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Although the clock in the Windows system tray displays the time, it doesn't do much else, and there are a variety of programs that seek to provide useful clock features that Windows doesn't. Talking Desktop Clock is an attractive addition to the default Windows clock, and we recommend it to anyone who could use an audio reminder or alarm.

Talking Desktop Clock appears as an icon in the system tray and also displays an attractive translucent analog clock face, which disappears when you mouse over it. Opening the Options menu revealed a wide variety of settings, including numerous … Read more

No doubt you suspect your Windows PC of hidden talents, and one of the coolest is virtualization. It clones your system, creating fully working copies that you can use normally (or abnormally) without risking your "real" system. Toolwiz Time Freeze makes virtualization very easy to use. It can also protect your files and folders from changes and provide password protection.

Time Freeze has a simple interface for starting and stopping its main features as well as adding files to the File Protection feature (Time Freeze warns not to include Windows system files) and enabling password protection or changing … Read more

Simple Alarm Clock is exactly what the name implies: an extremely easy-to-use program that lets you set different alarms for every day of the week. It's definitely not the most feature-filled alarm utility we've seen, but for simplicity, it can't be beat.

The program's interface is all business, with a list of the days of the week and check boxes and drop-down menus that let you make selections. Days can be enabled individually, which is handy if your work or school schedule varies and you need to get up at different times during the week. You … Read more

Building a vocabulary is an important part of learning a foreign language (or learning more about your own language) yet it can be difficult for students to get the practice and reinforcement they need to make new words stick. Lingoversity is a language-learning tool that focuses on building vocabularies. It uses nontraditional learning methods designed to stimulate students into learning instead of simply repeating lessons. It can create voice-supported personal vocabularies, lessons, and podcasts. While its technology is unique, it's also somewhat less than intuitive to use, which compromises its effectiveness.

Lingoversity's startup procedure could use some work; … Read more

KlickFu is a small suite of free desktop toys. Classic time-wasters, the games and enhancements don't really "do" anything, let alone accomplish anything beyond creating a brief diversion. KlickFu makes it easy to share your efforts on Facebook, should you want to.

KlickFu's Get Started page briefly summarizes its features, though most of the time you manage and access them from the program's system tray icon. Dragster Photos displays a photo from your Pictures library (or any folder) when you drag your cursor to highlight an area of your desktop. We do that accidentally now … Read more

Photo Event Organizer takes a unique approach to organizing your digital snapshots: it scans your images and automatically organizes them based on the day they were taken, called the Event. Events don't have to be a big deal--"that day you took a bunch of pictures" will do. But the idea makes sense since folks tend to snap a lot of pictures on birthdays, dates, at ballgames, and other events, then plug in their USB cable and and upload the lot to one big archive, sometimes even one big folder.

While Photo Event Organizer's compressed file … Read more

Soluto is an unusual program. This "Anti-Frustration Software" analyzes your system and compares its findings with an online knowledge base that proposes solutions to various performance bottlenecks. It focuses on three areas: Chop Boot, which reduces your startup time; Lighten Web Browser, which shows you how to speed up your surfing by optimizing your Web browser; and Heal Crashes, which tries to fix any problems causing programs to crash.

Installing Soluto requires a reboot, during which it analyzes your system's boot process and looks for improvements. Soluto's animated graphics and flow-based layout give it a feel … Read more

At first, 360Amigo System Speedup Free seemed to be of the more-tease-than-tool school of free system cleaners, and certainly its developers would like you to buy their premium package. But the free tool proved to be a good performer that will help many users keep their PCs running smooth and safe.

As with so many freeware versions of premium system utilities, 360Amigo's interface is stylish and heavy on the graphics and captions that explain what each feature does. The program consists of a system cleaner and a system optimizer, with a number of extra utilities, though some of the … Read more

We are constantly installing and uninstalling software, and as we're sure you can imagine, that leaves us with a whole lot of empty folders and other junk on our computer. For that reason, we were quite excited about trying FMS Empty Folder Remover. This utility promises to scan your machine for empty folders and then delete them, tidying up your hard drive after multiple installations and uninstallations.

The program's interface is bare bones and not entirely intuitive. We clicked the Open Folder button since it seemed like the most logical starting place, and an Explorer window opened that … Read more