September 4th, 2010 — Multimedia
Download UltraISO Premium 9.3.6.2750. Highly versatile and especially proficient with boot discs, UltraISO Premium creates, edits, and burns disc images in several popular formats: ISO, BIN, Nero, Alcohol, CloneCD, and Xbox. It also converts images among formats. UltraISO supports data and audio/video discs and includes a simple MP3 encoder, but it really excels at creating bootable discs. It even can create a disc with a menu for booting several OSs.
The interface is well organized, though rather plain, and we wish its icons were more readable. Also on the negative side, the program can’t mount CD images, which will diminish its value for some. However, if you need support for multiple image formats and want to design bootable discs, UltraISO makes a very good pick.
Download UltraISO Premium 9.3.6.2750
September 4th, 2010 — Games
Download Super Mario Bros 3. Hearkening back to the heyday of Nintendo, this game faithfully reproduces the classic Super Mario Bros. Although Mario Forever’s graphics and sound aren’t identical to those of the original, they’re so close most users familiar with the game won’t be able to differentiate.
The basic platformer action hasn’t changed either. As the feisty little plumber Mario, you traverse different worlds to collect coins while dodging enemies such as malevolent mushrooms and ill-tempered turtles. You won’t find an extensive feature set, but you can at least change the keyboard controls or disable the music and sound effects.
However, we do think Mario Forever consumes a bit too much processor time, especially considering its outdated design. But if you were a fan of the 1980s classic Super Mario Bros., then we doubt this freebie will disappoint you.
Download Super Mario Bros 3
September 4th, 2010 — Internet Tools
Download Skype 4.2.0.169. A popular and preeminent VoIP communication client, Skype has been steadily adding the features it had stripped out of a major 4.0 update–like call transferring, Skype Access for Wi-Fi hotspots, accessibility provisions, birthday alerts, and the ability to send a contact to other Skype users. Version 4.2 also claims back-end tweaks to ready the popular VoIP app for high-definition video calls, in conjunction with the user’s HD Webcam.
Public chats are still absent in version 4.2; IM still isn’t terribly interactive; and the Skypecast party line throwback has gotten the kibosh. Anyone who doesn’t like the larger block of interface that consolidates the classic two-pane look into a single window can also split them in two.
In addition to placing audio and video calls to other Skype users, mobile phones, and landlines, Skype is also experimenting with screen sharing. Screen sharing initiates a video call, and uses that technology to broadcast a recording of your screen–either a portion or the full screen–to one other viewer. Screen sharing has some limitations: you can’t simultaneously see a video of your buddy and their desktop, and since only one viewer at a time can peep your screen, you can’t use it as a free replacement for collaborative Web conferencing. It doesn’t help that the picture quality is still choppy and fuzzy, in both partial-screen and full-screen view modes. Make no mistake, though: it’s a great feature that we’re happy to see added, but we’ll be even happier to watch it improve.
Skype’s central theme remains cheap calling from the desktop. Anyone who’s interested in talking for free from Skype-to-Skype, or cheaper by purchasing Skype credit to call landlines and mobile phones, should give Skype a try. For international callers, this program is a no-brainer solution for slashing long-distance bills.
Download Skype 4.2.0.169
September 4th, 2010 — Internet Tools
Download Internet Explorer 8. Internet Explorer 8 addresses just about all of the major concerns that users and critics have had with the world’s most used browser. Whether they get answered in a way you like is another matter.
There are several new and interesting features. Web Slices lets you save predefined sections of a Web page for at-a-glance viewing. Instead of going to a traffic Web site for updates, the latest commuting news comes to you. Similarly, Accelerators make repetitive tasks one-click behaviors, for instance finding directions or blogging. InPrivate browsing introduces a cache and history on-off switch, while related tabs are color-coded and automatically reorganized as you open them. There’s also tab sandboxing, which means that when a tab crashes, IE itself won’t, and it even tries to resurrect the page that crashed.
There’s a greater emphasis on Web standards and security than before. The SmartScreen and cross-site scripting filters throw up a red warning page when you’re about to visit an unsafe site. There’s also domain highlighting, which grays out the name of the URL you’re looking at except for the domain itself. This sounds simple, but effectively draws attention to spoofed site URLs. There’s also a compatibility button so that sites designed specifically for IE 7 and earlier can still be viewed.
IE 8 lacks a default “smart” location bar that many other browsers have, but you can search your history and most visited pages from there. Also, the installation process still requires a reboot–unimpressive, to say the least. Drawbacks aside, there’s no reason to not upgrade if you’re an old fan of IE, and there’s even a few things in IE 8 for new users.
Download Internet Explorer 8
