As if to prove this site’s slogan (“Someday all software will be free”), every month I feature software that used to be shareware but turned freeware (check out the first and second installments of these). This month, four programs:
Vectorian Giotto, Shortcircuit 2, PC Login Now, and AbpMon.
Note 1: the “star” program here which you have to check out is without a doubt “Vectorian Giotto”, a flash (SWF) creation tool.
Note2: these are not mini reviews of the software presented here and in many cases I have not tested these on my machine.
1. Vectorian Giotto: this is a free flash animation creation tool. This software is a timeline-based visual editor with dozens of pre-built animated effects and a wide range of tools. It is designed to approximate other, well known flash design software to allow for a quick transition to using Vectorian Giotto without re-inventing the wheel or undergoing a steep learning curve. Those who are new to creating flash animation can get started using Giotto after watching a few tutorials that cover some of the main functions.
This software is for “designers, not coders”, in that it emphasizes the creation of elements via simple tools without the need for complex coding (even as it has full support for ActionScript2).
2. Shortcircuit 2: a software for audio sampling that, unlike others in the genre, regarded a sampler as “a musical instrument in it’s own right”.
I am no expert on sampling or music software, but after little foray/investigation that I made looking into this software I came out with the impression that at some point this software had had quite the impact. And is now available for free!
3. PC Login Now: is a software allows you to gain access to a Windows computer where you have lost or forgotten the administrator password, without having to reinstall Windows. It can reset Window’s local account login passwords for Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/Windows7, as well as lock/disable accounts, change accounts to administrator level, and even set passwords to never expire. (It can even bypass the Window’s SysKey mechanism, which was designed to prevent such password resetting activity).
This software bypasses Windows altogether; to use it, download the ISO file from this location then burn it to CD (say for example using ImgBurn); next, boot into your system using the PC Login Now CD and you should be able to do what is needed.
4. AbpMon: is a system monitoring software that graphically displays various PC metrics in real time, and that is resizable and dockable. Reminds me of many a similar freeware program that was written up on this blog (e.g. FreeMeter, Hexagora Performance Monitor, and Prism HUD).
Still, with the ability to customize both the displayed metrics and the color scheme, as well as set up automatic alerts, this software seems to have lots of appeal.
That’s it for now. Please email me any tips you might have of software that is recently flipped and become freeware!.
