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Software Reviews

by TheGoodDoctor

The reviews and opinions below are posted by SnapFiles visitors. They do not necessarily reflect our opinion, and are solely based on the experience of individual users.

News Rover
  • Free Trial ($29.95)
  • WinWin (All)

qleft  Decent but expensive news reader  qright

News Rover version 12
  • Interface: 3
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 1
  • Value: 1
  • Overall: 3

I've been using News Rover in all versions since 6.0, and I'm currently on 11.3. Feature-wise, it's among the better news readers, although that's not saying a lot. NR is powerful, but it will take you some time to learn, and I don't recommend it for novices. The authors have irritatingly chosen to use highly non-traditional menus, so even expert users will take significant time to learn to use them. The biggest problem I have with News Rover is a big one: price. In the past few years, they've come out with upgrade versions every year and they only grandfather people who have bought the previous version within about 2 months! Bottom line, you have to shell out $9.95 for upgrades every year.

    Review date: Sep 19, 2006

PTFB Pro
  • Free Trial ($29.99)
  • Win98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista

qleft  The coolest app you'll wish you'd always  qright

PTFB Pro version 3.1
  • Interface: 5
  • Features: 5
  • Ease of use: 5
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 5

I love PTFB. I've used it for years, formerly as freeware, and now I happily pay for the Pro version. It's hard to describe how phenomenally useful it is, but in brief: Every time you have to click on a button in a dialog box *again* (e.g., OK, Save, No, Yes, Open, Close, etc.) that you have to click on *every* time you perform an operation, PTFB will *automatically* do it for you. This alone would be enough to justify the $$, but it does much more. You can easily create macros that will *automatically* (or using hotkeys) perform series' of operations that you formerly needed to tediously perform over and over again. Novices will find it easy to use the primary button-pushing feature, and experts will love its ability to perform complex macros. To top it off, the developer is very responsive to questions, and continually improves PTFB based on those questions. Once you use it, you'll wish you'd discovered it long ago. It's addictive and fun!

    Review date: May 18, 2006

Starter
  • Freeware
  • WinWin (All)

qleft  The best startup manager  qright

Starter version 5.6.2.0
  • Interface: 5
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 4
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 5

I'm *very* picky about my apps, and I think Starter is great. I've been using it for several years, and it gets better all the time. I've tried several other startup managers, and I have found Starter to be the easiest to use, the most reliable, the least system-demanding, and to provide the most useful information. The creators still develop it regularly, and their changes are always useful ones. The only two things I'd put on my "Starter Wish-List" are: (a) add built-in help (e.g., it took trial and error for me to figure out what their new "MSConfig Compatibility" option actually did, and I'm still a puzzled about why the feature even exists), and (b) add the ability to modify the timing of startup items (i.e., eliminating my need to also use "Startup Delayer"). Still, Starter gets a big "Thumbs Up" from me!

    Review date: May 18, 2006

Startup Delayer
  • Freeware
  • WinWin (All)

qleft  Great, truly unique app!  qright

Startup Delayer version 2.1.10
  • Interface: 4
  • Features: 5
  • Ease of use: 4
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 4

If you've got any startup problems (e.g., apps that seem to conflict on boot), take Startup Delayer for a spin. Since I started using it, I never boot without it. You'll probably need to experiment with a few trial reboots before you figure out the boot order and timing that best minimizes your startup problems. If your experience is like mine, you'll eliminate those problems; but even if you don't, you're probably going to learn something new about your startup apps.

    Review date: Jul 31, 2005

Dawn
  • Freeware
  • Win98/ME/2000/XP

qleft  Wish it worked.  qright

Dawn version 5.2
  • Interface: 2
  • Features: 3
  • Ease of use: 3
  • Value: 1
  • Overall: 2

I have unsuccessfully tried Dawn to convert from Eudora for Windows to Outlook. I've tried it in several versions over the past couple of years, through v5.2, and under Windows Millennium through XP-Pro-SP2. Bottom line: It crashes and accomplishes nothing. It seems to install OK, and the options I want are available. I *really* wish it worked, and I hope it will some day, but I'm not holding my breath.

    Review date: Mar 23, 2005

Visual CD
  • Freeware
  • WinWin (All)

qleft  Visual CD does the job!  qright

Visual CD
  • Overall: 4

I tested 5 or 6 freeware CD cataloging apps, and found Visual CD to be clearly superior. I ve used it from v 1.4 through 1.6, and found each update to be useful. The GUI is not as user-friendly or configurable as I d prefer, but once learned, it s a snap. I use Visual CD frequently and I m glad I ve got it!

    Review date: Jan 03, 2004

RoboForm
  • Freeware
  • WinWin (All)

qleft  Among the Best  qright

RoboForm
  • Overall: 5

I *love* AI RoboForm! In a nutshell, it is the most useful internet-related application I own. Though unnecessary, the $ for the Pro version is well worth it. Updates are frequent, intelligent, and semi-automated. Tech support is so-so, but, you´re unlikely to need it. I *strongly* recommend AI RoboForm.

    Review date: Jan 03, 2004

ZipInstaller
  • Freeware
  • Win98/ME/2000/XP

qleft  Another home run from Nir Sofer!  qright

ZipInstaller
  • Overall: 5

I love this app, and I use it all the time. Nir Sofer makes terrific, simple software, and this one s no exception. The fact that no one else seems to have though of this is yet another indicator of Nir Sofer s creativity and general excellence. There are lots of other apps on his site, and I recommend you browse through them. They re all free!

    Review date: Nov 04, 2003

Peck Power Join
  • Freeware
  • Win98/ME/2000/XP

qleft  The Best Free AVI Concatenator  qright

Peck Power Join
  • Overall: 4

For free, you just can t go wrong! The app s not pretty, not XP-tweaked, not super-configurable, and has few bells and whistles. It does just one thing: concatenates (joins) avi files. And it does this wonderfully, without errors or crashes. I have tested 5-6 video-file concatenators, and this is the one I use most often. The only reason I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 is that it appears to be at the end of its development -- but I hope I m wrong!

    Review date: Aug 18, 2003

GoodSync

GoodSync

Backup your files and/or synchronize them with another location.

Spytech SpyAgent

Spytech SpyAgent

A powerful monitoring solution to record PC activity, including keystrokes, email and more.

Demo Builder

Demo Builder

Create interactive Flash movies and tutorials to show how applications and systems work