:
Installing the software:
Starting a session:
Quote from Top Freeware:
Quote from Max, the freeware junkie
Source - 
Source - 
