MP3 Toolkit for Windows is a newly launched featured packed utility that includes most of the significant audio related tools and frees you from the hassle of installing individual programs just for performing simple tasks like converting audio, merging MP3 files, rip an audio CD, etc. It’s 100% free and an essential tool even for basic Windows users.

MP3 Toolkit is a freeware and powerful suite comprising 6 music editing tools – MP3 converter, CD ripper, tag editor, MP3 cutter, MP3 merger and MP3 recorder. Using it, one can easily convert audio file formats, extract audio from videos, convert audio CD to MP3, batch edit MP3 tags, join MP3 files, cut/ trim MP3 to make ringtones, and record sound as MP3. All this can be done using one single program, sized a mere 10MB.

MP3 Toolkit Applications Include:

- MP3 Converter lets you convert one or more audio files to a desired audio format such as MP3, AC3, AAC (Apple Audio), OGG, AMR, WMA, FLAC, APE, WAV, MPG. One can customize output file settings such as bitrate, rate, audio channel and destination folder. It can also extract the audio from popular video formats like MP4, FLV, AVI, etc.

- CD to MP3 Ripper helps you quickly make backup copies of tracks from an audio disk. It can rip the audio from CD to MP3, WMA, APE or WAV for common players and you can customize the output. CD ripping is accurate and the output files are of high quality.

- MP3 Tag Editor provides a handy interface to edit MP3 tag (ID3v1 and ID3v2) information in batch mode. One can add or edit a song title, artist, album, year, comment and track number. Also it’s possible to define a file name format ([Artist] – [Title], [Title] – [Artist] and more), directory format ([Current Folder]\[Artist]\[Album]\), enable additional file rename options, edit album photos and lyrics.

- MP3 Merger is a handy tool for merging two or more audio files into a single MP3. You can select files in MP3, WAVE, FLAC or OGG, specify the output settings such as bitrate, rate, audio channel and output folder. Then start the process.

- MP3 Cutter lets you cut or trim an audio file to remove unnecessary parts. To do so, you simply need to select the file, select the start and end position during playback, and then click Save. One can customize the output settings such as bitrate, rate and channels. It also has the ability to cut a part of music from a video file, or a movie.

- MP3 Recorder helps users to record any sound from the microphone to standard MP3 format without any limitation on length. One can even record streaming audio provided that the sound card supports sound mixing. Simply select the sample rate, bitrate and channels, then proceed with the audio recording.

Verdict - “MP3 Toolkit is an amazing program featuring useful audio editing tools with good functionalities that are generally offered by a paid program, yet with a neat and intuitive interface.” Do try it out!

Download MP3 Toolkit Free (Size: 10.50 MB)

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Tired of installing a whole lot of applications just to open a variety of file types on your computer? Free Opener is an smart and nifty program for Windows that overcomes this hassle. It lets you simply open and view a majority of supported file formats using just a single software. You no more need to install dedicated applications to open all those different types of files that aren’t natively supported by Windows OS.

Free Opener is completely free and doesn’t requires any other type of special software to work. Using it, one can quickly and easily view, edit and print over 80 different file formats including Microsoft Office files (.doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx, .xls, .xlsx, .xlsm, .msg, .vcf), Adobe files (.swf, .flv, .psd, .pdf), Code files, Photoshop files (.psd), Image files, Media files, Raw images, Flash animation (.swf), Archives (.7z, .gz, .jar, .rar, .tar, .tgz, .zip) and many other file types directly using Free Opener.

It is certainly a useful utility for users looking for an app to simply open and view files. However, the application lacks some basic features like ‘drag and drop’ support to open files. There are no decent keyboard shortcuts and the PDF files are not displayed on a single extended page. The archives (.rar, .zip) cant be viewed directly, you first need to extract the file/folder from an archive to your desktop prior to viewing it.

Note: The app requires online installation during which it prompts to install additional free software like toolbars, browser add-ons, game applications, anti-virus applications, etc. They all are completely optional and you can easily decline their installation.

Download Free Opener

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Till date, the most popular free dictionary app available for Android was Dictionary.com but that’s no more the case as “WordWeb”, one of the best Dictionary and Thesaurus software for Windows is now officially available for Android devices. Like its Windows version, WordWeb for Android is a powerful, efficient and a feature packed application. Certainly, WordWeb is the best dictionary app currently available for Android because – it’s completely Free, without any adverts and works offline without requiring an internet connection. This all makes it excellent and a must have app for Android users.

WordWeb Dictionary for Android is a free Offline English dictionary and thesaurus with definitions, synonyms, related words and great search. Its intelligent word entry suggests possible correct spellings as you type, as well as lists words that sound the same. One can click on other related words in a definition to explore their meanings and can easily navigate through the recent searches made using the arrow buttons on top.

WordWeb also offers Full Bookmark support (add and manage bookmarks), history (shows list of all search queries), and random words which all are accessible from the menu options. The ‘Settings’ allows you to toggle and customize a whole lot of options like region and display settings, etc. Additionally, you can use Online References like Wikipedia, Wiktionary, and Answers.com to get more info about your query.

WordWeb dictionary comprehensive database includes:

- 285,000 words, phrases and derived forms
- 225,000 word sense definitions
- 70,000 usage examples
- 85,000 text pronunciations
- Synonyms, similar and related words
- American, British, Canadian, Australasian and Asian English

Search features include:

- Alphabetical listing
- Spelling suggestions
- Fast pattern-matching search (*, ?, vowel and consonant)
- Filter search results by noun, verb, adjective, adverbs

WordWeb Dictionary for Android is really awesome and responsive. Do try it out!

Note: The app will ask to download a database of around 27MB after being installed.

Download Here [Android Market]

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Unlike Windows 7 and other Windows OS, the Windows 8 Consumer Preview misses the substantially used Start menu button (located at the bottom left corner). Though, it was available in the initial Windows 8 Developer Preview but Microsoft somehow decided to remove it from Windows 8 Beta. This is quite a bummer for majority of Windows 8 CP users who frequently use the start menu on Windows. Fortunately, Stardock – the makers of popular Windows customization programs like Object Desktop has released ‘Start8’, an application to retain Windows 7/Vista like Start Orb in Windows 8.

Start 8 is a free program, specifically designed for Windows 8 Consumer Preview to bring back the traditional ‘Start Menu’ functionality to Windows 8. However, on clicking the Start button it doesn’t shows the classic start menu but an impressive Metro like cool interface, enabling quick access to installed applications and search function.

Moreover, it adds Run and Shutdown option to the context menu, easily accessible by right-clicking the Start button. Other options include: ‘Choose a custom Start button image’ and ‘Show Fullscreen Metro Start Menu’ to entirely display Metro Start screen.

Currently in beta, Start8 supports both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 8 CP.

- Download Start8 

Image credit: Softpedia

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• Windows 8 Consumer Preview Released [Download Now]

Following the release of Windows 8 Consumer Preview (Windows 8 Beta), Microsoft has also released Visual Studio 11 Beta and .NET Framework 4.5 Beta. No matter the size or complexity of your organization or project, Visual Studio 11 Beta can help you turn your ideas into software. There is no MSDN subscriber account required to download Visual Studio 11 Beta, anyone can download and try it for Free to experience what’s new!

“Visual Studio 11” offers an improved developer experience that includes a simplified user interface designed to keep developers focused on their work, with fewer distractions and easier access to the tools they need.

Visual Studio 11 Beta is available in 4 editions namely: Ultimate, Premium, Professional, and Test Professional. Use the comparison table to identify which edition of Visual Studio 11 Beta is the best solution for your application development needs and practices. Below are the official links for Offline installer of Visual Studio 11 Beta. Download the desired edition as an ISO image file, mount or burn it to a DVD and proceed with installation.

Visual Studio 11 Beta – [Direct Download Links]

Visual Studio 11 Ultimate Beta is the comprehensive ALM offering for organizations developing and operating highly scalable software applications and services.

Download Visual Studio 11 Ultimate Beta – English (ISO)

Visual Studio 11 Premium Beta offers an integrated ALM solution to bring together stakeholders, users, and software development functions to deliver compelling applications as a unified team.

Download Visual Studio 11 Premium Beta – English (ISO)

Visual Studio 11 Professional Beta is a unified development experience that enables developers to create multi-tier applications across the web, cloud, and devices.

Download Visual Studio 11 Professional Beta – English (ISO)

Visual Studio 11 Test Professional Beta is ideal for testers, business analysts, product managers, and other stakeholders who need team collaboration tools, but not a full development IDE.

Download Visual Studio 11 Test Professional Beta – English (ISO)

Other Stuff:

• Download Visual Studio 11 Ultimate Beta Language Pack – English
• Download Visual Studio 11 Beta Product Guide [PDF]
• Download .NET Framework 4.5 Beta

Supported OS:

• Windows 7 (x86 and x64)
• Windows 8 Consumer Preview (x86 and x64)
• Windows Server 2008 R2 (x64)
• Windows Server 8 Beta (x64)

References:

• ‘Visual Studio 11’ Beta and .NET Framework 4.5 Beta Make Software Development Fast, Collaborative and Focused
• Welcome to the Beta of Visual Studio 11 and .NET Framework 4.5

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After several beta builds, Piriform has released the final stable version of “CCleaner for Mac”. CCleaner is a renowned free utility for cleaning Windows PCs to make them faster and more secure. Mac OS X users can rejoice as CCleaner is no more limited to Windows only, but now also available for Mac. Since its first beta, the program has been improved and updated with most of the prominent features as offered by its Windows version.

With CCleaner for Mac, users can efficiently manage their Mac by analyzing and cleaning it as required. It includes option to clean trash, recent documents, recent applications, logs, Applications caches, and browser’s cache, cookies, history, etc. Morever, an uninstaller service is built-in to let you easily uninstall the desired apps. One can even verify and repair drive permissions and erase freespace.

CCleaner for Mac v1.01 [Changelog] -

• Browser Support for Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox and Opera.
• Cookie management.
• Repair Permissions.
• Wipe Freespace.
• Stability fixes on 10.5 and 10.7.2.
• Improved cleaning of Chrome’s omnibox.
• Several minor fixes.

Supports: Mac OS X 10.5, 10.6 and 10.7.

Download CCleaner for Mac

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VideoLAN has finally released the much awaited 2.0 version of “VLC Media Player”, the best and most popular media player for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player that plays most multimedia files including DVD, Audio CD, VCD, and various streaming protocols. VLC 2.0.0 “Twoflower” is a major release, presented after 485 million downloads of VLC 1.1.x versions. It efficiently plays most codecs (MPEG-2, H.264, DivX, MPEG-4, WebM, WMV player) without requiring any codec packs.

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A while back, we shared some nifty utilities to Remove PDF Security Restrictions, Password Protect PDF and Remove Password from PDF Files. Another similar free app, PDF Password Remover is recently launched for Windows that aims to quickly wipe out all the restrictions of a PDF file, without requiring the owner password. Thus, to let users decrypt the PDF and remove the printing, copying text and editing protection.

PDF Password Remover is a freeware tool to remove PDF restriction from protected PDF files. It is very easy to use, offers drag and drop functionality and it even supports batch conversion to decrypt multiple PDFs at once. One can easily remove the owner password from any PDF document just by dragging the file(s), the tool will then instantly and automatically export the un-protected file to the output directory, and the output folder opens up itself in the explorer. You can also specify the desired output path.

This is one of the simplest and fastest application to remove restrictions from PDF(s). Moreover, a portable version of it is also available. However, it should be noted that PDF Password Remover cannot remove the user password, i.e. you cant remove the PDF password and restriction if there is a user password set.

Download PDF Password Remover

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