Software
Jamie Oliver’s Recipes For iPad App Review
September 6, 2011
The iPad is a great portable cookbook that can be placed in the kitchen whilst you’re cooking. You no longer have to keep large, heavy cookbooks with lots of recipes that you’ll never use lying around. Instead, you can mount your iPad on a stand and view only the recipes that you want to use.
That’s the idea behind ‘Recipes’, a free app from Jamie Oliver that allows you to purchase packs of recipes for just £1.49 each as an in app purchase. Each pack includes several recipes and comes with some instructional videos as well.
Continue reading »Miranda IM For Windows Review
September 5, 2011
Instant messaging clients are all ten-a-penny nowadays, whatever platform you’re using, and it’s a market that’s incredibly difficult for software producers to differentiate themselves in. After all, there’s only so much that you can do with an instant messaging client, and if you go too far when trying to introduce additional features, many people will stop using your product because it has too much bloat.
You can’t say that Miranda IM, the instant messaging client we’re looking at today, has bloat though. Quite the opposite in fact; Miranda is just a 3MB download and doesn’t even have to be installed locally in order to work. Sound like your kind of client? Let’s take a closer look!
Continue reading »Revo Uninstaller Review
September 5, 2011
Reviewing so many products across different platforms, I’m constantly installing new software on to my Windows based computers to try out new things. Sometimes, I’ll keep a product that we review on Zath, but a lot of the time I will probably uninstall it after I’ve used it. The only problem is that when you uninstall a program on Windows, a lot of crap gets left behind. Registry entries, stray folders and dead shortcuts are left scattered across your hard drive.
If you want to fully uninstall a program, along with all of its registry entries and hidden folders, you will have to use something that carries a little more weight than the Control Panel. Something like Revo Uninstaller.
Continue reading »Slim PDF Reader For Windows Review
September 4, 2011
Whenever you send or receive a read only document, the odds are that it’s sent in PDF format. Adobe’s portable document format has enjoyed a monopoly for many years now, so it’s not surprising that there are so many PDF reader applications out there to choose from.
Over the years, though, a lot of these applications have developed quite a bit of bloat. Adobe’s own application weighs in at over 26MB, and both Nuance Reader and Nitro Reader aren’t too far behind. If you’re looking for a bulk free, lightweight alternative, then you should check out Slim PDF Reader.
Continue reading »Universal Extractor For Windows Review
September 4, 2011
People are always sending files to each other over the internet. Whether it’s a set of photos, a set of documents or another form media, and the vast majority of these files tend to arrive in a compressed format. The problem is, there are so many different programs out there that offer to compress your data, you never know what file formats you’re going to have to deal with.
We’ve taken a look at a number of programs, such as Stuffit Deluxe, which can compress files, but it’s not always easy to find a program to open all of these files on the other end. Fortunately, there’s a small tool called Universal Extractor, available for free on Windows, that will take virtually any compressed file format that you care to throw at it, and extract the contents, making your life a lot easier.
Continue reading »FluffyApp For Windows Review (CloudApp Client)
September 3, 2011
We checked out CloudApp for Mac OS X on Zath all the way back in April of this year, and it hasn’t left the menu bar of my Mac ever since. It makes it really, really easy to drag an image or a file or a link to a small logo and have it immediately uploaded and ready to share with anyone that you want over the internet, without having to mess around with email attachments or become frustrated at incompatibilities between different instant messaging clients.
The only problem with CloudApp is that at the time, there was only a client available for Mac OS X, so Windows users were out of luck. Fortunately, this is no longer the case, thanks to a new, free Windows application called FluffyApp. Using your CloudApp credentials, you can upload files to CloudApp using FluffyApp in Windows just as you would in OS X!
Continue reading »Clementine Music Player For Windows, Mac And Linux Review
September 3, 2011
Are you bored of Windows Media Player? Is iTunes too bloated for you? VLC not bloated enough? Fear not! There are other options available when it comes to software for managing your music, and today we’ve got a program called Clementine which is available for free across the board on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
You can download Clementine from the developer’s website, and it weighs in at around 15MB on Windows, so it will be downloaded and ready to install in a matter of seconds on most high speed broadband connections.
Continue reading »
Parallels Desktop 6 For Mac OS X Review
September 2, 2011
When it comes to virtualising Windows or Linux on your Mac, you have two main choices: Parallels or VMWare Fusion. I’ve always been more of a Parallels man myself in the past, so I was really excited to get hold of a copy of Parallels 6 to try out on the latest generation iMac, as I could really take it for a spin and test its capabilities when running more than one virtual machine at a time.
Last year, we took a look at Parallels 5 for Mac and I was left impressed at its tight Windows 7 integration when running in Coherence mode with OS X. With new features, and even a new operating system to play with, Parallels 6 is bound to set the bar that little bit higher, so let’s take a closer look!
Continue reading »FeedDemon RSS Reader For Windows Review
September 2, 2011
With so many great websites across the internet, it’s hard to keep up with all of the news that you want to read. Fortunately, there are a lot of great RSS readers available to manage all of that content for you on every platform – we took a look at 5 news readers for the iPad just last month. One such reader for Windows is FeedDemon, which is available to download for free. Interested? Let’s take a closer look…
NOTE: If you don’t know what an RSS feed is, we recommend reading our ‘What is an RSS Feed’ article before reading on
Continue reading »Magix Rescue Your Data Review
August 29, 2011
Backup, backup, backup. Three words (okay, one word) that is repeatedly drummed into each and every one of our apparently inferior minds whenever we hear a horror story of government officials losing thousands of important documents, or a flood striking an unprepared office full of servers. It’s not just grand offices that need to backup their data though, it turns out. It is in fact each and every one of us that needs to keep our precious documents, however small, stashed somewhere safe and out of sight and reach of children and nasty, malicious people who make nasty, malicious software.
For this reason, there’s no shortage of backup solutions out there, and today I have in front of me the offering from Magix, one of the leading developers of multimedia software such as Website Maker 5, doing something really important for once.
Setting you back £39.99, it’s certainly not the most expensive backup solution out there, nor is it the cheapest. It’s pretty much average, but as history will happily remind us, that need not mean it’s an average piece of kit.
Continue reading »Magix Website Maker 5 Review
August 29, 2011
This could quite possibly become one of the most perspective-driven reviews I will ever write, and for that reason it’s also one of the most difficult. But stop here if you’re looking for web design software that will allow great flexibility, offer tools to drive traffic to your site or indeed anything that a typically commercial or promotional website might want. Magix Website Maker is not for you.
However, if you’re someone merely wanting to make an imprint on the inexhaustible platform of resources that is the Internet, and are fearful of over complex web design software and methods, then you might want to give this review a read. It might well be what you’ve been craving.
You see, the big ‘problem’ with this software is that it exists entirely around Adobe Flash. Which, as well publicised, won’t work on your iPad (without jailbreaking) and many other tablets, or if you don’t have it installed on your PC. Now there are a number of reasons why Flash is a no go if you want a commercial website, or something that will attract large quantities of traffic for whatever reason.
Continue reading »GeekTool Review (Mac OS X Desktop Customisation Tool)
August 28, 2011
Do you consider yourself a geek? A nerd? Do you live, breathe, sweat and bleed technology? Well if you do, then theres a fair chance you’ve spent hours tinkering. With any piece of tech, wanted or unwanted, to make it do something magical. Hardware-wise, you may have spent many an hour spent alone, tool in hand getting all dirty and sweaty over a few screws, and many of us crave that satisfactory feeling of a job well done with our software, too.
Linux, I’ve found, in its many forms is the ultimate platform to tinker and play with the UI and basically customise it to your own personal pleasure. Android, in the mobile arena, has adopted a very similar approach whilst iOS is pretty much restricted to what you see is what you get. Similarly, Mac OS X is pretty limited in terms of desktop enhancements. Sure, it has the basics: changing wallpapers, arranging icons, folders and what have you, but in terms of actual productive and attractive enhancements, it’s way, way behind Linux and though not as far, it lays in the wake of Windows thanks to a host of third parties creating their own tools for Microsoft’s OS-in-chief.
Enter GeekTool. An application for Mac OS X, predictably aimed almost exclusively at geeks, to aid in the customisation and personalisation of your Mac OS X desktop.
Continue reading »Pulp For Mac OS X Review
August 27, 2011
If there’s one thing that the software world, be it desktop or mobile applications, is not short of, it’s RSS readers, in fact we recently posted a list of our top 5 news reader apps for the iPad. The various app stores around are bursting at the seams with the things, and they all serve a very similar purpose: to deliver an aggregated feed of news to your desktop, from your favourite sites. For this reason, there is very little room to differentiate in such a crowded market, but for factors such as price and ease of use. Enter Pulp, a recent discovery of mine thanks to the Mac App Store.
As you may have guessed, Pulp is an RSS reader for the Mac. But before we begin taking a closer look at some of the features, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Pulp costs £6.99 as an app store exclusive, although you can download a trial from the developer’s website. Regardless, I saw the screenshots and splashed the cash. Clearly love at first sight is beyond a myth when it comes to good software. Having said that, if you’re someone who prefers not to pay for software when there are perfectly acceptable freebies available that provide the same service, then stop right here. It’s not for you.
Continue reading »TunesArt For Mac OS X Review
August 26, 2011
Not so long ago at Zath, we looked at CoverSutra, a minimalist iTunes interface that slaps some album artwork on your desktop and adds a host of convenient features for controlling your music. Well here we are again, but this time we’re looking at a rival application called TunesArt, which whilst largely based on the same principle, does have a few extra tricks up its sleeve.
It’s worth mentioning that when I bought the app, it was a great deal cheaper than CoverSutra on the App Store, costing me just 99-pence. However I believe that was a sale price, and it has now been restored to a slightly more thought provoking £4.99, and a few pounds more than Coversutra which is now on the App Store at a reasonable £2.99.
Continue reading »Windows Phone 7 Tango Update Confirmed As A Minor Update For Minor Handsets
August 22, 2011
Despite Mango still teasing Windows Phone users with its enormous array of new features, without making its way onto any consumers’ handsets, there is already talk of the next updates to the still relatively new OS. ‘Tango’, it’s been dubbed, but up until now there hasn’t been such clarity about exactly what Tango will be, as there has been about the name.
Well it turns out, as some predicted, that Tango will indeed be a minor update to the platform, making the OS more suitable for low-end handsets to be made available in the developing countries seeking where budget is a huge problem.
Continue reading »Top 5 News Reader Apps For iPad
August 19, 2011
In the past here at Zath, we’ve paid attention to a number of newspaper apps, such as The Daily, that are available for the iPad and commented on the usefulness of the iPad as a reading device, but rather than decide upon a particular newspaper or publication to provide us with news, many people choose another way. RSS is used to aggregate news from a variety of sources in one place, such as a standalone app, so here’s our rundown of the top 5 news reading applications for the iPad.
UK Train Times For iPhone App Review
August 13, 2011
If you’re a regular commuter on Britain’s rail service, then it’s a no brainer to get a great app for your smartphone that can keep you up to date with the latest train departures and platform changes as they happen.
UK Train Times, although fairly pricey at £4.99, does what it says on the tin, providing departure times and helping you plan journeys. It also packs in a few more features that you won’t see on other applications available on the App Store, so let’s take a closer look!
Continue reading »Wunderlist (Cross-Platform To-Do List Application) Review
August 2, 2011
On the lookout for a new application to manage my to-do items after I decided that ‘Things‘ was priced ridiculously high for such an inherently basic app, I headed over to the Mac App Store and began scouting around. What I was confronted with was a host of apps priced well over and above what I was willing to pay, with very little justification for it. Then I was recommended Wunderlist. Not restricted to the Mac, instead being open to a wide range of the most popular platforms.
What I like most about Wunderlist is that unlike its pricey competitors, it won’t set you back a dime. On all platforms, including OS X, iOS, Android and Windows, it’s free to download from various sources. There’s no catch hidden away either, registration for use of the service is also as described. Free.
Continue reading »IM+ for Windows Phone 7 App Review
August 1, 2011
Since the arrival of Windows Phone 7, one of my more major gripes with it (and I have a lot of gripes, believe you me) has been the lack of an instant messaging client besides the third party serving of Windows Live Messenger. Of course, the future Mango update has taken care of that, as well as Facebook chat, but if I wanted to sign into Gtalk or Skype chat, there really wasn’t an option for me. I believe the US Marketplace bore an app named Flory monopolised the instant messaging arena, before being discontinued before the impending release of IM+, a fearsome competitor if ever there was one, an app that has enjoyed outstanding success on other mobile platforms already.
How To Show The Path Bar In A Mac Finder Window
July 31, 2011
There’s nothing more annoying than getting lost in a confusing hierarchy of files and folders and more files and more folders. After all, you’re just running a computer, not a battle cruiser.
If you ever find yourself lost whilst browsing files on your Mac, you may struggle to get back to where you want to be, because the path bar isn’t shown by default in your Finder windows. Fortunately, there’s a quick way to enable it.
Continue reading »