Free Software Linux

Windows only: If working with minimized thumbnails sounds more convenient than multiple Alt+Tab clicks or taskbar hunting, Microsoft's Scalable Fabric tool might be right up your alley. The system...

Computers are supposed to make our lives easier, but too much of the time they can be frustrating, time-wasting, stubborn machines. From the irritating "Access Denied" message when you can't remember...

Windows only: Rainbow Folders, a free interface-tweaking utility, is a great tool for de-cluttering a desktop, directory, or other work spaces where distinct colors and shapes help your mind sort out...

Linux only: The latest release of Ubuntu Tweak, a custom-configuring app we've posted about before, makes it even easier to quickly set up an Ubuntu system with the options, looks, and now software...

One noticeable change between Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 is the yellow address bar background, which turned on in Firefox 2 when you visited encrypted web sites—the ones that start with https://....

If checking out Opera 9.5's unique features and serious speed has made you a recent convert, the CyberNet blog has a tip on how to expand beyond the nine standard quick links in the browser's Speed...

Certain networking or file-sharing programs will always bump up against Windows Vista's super-finicky firewall, and turning it off is no one-click affair. The How-To Geek has a useful addition to...

Mac OS X only: Freeware application xMod tweaks OS X Leopard system settings through a easy-to-use—albeit clunky—interface. Similar to previously mentioned LeopardMOD, xMod tweaks...

Mac only: Free utility Shades adds finer screen brightness controls to your Mac than the defaults. Once you install the Shades Preference pane and turn it on, you can brighten or darken your screen...

Windows only: X-Mouse Button Control, a free Windows mouse utility, is a highly-configurable tool that you set your extra mouse buttons, or even your standard set of three, to do all kinds of helpful...

Windows only: Wizmo, a free tweak and hack utility for Windows systems, is a tiny but powerful little stand-alone app that lets you create shortcuts for all kinds of things you might want to do in...

Most Firefox 3 testers agree that the preview release of the new browser promises faster and all-around better surfing—but one of the most noticeable interface changes, the big Back button, has...

You've just finished carefully control-selecting all those files you need to move off your desktop and into a container folder, and then, one hand slip later, you have twice as many to deal with. The...

Windows only: Free customization utility XNeat adds a few unique functions to the rich library of tweaking utilities, and some might become must-installs for Windows power-users. The most notable are...

Windows only: Anyone who's edited their system path entries—the places where you tell Windows to look for programs you type into the command line—knows how awkwardly small the space given...