FreesSnap is a free program that runs in the background and allows the user to individually maximize any of the four sides of an open window using hotkeys (Win+arrows by default). It also allows you to use hotkeys to quickly shift the placement of a window to the center or any of the 4 corners, and to perform a number of windows resize operations.
You might have been in a situation where you were happy with the placements of windows on your screen, but would have liked to just maximize a window vertically, for example, in order to read the text at the bottom without having to scroll down. By default your only option if you were to do this would be to use the mouse to extend your window down manually (requiring some fine mouse-work if you were to get it exactly to the edge). Freesnap, on the other hand, would make this possible through a simple hotkey. Here are more notes on this program:
- Hotkeys: what I like about Freesnap is that it provides two sets of alternative hotkeys for desktops (using the number pad buttons) and laptops (using the arrow keys or I/J/K/L).
- Resizing: you can resize up/resize down to 5 pre-set sizes: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×1024. These can be useful if you are interested to see what your site or program will look like under the most common screen sizes. If resizing is your main need, check out Sizer, a similar program which allows you to define custom sizes.
- Window placement: you can quickly send the window to any corner of the screen or the center.
- Memory usage: approx. 4 megs, which is about 1 meg less than a similar program, reSizer (not to be confused with the above mentioned Sizer).
The verdict: my main interest and the reason this program captured my attention in the first place is the horizontal window maximization function. As far as other freeware which have similar functions to this, I like FreeSnap compared to reSizer because it supports laptop compatible hotkeys that allow me to use it on my laptop (in the absence of a keypad). Also, reSizer has too many functions compared to FreeSnap, and although I would have liked to have some of them (e.g. send to another screen in multimonitor situations), this is one situation where the adage “less is more” holds true and I prefer FreeSnap. A nice program overall.
Version Tested: 1.2
Compatibility: Windows 2000, XP; no info on Vista.
Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 1.8 megs).
