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Today’s Software
- Arrange Your Desktop: automatically sort desktop icons based on type
- Windows XP Snipping Tool: get the awesome Windows Vista/7 snipping tool in Windows XP
- Smart Folders for Windows: create folders by dragging files on top of each other, à la Android and iOS
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About Windows Software of the Day
Windows has hundreds of thousands of programs. Because of this great volume and lack of a central store, software discovery (aka finding new and useful programs) is extremely difficult. With our Windows Software of the Day initiative, dotTech aims to change that. Everyday we post three programs, allowing our readers to discover new software, daily. Enjoy! [Subscribe to our Windows section to never miss an article: RSS Feed | E-mail]
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Software for May 24, 2012
Arrange Your Desktop
Want a nice clean desktop, but without all that hassle of organizing it? Arrange your desktop with Arrange Your Desktop, a nicely themed folder organizer. When you click Arrange, it’ll automatically move files on your desktop into a folder based on type, be it a shortcut to a program, a video, a picture, or something else.
Optionally, if you have a type of file on your desktop that you want to put in a certain folder that AYD does not automatically support, you can use the custom sorting option down at the bottom. You just type in an extension and a folder name and when you click arrange matching files will be added to their corresponding folders.
Sorting your desktop can be a real pain, but with tools like AYD, it can actually be quite easy.
Note: upon installation, AYD will attempt to install some adware. Be sure to deselect it when you’re installing AYD.
Price: Free!
Version discovered: v1.0.0.0
Supported OS: unknown
Download size: 384KB
VirusTotal malware scan results: 0/42
Portability: Requires installation
Windows XP Snipping Tool
Windows 7’s built-in Snipping Tool is an awesome thing. It allows you to take quick screenshots of sections of the screen and easily mark them up. However, all is not good: it’s only included in Windows Vista and 7. If you want it in Windows XP, the only choice is to upgrade.
Not so fast! An intrepid developer by the name of stratemeyerjw has recreated a rough version of the Snipping Tool for Windows. While not perfect, this tool is much like the standard Windows Snipping Tool, and lets you crop and save screenshots. It’s also very lightweight, entirely free, and open source, so it’s not bad to just keep lying around on your computer.
If you’re still running Windows XP, Snipping Tool is a nice choice of a lightweight screenshot tool if you take screenshots seldom enough that having a heavy, bloat-y program isn’t worth it.
Price: Free!
Version discovered: Build 7-7-11
Supported OS: Windows XP
Download size: 344KB
VirusTotal malware scan results: 0/42
Portability: Requires installation
Windows XP Snipping Tool homepage
Smart Folders for Windows
Creating a new folder is something that most of us probably all know how to do. You right click, go to New>, select New Folder, name it, and drag the files you want in. It’s tedious! Make it faster with Smart Folders for Windows.
Smart Folders for Windows takes a page out of the iOS/Android book. It allows for the creation of folders by simply dragging and dropping files on top of each other. It’s not perfect, and doesn’t work for all file extensions, but works well for pretty much any file that’s not an executable or a shortcut. You can see how exactly to use it in this screencast by the developer:
As you can see, it’s easy to set up and also makes new folder creation quite simple. For something that simplifies a task so greatly, it’s oddly unpopular–try it out and see how nice it is yourself!
Price: Free!
Version discovered: unknown
Supported OS: Windows XP+
Download size: 399KB
VirusTotal malware scan results: 0/42
Portability: Requires installation
Smart Folders for Windows homepage
dotTechies: We have tested all the software listed above. However, Windows Software of the Day articles are not intended as “reviews” but rather as “heads-up” to help you discover new programs. Always use your best judgement when downloading programs, such as trying trial/free versions before purchasing shareware programs, if applicable.
