Notepad 7 is a Ribbon-Style Notepad for Windows 7
Last Updated on Sunday, 5 February 2012 04:39 Written by Alan Sunday, 5 February 2012 07:00
From time immemorial Windows has come with it’s classic Notepad app. Few users bother with it anymore, thanks to the proliferation of Microsoft Word and the free alternatives, both desktop and web based. There are also countless competitors to Notepad itself that provide the simple text editing, but a better interface and a few more options. When Microsoft introduced the ribbon interface to Office 2007, and now Office 2010, the original Notepad started to feel a bit dated.
Windows Notepad isn’t going away, though. There are still enough users who favor it’s simple design and interface to keep it around. There are also those Notepad users who want to get that more up-to-date feeling, and for them we found Notepad 7.
Notepad 7 brings the Office feel to the app with the ribbon interface that was introduced in Office and is now proliferating in Windows 8. It offers the same great functionality that was a part of the original app, including the ability to save files with a simple .TXT extension. Users can also customize the toolbar or move it around, and add the date and time to documents.
Notepad 7 is available for Windows versions, including Vista SP2 and 7. It requires .NET framework 4.0 to be installed on your PC. It doesn’t replace the Windows version of Notepad, but is a stand-alone app. To open a document with it, simply choose the “open with” option. It’s a free download from SkyForU.
ISOBuddy is a Simple Tool for Working with ISO Files
Last Updated on Friday, 20 January 2012 07:54 Written by Alan Sunday, 5 February 2012 07:00
You may not encounter disc image files, generally known as .ISO files, on a regular basis, but they are a common way to distribute files on the internet. The files associated with a disc image, or .ISO, are rips of CD’s or DVD’s. Yes, they are most frequently images of…shall we say less-than-legal content. It’s a common way for file sharers to distribute and download software and movies, but it’s also used for other purposes like distributing beta software. The Windows 8 Developer Preview, for example, was an .ISO file that users could download, burn to a DVD and then install on a PC. I frequently rip DVD’s we buy to .ISO files in order to put them in the movie library of our living room Media Center computer. I use the .ISO format to get the complete disc, menus, extras, and all.
There are many free and paid programs out there for working with image files, but ISOBuddy is one of the better free ones that I have used. It breaks everything down into the simplest terms and it can work with multiple image formats such as Roxio (gi), Nero (nrg), Padus Discjuggler (cdi), Alcohol 120% (mdf), IMG (img), Blindwrite (b5i, b6i), Macs (dmg), Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD (pdi), CDRWin (bin) and CloneCD (ccd).
Just start up ISOBuddy, click Open and choose a file, and then click Save As. When it’s done converting your image it can then burn the resulting .ISO file to a disc for you, which eliminates the need for a separate program.
ISOBuddy is free to download and use, just visit DVD Ranger to get a copy. It’s compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and 7 and both 32 and 64-bit versions of each. It is currently only available in English.
Batch Convert Audio Files with Switch
Last Updated on Saturday, 21 January 2012 05:07 Written by Alan Monday, 30 January 2012 07:00
Not many people these days keep audio CD’s. For most of us, all of the CD’s we owned have been ripped to our computers, stored on backups, and/or moved to cloud storage. In our house we began ripping all of our CD’s years ago and then selling the discs to a music shop that dealt in used discs. It saved us a lot of shelf space and made listening to our music a lot easier as well. However, in the early days, I elected to use WMA (Windows Media Audio) as my format of choice, although I wave since switched to MP3. Nothing wrong with that, it’s a great format for music. However, it’s also not compatible with all services, like Amazon Cloud Player. So, what do you do if you have a large bunch of music that needs to be converted to another audio type?
One solution is a free program called Switch, from NCH Software. That’s what we’re going to be trying out here today. Once you have downloaded the app and begun the installation you will be asked if you would like to install any of the extras that come along with it. This isn’t anything nefarious, but a couple of them are checked by default (like the Ask.com toolbar) so be careful here.
The user interface is pretty spartan by today’s software standards, and that’s a good thing. You can add files or folders, play songs to get a sample or make sure it’s the file you wanted, and choose from a few options. At the bottom of the screen you can choose the audio format you want to output and the folder where you want the new files sent to.
Select your music, or a folder full of it, by browsing your PC or network and then choose what format you would like it converted to. Now choose the folder that you want your new files placed in and click the big “Convert” button at the bottom right of the screen.
The conversion goes fairly quickly and I am testing it with Switch installed on a Laptop (on 802.11n) and the files I converted were on a computer with an ethernet connection to the the router.
You can choose, in the options, to delete the source file upon conversion (this isn’t set by default), but I would recommend making sure your new files are good and then using them to replace the old format ones.
In my tests Switch worked flawlessly. It’s a small file and doesn’t come with bloatware, although as I said earlier, watch the installation to make sure you only get what you want. It handles a LOT of audio file formats and converts music quickly. The interface is straight-forward to use. The app is free as well, although there is a paid version that adds a few more features. You can get a copy by visiting NCH Software.
