June 2004 – Marcus Vorwaller

Despite the title of this article, I love WindowShade X. It’s software for Mac OS X that brings back the functionality of rolling up windows to just the title bar that OS 9 had. Not only does it do that, but it also lets you shrink windows down to small boxes you can place anywhere on your screen.

What frustrates me is that when WindowShade X is running, windows get “stuck” behind other windows. I happens sometimes with pretty much every program I use, but it seems like Firefox and Dreamweaver are the biggest culprits. Even newly created windows will sometimes appear behind existing windows and they’re impossible to get at unless you minimize the windows in front of them. It’s frustrating.

Even more frustrating is that I emailed them a few months ago and they replied saying they’re aware of the problem but have still done nothing as fix it. It’s not so much that I’m frustrated at them, but more at the fact that a program that has almost eliminated my need for the dock (and that I paid for) is almost unusable because of this pretty major bug. I hope they work it out soon, or that someone comes up with some competition. The concept is excellent and overall, so is the implementation.

For Windows, Winroll does a great job of Window Shading.

The best Pocket PC Freeware (and non-free software where there’s no good free alternative) available. I’ve sorted through dozens of programs, weeded out the buggy, useless software and this is what remains. If you’ve just purchased a Pocket PC, this list could save you hours. This is a continuation of a page that I created for the Psion Revo a few years ago.

ADB Idea – Outliner This is an outliner that is more than an outliner. It has a tree view that allows you to place text notes, voice recordings, sketches, file attachments and to-dos that link to Pocket Outlook. Excellent software.	Freeware

gsplayer – mp3 player Simple interface, but all the features you could possibly want. A full equalizer, surround sound and 3d effect, reverb and echo control, bass boost and presets. It can play local files or stream them. I like this much better than its non-free competition.	Freeware

icBar – Start Bar Replacement / Program Launcher Icbar is an indispensable startbar replacement. It allows you to quickly access open programs (and close them completely) with fully customizable buttons to execute other often used commands. Powerful and lightweight. There are several wisbar forks out there, this one is the best.	Freeware

NetUse – Network Neighborhood Browser If you have a wireless access that is indispensable. It allows you to freely browse your local network on your Pocket PC. Basically it does the same thing Resco viewer does, but for free. Their site is down so I’m making it available for download here (ARM cab file).	Freeware

Mobile Atelier – Painting Program The most powerful painting program I’ve found for the Pocket PC. The interface threw me off at first, but the more I got used to it, the more I like it.	Freeware

Mobile Pencil – Drawing Program The most powerful pencil drawing program for the Pocket PC.	Freeware

NoteM – MP3 recorder This program does an excellent job of recording great quality mp3’s. I’ve recorded up to an hour with no problem whatsoever. This program deserves much more attention.	Freeware

PocketTV – mpeg player Plays mpegs with a fullscreen mode. You have to go through a strange registration process but it’s free and very useful. I use it to play mpegs recorded off my digital camera.	Freeware

Pocket WINC – Wireless Network Finder Easily search out and connect to wireless networks. Check internet connectivity with the push of a button. The light version does everything I’ve ever wanted to do and does not feel crippled. [UPDATE] PC magazine has changed their download policy… they now require a magazine subscription to access this file. See WiFiFoFum down at the bottom of this page..	~~Freeware Light Version~~ Requires Magazine subscription

Total Commander – File Browser A very powerful file browser. It has built in unzipping and a built in notepad. It also has a very fast find files function. Desktop version available.	Freeware

uBook / µBook – e-book Reader This is quite possibly the only ebook reader you’ll ever need (for free ebooks that is). It supports a wide variety of filetypes with an interesting, skinnable interface. Desktop version available.	Freeware

Viewer – Image Viewer This photo viewer from PDA Mill is very basic, but I love the interface and it’s super fast. Supports image viewing and slideshows.	Freeware

XnView – Image Viewer A powerful picture viewer that supports many popular filetypes, basic image editing and manipulation functionality. Ability to view and create exe slideshows and take screen captures / screenshots.	Freeware

YanCEyWare Reader – Scripture Reader LDS oriented scripture reader. Very powerful and simple to use.	Freeware

Non-Free – Apps that couldn’t be replaced with freeware…
Text Maker – Word Processor Full featured Word Processor. Full support for native Microsoft Word documents. This blows Pocket Word out of the water.	Expensive (around $50 USD)

FlexWallet There are several wallet programs available, this one seems like the simplest to use and works fine. Free desktop version (even if you don’t buy the PocketPC version). Customizable templates and icons.	About $20 USD

PocketInformant – Outlook Replacement If you use the built in PIM applications a lot (calendar, contacts, tasks, notes) you don’t know what you’re missing out on. Pocket Informant provides a better and more efficient way of viewing, organizing and entering data. It also offers many new features such as pictures attached to contacts and icons attached to events and tasks. Maintains Outlook and ActiveSync compatibility.	About $35 USD

Freeware Resources – FreewarePPC and PocketPCFreewares are the two best resources for Pocket PC Freeware. Both are updated daily. The disadvantage is that they haven’t filtered through everything and placed it in a nice list like you have here :).

Other Freeware Notables: WiFiFoFum – Another free wireless network detector. Cool radar feature. PocketExplorer – File explorer with tree view. Xircuit Xplore – File explorer with split view. Mounts network drives (Pocket PC 2002 only). Winampaq – Mp3 player. If you’re a Winamp 2.0 diehard, this brings it to the iPaq with great faithfulness. Supports most Winamp 2 skins. VadeMecum – Plucker eBook reader. PocketTime – Project time tracking [NEW] Crosswords – Freeware Scrabble clone for the Pocket PC. Gameplay is great and you can use the excellent dictionaries provided or create your own. I’ve noticed occasional crashes when using this program but I have not been able to conclusively decide if this it is Crosswords that is causing it. [NEW] PocketNotepad – Just like windows notepad. Sometimes Pocket Word or any other program is an overkill. PocketNoetpad is great for quick, simple notes. [NEW] Agile Messenger – I’ll admit I haven’t had a ton of experience with this one, but I can verify that it connects to AIM, MSN and Jabber and chat seems to work fine. Could be an excellent replacement for memory hungry AOL AIM and MSN – especially when they’re running at the same time.

Conclusion I think this is the best Freeware available for the Pocket PC. If you can prove me wrong, I’d be happy to credit you with notifiying me of any applications I’ve missed. Email me at marcus \|at\| vorwaller \|dot\| net. With suggestions.