Features

The web's best 50 free downloads

20071016 [PC Pro]

Entertainment

1. WebGuide
www.asciiexpress.com/webguide
Size: 4.5MB

For anyone who's realised they forgot to record the latest Prison Break, WebGuide is ideal: this nifty program lets you remotely access a Windows Media Center system to schedule recordings, and manage recorded TV programmes from any internet-connected computer. The paid-for version unlocks features such as streaming video, TV, music and photos, but the free version is still ideal if you forget to schedule a recording. And there are versions for both XP Media Center Edition and Vista, too.

2. Orb
www.orb.com
Size: 22.1MB

There are plenty of other applications designed to let you access your PC remotely, but there are none with the media-handling capabilities of Orb. Once installed, you can access your PC, of course, but besides being able to browse your hard disk and open your documents you can also get at music and film files. Click on one of them and Orb will transcode the file on-the-fly, adjusting quality settings for the speed of the networks you're connected over.

3. FFDShow
www.pcpro.co.uk/links/157ffdshow
Size: 3.5MB

FFDShow is a DirectShow decoding filter for decompressing DivX, XviD, H.264, FLV1, WMV, MPEG1, MPEG2 and MPEG4 movies. If you don't know what that means, don't worry - just install it and revel in the fact that Windows Media Center can now play movies in the popular DivX and XviD formats. More technical users will also appreciate the huge range of options the filter exposes, from closed captioning to custom audio mixing and adaptive video quantisation.

4. Audiograbber
www.audiograbber.com-us.net
Size: 1.6MB

Audiograbber's interface may seem a little unpolished compared to the audio ripper built into Windows Media Player, but it's a far more powerful package, letting you configure every aspect of the ripping and encoding process. It can normalise the volume of ripped tracks before encoding them, take tracks from a folder instead of a disc, and use a free online CD database to identify inserted CDs and automatically tag MP3s accordingly.

5. Rockbox
www.rockbox.org
Size: 1.64MB

Ever wished your portable MP3 player knew a few more tricks? Rockbox is a complete firmware replacement for a range of MP3 players, including Archos, iriver and Apple products. It supports all the playback features you'd hope for, and lets you manage files and playlists on the move. Extra treats include bookmarks, gapless playback, real-time MP3 encoding (for devices with microphones), OGG and FLAC support, and a five-band EQ.

6. ScummVM
www.scummvm.org
Size: 2.2MB

If you've ever felt the urge to revisit a classic adventure, you need ScummVM, a Windows-based virtual machine that can run a wide range of old LucasArts games based on the Scumm scripting language, including Maniac Mansion, Day of the Tentacle and the Secret of Monkey Island. You still need the data files from the original game, but ScummVM handles everything else, leaving you free to concentrate on vanquishing the evil pirate, LeChuck.

7. dBpoweramp
www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm
Size: 4.1MB

Quite rightly nicknamed "the Swiss Army knife of audio", dBpoweramp has long been a staple of PC Pro's Real World Benchmarks. With a no-fuss interface, it supports just about any format known to man via plug-ins. Licensing restrictions mean the LAME MP3 encoder and AMG's music guide expire after 30 days, but they're no huge loss and there's no nagging. There are two granular paid-for upgrades, but the free one will still interest audiophiles with its wide support for obscure and lossless formats, along with tidy integration into the Windows Shell.

8. Audacity
http://audacity.sourceforge.net
Size: 2.1MB

If evidence were needed that open-source software is capable of greatness, this is it. This tiny download is a surprisingly comprehensive multitrack audio recorder and editor; capable of recording a full band, yet perfect for podcasts or simpler setups. The number of simultaneous tracks you can make is naturally limited by your hardware inputs but, crucially, there's support for real-time input monitoring and playback while recording, so you can make any overdubs you need. MIDI support is limited, and editing slightly idiosyncratic, but it's astonishing how much this program is capable of.

9. HandBrake
http://handbrake.m0k.org
Size: 4MB

HandBrake is an open-source DVD-to-MPEG4 converter for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. It allows you to watch your movies on a portable video player, or store them on a hard disk for on-demand playback using Windows Media Center or a network video-streaming device. HandBrake can work directly from a DVD or a VIDEO_TS folder, and can output to MP4, AVI or OGM formats, using either MPEG4 or H.264. For audio, you can select AAC, MP3, Vorbis or AC-3 passthrough.

10. VLC media player
www.videolan.org/vlc
Size: 9.2MB

If you have a strange media file that no other video player will touch, throw it at VLC and the chances are it will play. The interface is nothing to write home about, but it will deal with anything, even ISO images containing video CD or DVD content. In fact, the only thing it won't touch is RealPlayer files. Its name stands for Video LAN Client, stemming from the fact that it can act as both client and server for media-streaming apps using a range of streaming protocols.

11. TVersity Media Server
http://tversity.com
Size: 13.1MB

TVersity is a completely free media server that offers many benefits over using Windows Media Connect or other servers. The program (still in beta) lets you manage all your media and create a tailored entertainment guide - a personalised line-up of channels. It can serve this media to almost any networked device in your home - or an internet-connected device such as a PSP - transcoding video and audio on-the-fly so that, for example, you can watch DivX videos on your Xbox 360, even though the console doesn't support DivX.

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