But I did not know of this: CCEnhancer can add to CCleaner’s capabilities by providing support for hundreds of extra programs beyond those supported by default.

According to FreewareGenius, the add-on app supports 270 extra programs including things like Quicktime and Flash, for example,  it works even as a portable app, offers 1-click operation and is simple to use. Nice - who knew? You can try CCenhancer for yourself, just download it from here. It’s free, but donations are accepted.

Access to the kit is on an invite-only basis at the moment, and interested developers have to go to Skype’s website and fill out an online form detailing their user and organization info. 

SkypeKit will allow the integration of voice and video calling and/or IM features into third-party desktop applications or compatible Internet-connected hardware devices. It also offers Skype’s super wideband audio, based on the SILK codec. Developers who use SkypeKit will be able to describe their apps as “plugged into Skype” in their marketing materials, notes a company blog post about the announcement.

To request an invite to the program, you can head over here to the sign up page now.

Also included is what may be the standout feature for Windows 7 users: taskbar integration. A counter in the taskbar shows you how many unread messages you have.

Another notifications feature also lets you read experts from new tweet updates, replies and more as they cycle through in the notifications.

You can download MetroTwit from here. Note that the app is in beta, so all the usual caveats apply.

Although cloud security and stability continues to improve, not everyone is comfortable with having their data stored only in the cloud. With Mozy 2.0, that’s no longer a concern. You can still backup to the cloud, but you can also configure the program to save your backup to an external hard drive, too. This local option is made available via Mozy 2xProtect, which is included in the software.

The company also says that the new program delivers up to 25% faster upload speeds from desktop to cloud. It has a new user interface too, designed to be easier to understand and use.

Mozy for Windows is available in two different versions: Mozy Home for personal use and Mozy Pro for businesses. Home users get 2 GB of free online backup storage and for only $4.95/month, can get unlimited storage. Business users can buy either desktop or server licenses starting at $3.95 or $6.95 per month, respectively.

You can learn more about the new software here.

By default, the app supports multiple Twitter accounts and Facebook, plus it offers support for lesser known services like Google Buzz and Socialwok. You can add in even more plugins, too, like Bit.ly and Bing Maps, for example.

Also new to this version of Seesmic are unique backgrounds provided by Red Bull (and more will arrive later, we’re told). Directory and channels like those supported in Seesmic Look are now available too.

You can download the preview version of Seesmic Desktop here.

Granola uses a technology called dynamic voltage and frequency scaling or DVFS which is analogous to a “dimmer switch” on a light, says the company. When you don’t need the brightest light, you can dim it via a switch. DVFS works in a similar way – when it needs CPU at full speed, it allows that, but when the PC is in a lower state of activity (like reading a website instead of playing a game), it uses less energy.

You can download Granola for free from here.

The open-source project is called Feedling and it and its source can be found over on Sourceforge.

In technical terms, Feedling is an open-source .NET RSS feed reader that pins headlines to your Windows desktop.

Using the program is simple. After downloading and installing the application, you can configure the headlines you want to show by adding feeds under the configuration settings menu. You can even specify how the feeds should appear – that is, what font color, font type, size, hover color and update interval they should use.

The end result is a feed reader (of sorts) that doesn’t pester you with unread item counts – just an attractive, but quietly updating feed of items you’ll like…when you have time to read them.

You can download Feedling from here.

(via, image credit: MakeUseof)

CNET says the ribbon is “the most radical change to the program” in their review, noting that it makes the program instantly recognizable to Office users and helps to highlight the advanced features in a way where users can finally locate them. However, if you’re anti-ribbon, the Classic interface is still available under “Options.”

The new WinZip looks great, but the price ($29.95) is probably a little too high for most of us who simply use the built in compression and extraction tools found in Windows. However, anyone who needs the advanced features WinZip provides should be happy with the upgrade.

Instead of accessing the jump list for an individual program, the app lets you pin a jump list for a combination of programs, files and other shortcuts into one single launcher. In other words: multiple programs, one button.

In fact, you can now add up to 60 programs into this app and you can even configure it to launch one default program when you left click on it. And you can group the programs as you see fit. For example, you could create a group called “Office” which lists all the Microsoft Office programs and another called “tools” which holds all your utilities.

The program has been revised seven times so far, so if you encountered bugs early on in its life cycle, you may want to try it again.

Jumplist Launcher is available for free download here.

The Ultimate Tweaker application is like a supercharged TweakUI, says LifeHacker. It lets you customize a number of options in categories like security settings, IE, network tweaks, user accounts, system performance and more. Plus, you can’t beat the fact that the application is a completely free download. You can grab it here for both Windows 7 (32 and 64-bit) and Vista.

Llike TweetDeck, Sobees supports Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn in addition to Twitter. However, unlike TweetDeck, Sobees lets you drag and drop columns in order to reorganize them in the client’s layout. You can also preview tweets, translate them, view threaded conversations, and preview Twitpics within the app.

Also new in this version is the addition of real-time search which lets you search OneRiot, Twitter, FriendFeed, and FacteryLabs all at once.

You can get the new client app from the Sobees website here:  http://www.sobees.com.

Specifically, the software implemented the Windows 7 libraries feature within the program for easy access to your most common file stores. It also provides a login form, download form, and upload form created using Aero technology. And as you upload and download files to and from a remote site, the progress of those file transfers is shown using the thumbnail previews in the new Windows 7 taskbar. Instead of seeing a small thumbnail of the open window, for example, this FTP program actually displays a dialog box complete with informational text including file name, save path, and status as well as a progress bar.

The new FTP program is available for download along with its source code from here.

Considering that some of the top Twitter applications currently use AIR (TweetDeck immediately comes to mind, for example), you may wonder why the company decided to make the switch. According to Loic Le Meur, Seesmic’s CEO, the app’s users have been asking for a native Windows client for some time. He also said that the new client will be faster and will use less memory than the AIR version.

Le Meur notes on his blog that the new app will also offer some great Windows-only features, including location-based updates and access to several languages in spell checker.

If you’re interested in trying the new version of Seesmic for Windows, you can sign up now to join Team Seesmic, the company’s exclusive band of beta testers. Team Seesmic members get early access to all the company’s releases and are kept up-to-date with emails about the new products and upgrades.

There’s no additional hardware required to use this service but you will need to have a Windows 7 PC (32 or 64-bit) – older versions of Windows are not supported.

Connectify is still in beta, so all the typical disclaimers apply. However, those that have tested it so far have not reported issues. You can sign up to join the beta yourself by clicking here.

The program has three tabs at the top: an “About” tab, a “Basic” tab, and an “Advanced” tab. The Basic tab links to more commonly used apps like the Event Viewer, Disk Defragmenter, Registry Editor, and Firewall for example, while the Advanced tab links to less commonly used programs like DirectX Diagnostics, the Problem Step Recorder, and Remote Assistance.

While this software clearly isn’t designed for Windows power users who already know where to find each and every setting, it could prove useful for the novices who know the utility they need but just not where to find it.

To download the Windows Access Panel, click here (zip file/32-bit version only).

The application will automatically scan your computer for all installed software and determine whether or not it’s up-to-date. When it’s finished scanning, you can view the program updates you need and easily access the download link for the new version. Of course, this link directs you over to CNET’s own online repository of applications, but that’s fine with me – the executables there are just as good as any. 

TechTracker also features an alerts option which is off by default, but can be turned on to alert you when a software program has a new version available.

The TechTracker program is a free download from CNET and can be accessed from here.

Unlike most Twitter apps out there, Quitter’s number one benefit is that it doesn’t require installation. All you have to do is double-click on the 43 KB file and you’re up and running. However, upon launch it will need to authenticate you by directing you to Twitter.com for your credentials, so if your company currently blocks that site, you’re out of luck.

Once logged in, you can tweet, retweet, repy, read your @mentions and direct messages, follow and unfollow users, group users, shorten URLs, and even filter tweets containing specific hashtags. All these actions are made possible using single letter commands (a help list is available by entering “?”).

The free application runs on Windows PCs only and requires version 2.0 of the .NET framework to work. You can download Quitter for yourself here.

Last year, Microsoft Office Labs introduced Speed Launch, an app launcher that worked via drag-and-drop. Another old favorite is Launchy (see: “Skip the Start Menu”), a keyboard launcher for XP. But for Windows 7 users, there wasn’t much to choose from.

With Blaze, though, application launcher fans have a new utility to try out. The app, which works on both 32 and 64-bit systems, not only lets you quickly launch programs by typing it also monitors your activity to help you automate repetitive tasks. For example, imagine you are renaming the 100 some photos from your vacation from “DSC18033” (or some other odd name your camera assigned) to “Vacation Photo 1,” “Vacation Photo 2,” and so on. Blaze would be able to identify what you’re doing and then complete the task for you. I’ve wanted an easy app to do things like that for years!

The app also isn’t sensitive to typos so if you were trying to launch Excel but typed Excl instead, it would still know what you meant. Smart! It can also perform quick calculations, perform web searches, create on-the-fly emails, perform commands, locate files and folders, and more.

Blaze is available as a free download from Sourceforge. You can learn more about Blaze here.

Discovered via MakeUseOf

The application, now in its second version, is an update to an earlier app which originally relied on XMPP (Jabber) to deliver updates. When Twitter discontinued XMPP support, Jenkins decided to discontinue MahTweets, too. Eventually, he became frustrated when other desktop clients didn’t offer the features he wanted, so he “rebooted” the app with help from a few others as an open source, multi-source network client.

As far as the Twitter functionality goes, MahTweets offers the standard options like viewing the timeline, replies, and the like. However, it also includes several unique features, too like filtering, auto-expanding shortened URLs, viewing in-line pictures, and automatic splitting of tweets longer than 140 characters. Future releases will include even more great features like webcam support, local searches, and themes. Other services like YouTube, TwitVid, and Blip.fm will also be introduced in future releases.

If you’re interested in trying MahTweets, you can install it from here.

However, the desktop software application was actually built by a company called Sobees. (You may remember hearing about them here on Channel 10, thanks to several of our previous posts.) Microsoft had worked in conjunction with Sobees to develop the user interface as a way to demonstrate the company’s ideas about content aggregation and monetization.

According to the proposal, the software aimed to demonstrate the following concepts:

• contextual awareness
• interactivity and user participation
• personalization
• anywhere access
• cross-platform/cross-device access
• semantic search and navigation
• pay-for-content
• advertising-based monetization

Additionally, the media content included in this next-gen newspaper could also generate revenue through sales of “packages” or “parts.” The packages would be like a TV channel or newspaper today – meaning, a lot of different content from one main provider – and the parts would be more like an RSS feed containing individual articles.

When running the program, it will automatically detect your profiles and accounts, allowing you to check or uncheck the boxes of the items you want to backup. And should disaster strike, you can also use the application to restore the backups it creates.

MailBrowserBackup is free software licensed under the GNU GPL v2. You can download it for Windows XP SP2, Vista, and Windows 7 from here.

The software offers handy way to clear up clutter of icons off your desktop while also not using up too much toolbar space. Those who want an easy shortcut to their frequently accessed folders and files will like 7Stacks too since you can use it to pin exact folder locations to the taskbar. This is different than how Windows 7’s built-in “Libraries” folder icon works. When clicking that icon, which appears next to the Start Menu in Windows 7, Explorer opens. However, your frequently accessed folder locations are available only on right-click. With 7Stacks, you can create a list of folder locations which pop-up upon a left-click instead.

7Stacks also allows you to configure the stacks in three different formats: normal, grid, and menu. Normal displays a vertical stack, grid shows a square-shared grid of icons only, and menu is a cascading menu of items with very small icons labeled with text. Perhaps the nicest thing about 7Stacks, though, is the way it uses the Aero technology for displaying the stacks. This makes it look more like a feature included in Windows 7 itself and not some extra add-on program.

7Stacks is a free download available here.

With Echo, you can stream music over the internet just by typing in your favorite artist or musical genre. The app then begins playing the music in a way that’s similar to how Last.fm’s online player operates -it plays a never-ending stream of songs based on your input. The app can also suggest artists who are related to what you’re currently listening to. Since the app remembers what you’ve listened to in the past, you can also easily revisit what you’ve just heard. You can save stations as favorites, too. Other features include a mini-mode and an all-in-one volume control.

Echo is available as a free download here. The site says that it’s for Windows Vista, but it should work fine on Windows 7 too.

The tool is called Commands in Demand and it provides access to over 70 different Windows commands from its easy-to-use interface. You’ll find commonly used commands like the one for restarting Windows Explorer, terminating non-responsive programs, hiding or showing desktop icons, clearing the clipboard, displaying CPU info, and a whole lot more.

Commands in Demand is a free download and works on XP and Vista. However, with compatibly mode enabled, it should work on Windows 7 too.