Global Spellchecker can check the spelling and/or display the meaning of any text that you can select within any application. It uses the MS Word dictionary and thesaurus as its reference.
If you have MS Word installed then you already have a world-class language reference installed on your machine. Global Spellchecker allows you to access that resouce globally from any application for both spell checking and meaning/thesaurus reference. Here are some notes on this program:
- How it works: select any text, copy it (using right-mouseclick or CTRL-C), then launch “Global Spellchecker” from the ’Quicklaunch’ menu (or define a keyboard shortcut; see below). A popup window will be displayed on the bottom left corner of the screen that shows the meaning and spelling of the word. Spelling options are displayed in a numbered list, and you can click 1-9 to grab the desired spelling in order to paste it back into your document.
- Note: Global Spellchecker apprently opens an invisible MS Word document to perform the spellcheck. By default it will keep an instance of MS Word running in the background, which will speed up its operation but otherwise needlessly (in my opinion) take up resources. Make sure to go to the programs setting (from the startmenu) and check the “close word document after
spell check” in the settings.
spell check” in the settings.Why I like this program:
- The above regarding MS Word notwithstanding, Global Spellchecker will only be loaded into memory when invoked; unlike other global spelling checkers, it will not be otherwise running in the background and using up your computer’s resources.
- If you have made custom additions to your MS Word dictionary, these become automatically available to you globally using Global Spellchecker.
- The pop-up menu is customizable. You can either dismiss it by closing it manually using the mouse or the Esc key or otherwise set the time that it will be displayed before closing automatically.
automatically.Wish list: (or how this program can be even better)
- I wish you could define a keyboard shortcut in the settings. Currently, you can create a keyboard shortcut to the app by placing a shortcut to GlobalSpellchecker.exe on the desktop, right clicking properties, and typing a shortcut in the “Shortcut key” box. This works fine by requires the presence of the “Global Spellchecker” shortcut on the desktop to work.
The verdict: a nice little, resource light solution to having a spellchecker that can be quickly accessed whenever needed from all applications.
Version tested: 1.1
Compatibility: WinAll. MS Word 97 or higher required.
Go to the program page to get the latest version (approx 87K).
