Email article
Today’s Software
- Better Explorer: Windows Explorer, but with the ribbon UI
- HotKeyMan: create system-wide shortcuts
- Drag’n’Drop Editor: change the default drag-and-drop action in Windows Explorer
Subscribe to our Windows section to never miss an article: RSS Feed | E-mail
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]
Developers: Click here to get your apps featured here!
dotTechies: Want to see an app on here? Send us a tip!
Software for June 7, 2012
Better Explorer
Windows 8, whether you like it or not, is the next step in the evolution of Microsoft’s Windows. With it comes an entirely new user interface paradigm, Metro, and an evolution of the desktop featuring even more of the ribbon interface. If you’ve looked at this evolution of the desktop and thought that it is the future, Better Explorer is for you.
Better Explorer is a ribbon-based Explorer replacement. It, by virtue of its design, it can do pretty much everything that Windows 7’s Explorer can do and do it with the ribbon UI. It appears to be built off of Windows Explorer in a way that allows for all of your everyday tasks in Explorer, such as managing files and libraries, to be completely natural and exactly the same with the added benefit of easy access to more settings with the ribbon UI.
If you like ribbon and are looking for a better way to browse your files, Better Explorer is the program for you.
Price: Free!
Version discovered: Beta 1
Supported OS: Windows 7 with .NET Framework 4.0
Download size: 14.1MB
VirusTotal malware scan results: 0/41
Portability: Requires installation!
HotKeyMan
Every self-proclaimed geek needs to regularly use at least 15 different keyboard shortcuts of their own choice. However, these shortcuts are severely limited by default on Windows as there’s no good way to make universal shortcuts. HotKeyMan fills this gap by allowing you to create system-wide shortcuts for frequent actions.
HotKeyMan lets you do lots of things with just a mash of your keyboard. You can open a website, exit a program, change a program’s active window, capture a screenshot, open files (even as administrator), add things to the clipboard, and more. It’s a very nice hotkey manager, too. It allows you to easily enable and disable hotkeys as you need to.
HotKeyMan is a nice little tool for those who constantly use shortcuts and are looking to expand their portfolio of combinations.
Price: Free!
Version discovered: v1.20
Supported OS: Windows 2000+
Download size: 1.5MB
VirusTotal malware scan results: 1/41
Portability: Requires installation
Drag’n’Drop Editor
Pop quiz! When you drag a file or group of files from one Explorer window to another, what will they do?
A) Copy.
B) Move.
C) Create Shortcut.
If you answered B, you’re correct. When you drag files from one folder to another, Windows will by default move them. If you’re dragging them to another drive, things get more complicated, but for now it’s simple enough to say they are moved.
However, if moving seems like a bad choice and you want to instead be able to copy or create shortcuts by dragging and dropping, you can use Drag’n’Drop Editor to change it. You can see in this video by the developer what each option does:
If you’re looking forward to changing the drag and drop operation on Windows, Drag’n’Drop Editor is the perfect tool for you, and is quite simple too.
Price:
Version discovered:
Supported OS: Windows XP+ with .NET Framework 3.5
Download size: 98KB
VirusTotal malware scan results: 1/42
Portability: Entirely portable!
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.
