GREAT PROGRAMS IN A CATEGORY OF THEIR OWN
Google Earth Pro www.snipca.com/24017
Google’s virtual globe used to cost $399 (£265), then suddenly went free two years ago – which must have stung if you’d bought it a few weeks earlier. Now we can all fly through cities, forests, oceans and even around Mars in stunning 3D for nothing. The program is no longer updated but still supported, so it’s safe to install on Windows 7 and above.
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Press Ctrl+alt+a to launch the built-in Flight Simulator. Choose your plane and real-life airport (we like Kathmandu, for the Himalayas – see screenshot right), then pilot the plane using your keyboard and mouse (for more info go to www. snipca.com/24021).
Ultimate Settings Panel www.snipca.com/24020
In Windows XP, the Control Panel felt like a friend. In Windows 10, it feels like an afterthought. Microsoft now scatters settings all over the place, leaving you to use the search box. But what if you don’t know what to search for? Ultimate Settings Panel puts all your settings back in one place.
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Click the Windows 10 tab, then Magnifier. In the dock that opens, click ‘+’, View, then Lens. This gives you a virtual magnifying glass for moving over text to make it easier to read.
Calibre www.calibre-ebook.com
Not everyone wants to use a Kindle for their ebooks – or get their ebooks from Amazon. If you want choice and control, use Calibre instead. This open-source tool is a viewer, downloader, manager, editor and converter all in one.
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Calibre incorporates a browser for Project Gutenberg – the ongoing effort to digitise everything that’s ever been written. Click the little arrow next to ‘Get books’, click Stores, then Project Gutenberg.
Portableapps http://portableapps.com
This small, open-source tool hosts more than 300 portable ‘app’ versions of popular portable programs, including Gnucash, Skype and Stellarium. Tick as many as you want, and they’ll be download to a virtual drive on your PC.
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Portableapps now lets you back up your downloaded apps and their settings to a ZIP file. Click its system-tray icon, then Backup.