anzev writes
"A team manager for Windows for 5 years has decided to write a blog-essay about what caused Windows Vista project to miss the due date. Philip tells us in the blog, that Windows developers are writing an average of 5000 lines of code (which is *only* 1200 lines less than the national average of 6200 lines of code per year). He addresses issues like the Vista code being too complicated, the processes the developers have to follow too complex and a lot more. All in all it gives a nice insight into why Vista will be late, from a different perspective. Oh, and Slashdot gets mentioned too ;-)."
Friday, June 16, 2006
Sunday, June 11, 2006
索罗斯的1997香港股市之战------探讨大盘走向的预备
索罗斯的1997香港股市之战------探讨大盘走向的预备内
文章来源: 弱-智
索罗斯的1997香港股市之战
---因为中国封锁消息，我对全过程及数据的了解很不全面也不准确。分析有不确切的地方请大家谅解，但是我必须说清这种操纵市场的方式，来对我后面分析大盘作铺垫。
---索罗斯，犹太人，世界最著名的国际金融投机家，操纵着旗下的对冲基金，量子基金和老虎基金。 曾在泰国修理泰铢，引发东南亚金融风暴；曾阻击英镑，获十亿利润；在俄罗斯出手，受到俄政府干涉而受损。
---1997年的香港回归，被他视为一个绝佳的暴利机会。他联络了全球各国的几家大型基金，秘密地开始买入香港股票（港股是可以通过券商从世界各地购买的）。而且这种买入是持续性的，使得港股从1996年的低点开始不停地上涨，引发港人疯狂地追随，恒生指数一再突破新高。到1997年朱总理曾给过很严厉的警告：“不要认为政府会托市，我们也托不起市。” 很明显，港府和中国政府早就看出了这股潜在的国际金融力量的目的，通过金融操纵，在香港回归之前把股价打高到天上，从而在回归之后采取暴跌方式出货，既可获利又可造成很坏的政治影响。
---朱总理这样说，主要是因为当时政府不能人为地行政干涉外资涌入市场，在无奈之中，只好警告香港散民不要跟风。但就像中国股市一样，金钱的魅力是无穷的。没有人抵挡的住诱惑，没有人听信忠告，追高者无数。港民都坚信，回归后政府不可能放任大跌，会影响政府形象，所以都勇敢地去豪赌。
索罗斯在1997年上半年不断推升股市，接近最高点时，分散隐蔽，但不断地开了大批六月底交割的股指期货的空单 （Put Option）。港府一直紧密监视着这股神秘的力量，越临近7月1日，港府对于对方的动机和操作策略越是一清二楚。但问题是，港府的外汇储备尚无力单独应付可能的金融袭击。于是，港财政高官秘密进京，得到了中央的将不遗余力地，倾中国外汇储备之全力支持的许诺，于是一场金融大决战开始了。
到了1997年的上半年最高点，恒生指数达到了16000点之上的历史新高。 而随着回归日的临近，索罗斯指挥着他的联合军团，开始了有步骤地股票高位出货。其股票的出货是不以赚钱为主要目的的，他的策略是以股指期货的空单收益来赢利的。（对冲的手法）
---决战的日子是6月28日，在此之前， 恒指已经被压到了 大约在万点之下。而此时的散民已是一片悲哀。港府的高明之处在于不露声色，不托盘，任由索罗斯打压并主宰市场，麻痹对手。
28日一早，索罗斯的股票抛货就开始不断地稳步释出，压迫恒指持续加速下跌，引发崩盘的恐慌心理，加入逃命的散民无数，帮助他压跌指数。而当跌到了令人胆战心惊的4000多点时，散民已经是欲哭无泪了。索罗斯眼看胜利在望，却发觉开始有一股神秘的资金，不声不响地把无数的抛盘照单全收了。他开始紧张起来，发动了盟友们的全部股票存货狂砸（不记成本地抛，绝对是赔本在卖出），可是神秘资金还是不动声色地收下，却绝不拉高。还不到收市，港股成交就已经创了历史天量。当他的存货几乎抛光后，恒指却在4000点之上死活不退。 而当他向交易所借股票意欲再继续抛空（short ）时，得到的回答却是不借（这是有违规嫌疑的）。
---到了下午，大盘开始反攻， 神秘资金将股指持续推高，而索罗斯的联合军团内部开始出现反水的， 背着他加入了多方，买回股票并cover 自己的期指空单（当然是为了减少自己的损失）。到收市时，港股几乎全部收复了当天上午的失地（大约是收在8000多点），索罗斯没想到港府出手，大意失荆州，损失惨重（股票损失加上股指期货损失）。港府直到4000多点才出手接货救市，绝对是精心策划好的，既可教育自己的子民要听话，又可四两拨千斤，代价最小（也为今后处理这批接入的股票打下基础）。
---虽说索罗斯和他的联合军团是铩羽而归，但港府行政干预市场，亲自下场参与的行为，在国际上造成了极不好的影响。索罗斯败给了一个政府一个国家，而且政府的直接参与行为，使港股市场作为西方人眼中的一个规范化交易市场的形象，受到极大的毁坏。吸引西方外资的融资魅力受到了削弱，尤其是投机性资金的避而远之。
---索罗斯的手法很简单，主要条件是必须有足够的资金作为支持，选好时机来操纵市场。他用一部分资金持续性买入股票（尤其是指数股），不计较成本。而在股指到达高位时，再开大量股指期货的卖空单。接着，从高位开始，坚决地把股指打低，抛出的股票当然也会赢利，但不是主要利润来源。真正的盈利重头在于股指期货的空单。当然，这种操作是要借助市场跟风力量的，全体市场参与者都会成为推动力----涨时助涨，跌时助跌。（所以中国现在绝对不能真正开放自己的证券市场，因为中国股市的市值相对国际大资金而言实在是太小了，很容易被操纵。限制人民币自由兑换，就是封杀了外资自由参与及退出的可能。但是，只要政府的行政干预行为不停止， 任何外资的投入都会胆战心惊。 ）
---其实，如果 没有港府的参与托市（背后强大国资的支持），港股的大崩盘是绝不可避免的。
---后话：港府在这次托市中，共接入约700亿市值的股票，港府已经大大赢利，这里面有很多是散民的割肉筹码。如果港府到市场上卖出的话，冲击市场不说，操纵市场牟利的名声就更坏了。港府后来成立了一家‘盈富基金’，把手中的股票全部直接转到该基金名下，让散民自由认购该基金。相当于散民用低于当时股票市价的价格买入了这些股票，作到了还利于民。 此处理方法受到了一定的好评。
---另外，回归前的香港楼市也同时被极度高估，很多人在股市的暴跌打击下，付不出银行贷款利息, 纷纷脱手楼屋，于是楼价亦跟随跳水。 对香港的经济打击很大。
---这件事也是索罗斯与中国结怨的一个原因。因为毕竟对香港回归的政治意义有负面影响。
您看明白这种操纵市场的策略，对理解我后面的大盘分析必不可少
文章来源: 弱-智
索罗斯的1997香港股市之战
---因为中国封锁消息，我对全过程及数据的了解很不全面也不准确。分析有不确切的地方请大家谅解，但是我必须说清这种操纵市场的方式，来对我后面分析大盘作铺垫。
---索罗斯，犹太人，世界最著名的国际金融投机家，操纵着旗下的对冲基金，量子基金和老虎基金。 曾在泰国修理泰铢，引发东南亚金融风暴；曾阻击英镑，获十亿利润；在俄罗斯出手，受到俄政府干涉而受损。
---1997年的香港回归，被他视为一个绝佳的暴利机会。他联络了全球各国的几家大型基金，秘密地开始买入香港股票（港股是可以通过券商从世界各地购买的）。而且这种买入是持续性的，使得港股从1996年的低点开始不停地上涨，引发港人疯狂地追随，恒生指数一再突破新高。到1997年朱总理曾给过很严厉的警告：“不要认为政府会托市，我们也托不起市。” 很明显，港府和中国政府早就看出了这股潜在的国际金融力量的目的，通过金融操纵，在香港回归之前把股价打高到天上，从而在回归之后采取暴跌方式出货，既可获利又可造成很坏的政治影响。
---朱总理这样说，主要是因为当时政府不能人为地行政干涉外资涌入市场，在无奈之中，只好警告香港散民不要跟风。但就像中国股市一样，金钱的魅力是无穷的。没有人抵挡的住诱惑，没有人听信忠告，追高者无数。港民都坚信，回归后政府不可能放任大跌，会影响政府形象，所以都勇敢地去豪赌。
索罗斯在1997年上半年不断推升股市，接近最高点时，分散隐蔽，但不断地开了大批六月底交割的股指期货的空单 （Put Option）。港府一直紧密监视着这股神秘的力量，越临近7月1日，港府对于对方的动机和操作策略越是一清二楚。但问题是，港府的外汇储备尚无力单独应付可能的金融袭击。于是，港财政高官秘密进京，得到了中央的将不遗余力地，倾中国外汇储备之全力支持的许诺，于是一场金融大决战开始了。
到了1997年的上半年最高点，恒生指数达到了16000点之上的历史新高。 而随着回归日的临近，索罗斯指挥着他的联合军团，开始了有步骤地股票高位出货。其股票的出货是不以赚钱为主要目的的，他的策略是以股指期货的空单收益来赢利的。（对冲的手法）
---决战的日子是6月28日，在此之前， 恒指已经被压到了 大约在万点之下。而此时的散民已是一片悲哀。港府的高明之处在于不露声色，不托盘，任由索罗斯打压并主宰市场，麻痹对手。
28日一早，索罗斯的股票抛货就开始不断地稳步释出，压迫恒指持续加速下跌，引发崩盘的恐慌心理，加入逃命的散民无数，帮助他压跌指数。而当跌到了令人胆战心惊的4000多点时，散民已经是欲哭无泪了。索罗斯眼看胜利在望，却发觉开始有一股神秘的资金，不声不响地把无数的抛盘照单全收了。他开始紧张起来，发动了盟友们的全部股票存货狂砸（不记成本地抛，绝对是赔本在卖出），可是神秘资金还是不动声色地收下，却绝不拉高。还不到收市，港股成交就已经创了历史天量。当他的存货几乎抛光后，恒指却在4000点之上死活不退。 而当他向交易所借股票意欲再继续抛空（short ）时，得到的回答却是不借（这是有违规嫌疑的）。
---到了下午，大盘开始反攻， 神秘资金将股指持续推高，而索罗斯的联合军团内部开始出现反水的， 背着他加入了多方，买回股票并cover 自己的期指空单（当然是为了减少自己的损失）。到收市时，港股几乎全部收复了当天上午的失地（大约是收在8000多点），索罗斯没想到港府出手，大意失荆州，损失惨重（股票损失加上股指期货损失）。港府直到4000多点才出手接货救市，绝对是精心策划好的，既可教育自己的子民要听话，又可四两拨千斤，代价最小（也为今后处理这批接入的股票打下基础）。
---虽说索罗斯和他的联合军团是铩羽而归，但港府行政干预市场，亲自下场参与的行为，在国际上造成了极不好的影响。索罗斯败给了一个政府一个国家，而且政府的直接参与行为，使港股市场作为西方人眼中的一个规范化交易市场的形象，受到极大的毁坏。吸引西方外资的融资魅力受到了削弱，尤其是投机性资金的避而远之。
---索罗斯的手法很简单，主要条件是必须有足够的资金作为支持，选好时机来操纵市场。他用一部分资金持续性买入股票（尤其是指数股），不计较成本。而在股指到达高位时，再开大量股指期货的卖空单。接着，从高位开始，坚决地把股指打低，抛出的股票当然也会赢利，但不是主要利润来源。真正的盈利重头在于股指期货的空单。当然，这种操作是要借助市场跟风力量的，全体市场参与者都会成为推动力----涨时助涨，跌时助跌。（所以中国现在绝对不能真正开放自己的证券市场，因为中国股市的市值相对国际大资金而言实在是太小了，很容易被操纵。限制人民币自由兑换，就是封杀了外资自由参与及退出的可能。但是，只要政府的行政干预行为不停止， 任何外资的投入都会胆战心惊。 ）
---其实，如果 没有港府的参与托市（背后强大国资的支持），港股的大崩盘是绝不可避免的。
---后话：港府在这次托市中，共接入约700亿市值的股票，港府已经大大赢利，这里面有很多是散民的割肉筹码。如果港府到市场上卖出的话，冲击市场不说，操纵市场牟利的名声就更坏了。港府后来成立了一家‘盈富基金’，把手中的股票全部直接转到该基金名下，让散民自由认购该基金。相当于散民用低于当时股票市价的价格买入了这些股票，作到了还利于民。 此处理方法受到了一定的好评。
---另外，回归前的香港楼市也同时被极度高估，很多人在股市的暴跌打击下，付不出银行贷款利息, 纷纷脱手楼屋，于是楼价亦跟随跳水。 对香港的经济打击很大。
---这件事也是索罗斯与中国结怨的一个原因。因为毕竟对香港回归的政治意义有负面影响。
您看明白这种操纵市场的策略，对理解我后面的大盘分析必不可少
辛辛苦苦经过30年，中国终于杀到了美国的身边
辛辛苦苦经过30年，中国终于杀到了美国的身边
经过30年，中国终于杀到了美国的身边
作者：暂时堕落
前天看新闻, 最抓住我的眼球的, 呵~~~, 是一则"普通"的经济新闻:联想国际的杨元庆"愤怒"指责美国议员的"歧视". 美国政府已经采纳这个议员的建议"涉及保密的部分不使用联想电脑". 把杨元庆气得够呛, 说是对联想国际的声誉的严重诋毁.
各位网友可能觉得我大惊小怪, 美国佬的这种做法, 意料之中. 觉得这种新闻太普通了.
台湾确实是我们的核心利益, 因为台湾如果独立成功, 中国将分崩离析, 西藏,新疆,内蒙古将不保, 甚至其它省份都会独立. 中国很可能会消亡, 对中华民族的影响是灾难性的. 所以它是我们的核心利益.
在这里, 我简单界定一下"核心利益"和"国家利益". 我所理解的"核心利益", 对一个国家是生死存亡的利益. 而"国家利益"则宽泛得多, 对一个国家有利的都可以说是"国家利益".
但是, 这个地球上, 目前的所有国际争端中, 找不到一个利益的损失是美国的核心利益. 台海没了, 对美国没有实质损失, 我们冲出第一岛链又能对美国有实质损失? 它还有第二岛链, 还有珍珠港, 还有中途岛, 就算我们把珍珠港拿下了, 又伤到美国的核心利益了吗? 珍珠港离美国本土还有近4000公里, 我们能伤到美国的核心利益吗? 就算中亚西亚各国全部加入中国, 我们伤到美国的核心利益了吗? 不但没伤到美国的核心利益, 中国还会和俄国在中亚西亚打起来. 反而破坏了中国的"势"
伊朗问题就算美国输了又如何? 美国经济军事会实质受损吗? 它是美国的核心利益吗? 伊朗问题只不过是美国的"势"依然在扩张中出现的一个新战略点, 但并不是美国生死存亡的核心利益. 就算中俄加伊朗把伊拉克也攻占下来, 美国的核心利益受到损害吗? 美国就会完了吗? 就算欧洲全部共产主义了, 美国就完蛋了吗? 就算美国全球的军事基地都没有了, 甚至都被中俄使用了, 美国就完蛋了吗? 美国是个巨大的八爪怪兽, 就算你神勇非凡斩了它的一只爪, 甚至两只爪, 甚至全部爪, 它还会长出来. 日本已经试过了, 它斩了美国的一只爪, 结果美国反身过来是无数个大巴掌, 无数只爪, 日本完蛋了. 美国自二战后, 给自己构筑了最强的战略态势. 把它的势力推进到其它国家的边境上了, 而它自己却在遥远的后方的后方的后方, 可以说, 这个地球上一百年内没有任何一个国家可以占领美国的本土. 美国的核心利益到底在哪里?
美国的"国势", 在一战二战之后, 一直在扩张之中, 二战后其"势"已经覆盖了半个地球, 冷战后战胜苏联, 其"国势"更加直接扩张到东欧和中亚. 而中俄被逼到围棋盘上的两个角上. "中空"全被美国占领. 大家一定听过"美国是全世界所有国家的邻国"这句话. 明显的, 中俄处于"弱势". 按理说, 美国应该高枕无忧, 那美国还怕什么? 为什么还在东征西讨? 为什么就是不放过中国?!
"卧榻之侧,岂容他人酣睡?"
美国的战略目的是很清楚的, 把中俄彻底瓦解, 把这个地球上任何一个可能和它争夺领导权的潜在国家, 一个一个瓦解. 但是美国也是认真总结了以往大帝国灭亡的教训, 它现在不是要占领中俄, 而是瓦解, 分裂中俄成无数个小国家. 从地理实质上使中俄永不翻身.
美国为了实现这个战略, 向中俄开战了吗? 没有! 明摆着中俄都有核武器, 这游戏不好玩. 那美国就不玩了吗? 没有! 美国不但不开战, 还和苏联,中国联系来联系去的, 没有断绝过来往呀, 反观伊朗, 美国27年没理它, 再看印度, 如果再不核爆, 美国都懒得派大使了.
美国和以前的苏联, 以及现在的中俄, 不断的打招呼,谈话,握握手较较劲,发发脾气再解释解释. 二战刚结束时, 美国是想使用武力来完成自己的理想的, 朝战, 越战大家也看到了. 可是美国却碰了个灰头土脸, 赶紧偷几本孙子兵法儒家道家回家悄悄研究. 大家应该注意到, 自越战后, 美国举世无双的军力, 却从来没有直接向弱势的中国或者俄国的直接相关利益开战(开战的都是用牛刀杀鸡), 直接占领中国这个要地, 占领俄国那个要点. 为什么?! 试了不行! 可美国休息了吗? 没有!
它一直在玩"阴"的! 经济攻势+军事压力+政治运动, "颠覆性煽动", 大家也看到结局了, 苏联没了, 南斯拉夫没了. 如果不是小平在, 中国在89年早就没有了(小平仙逝时, 俺泪流满面:苍天你不可丢下我苦难的中华呀).
原来瓦解一个国家(地区), 不一定非军事进攻不可的.
这是大家都懂的战略. 那处于弱势的中国, 我们应该怎么应对? 进攻美国在海外的"爪子"是最愚蠢的(美军海外基地)! 结局就会和愚蠢的二战日本人一样! 如果我们直接进攻美国的本土, 那么美国所有在海外的爪子, 都得要快速收缩. 可是军事进攻美国本土明显行不通. 把台湾打下来可以解决自己目前的困境, 可也伤不到美国的核心利益. 它依然有无穷的精力可以搞中国, 中亚西亚, 西藏新疆, 没完没了. 台湾困境我们一定要解决, 但是不能为解决而解决, 中华民族的智慧告诉我们:要从根本上"杀伤"美国, 美国这个怪兽不除掉它的兽性, 全世界永无宁日.
军事手段一时伤不到美国的本土. 那我们也搞颠覆性煽动, 以"其人之道还治其人之身"? 我们能煽动美国人民上街游行吗? 我们能煽动美国学生去白宫绝食示威吗? 我们能煽动美国工人武装反抗吗? 我们能在美国搞一个反政府武装吗? 我们能发动舆论批评美国总统"贪污腐败滥用职权"吗? 我们能搞一个"中国之音"吗? 都不行! **, 怎么美国人能用, 我们就不能用?!
明知道美国的手段不过尔尔, 可为什么美国在中国一用就灵, 中国对美国却用不了? 各位网友一想就能想通: 美国最强的全球第一的经济实力!(政治制度是经济基础之上的上层建筑, 来源于经济基础, 反作用于经济)
班里考试, 如果第一名只比第二名高一分. 大家其实都会认为:他俩其实都是第一名. 那美国的第一到什么程度? 我给大家看一个表:
35年来中国及其它世界各国GDP排名
1970年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（除苏联外，按当时汇率）
01----美国--------1,0255亿美元
02----日本----------2068亿美元
03----西德----------2037亿美元
04----法国----------1470亿美元
05----英国----------1236亿美元
06---意大利---------1077亿美元
07---加拿大----------851亿美元
08--澳大利亚---------429亿美元
09---墨西哥----------396亿美元
10---西班牙----------390亿美元
11----瑞典-----------357亿美元
12----荷兰-----------351亿美元
13----中国-----------272亿美元 ★★★★★
1980年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（除苏联外，按当时汇率）
01----美国---------2,7956亿美元
02----日本---------1,0279亿美元
03----西德-----------8261亿美元
04----法国-----------6824亿美元
05----英国-----------5367亿美元
06---意大利----------4546亿美元
07----中国-----------3015亿美元 ★★★★★
08---加拿大----------2689亿美元
09---西班牙----------2218亿美元
10---阿根廷----------2090亿美元
1990年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（除苏联外，按当时汇率）
01----美国---------5,8033亿美元
02----日本---------3,0522亿美元
03----德国---------1,5470亿美元
04----法国---------1,2198亿美元
05---意大利--------1,1045亿美元
06----英国-----------9946亿美元
07---加拿大----------5827亿美元
08---西班牙----------5115亿美元
09----巴西-----------4650亿美元
10----中国-----------3878亿美元 ★★★★★
1995年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（按当时汇率）
01----美国---------7,4005亿美元
02----日本---------5,2929亿美元
03----德国---------2,4166亿美元
04----法国---------1,5257亿美元
05----英国---------1,1032亿美元
06---意大利--------1,0661亿美元
07----中国-----------7006亿美元 ★★★★★
08----巴西-----------6756亿美元
09---加拿大----------5760亿美元
10---西班牙----------5709亿美元
2000年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（按当时汇率）
01----美国---------9,8247亿美元
02----日本---------4,7661亿美元
03----德国---------1,8752亿美元
04----英国---------1,4409亿美元
05----法国---------1,3133亿美元
06----中国---------1,0808亿美元 ★★★★★
07---意大利--------1,0776亿美元
09---加拿大----------7242亿美元
08----巴西-----------5998亿美元
10---墨西哥----------5814亿美元
2001年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名
01----美国--------10,1714亿美元
02----日本---------4,2451亿美元
03----德国---------1,8738亿美元
04----英国---------1,4063亿美元
05----法国---------1,3027亿美元
06----中国---------1,1590亿美元 ★★★★★
07---意大利--------1,1409亿美元
08---加拿大----------6771亿美元
09---墨西哥----------6178亿美元
10---西班牙----------5775亿美元
2002年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（按当时汇率）
01----美国--------10,3831亿美元
02----日本---------3,9934亿美元
03----德国---------1,9841亿美元
04----英国---------1,5636亿美元
05----法国---------1,4313亿美元
06----中国---------1,2371亿美元 ★★★★★
07---意大利--------1,1843亿美元
08---加拿大----------7167亿美元
09---西班牙----------6531亿美元
10---墨西哥----------6304亿美元
2003年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（按2004年1月1日汇率）
01----美国--------10,8572亿美元
02----日本---------4,2907亿美元
03----德国---------2,3862亿美元
04----英国---------1,7750亿美元
05----法国---------1,7316亿美元
06---意大利--------1,4554亿美元
07----中国---------1,3720亿美元 ★★★★★
08---加拿大----------8505亿美元
09---西班牙----------8271亿美元
10---墨西哥----------6116亿美元
2005年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名(按名义汇率计算)
1---美国--------14,4866亿
2---日本---------4,6638亿
3---德国---------2,7301亿
4---英国---------2,2275亿
5---中国---------2,0548亿 ★★★★★
6---法国---------1,9727亿
7---意大利-------1,7096亿
8---加拿大-------1,0345亿
9---西班牙-------1,0190亿
10--印度----------719,8亿
第一的美国, 领先第二那么多! 领先程度以"倍数"计算! 领先中国更是天上和地下的区别. 我们就能明白, 为什么美国对中国使用"颠覆性煽动"就灵验, 中国对美国却根本用不了. 原来, "颠覆性煽动"是以经济为基础的. 是大经济欺负小经济的典型非军事手段!
超强无比的经济实力, 就是美国的金钟罩! 就是美国无数只爪子被斩断又再生的来源, 就是美国无敌于天下的军事力量的源泉, 就是美国的核心利益!
美国不惧怕"军事战争"的胜败, 爪子被斩了还可以再生. 但最害怕"经济战争"的胜败, 因为其胜败将直接关系到美国的生死存亡!
可能有网友会说:任何一个国家都是啦, 何况美国; 或者说:还不至于到生死存亡那么严重.
这里说一件大家都听说过的事情.
各位网友注意一下上表中从1980开始的, 特别在1990年和1995年, 第一名的美国和第二名的日本之间的GDP差距是多少? 日本GDP超过美国GDP的一半! 这也是目前为止唯一一次其它国家和美国的经济差距, 缩小到一半的程度. 日本人在欢呼:只要超过美国的GDP, 日本就可以恢复"正常国家"了! 美国人没有吭声. 按理说, 日本还是美国的盟国, 其经济也是美国扶持起来的, 美国也没有分裂日本的必要(要分裂, 二战时就分裂了, 也不用等到80-90年代). 美国也不可能对盟国日本使用"颠覆性煽动", 眼看着美国是阻挡不了日本经济的发展前景的了! 世界各国都在兴奋的期待着日本GDP超过美国GDP的哪个"历史性时刻"! 日本企业更加是兴奋异常的大举进入美国大量收购美国企业, 美国经济的象征---洛克菲勒广场被日本人买下了!!! 美国的精神象征---好莱坞被日本人买了!!! 美国人民的心情一下子掉到了谷底, "世界第一"就快保不住了! 美国人民的荣耀感在急剧下滑, 民间开始蔓延仇日情绪.
1980年, 日本的GDP就快到美国的一半了. 有一件事情在1985年发生了, 1985年, 美国拉拢其它五国(7国集团)逼迫日本签署了. 以"行政手段"迫使日元升值. 其实的一个中心思想就是日本央行不得"过度"干预外汇市场. 日本当时手头有充足的美元外汇储备, 如果日本央行干预, 日元升不了值. 可惜呀, 日本是被去了势的太监. 美国驻军,政治渗透, 连宪法都是美国人帮它度身定做的. 想不签广场协议都不可能!
最后的结局大家也知道了.1985年9月的广场协议至1988年初.美国要求日元升值.根据推高日元的,日元兑美元的汇率从协议前的1美元兑240日元上升到1986年5月时的1美元兑160日元.由于美国里根政府坚持认为日元升值仍不到位,通过口头干预等形式继续推高日元.这样,到1988年年初, 日元兑美元的汇率进一步上升到1美元兑120日元,正好比广场协议之前的汇率上升了一倍.
美国人满足了吗? 没有. 接着看下去. 从1993年2月至1995年4月,当时克林顿政府的财政部长贝茨明确表示,为了纠正日美贸易的不均衡,需要有20%左右的日元升值.当时的日元汇率大致在1美元兑120日元左右,所以,根据美国政府的诱导目标,日元行情很快上升到1美元兑100日元.以后,由于克林顿政府对以汽车摩擦为核心的日美经济关系采取比较严厉的态度,到了1995年4月,日元的汇率急升至1美元兑79日元,创下历史最高记录.
日元升值的后果是什么? 洛克菲勒广场重新回到了美国人手中, 通用汽车在这个广场的一卖一买中, 净赚4亿美元! 日资在艰难度日中大规模亏本退出美国. 美国人民胜利了!!!!! 成功的击退了日本的经济进攻! 我们可以从上表中, 看看1995年之后, 日本和美国的GDP之比重新拉开了距离, 而且越来越大!
可能有些网友还是没有明白, 日元升值怎么啦? 跟我们的谈论有什么关系? 日元升值, 就是美国对日本的一次经济阻击战! 成功的把日本20多年的发展财富大转移到了美国. 怎么转移呀?!
我给个例子大家就清楚了. 假设我是美国财团, 我当然知道1985会发生什么, 假设我在1983年吧, 我用100亿美元兑换成24000亿日元, 进入日本市场, 购买日本股票和房地产. 日本经济的蓬勃导致股市和房地产发疯一样的上涨. 1985年广场协议签订, 日元开始升值, 到1988年初, 股市和房地产假设我已经赚到了一倍(5年才翻一倍是最低假设了), 那就是48000亿日元. 这时, 日元升值到1:120. 我把日本的房地产和股票在一年中抛售完, 然后兑换回美元, 那么, 就是400亿美元! 在5年时间中, 我净赚300亿美元!(还是最低假设). 那么日本呢? 突然离开的巨额外资就导致了日本经济的崩溃! 经济学用词叫"泡沫经济破灭". 这就是日本常说的:"失去的十年". 而我连本带利的400亿美元回到美国, 你想一想, 美国经济能不旺盛吗?! 日本"失去的十年", 却正是美国"兴旺的十年"! 看看我的上表就知道了.
我只是美国财团中的一个, 其它财团呢? 嘿嘿, 而且我的假设还只是到1988年, 如果是到1995年, 日元升值到1:79, 你我能想象美国在这场经济战争的胜利中, 到底从日本刮走了多少财富?!
美国赚够了, 日元现在又重新回到了1:140的位置上, 美元的坚挺依然和30年前一样! 美元暂时性的贬值, 并没有损害到美元的国际地位. 这场美日的经济战争, 以美国完胜而告终!
美国人玩上瘾了. 1998年, 同样的手法在东南亚四小龙四小虎身上又来了一次, 这就是亚洲金融风暴! 唯一不同的, 这次不需要广场协议了. 因为亚洲这些小虎小龙的外汇储备们直接阻击就可以大获全胜! 结局大家也看到了, 东南亚货币在先升后跌中, 经济发展的成果被美国抢掠一空!
唯一市场硬挺住了索罗斯的进攻, 保住了香港的发展果实. 当时索罗斯发动世界舆论(包括香港舆论), 大肆攻击香港政府"行政干预市场", 违反市场经济规则, 大错特错! 当时的曾荫权后来说过:"决定政府入市干预的前一晚, 我坐在床头哭了, 不是为我自己, 而是怕这个决定如果错误了, 害了香港, 我怎么向中央政府向市民们交代." 大家现在知道为什么美国一再要求他国"新闻自由", "市场经济", "民主人权"了吧.
美国停手了吗? 没有, 现在压迫人民币升值了! 各位明白了吗? 知道为什么中央政府突然狂力打压上海北京的房地产市场? 知道为什么中国股市那么惨了吗? 央行行长周小川在3月还是4月曾说了一件事情:" 有一个40亿美元的外资在上海炒房地产, 已经退出中国了. 这样的外资, 不要也罢!" 明白了吗? 中国股市是一个弱势股市, 很容易被美国财团利用. 中央不可能放松对股市的控制, 否则中国经济将会在外资的攻击中崩溃!
现在各位知道为什么中国要实行国家外汇管制, 汇率控制, 打压房地产, 控制股市, 知道为什么中国要保持巨额外汇储备, 为什么最近央行又出台了新的房地产贷款规定, 为什么中国政府一直要求进出口贸易平衡, 为什么要扩展东南亚贸易市场和欧盟市场, 为什么要加WTO.
中美之间的经济战争, 早就已经开场了, 而且来来回回过了几百招了. 我们大多数网友还懵懵懂懂的只盯着台海, 盯着中亚美军又多了一个军事基地.
我刚才说了, 经济战争的成败, 直接关系到美国的生死存亡. 有些网友会说不至于那么严重.
呵~~~, 我给一个国家各位参考一下. 加拿大! 加拿大每年大约需要30万移民. 这是加拿大政府给移民局的任务(以加人口的10%为标准)（这个数据有误，可能约加人口的1%----我was一个兵). 移民局完不成这个任务, 是要向国会解释的. 我们网友一定接触过身边越来越多的移民加拿大的中国人. 加拿大那么喜欢移民吗? 非也! 因为如果不移民, 加拿大的人口增长率就是负数! 意味着什么? 意味着人口越来越少, 房地产市场就会越来越萎缩, 连带整体经济持续下滑, 最终结果, 就是亡国!
哇, 不会亡国吧? 大家不要忘记了, 加拿大和美国, 是移民国家, 是没有根的国家. 这个国家的里的每一个人(除了印第安人), 都又自己的"故国". 加拿大经济不景气的话, 移民将会离开这个国家, 因为他们的根不在加拿大! 美国一样! 别以为美国"创造"出了一个"美国人"民族. 呵~~~, 他们还不够历史分量! 谁能说得清什么叫"美国人"?
十多年前, 我曾和朋友聊天时说过: 灭亡美国根本不需要战争, 只要中美经济对调一下, 美国就可以亡国!
美国靠什么维持它的国内认同? --->最强大的经济实力! 这个最有钱的国家, 科技实力最高, 其结果就可以给国民最自豪的国家感觉, 最荣耀的国家身份. 最终吸引了全世界最优秀的人才发疯一样的冲去美国, 形成良性循环.
有厚重历史的民族, 不会因为经济问题而消亡. 俄国再苦, 俄罗斯人依然会留下大部分; 中国再穷, 最多就是内战, 出海外的依然是少数. 欧洲,日本,韩国,朝鲜都如此. "根"是我们这些历史民族的生命. 再苦也是故乡土, 再穷也是故乡垄.
维持最强大的经济, 就是美国的核心利益.
日本80-90年代收购美国公司失败的遭遇, 联想国际杨元庆的遭遇, 中海油收购优尼科失败的遭遇, 海尔竞购美家电巨头美泰的遭遇. 就是因为中国已经杀到了美国的核心利益了!!!!!
中国政府可没有你们想的那么无能, 我们经过30年, 千辛万苦终于杀到了这个怪兽的身边了. 加入WTO, 你们是否能再理解深一层?
那么, 美国的这个金钟罩命门到底在哪里
附：中国计算机报：联想在美受阻考验中国政府
王涛
联想集团董事局主席杨元庆已经不止一次对美国媒体澄清公司性质。
并购IBM全球PC业务，让联想不得不提前面对来自国际化的挑战。
美国国务院在5月下旬表示，从联想采购的1.6万台PC将不会用于机密网络。美国政府就机密领域使用联想PC是否会引发安全问题提出了置疑。
在联想集团就美国政府的置疑提出异议后，紧接着，中国商务部新闻发言人崇泉就联想PC在美遭遇不公平待遇一事发表声明，称美政府这一做法“非常不明智”，也违背公平竞争和自由贸易原则。
中美两国间本就敏感的贸易关系，因为联想“安全门”事件而再次成为世人关注的焦点。
笔者认为，此次以安全为由阻碍联想PC进入美政府是一个幼稚的理由，并且损坏了美国政府在国际上的贸易形象。如果开了先例，将对联想和中国企业未来的市场带来负面影响。这个事件可能引发的贸易战对美国企业将产生不利的作用，因此美方是不明智的。
建立一套完整的应对机制，以便应对这样的事件，对中国政府和计划去海外淘金的中国企业来说，都是迫切的工作。
幼稚的理由 损坏美国政府形象
在计算机制造全球化的今天，供应链延伸到全球，供货商遍布世界。尤其是电子制造业，成百上千个部件往往在全球各地生产，经过多层次的整合，最后才成为一台整机。例如一台计算机的主板可能在我国台湾制造，显卡可能在德国，CPU在美国，而组装可能在祖国大陆。而具有讽刺意义的是，经常督促别人“建立自由贸易市场”、“开放汇率”的美国政府也许对这种全球化局面还缺乏足够认识，以中国制造为由提出安全担忧。
美方提出的理由之一，是联想的股权结构。就其股份组成来说，除中科院的27%外，其余34%在香港上市，15%归该公司的中国创始者，13%归 IBM；另有10%属于三家私人投资公司，其中两家来自美国，一家来自我国香港。美方认为，中科院是中国政府所属的一个科研机构，联想拥有这样的大股东，有可能帮助政府从事窃密活动。
中国政府干涉联想这样一个公司的市场运营，这种可能性会有多少呢？而且简单分析一下，PC的哪些部分可能做手脚呢？很显然，PC的核心部件CPU，全球97%以上来自英特尔和AMD这两家美国公司；而在软件层面，操作系统也是被美国公司微软垄断。制造和组装环节，也许值得推敲。那就让我们来仔细推敲一下吧。
2005年2月，美国相关部门曾因“担心交易(联想收购IBM全球PC业务)会影响美国国家安全”而让美国外国投资委员会(CFIUS)对联想的收购交易展开调查。最终联想、IBM和美国外国投资委员会达成协议，联想获得向美国政府及其所属机构继续销售的权利。不过协议同时对联想的生产地点、销售及服务方式提出了限制性要求，这其中包括所有产品在美国本地及墨西哥生产，这项要求无形中增加了联想的竞争成本。但为了能顺利完成收购，联想接受了这些条件，美国外国投资委员会同时也批准了这项交易。
按照这个协议，制造和检验实际上都在美国和墨西哥做。对于制造和检验环节的怀疑也是多余的。
退一步来说，即使使用其他美国厂商的PC或者当初美国使用的原IBM PC，由于大部分美国计算机制造商都建有海外工厂，要让这些厂商不使用国外部件几乎不可能。所以美国的政府采购中购买国外厂商的产品或者零配件为是不可避免的。
美国政府已遇到过大量网络安全问题，但解决安全的关键，应该更多的从软件和网络的不安全因素找原因，比如操作系统的后门、网络系统的漏洞。另外，信息安全领域大家都知道管理的重要性，所谓“三分技术，七分管理”，加强安全制度和人员管理才是安全问题应该首要考虑的，而不是在这种PC制造商问题上做无端挑剔。
因此，美方提出的安全理由是幼稚的，稍加分析就发现，这样的理由是不能使人信服的。个中原因，也许是美国政府真的对全球化局面缺乏认知，也许还有别的出于实际利益和形象等等方面的考虑。一小部分美国人和美国媒体从自身利益和所谓的“民族感情”出发，希望阻止中国企业进入美国的步伐，他们对于中国崛起充满忧虑。这种行为不符合全球的贸易精神，损坏了公平竞争和自由贸易的环境。
阻碍联想的业务 带来坏影响
这次美国政府对联想PC的安全置疑，将影响到联想在国际市场上的形象，尤其是对于政府和大型企业。
在IBM出售PC业务给联想之后，惠普和戴尔曾趁机向原IBM的客户发动抢夺攻势，并拿下了GE等原先属于IBM的客户。在随后，“戴尔门”事件和IBM减持联想股份的协议提前解禁，这些事情在某种程度上都影响了联想的海外市场拓展之路。
从财报分析，联想在大中华区和亚洲其他市场包括印度，都取得了良好的进展。在大中华区，联想个人电脑销量在第四季度上升31%，高于市场增长，综合营业额达84亿港元，占集团总营业额的35%。但在美洲、欧洲、中东及非洲地区，联想个人电脑经营分别亏损了2.52亿及8700万港元。海外市场业绩不理想，一方面是因为IBM PC业务本身的问题。由于联想收购IBM PC业务后，继承了IBM PC业务原来的不良影响。在被联想收购以前，IBM PC业务本身曾出现一年上亿美元的亏损。另一方面，在海外市场竞争对手和其他方面的上述事件也给联想的全球化道路投下了阴影。而此次美国政府的限制，将会影响到联想在相似市场的客户对于安全性的考虑，主要是政府和大型企业市场。
可能引发贸易战 不利于美国企业在华利益
如果说使用了联想在美国制造的PC会妨碍美国的国家安全，泄漏国家机密。按照这个荒谬的逻辑，中国政府大量采购使用了英特尔和AMD处理器的PC，而且在上面运行着微软的Windows操作系统，简直是公开国家机密了。
尽管中国不会在政府中禁止使用美国厂商的配件，因为中国还没有出现像英特尔、微软这样强势的技术提供商，但对于一些整机厂商、软件厂商的采购限制却顺理成章。从这个角度分析，美国政府对联想的限制措施可能会引发中美的贸易战，而直接受到损失的将是包括惠普、戴尔、微软等在华美国厂商的利益，并对产业链上下游产生相关影响。而由此带来的一连串反应对于美国企业而言，都是不利的。
应对策略 建立完善的机制很必要
面对这样的事件，光是获得同情是没有意义的，必须采取措施进行应对和反击。我们已经看到了来自联想的努力，除了积极与美国政府和官员接触，联想也计划开展针对媒体的广泛宣传来澄清一些误解。而政府此时也发挥其作用。针对联想事件表达中国政府的观点和立场，这是符合国际惯例的。需要强调的是，这两条途径都要继续走下去，并且需要寻求一个默契的配合。
从长远来看，中国企业走出国门已经是不可逆转的趋势，而贸易不平等问题必将伴随出现。以后类似联想事件还会出现，在不同的国家，针对的不仅是联想的产品。我们的厂商和政府在应对这种歧视性的政策时，要尽快建立一套完整的机制，要寻求一些援助，比如《政府采购协议》，比如WTO。甚至可以从该国，比如美国的《联邦政府采购法》和《购买美国产品法》中寻求支持的依据。
后 记
中国经济在全球崛起，中国越来越多地融入世界。这些都昭示着中国的企业将越来越多地参与全球竞争，中国的商品将越来越多地进入全球市场。这个过程不会是一帆风顺的，必将伴随着诸如联想事件这样的阻碍。从而，为中国企业在其他国家争取公平竞争和自由贸易的环境，就成为中国政府和中国企业——尤其是联想这样的先进入者的负责。
经过30年，中国终于杀到了美国的身边
作者：暂时堕落
前天看新闻, 最抓住我的眼球的, 呵~~~, 是一则"普通"的经济新闻:联想国际的杨元庆"愤怒"指责美国议员的"歧视". 美国政府已经采纳这个议员的建议"涉及保密的部分不使用联想电脑". 把杨元庆气得够呛, 说是对联想国际的声誉的严重诋毁.
各位网友可能觉得我大惊小怪, 美国佬的这种做法, 意料之中. 觉得这种新闻太普通了.
台湾确实是我们的核心利益, 因为台湾如果独立成功, 中国将分崩离析, 西藏,新疆,内蒙古将不保, 甚至其它省份都会独立. 中国很可能会消亡, 对中华民族的影响是灾难性的. 所以它是我们的核心利益.
在这里, 我简单界定一下"核心利益"和"国家利益". 我所理解的"核心利益", 对一个国家是生死存亡的利益. 而"国家利益"则宽泛得多, 对一个国家有利的都可以说是"国家利益".
但是, 这个地球上, 目前的所有国际争端中, 找不到一个利益的损失是美国的核心利益. 台海没了, 对美国没有实质损失, 我们冲出第一岛链又能对美国有实质损失? 它还有第二岛链, 还有珍珠港, 还有中途岛, 就算我们把珍珠港拿下了, 又伤到美国的核心利益了吗? 珍珠港离美国本土还有近4000公里, 我们能伤到美国的核心利益吗? 就算中亚西亚各国全部加入中国, 我们伤到美国的核心利益了吗? 不但没伤到美国的核心利益, 中国还会和俄国在中亚西亚打起来. 反而破坏了中国的"势"
伊朗问题就算美国输了又如何? 美国经济军事会实质受损吗? 它是美国的核心利益吗? 伊朗问题只不过是美国的"势"依然在扩张中出现的一个新战略点, 但并不是美国生死存亡的核心利益. 就算中俄加伊朗把伊拉克也攻占下来, 美国的核心利益受到损害吗? 美国就会完了吗? 就算欧洲全部共产主义了, 美国就完蛋了吗? 就算美国全球的军事基地都没有了, 甚至都被中俄使用了, 美国就完蛋了吗? 美国是个巨大的八爪怪兽, 就算你神勇非凡斩了它的一只爪, 甚至两只爪, 甚至全部爪, 它还会长出来. 日本已经试过了, 它斩了美国的一只爪, 结果美国反身过来是无数个大巴掌, 无数只爪, 日本完蛋了. 美国自二战后, 给自己构筑了最强的战略态势. 把它的势力推进到其它国家的边境上了, 而它自己却在遥远的后方的后方的后方, 可以说, 这个地球上一百年内没有任何一个国家可以占领美国的本土. 美国的核心利益到底在哪里?
美国的"国势", 在一战二战之后, 一直在扩张之中, 二战后其"势"已经覆盖了半个地球, 冷战后战胜苏联, 其"国势"更加直接扩张到东欧和中亚. 而中俄被逼到围棋盘上的两个角上. "中空"全被美国占领. 大家一定听过"美国是全世界所有国家的邻国"这句话. 明显的, 中俄处于"弱势". 按理说, 美国应该高枕无忧, 那美国还怕什么? 为什么还在东征西讨? 为什么就是不放过中国?!
"卧榻之侧,岂容他人酣睡?"
美国的战略目的是很清楚的, 把中俄彻底瓦解, 把这个地球上任何一个可能和它争夺领导权的潜在国家, 一个一个瓦解. 但是美国也是认真总结了以往大帝国灭亡的教训, 它现在不是要占领中俄, 而是瓦解, 分裂中俄成无数个小国家. 从地理实质上使中俄永不翻身.
美国为了实现这个战略, 向中俄开战了吗? 没有! 明摆着中俄都有核武器, 这游戏不好玩. 那美国就不玩了吗? 没有! 美国不但不开战, 还和苏联,中国联系来联系去的, 没有断绝过来往呀, 反观伊朗, 美国27年没理它, 再看印度, 如果再不核爆, 美国都懒得派大使了.
美国和以前的苏联, 以及现在的中俄, 不断的打招呼,谈话,握握手较较劲,发发脾气再解释解释. 二战刚结束时, 美国是想使用武力来完成自己的理想的, 朝战, 越战大家也看到了. 可是美国却碰了个灰头土脸, 赶紧偷几本孙子兵法儒家道家回家悄悄研究. 大家应该注意到, 自越战后, 美国举世无双的军力, 却从来没有直接向弱势的中国或者俄国的直接相关利益开战(开战的都是用牛刀杀鸡), 直接占领中国这个要地, 占领俄国那个要点. 为什么?! 试了不行! 可美国休息了吗? 没有!
它一直在玩"阴"的! 经济攻势+军事压力+政治运动, "颠覆性煽动", 大家也看到结局了, 苏联没了, 南斯拉夫没了. 如果不是小平在, 中国在89年早就没有了(小平仙逝时, 俺泪流满面:苍天你不可丢下我苦难的中华呀).
原来瓦解一个国家(地区), 不一定非军事进攻不可的.
这是大家都懂的战略. 那处于弱势的中国, 我们应该怎么应对? 进攻美国在海外的"爪子"是最愚蠢的(美军海外基地)! 结局就会和愚蠢的二战日本人一样! 如果我们直接进攻美国的本土, 那么美国所有在海外的爪子, 都得要快速收缩. 可是军事进攻美国本土明显行不通. 把台湾打下来可以解决自己目前的困境, 可也伤不到美国的核心利益. 它依然有无穷的精力可以搞中国, 中亚西亚, 西藏新疆, 没完没了. 台湾困境我们一定要解决, 但是不能为解决而解决, 中华民族的智慧告诉我们:要从根本上"杀伤"美国, 美国这个怪兽不除掉它的兽性, 全世界永无宁日.
军事手段一时伤不到美国的本土. 那我们也搞颠覆性煽动, 以"其人之道还治其人之身"? 我们能煽动美国人民上街游行吗? 我们能煽动美国学生去白宫绝食示威吗? 我们能煽动美国工人武装反抗吗? 我们能在美国搞一个反政府武装吗? 我们能发动舆论批评美国总统"贪污腐败滥用职权"吗? 我们能搞一个"中国之音"吗? 都不行! **, 怎么美国人能用, 我们就不能用?!
明知道美国的手段不过尔尔, 可为什么美国在中国一用就灵, 中国对美国却用不了? 各位网友一想就能想通: 美国最强的全球第一的经济实力!(政治制度是经济基础之上的上层建筑, 来源于经济基础, 反作用于经济)
班里考试, 如果第一名只比第二名高一分. 大家其实都会认为:他俩其实都是第一名. 那美国的第一到什么程度? 我给大家看一个表:
35年来中国及其它世界各国GDP排名
1970年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（除苏联外，按当时汇率）
01----美国--------1,0255亿美元
02----日本----------2068亿美元
03----西德----------2037亿美元
04----法国----------1470亿美元
05----英国----------1236亿美元
06---意大利---------1077亿美元
07---加拿大----------851亿美元
08--澳大利亚---------429亿美元
09---墨西哥----------396亿美元
10---西班牙----------390亿美元
11----瑞典-----------357亿美元
12----荷兰-----------351亿美元
13----中国-----------272亿美元 ★★★★★
1980年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（除苏联外，按当时汇率）
01----美国---------2,7956亿美元
02----日本---------1,0279亿美元
03----西德-----------8261亿美元
04----法国-----------6824亿美元
05----英国-----------5367亿美元
06---意大利----------4546亿美元
07----中国-----------3015亿美元 ★★★★★
08---加拿大----------2689亿美元
09---西班牙----------2218亿美元
10---阿根廷----------2090亿美元
1990年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（除苏联外，按当时汇率）
01----美国---------5,8033亿美元
02----日本---------3,0522亿美元
03----德国---------1,5470亿美元
04----法国---------1,2198亿美元
05---意大利--------1,1045亿美元
06----英国-----------9946亿美元
07---加拿大----------5827亿美元
08---西班牙----------5115亿美元
09----巴西-----------4650亿美元
10----中国-----------3878亿美元 ★★★★★
1995年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（按当时汇率）
01----美国---------7,4005亿美元
02----日本---------5,2929亿美元
03----德国---------2,4166亿美元
04----法国---------1,5257亿美元
05----英国---------1,1032亿美元
06---意大利--------1,0661亿美元
07----中国-----------7006亿美元 ★★★★★
08----巴西-----------6756亿美元
09---加拿大----------5760亿美元
10---西班牙----------5709亿美元
2000年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（按当时汇率）
01----美国---------9,8247亿美元
02----日本---------4,7661亿美元
03----德国---------1,8752亿美元
04----英国---------1,4409亿美元
05----法国---------1,3133亿美元
06----中国---------1,0808亿美元 ★★★★★
07---意大利--------1,0776亿美元
09---加拿大----------7242亿美元
08----巴西-----------5998亿美元
10---墨西哥----------5814亿美元
2001年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名
01----美国--------10,1714亿美元
02----日本---------4,2451亿美元
03----德国---------1,8738亿美元
04----英国---------1,4063亿美元
05----法国---------1,3027亿美元
06----中国---------1,1590亿美元 ★★★★★
07---意大利--------1,1409亿美元
08---加拿大----------6771亿美元
09---墨西哥----------6178亿美元
10---西班牙----------5775亿美元
2002年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（按当时汇率）
01----美国--------10,3831亿美元
02----日本---------3,9934亿美元
03----德国---------1,9841亿美元
04----英国---------1,5636亿美元
05----法国---------1,4313亿美元
06----中国---------1,2371亿美元 ★★★★★
07---意大利--------1,1843亿美元
08---加拿大----------7167亿美元
09---西班牙----------6531亿美元
10---墨西哥----------6304亿美元
2003年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名（按2004年1月1日汇率）
01----美国--------10,8572亿美元
02----日本---------4,2907亿美元
03----德国---------2,3862亿美元
04----英国---------1,7750亿美元
05----法国---------1,7316亿美元
06---意大利--------1,4554亿美元
07----中国---------1,3720亿美元 ★★★★★
08---加拿大----------8505亿美元
09---西班牙----------8271亿美元
10---墨西哥----------6116亿美元
2005年世界各国（地区）GDP总值排名(按名义汇率计算)
1---美国--------14,4866亿
2---日本---------4,6638亿
3---德国---------2,7301亿
4---英国---------2,2275亿
5---中国---------2,0548亿 ★★★★★
6---法国---------1,9727亿
7---意大利-------1,7096亿
8---加拿大-------1,0345亿
9---西班牙-------1,0190亿
10--印度----------719,8亿
第一的美国, 领先第二那么多! 领先程度以"倍数"计算! 领先中国更是天上和地下的区别. 我们就能明白, 为什么美国对中国使用"颠覆性煽动"就灵验, 中国对美国却根本用不了. 原来, "颠覆性煽动"是以经济为基础的. 是大经济欺负小经济的典型非军事手段!
超强无比的经济实力, 就是美国的金钟罩! 就是美国无数只爪子被斩断又再生的来源, 就是美国无敌于天下的军事力量的源泉, 就是美国的核心利益!
美国不惧怕"军事战争"的胜败, 爪子被斩了还可以再生. 但最害怕"经济战争"的胜败, 因为其胜败将直接关系到美国的生死存亡!
可能有网友会说:任何一个国家都是啦, 何况美国; 或者说:还不至于到生死存亡那么严重.
这里说一件大家都听说过的事情.
各位网友注意一下上表中从1980开始的, 特别在1990年和1995年, 第一名的美国和第二名的日本之间的GDP差距是多少? 日本GDP超过美国GDP的一半! 这也是目前为止唯一一次其它国家和美国的经济差距, 缩小到一半的程度. 日本人在欢呼:只要超过美国的GDP, 日本就可以恢复"正常国家"了! 美国人没有吭声. 按理说, 日本还是美国的盟国, 其经济也是美国扶持起来的, 美国也没有分裂日本的必要(要分裂, 二战时就分裂了, 也不用等到80-90年代). 美国也不可能对盟国日本使用"颠覆性煽动", 眼看着美国是阻挡不了日本经济的发展前景的了! 世界各国都在兴奋的期待着日本GDP超过美国GDP的哪个"历史性时刻"! 日本企业更加是兴奋异常的大举进入美国大量收购美国企业, 美国经济的象征---洛克菲勒广场被日本人买下了!!! 美国的精神象征---好莱坞被日本人买了!!! 美国人民的心情一下子掉到了谷底, "世界第一"就快保不住了! 美国人民的荣耀感在急剧下滑, 民间开始蔓延仇日情绪.
1980年, 日本的GDP就快到美国的一半了. 有一件事情在1985年发生了, 1985年, 美国拉拢其它五国(7国集团)逼迫日本签署了. 以"行政手段"迫使日元升值. 其实的一个中心思想就是日本央行不得"过度"干预外汇市场. 日本当时手头有充足的美元外汇储备, 如果日本央行干预, 日元升不了值. 可惜呀, 日本是被去了势的太监. 美国驻军,政治渗透, 连宪法都是美国人帮它度身定做的. 想不签广场协议都不可能!
最后的结局大家也知道了.1985年9月的广场协议至1988年初.美国要求日元升值.根据推高日元的,日元兑美元的汇率从协议前的1美元兑240日元上升到1986年5月时的1美元兑160日元.由于美国里根政府坚持认为日元升值仍不到位,通过口头干预等形式继续推高日元.这样,到1988年年初, 日元兑美元的汇率进一步上升到1美元兑120日元,正好比广场协议之前的汇率上升了一倍.
美国人满足了吗? 没有. 接着看下去. 从1993年2月至1995年4月,当时克林顿政府的财政部长贝茨明确表示,为了纠正日美贸易的不均衡,需要有20%左右的日元升值.当时的日元汇率大致在1美元兑120日元左右,所以,根据美国政府的诱导目标,日元行情很快上升到1美元兑100日元.以后,由于克林顿政府对以汽车摩擦为核心的日美经济关系采取比较严厉的态度,到了1995年4月,日元的汇率急升至1美元兑79日元,创下历史最高记录.
日元升值的后果是什么? 洛克菲勒广场重新回到了美国人手中, 通用汽车在这个广场的一卖一买中, 净赚4亿美元! 日资在艰难度日中大规模亏本退出美国. 美国人民胜利了!!!!! 成功的击退了日本的经济进攻! 我们可以从上表中, 看看1995年之后, 日本和美国的GDP之比重新拉开了距离, 而且越来越大!
可能有些网友还是没有明白, 日元升值怎么啦? 跟我们的谈论有什么关系? 日元升值, 就是美国对日本的一次经济阻击战! 成功的把日本20多年的发展财富大转移到了美国. 怎么转移呀?!
我给个例子大家就清楚了. 假设我是美国财团, 我当然知道1985会发生什么, 假设我在1983年吧, 我用100亿美元兑换成24000亿日元, 进入日本市场, 购买日本股票和房地产. 日本经济的蓬勃导致股市和房地产发疯一样的上涨. 1985年广场协议签订, 日元开始升值, 到1988年初, 股市和房地产假设我已经赚到了一倍(5年才翻一倍是最低假设了), 那就是48000亿日元. 这时, 日元升值到1:120. 我把日本的房地产和股票在一年中抛售完, 然后兑换回美元, 那么, 就是400亿美元! 在5年时间中, 我净赚300亿美元!(还是最低假设). 那么日本呢? 突然离开的巨额外资就导致了日本经济的崩溃! 经济学用词叫"泡沫经济破灭". 这就是日本常说的:"失去的十年". 而我连本带利的400亿美元回到美国, 你想一想, 美国经济能不旺盛吗?! 日本"失去的十年", 却正是美国"兴旺的十年"! 看看我的上表就知道了.
我只是美国财团中的一个, 其它财团呢? 嘿嘿, 而且我的假设还只是到1988年, 如果是到1995年, 日元升值到1:79, 你我能想象美国在这场经济战争的胜利中, 到底从日本刮走了多少财富?!
美国赚够了, 日元现在又重新回到了1:140的位置上, 美元的坚挺依然和30年前一样! 美元暂时性的贬值, 并没有损害到美元的国际地位. 这场美日的经济战争, 以美国完胜而告终!
美国人玩上瘾了. 1998年, 同样的手法在东南亚四小龙四小虎身上又来了一次, 这就是亚洲金融风暴! 唯一不同的, 这次不需要广场协议了. 因为亚洲这些小虎小龙的外汇储备们直接阻击就可以大获全胜! 结局大家也看到了, 东南亚货币在先升后跌中, 经济发展的成果被美国抢掠一空!
唯一市场硬挺住了索罗斯的进攻, 保住了香港的发展果实. 当时索罗斯发动世界舆论(包括香港舆论), 大肆攻击香港政府"行政干预市场", 违反市场经济规则, 大错特错! 当时的曾荫权后来说过:"决定政府入市干预的前一晚, 我坐在床头哭了, 不是为我自己, 而是怕这个决定如果错误了, 害了香港, 我怎么向中央政府向市民们交代." 大家现在知道为什么美国一再要求他国"新闻自由", "市场经济", "民主人权"了吧.
美国停手了吗? 没有, 现在压迫人民币升值了! 各位明白了吗? 知道为什么中央政府突然狂力打压上海北京的房地产市场? 知道为什么中国股市那么惨了吗? 央行行长周小川在3月还是4月曾说了一件事情:" 有一个40亿美元的外资在上海炒房地产, 已经退出中国了. 这样的外资, 不要也罢!" 明白了吗? 中国股市是一个弱势股市, 很容易被美国财团利用. 中央不可能放松对股市的控制, 否则中国经济将会在外资的攻击中崩溃!
现在各位知道为什么中国要实行国家外汇管制, 汇率控制, 打压房地产, 控制股市, 知道为什么中国要保持巨额外汇储备, 为什么最近央行又出台了新的房地产贷款规定, 为什么中国政府一直要求进出口贸易平衡, 为什么要扩展东南亚贸易市场和欧盟市场, 为什么要加WTO.
中美之间的经济战争, 早就已经开场了, 而且来来回回过了几百招了. 我们大多数网友还懵懵懂懂的只盯着台海, 盯着中亚美军又多了一个军事基地.
我刚才说了, 经济战争的成败, 直接关系到美国的生死存亡. 有些网友会说不至于那么严重.
呵~~~, 我给一个国家各位参考一下. 加拿大! 加拿大每年大约需要30万移民. 这是加拿大政府给移民局的任务(以加人口的10%为标准)（这个数据有误，可能约加人口的1%----我was一个兵). 移民局完不成这个任务, 是要向国会解释的. 我们网友一定接触过身边越来越多的移民加拿大的中国人. 加拿大那么喜欢移民吗? 非也! 因为如果不移民, 加拿大的人口增长率就是负数! 意味着什么? 意味着人口越来越少, 房地产市场就会越来越萎缩, 连带整体经济持续下滑, 最终结果, 就是亡国!
哇, 不会亡国吧? 大家不要忘记了, 加拿大和美国, 是移民国家, 是没有根的国家. 这个国家的里的每一个人(除了印第安人), 都又自己的"故国". 加拿大经济不景气的话, 移民将会离开这个国家, 因为他们的根不在加拿大! 美国一样! 别以为美国"创造"出了一个"美国人"民族. 呵~~~, 他们还不够历史分量! 谁能说得清什么叫"美国人"?
十多年前, 我曾和朋友聊天时说过: 灭亡美国根本不需要战争, 只要中美经济对调一下, 美国就可以亡国!
美国靠什么维持它的国内认同? --->最强大的经济实力! 这个最有钱的国家, 科技实力最高, 其结果就可以给国民最自豪的国家感觉, 最荣耀的国家身份. 最终吸引了全世界最优秀的人才发疯一样的冲去美国, 形成良性循环.
有厚重历史的民族, 不会因为经济问题而消亡. 俄国再苦, 俄罗斯人依然会留下大部分; 中国再穷, 最多就是内战, 出海外的依然是少数. 欧洲,日本,韩国,朝鲜都如此. "根"是我们这些历史民族的生命. 再苦也是故乡土, 再穷也是故乡垄.
维持最强大的经济, 就是美国的核心利益.
日本80-90年代收购美国公司失败的遭遇, 联想国际杨元庆的遭遇, 中海油收购优尼科失败的遭遇, 海尔竞购美家电巨头美泰的遭遇. 就是因为中国已经杀到了美国的核心利益了!!!!!
中国政府可没有你们想的那么无能, 我们经过30年, 千辛万苦终于杀到了这个怪兽的身边了. 加入WTO, 你们是否能再理解深一层?
那么, 美国的这个金钟罩命门到底在哪里
附：中国计算机报：联想在美受阻考验中国政府
王涛
联想集团董事局主席杨元庆已经不止一次对美国媒体澄清公司性质。
并购IBM全球PC业务，让联想不得不提前面对来自国际化的挑战。
美国国务院在5月下旬表示，从联想采购的1.6万台PC将不会用于机密网络。美国政府就机密领域使用联想PC是否会引发安全问题提出了置疑。
在联想集团就美国政府的置疑提出异议后，紧接着，中国商务部新闻发言人崇泉就联想PC在美遭遇不公平待遇一事发表声明，称美政府这一做法“非常不明智”，也违背公平竞争和自由贸易原则。
中美两国间本就敏感的贸易关系，因为联想“安全门”事件而再次成为世人关注的焦点。
笔者认为，此次以安全为由阻碍联想PC进入美政府是一个幼稚的理由，并且损坏了美国政府在国际上的贸易形象。如果开了先例，将对联想和中国企业未来的市场带来负面影响。这个事件可能引发的贸易战对美国企业将产生不利的作用，因此美方是不明智的。
建立一套完整的应对机制，以便应对这样的事件，对中国政府和计划去海外淘金的中国企业来说，都是迫切的工作。
幼稚的理由 损坏美国政府形象
在计算机制造全球化的今天，供应链延伸到全球，供货商遍布世界。尤其是电子制造业，成百上千个部件往往在全球各地生产，经过多层次的整合，最后才成为一台整机。例如一台计算机的主板可能在我国台湾制造，显卡可能在德国，CPU在美国，而组装可能在祖国大陆。而具有讽刺意义的是，经常督促别人“建立自由贸易市场”、“开放汇率”的美国政府也许对这种全球化局面还缺乏足够认识，以中国制造为由提出安全担忧。
美方提出的理由之一，是联想的股权结构。就其股份组成来说，除中科院的27%外，其余34%在香港上市，15%归该公司的中国创始者，13%归 IBM；另有10%属于三家私人投资公司，其中两家来自美国，一家来自我国香港。美方认为，中科院是中国政府所属的一个科研机构，联想拥有这样的大股东，有可能帮助政府从事窃密活动。
中国政府干涉联想这样一个公司的市场运营，这种可能性会有多少呢？而且简单分析一下，PC的哪些部分可能做手脚呢？很显然，PC的核心部件CPU，全球97%以上来自英特尔和AMD这两家美国公司；而在软件层面，操作系统也是被美国公司微软垄断。制造和组装环节，也许值得推敲。那就让我们来仔细推敲一下吧。
2005年2月，美国相关部门曾因“担心交易(联想收购IBM全球PC业务)会影响美国国家安全”而让美国外国投资委员会(CFIUS)对联想的收购交易展开调查。最终联想、IBM和美国外国投资委员会达成协议，联想获得向美国政府及其所属机构继续销售的权利。不过协议同时对联想的生产地点、销售及服务方式提出了限制性要求，这其中包括所有产品在美国本地及墨西哥生产，这项要求无形中增加了联想的竞争成本。但为了能顺利完成收购，联想接受了这些条件，美国外国投资委员会同时也批准了这项交易。
按照这个协议，制造和检验实际上都在美国和墨西哥做。对于制造和检验环节的怀疑也是多余的。
退一步来说，即使使用其他美国厂商的PC或者当初美国使用的原IBM PC，由于大部分美国计算机制造商都建有海外工厂，要让这些厂商不使用国外部件几乎不可能。所以美国的政府采购中购买国外厂商的产品或者零配件为是不可避免的。
美国政府已遇到过大量网络安全问题，但解决安全的关键，应该更多的从软件和网络的不安全因素找原因，比如操作系统的后门、网络系统的漏洞。另外，信息安全领域大家都知道管理的重要性，所谓“三分技术，七分管理”，加强安全制度和人员管理才是安全问题应该首要考虑的，而不是在这种PC制造商问题上做无端挑剔。
因此，美方提出的安全理由是幼稚的，稍加分析就发现，这样的理由是不能使人信服的。个中原因，也许是美国政府真的对全球化局面缺乏认知，也许还有别的出于实际利益和形象等等方面的考虑。一小部分美国人和美国媒体从自身利益和所谓的“民族感情”出发，希望阻止中国企业进入美国的步伐，他们对于中国崛起充满忧虑。这种行为不符合全球的贸易精神，损坏了公平竞争和自由贸易的环境。
阻碍联想的业务 带来坏影响
这次美国政府对联想PC的安全置疑，将影响到联想在国际市场上的形象，尤其是对于政府和大型企业。
在IBM出售PC业务给联想之后，惠普和戴尔曾趁机向原IBM的客户发动抢夺攻势，并拿下了GE等原先属于IBM的客户。在随后，“戴尔门”事件和IBM减持联想股份的协议提前解禁，这些事情在某种程度上都影响了联想的海外市场拓展之路。
从财报分析，联想在大中华区和亚洲其他市场包括印度，都取得了良好的进展。在大中华区，联想个人电脑销量在第四季度上升31%，高于市场增长，综合营业额达84亿港元，占集团总营业额的35%。但在美洲、欧洲、中东及非洲地区，联想个人电脑经营分别亏损了2.52亿及8700万港元。海外市场业绩不理想，一方面是因为IBM PC业务本身的问题。由于联想收购IBM PC业务后，继承了IBM PC业务原来的不良影响。在被联想收购以前，IBM PC业务本身曾出现一年上亿美元的亏损。另一方面，在海外市场竞争对手和其他方面的上述事件也给联想的全球化道路投下了阴影。而此次美国政府的限制，将会影响到联想在相似市场的客户对于安全性的考虑，主要是政府和大型企业市场。
可能引发贸易战 不利于美国企业在华利益
如果说使用了联想在美国制造的PC会妨碍美国的国家安全，泄漏国家机密。按照这个荒谬的逻辑，中国政府大量采购使用了英特尔和AMD处理器的PC，而且在上面运行着微软的Windows操作系统，简直是公开国家机密了。
尽管中国不会在政府中禁止使用美国厂商的配件，因为中国还没有出现像英特尔、微软这样强势的技术提供商，但对于一些整机厂商、软件厂商的采购限制却顺理成章。从这个角度分析，美国政府对联想的限制措施可能会引发中美的贸易战，而直接受到损失的将是包括惠普、戴尔、微软等在华美国厂商的利益，并对产业链上下游产生相关影响。而由此带来的一连串反应对于美国企业而言，都是不利的。
应对策略 建立完善的机制很必要
面对这样的事件，光是获得同情是没有意义的，必须采取措施进行应对和反击。我们已经看到了来自联想的努力，除了积极与美国政府和官员接触，联想也计划开展针对媒体的广泛宣传来澄清一些误解。而政府此时也发挥其作用。针对联想事件表达中国政府的观点和立场，这是符合国际惯例的。需要强调的是，这两条途径都要继续走下去，并且需要寻求一个默契的配合。
从长远来看，中国企业走出国门已经是不可逆转的趋势，而贸易不平等问题必将伴随出现。以后类似联想事件还会出现，在不同的国家，针对的不仅是联想的产品。我们的厂商和政府在应对这种歧视性的政策时，要尽快建立一套完整的机制，要寻求一些援助，比如《政府采购协议》，比如WTO。甚至可以从该国，比如美国的《联邦政府采购法》和《购买美国产品法》中寻求支持的依据。
后 记
中国经济在全球崛起，中国越来越多地融入世界。这些都昭示着中国的企业将越来越多地参与全球竞争，中国的商品将越来越多地进入全球市场。这个过程不会是一帆风顺的，必将伴随着诸如联想事件这样的阻碍。从而，为中国企业在其他国家争取公平竞争和自由贸易的环境，就成为中国政府和中国企业——尤其是联想这样的先进入者的负责。
Saturday, April 15, 2006
NTTデータは、システム開発プロセスの「見える化」をすすめています。
情報システムは、目では見えないもの。それをゼロから作り上げる開発のプロセスは、
お客様にとって「わかりにくい」と思われがちです。だからといって私たちは「結果さえ出せばいい」とは思いません。
計画通りに作業が行われているか。状況が変化したときどう対応するか。それがスケジュールやコストにどう影響するのか。お客様自身がシステム開発に参加し、すべてを的確にご判断いただくためには、開発プロセスを透明化することが不可欠なのです。
それがＮＴＴデータの推進してきた、システム開発の「見える化」。まず事前に開発の管理ルールをお客様と合意します。そして、お客様とともに仕様を決定。品質・進捗についても定量的に適時ご報告しますので、
プロジェクトの全体像を見渡すことができるようになります。クリアすべき課題や制約条件をお客様と共有することで、納得感や満足感の高いシステム構築が可能になるのです。成果はもちろん、プロセスにも責任を持つ。
それが私のお約束する「ＮＴＴデータ品質」です。
http://www.nttdata.co.jp/process/
仕様・品質・進捗等の管理方法や報告のルール・手順等を定めた
社内規定『プロセス透明化ガイドライン』により、
システム開発のプロセスを透明化し、お客様にご確認いただきます。
お客様にとって「わかりにくい」と思われがちです。だからといって私たちは「結果さえ出せばいい」とは思いません。
計画通りに作業が行われているか。状況が変化したときどう対応するか。それがスケジュールやコストにどう影響するのか。お客様自身がシステム開発に参加し、すべてを的確にご判断いただくためには、開発プロセスを透明化することが不可欠なのです。
それがＮＴＴデータの推進してきた、システム開発の「見える化」。まず事前に開発の管理ルールをお客様と合意します。そして、お客様とともに仕様を決定。品質・進捗についても定量的に適時ご報告しますので、
プロジェクトの全体像を見渡すことができるようになります。クリアすべき課題や制約条件をお客様と共有することで、納得感や満足感の高いシステム構築が可能になるのです。成果はもちろん、プロセスにも責任を持つ。
それが私のお約束する「ＮＴＴデータ品質」です。
http://www.nttdata.co.jp/process/
仕様・品質・進捗等の管理方法や報告のルール・手順等を定めた
社内規定『プロセス透明化ガイドライン』により、
システム開発のプロセスを透明化し、お客様にご確認いただきます。
郵貯銀の基幹システム 大手銀行から買い取りへ
■「郵貯銀の基幹システム 大手銀行から買い取りへ 経費を数百億円圧縮 みずほ・三菱ＵＦＪに打診」（１面）
【記事内容】
郵政民営化の準備会社、日本郵政は2007年10月の民営化で発足する郵便貯金銀行の基幹システムを、大手銀行から買い取る方向で検討に入った。みずほ銀行・日本ＩＢＭと、三菱東京ＵＦＪ銀行・日立製作所に打診した。システム経費を数百億円規模で圧縮して経営効率を高める。独自開発ならシステムエンジニア（ＳＥ）不足で民営化に間に合わないと判断。利用者が他の金融機関の口座に資金を振り込めるようシステム整備を急ぐ。
金融機関がライバルから基幹システムを買い取るのは極めて異例。買い取るのは、口座残高や資金移動などを管理する銀行業務にとって根幹となるシステム。旧富士銀行が使っていた日本ＩＢＭ製と、旧ＵＦＪ銀行が使っている日立製作所製を候補とする。
【コメント】
銀行のシステムについての記事が１面を飾りました。我々利用者にとってみると、ＡＴＭなどの利用時にはシステムを実感することがありますが、銀行内部の人間にとっては大きな問題であったりもします。
日本郵政は非常に良いところに目を付けた、というのが率直な感想です。というのは、旧富士銀行が使用していたシステム（日本ＩＢＭ）、旧ＵＦＪが使用しているシステム（日立製作所）は、銀行合併・統合により、使用されなくなった（されなくなる）システムであるのですが、実は、みずほ銀行の場合は、（現在は旧第一勧銀の富士通製が採用されていますが、）旧富士銀行のシステムの方が数段進んでいたシステムでした。同様に、三菱東京ＵＦＪ銀行の場合も、旧ＵＦＪ銀行の日立製作所製の方が、旧東京三菱銀行のＩＢＭ製よりも、数段進んでいるシステムです。
しかし、銀行側の諸事情（統合に伴う主導権争い）により、あえて「進んでいないシステム」が採用されてしまっているのです。そのため日本郵政は「非常に良いところに目を付けた」ということになります。
銀行内部の人間にとって見ると、システムについては、業務効率化やモティベーションの観点からも、非常に重要であったりします。システムは、年々、バージョンアップするのが通例ですが、銀行の統合・合併により５年以上前のシステムが新銀行で採用されたりすると、システム面に関していえば「後退した」感は否めないようです。
旧ＵＦＪ銀行の日立製作所製が採用されれば、銀行の統合・合併により銀行の基幹システムを失う予定であった日立製作所にとって見ると、まさに「助け舟」という状況になりそうです。
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Ray Ozzie备忘录全文
Ray Ozzie备忘录全文
2005.11.11
To: Executive Staff and direct reports
From: Ray Ozzie
Date: October 28, 2005
Subject: The Internet Services Disruption
It is an exciting time, as we’re at the beginning of the biggest product cycle in the company’s history. In a week we ship new versions of Visual Studio, SQL Server and BizTalk Server. Later this month we ship Xbox 360. Next year we have a double barreled release of our two largest products with Windows Vista and Office “12”. It’s a great time for customers, our partners, and for those at Microsoft who have put so much of themselves into these products.
But we bring these innovations to market at a time of great turbulence and potential change in the industry. This isn’t the first time of such great change: we’ve needed to reflect upon our core strategy and direction just about every five years. Such changes are inevitable because of the progressive and dramatic evolution of computing and communications technology, because of resultant changes in how our customers use and apply that technology, and because of the continuous emergence of competitors with new approaches and perspectives.
In 1990, there was actually a question about whether the graphical user interface had merit. Apple amongst others valiantly tried to convince the market of the GUI’s broad benefits, but the non-GUI Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect had significant momentum. But Microsoft recognized the GUI’s transformative potential, and committed the organization to pursuit of the dream – through investment in applications, platform and tools – based on a belief that the GUI would dramatically expand and democratize computing.
When we reflected upon our dreams just five years later in 1995, the impetus for our new center of gravity came from the then-nascent web. With a clear view upon the challenges and opportunities it presented, the entire company pivoted to focus on the internet to pursue that ‘fully connected’ dream with support for internet standards throughout our product line: a web browser, server and development tools, and a service in MSN that was transformed into a web portal. Many things we developed in that era continue to fuel the growth of today’s internet: the technologies of AJAX – DHTML and XMLHTTP – were created in 1998 and used in products such as OWA.
In 2000, in the waning days of the dot com bubble, we yet again reflected on our strategy and refined our direction. After taking a more deliberative look at the internet and its implications for software, we came to the conclusion that the internet would go beyond browsing and should support programmability on a global scale. We observed that certain aspects of our most fundamental platform – the tools and services that developers use when building their software – would not likely satisfy the emerging security and interoperability requirements of the internet. So we embarked upon .NET, a transformative new generation of the platform and tools built around managed code, the XML format and web services programming model. At the time, it was a risky bet to build natively around XML, but this bet paid off handsomely and .NET has become the most popular development environment in the world.
It is now 2005, and the environment has changed yet again – this time around services. Computing and communications technologies have dramatically and progressively improved to enable the viability of a services-based model. The ubiquity of broadband and wireless networking has changed the nature of how people interact, and they’re increasingly drawn toward the simplicity of services and service-enabled software that ‘just works’. Businesses are increasingly considering what services-based economics of scale might do to help them reduce infrastructure costs or deploy solutions as-needed and on subscription basis.
Most challenging and promising to our business, though, is that a new business model has emerged in the form of advertising-supported services and software. This model has the potential to fundamentally impact how we and other developers build, deliver, and monetize innovations. No one yet knows what kind of software and in which markets this model will be embraced, and there is tremendous revenue potential in those where it ultimately is.
Just as in the past, we must reflect upon what’s going on around us, and reflect upon our strengths, weaknesses and industry leadership responsibilities, and respond. As much as ever, it’s clear that if we fail to do so, our business as we know it is at risk. We must respond quickly and decisively.
The Landscape
Since 1995, inexpensive computing and communications technologies have advanced at a rapid rate that even exceeded our expectations. It’s so very difficult now for us to imagine a world without the PC, the web and the cell phone. In the US, there are more than 100MM broadband users, 190MM mobile phone subscribers, and WiFi networks blanket the urban landscape. This pattern is mirrored in much of the developed world. Computing has become linked to the communications network; when a PC is purchased, it’s assumed that the PC will have high-speed internet connectivity. At work, at home, in a hotel, at school or in a coffee shop, the networked laptop has become our ‘virtual office’ where we file our information and interact with others. The broad accessibility and rapid pace of innovation in hardware, networks, software and services has catalyzed a virtuous cycle whose pace isn’t slowing. There has never been a more exciting time to be a developer or a user of technology.
Our products have embraced the internet in many amazing ways. We’ve transformed the desktop into a rich platform for interactive internet browsing, media and communications-centric applications. We’ve transformed Windows into best-of-breed infrastructure for internet applications and services. We’ve created, in .NET, the most popular development platform in the world. We’ve got amazing products in Office and our other IW offerings, having fully embraced standards such as XML, HTML, RSS and SIP. Our MSN team has demonstrated great innovation and has held its own in a highly competitive and rapidly changing environment – particularly with Spaces and in growing a base of 180M active Messenger users worldwide. The Xbox team has also built a huge user community and has demonstrated that internet-based “Live” interaction is a high-value, strong differentiator.
But for all our great progress, our efforts have not always led to the degree that perhaps they could have. We should’ve been leaders with all our web properties in harnessing the potential of AJAX, following our pioneering work in OWA. We knew search would be important, but through Google’s focus they’ve gained a tremendously strong position. RSS is the internet’s answer to the notification scenarios we’ve discussed and worked on for some time, and is filling a role as ‘the UNIX pipe of the internet’ as people use it to connect data and systems in unanticipated ways. For all its tremendous innovation and its embracing of HTML and XML, Office is not yet the source of key web data formats – surely not to the level of PDF. While we’ve led with great capabilities in Messenger & Communicator, it was Skype, not us, who made VoIP broadly popular and created a new category. We have long understood the importance of mobile messaging scenarios and have made significant investment in device software, yet only now are we surpassing the Blackberry.
And while we continue to make good progress on these many fronts, a set of very strong and determined competitors is laser-focused on internet services and service-enabled software. Google is obviously the most visible here, although given the hype level it is difficult to ascertain which of their myriad initiatives are simply adjuncts intended to drive scale for their advertising business, or which might ultimately grow to substantively challenge our offerings. Although Yahoo also has significant communications assets that combine software and services, they are more of a media company and – with the notable exception of their advertising platform – they seem to be utilizing their platform capabilities largely as an internal asset. The same is true of Apple, which has done an enviable job integrating hardware, software and services into a seamless experience with dotMac, iPod and iTunes, but seems less focused on enabling developers to build substantial products and businesses.
Even beyond our large competitors, tremendous software-and-services activity is occurring within startups and at the grassroots level. Only a few years ago I’d have pointed to the Weblog and the Wiki as significant emerging trends; by now they’re mainstream and have moved into the enterprise. Flickr and others have done innovative work around community sharing and tagging based on simple data formats and metadata. GoToMyPC and GoToMeeting are very popular low-end solutions to remote PC access and online meetings. A number of startups have built interesting solutions for cross-device file and remote media access. VoIP seems on the verge of exploding – not just in Skype, but also as indicated by things such as the Asterisk soft-PBX. Innovations abound from small developers – from RAD frameworks to lightweight project management services and solutions.
Many startups treat the ‘raw’ internet as their platform. At the grassroots level, such projects actively use standards such as vCards and iCal for sharing contacts and calendars. Most all use RSS in one way or another for data sharing. Remixing and mashing of multiple web applications using XML, REST and WS is common; interesting mash-ups range from combining maps with apartment listings, to others that place RSS feeds on top of systems and data not originally intended for remixing. Developers needing tools and libraries to do their work just search the internet, download, develop & integrate, deploy, refine. Speed, simplicity and loose coupling are paramount.
And the work of these startups could be improved with a ‘services platform’. Ironically, the same things that enable and catalyze rapid innovation can also be constraints to their success. Many hard problems are often ignored – the most significant of which is achieving scale. Some scale issues are technological and result from the fact that they are generally built on application server platforms rather than high-scale service platforms. But new services also need to build user communities from scratch – generally by word of mouth. Many fund their sites using syndicated ads, but have a difficult time transforming their services into higher levels of commerce. Some seek to incorporate client software into their user experience, but then need to reinvent software deployment, update, communications and synchronization mechanisms. User identity and cross-service interoperability mechanisms are still needlessly fragmented. Intuitively there seems to be a platform opportunity in providing such capabilities to developers in a form that retains the speed, simplicity and loose coupling that is so very important for rapid innovation.
Key Tenets
Today there are three key tenets that are driving fundamental shifts in the landscape – all of which are related in some way to services. It’s key to embrace these tenets within the context of our products and services.
1. The power of the advertising-supported economic model.
Online advertising has emerged as a significant new means by which to directly and indirectly fund the creation and delivery of software and services. In some cases, it may be possible for one to obtain more revenue through the advertising model than through a traditional licensing model. Only in its earliest stages, no one yet knows the limits of what categories of hardware, software and services, in what markets, will ultimately be funded through this model. And no one yet knows how much of the world’s online advertising revenues should or will flow to large software and service providers, medium sized or tail providers, or even users themselves.
2. The effectiveness of a new delivery and adoption model.
A grassroots technology adoption pattern has emerged on the internet largely in parallel to the classic methods of selling software to the enterprise. Products are now discovered through a combination of blogs, search keyword-based advertising, online product marketing and word-of-mouth. It’s now expected that anything discovered can be sampled and experienced through self-service exploration and download. This is true not just for consumer products: even enterprise products now more often than not enter an organization through the internet-based research and trial of a business unit that understands a product’s value.
Limited trial use, ad-monetized or free reduced-function use, subscription-based use, on-line activation, digital license management, automatic update, and other such concepts are now entering the vocabulary of any developer building products that wish to successfully utilize the web as a channel. Products must now embrace a “discover, learn, try, buy, recommend” cycle – sometimes with one of those phases being free, another ad-supported, and yet another being subscription-based. Grassroots adoption requires an end-to-end perspective related to product design. Products must be easily understood by the user upon trial, and useful out-of-the-box with little or no configuration or administrative intervention.
But enabling grassroots adoption is not just a product design issue. Today’s web is fundamentally a self-service environment, and it is critical to design websites and product ‘landing pages’ with sophisticated closed-loop measurement and feedback systems. Even startups use such techniques in conjunction with pay-per-click advertisements. This ensures that the most effective website designs will be selected to attract discovery of products and services, help in research and learning, facilitate download, trial and purchase, and to enable individuals’ self-help and making recommendations to others. Such systems can recognize and take advantage of opportunities to up-sell and cross-sell products to individuals, workgroups and businesses, and also act as a lead generation front-end for our sales force and for our partners.
3. The demand for compelling, integrated user experiences that “just work”.
The PC has morphed into new form factors and new roles, and we increasingly have more than one in our lives – at work, at home, laptops, tablets, even in the living room. Cell phones have become ubiquitous. There are a myriad of handheld devices. Set-top boxes, PVRs and game consoles are changing what and how we watch television. Photos, music and voice communications are all rapidly going digital and being driven by software. Automobiles are on a path to become smart and connected. The emergence of the digital lifestyle that utilizes all these technologies is changing how we learn, play games, watch TV, communicate with friends and family, listen to music and share memories.
But the power of technology also brings with it a cost. For all the success of individual technologies, the array of technology in a person’s life can be daunting. Increasingly, individuals choose products and services that are highly-personalized, focused on the end-to-end experience delivered by that technology. Products must deliver a seamless experience, one in which all the technology in your life ‘just works’ and can work together, on your behalf, under your control. This means designs centered on an intentional fusion of internet-based services with software, and sometimes even hardware, to deliver meaningful experiences and solutions with a level of seamless design and use that couldn’t be achieved without such a holistic approach.
The Opportunities
These three tenets are causing a shift in the software landscape that started with consumers and is progressively working its way toward the enterprise – changing how software is monetized, how software is delivered, and what kind of software is ultimately embraced. With our presence in so many markets serving so many audiences, and with such a broad variety of products and solutions, we are well positioned to deliver seamless experiences to customers, enabled by services and service-enhanced software, including:
SEAMLESS OS – The operating system as it would be designed for today’s multi-PC, multi-device, work anywhere, web-based world. Enabling you to login using any of your service-based or enterprise identities. Deploying software automatically and as appropriate to all your devices, and roaming application data and settings. Permitting seamless access to storage across all your PCs, devices, servers and the web.
SEAMLESS COMMUNICATIONS – Communications and notifications – from voice to typing to shared screen; from PC to service-based agent to phone. Maintaining continuous co-presence with intimate friends and family; improving the coordination amongst individuals who need to work together by reducing latency and adding clarity through shared context.
SEAMLESS PRODUCTIVITY – Enabling you to create, find and organize documents and data among all the desktops, devices, servers and services to which you have access, and with all the others with whom you need to work, through ‘shared space’ products that are internet service-based, enterprise server-based and directly peer-to-peer. Working within and across homes, small businesses, virtual workgroups and enterprises.
SEAMLESS ENTERTAINMENT – Enabling you to create, store, organize, present, consume and interact with media of all kinds; accessing, caching and viewing it anywhere you like regardless of where the media resides. Gaming experiences that bring two or two million people together across PCs, devices and the web.
SEAMLESS MARKETPLACE – Enabling you to research, find, buy and sell whatever you want through a seamlessly integrated purchase, billing & payment & points, advertising & lead generation & sales management system designed to satisfy the needs of both buyers and sellers.
SEAMLESS SOLUTIONS – Enabling workgroups and businesses to rapidly create and customize any of a broad class of template-driven, semi-structured data-based applications and solutions that “just work” and provide instant value – whether using them from the web, from enterprise servers, or from mobile client PCs.
SEAMLESS IT – Enabling enterprises to seamlessly and cost-effectively manage many of the things they’ve classically done within their data centers – e.g. PCs, messaging, content and applications. The management experience might be wholly within the cloud, or with the cloud seamlessly integrating enterprise server assist.
Moving Forward
In order to adapt to the requirements underlying these key tenets, groups must reflect upon their existing plans, and assess their designs in the context of the end-to-end experiences they need deliver in order to understand how services might make a substantive impact. Groups should consider how new delivery and adoption models might impact plans, and whether embracing new advertising-supported revenue models might be market-relevant.
In assessing where we are and where we need to be, some new efforts will surely require incubation. But in many areas we have 80% of the product and technical infrastructure already built – we just need to close the 20% gap. Following are but a few thoughts for each division intended to catalyze a “services-enhanced software” mindset.
Platform Products & Services Division
a. BASE vs. ADDITIVE EXPERIENCES – In MSN, and in Windows Update and software deployed by it, we have quite a bit of experience with methods and practices for getting innovations to market on a rapid cycle. In the form of a newly combined division, we should consider many options as to how we might bring user experience innovations and enhancements to users worldwide. Specifically, we should consider the achievability, desirability, and methods of increasing the tempo for both ‘base’ OS experiences as well as ‘additive’ experiences that might be delivered on a more rapid tempo. In doing so, we would better serve a broad range of highly-influential early adopters.
b. SERVICES PLATFORM – Through years of experience, the MSN team understands the methods and practices of building ‘internet scale’ services. The Platform team understands developers and has deep experience in communications and storage architectures. These teams must work together, benefiting from each others’ strengths, to develop a next generation internet services platform – a platform for both internal and external innovation. A platform with capabilities and an operations infrastructure that takes those services to a scale never yet seen on the internet - to our benefit, and to the benefit of our partners and customers.
c. SERVICE/SERVER SYNERGY – A tension has emerged between our products designed for the enterprise and those for the internet. Exchange/Hotmail, AD/Passport, and Messenger/Communicator are but three examples. All our enterprise clients and servers must interoperate with and complement our internet services. Our functional aspirations are generally “server/service symmetry”, but architectural considerations dictate that different implementations may be required to economically reach internet scale. We must quickly find the best path to achieve seamless user, developer, and administration experiences involving servers and services.
d. LIGHTWEIGHT DEVELOPMENT – The rapid growth of application assembly using things such as REST, JavaScript and PHP suggests that many developers gravitate toward very rapid, lightweight ways to create and compose solutions. We have always appreciated the need for lightweight development by power users in the form of products such as Access and SharePoint. We should revisit whether we’re adequately serving the lightweight model of development and solution composition for all classes of development.
e. RESPONSIBLE COMPETITION – We will compete energetically but also responsibly and with recognition of our high legal responsibilities. We will design and license Windows and our internet-based services as separate products, so customers can choose Windows with or without Microsoft’s services. We’ll design and license Windows and our services on terms that provide third parties with the same ability to benefit from the Windows platform that Microsoft’s services enjoy. Our services innovations will include tight integration with the Windows client via documented interfaces, so that competing services can plug into Windows in the same manner as Microsoft’s services. We will compete hard and responsibly in services on the basis of software innovation and price – and on that basis we will offer consumers and businesses the best value in the market.
Business Division
a. CONNECTED OFFICE - How would we extend or re-conceptualize Office modules to fit in this seamless model of connectedness to others, and to other applications? Should PowerPoint directly ‘broadcast to the web’, or let the audience take notes and respond? How should we increase the role of Office Online as the portal for productivity? What should we do to bring Office’s classic COM-based publish-and-subscribe capabilities to a world where RSS and XML have become the de facto publish-and-subscribe mechanisms?
b. TELECOM TRANSFORMATION - How should our investments in RTC evolve to serve not just the enterprise, but also fully embrace the concept of grassroots adoption? How can RTC begin as an individual phenomenon, growing into a small business offering with a level of function that they’d never imagine possible, growing into the enterprise? How should we utilize service-based federation and hosting to ensure a ‘just works’ experience for all users, whether or not an administrator was ever involved?
c. RAPID SOLUTIONS - How can we utilize our extant products and our knowledge of the broad historical adoption of forms-based applications to jump-start an effort that could dramatically surpass offerings from Quickbase to Salesforce.com? How could we build it to scale to hundreds of millions of users at an unimaginably low cost that would change the game? How could we re-shape our client-side software offerings such as Access and Groove, and our server offerings such as SharePoint, to grow and thrive in the presence of such a service? Could these rapid solutions encourage a new ISV ecosystem and business model?
Entertainment & Devices Division
a. CONNECTED ENTERTAINMENT - How can XBox Live benefit from interconnection with other services assets, such as PC-based and mobile-based IM and VoIP? How might both the PC and XBox mutually benefit from a common marketplace? Might PC users act as spectators/participants in XBox games, and vice-versa?
b. GRASSROOTS MOBILE SERVICES – How might the Windows Mobile device experience be transformed by for consumers by connection to a services infrastructure – in particular one enabled by RTC-based unified communications? How might unmediated connection to a rich services infrastructure transform mobile phones into a mass market messaging, media and commerce phenomenon?
c. DEVICE/SERVICE FUSION – What new devices might emerge if we envision hardware/software/service fusion? What new kinds of devices might be enabled by the presence of a service?
What’s Different?
One perspective on this memo might be to say “This is in many ways is pretty close to what we’re already working on. What’s the big deal?” Or “We tried something similar years ago; why will we succeed this time?” These are understandable reactions. Many visions of the future going all the way back to “Information at Your Fingertips” contain elements of what has been laid out here.
That said, I have a number of reasons for optimism that we can deliver well on this vision. First, I know that Bill, Steve and the senior leadership team understand that Microsoft’s execution effectiveness will be improved by eliminating obstacles to developing and shipping products. The recent reorganization into three divisions is a significant step, and the division presidents are committed to changes to improve our agility.
Second, we are just now completing a wave of innovation that has never been seen in this company. 2006 is going to be an amazing year for shipping products, and many across the company will be ready to take on a new mission.
Third, regardless of past aspirations, this is the right time to be focusing on services for two specific reasons: the increasing ubiquity of broadband has made it viable, and the proven economics of the advertising model has made it profitable. It can be argued, for example, whether or not Hailstorm was the ‘right’ undertaking. But regardless, the effort would certainly have benefited from having a known-viable services business model for which to design.
Finally, I believe at this juncture it’s generally very clear to each of us why we need to transform – the competitors, the challenges, and the opportunities. As an outsider, I was repeatedly impressed and awed over the years by how this company’s talent has swarmed to effectively respond to huge business challenges and transitions.
That said, even when we’ve been solidly in pursuit of a common vision, our end-to-end execution of key scenarios has often been uneven – in large part because of the complexity of doing such substantial undertakings. In any large project, the sheer number of moving parts sometimes naturally causes compartmentalization of decisions and execution. Some groups might lose sight of how their piece fits in, or worse, might develop features without a clear understanding of how they’ll be used. In some cases by the time the vision is delivered, the pieces might not quite fit into the originally-envisioned coherent whole. We cannot allow the seams in our organization, or our methods of making decisions, show through in our products, or result in the failure to deliver on key end-to-end experiences.
Complexity kills. It sucks the life out of developers, it makes products difficult to plan, build and test, it introduces security challenges, and it causes end-user and administrator frustration. Moving forward, within all parts of the organization, each of us should ask “What’s different?”, and explore and embrace techniques to reduce complexity.
Some problems are inherently complex; there is surely no silver bullet to reducing complexity in extant systems. But when tackling new problems, I’ve found it useful to dip into a toolbox of simplification approaches and methods. One such tool is the use of extensive end-to-end scenario-based design and implementation. Another is that of utilizing loosely-coupled design of systems by introducing constraints at key junctures – using standards as a tool to force quick agreement on interfaces. Many such tools are not rocket science: for example, by forcing a change in practices to increase the frequency of release cycles, scope and complexity of any given release by necessity is greatly reduced. Another simple tool I’ve used involves attracting developers to use common physical workspaces to naturally catalyze ad hoc face-time between those who need to coordinate, rather than relying solely upon meetings and streams of email and document reviews for such interaction. Embracing change at a local level through such tools can make a real difference – one project at a time.
Next Steps
We’re off to a great start with many initiatives already under way – from efforts occurring now within MSN, to the IW services being launched imminently. We’re in a tremendous position to succeed, but doing so will require your belief, creativity, support, leadership, follower-ship and action.
This memo was intended to get all of us roughly on the same page, and to get you thinking. The next steps are:
1) I am working with the division presidents to assign, by December 15th, “scenario owners” – a role intended to improve our execution of key services-based initiatives through leadership. These leaders will provide an outside-in perspective in mapping out and communicating specific market objectives, while at the same time working with developers and others at the detail level to ensure expedient decision making and continuity. These individuals will be responsible for driving critical decisions such as feature re-prioritization and cuts while appreciating the business tradeoffs and impact of such decisions. They’ll listen. They’ll rapidly effect changes in plans to ensure execution and improve agility, even for scenarios that span divisions. Initial scenarios to be assigned ownership will include the seven seamless experiences described earlier.
2) Beginning in January these individuals will work with me and with product groups to concretely map out scenarios and pragmatically assess changes needed in product and go-to-market plans related to services and service-based scenarios. For some groups this will impact short-term plans; for many others on path to shipping soon, it will factor significantly into planning for future releases.
3) All Business Groups have been asked to develop their plans to embrace this mission and create new service offerings that deliver value to customers and utilize the platform capabilities that we have today and are building for the future. We expect both technical and non-technical communities to be increasingly engaged on the topic of services and service-enhanced software. As we begin planning the next waves of innovation – such as those beyond Vista and Office “12” – we will mobilize execution around those plans.
4) I have created an internal blog that will be used to notify you of further plans as they emerge. There, I’ll point you to libraries of documents that you will find interesting to read, and I’ll be experimenting with ways that you can directly engage in the conversation.
http://blogs/live
These steps are important and necessary, but not sufficient, for us to deliver on our aspirations. The most important step is for each of us to internalize the transformative and disruptive potential of services. We must then focus on the need for agility in execution, and take actions as appropriate where each of us can.
The opportunities to deliver greater value to our customers, to our developer and partner communities, and to our shareholders are significant. I very much look forward to embarking on this journey with all of you.
-- Ray
2005.11.11
To: Executive Staff and direct reports
From: Ray Ozzie
Date: October 28, 2005
Subject: The Internet Services Disruption
It is an exciting time, as we’re at the beginning of the biggest product cycle in the company’s history. In a week we ship new versions of Visual Studio, SQL Server and BizTalk Server. Later this month we ship Xbox 360. Next year we have a double barreled release of our two largest products with Windows Vista and Office “12”. It’s a great time for customers, our partners, and for those at Microsoft who have put so much of themselves into these products.
But we bring these innovations to market at a time of great turbulence and potential change in the industry. This isn’t the first time of such great change: we’ve needed to reflect upon our core strategy and direction just about every five years. Such changes are inevitable because of the progressive and dramatic evolution of computing and communications technology, because of resultant changes in how our customers use and apply that technology, and because of the continuous emergence of competitors with new approaches and perspectives.
In 1990, there was actually a question about whether the graphical user interface had merit. Apple amongst others valiantly tried to convince the market of the GUI’s broad benefits, but the non-GUI Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect had significant momentum. But Microsoft recognized the GUI’s transformative potential, and committed the organization to pursuit of the dream – through investment in applications, platform and tools – based on a belief that the GUI would dramatically expand and democratize computing.
When we reflected upon our dreams just five years later in 1995, the impetus for our new center of gravity came from the then-nascent web. With a clear view upon the challenges and opportunities it presented, the entire company pivoted to focus on the internet to pursue that ‘fully connected’ dream with support for internet standards throughout our product line: a web browser, server and development tools, and a service in MSN that was transformed into a web portal. Many things we developed in that era continue to fuel the growth of today’s internet: the technologies of AJAX – DHTML and XMLHTTP – were created in 1998 and used in products such as OWA.
In 2000, in the waning days of the dot com bubble, we yet again reflected on our strategy and refined our direction. After taking a more deliberative look at the internet and its implications for software, we came to the conclusion that the internet would go beyond browsing and should support programmability on a global scale. We observed that certain aspects of our most fundamental platform – the tools and services that developers use when building their software – would not likely satisfy the emerging security and interoperability requirements of the internet. So we embarked upon .NET, a transformative new generation of the platform and tools built around managed code, the XML format and web services programming model. At the time, it was a risky bet to build natively around XML, but this bet paid off handsomely and .NET has become the most popular development environment in the world.
It is now 2005, and the environment has changed yet again – this time around services. Computing and communications technologies have dramatically and progressively improved to enable the viability of a services-based model. The ubiquity of broadband and wireless networking has changed the nature of how people interact, and they’re increasingly drawn toward the simplicity of services and service-enabled software that ‘just works’. Businesses are increasingly considering what services-based economics of scale might do to help them reduce infrastructure costs or deploy solutions as-needed and on subscription basis.
Most challenging and promising to our business, though, is that a new business model has emerged in the form of advertising-supported services and software. This model has the potential to fundamentally impact how we and other developers build, deliver, and monetize innovations. No one yet knows what kind of software and in which markets this model will be embraced, and there is tremendous revenue potential in those where it ultimately is.
Just as in the past, we must reflect upon what’s going on around us, and reflect upon our strengths, weaknesses and industry leadership responsibilities, and respond. As much as ever, it’s clear that if we fail to do so, our business as we know it is at risk. We must respond quickly and decisively.
The Landscape
Since 1995, inexpensive computing and communications technologies have advanced at a rapid rate that even exceeded our expectations. It’s so very difficult now for us to imagine a world without the PC, the web and the cell phone. In the US, there are more than 100MM broadband users, 190MM mobile phone subscribers, and WiFi networks blanket the urban landscape. This pattern is mirrored in much of the developed world. Computing has become linked to the communications network; when a PC is purchased, it’s assumed that the PC will have high-speed internet connectivity. At work, at home, in a hotel, at school or in a coffee shop, the networked laptop has become our ‘virtual office’ where we file our information and interact with others. The broad accessibility and rapid pace of innovation in hardware, networks, software and services has catalyzed a virtuous cycle whose pace isn’t slowing. There has never been a more exciting time to be a developer or a user of technology.
Our products have embraced the internet in many amazing ways. We’ve transformed the desktop into a rich platform for interactive internet browsing, media and communications-centric applications. We’ve transformed Windows into best-of-breed infrastructure for internet applications and services. We’ve created, in .NET, the most popular development platform in the world. We’ve got amazing products in Office and our other IW offerings, having fully embraced standards such as XML, HTML, RSS and SIP. Our MSN team has demonstrated great innovation and has held its own in a highly competitive and rapidly changing environment – particularly with Spaces and in growing a base of 180M active Messenger users worldwide. The Xbox team has also built a huge user community and has demonstrated that internet-based “Live” interaction is a high-value, strong differentiator.
But for all our great progress, our efforts have not always led to the degree that perhaps they could have. We should’ve been leaders with all our web properties in harnessing the potential of AJAX, following our pioneering work in OWA. We knew search would be important, but through Google’s focus they’ve gained a tremendously strong position. RSS is the internet’s answer to the notification scenarios we’ve discussed and worked on for some time, and is filling a role as ‘the UNIX pipe of the internet’ as people use it to connect data and systems in unanticipated ways. For all its tremendous innovation and its embracing of HTML and XML, Office is not yet the source of key web data formats – surely not to the level of PDF. While we’ve led with great capabilities in Messenger & Communicator, it was Skype, not us, who made VoIP broadly popular and created a new category. We have long understood the importance of mobile messaging scenarios and have made significant investment in device software, yet only now are we surpassing the Blackberry.
And while we continue to make good progress on these many fronts, a set of very strong and determined competitors is laser-focused on internet services and service-enabled software. Google is obviously the most visible here, although given the hype level it is difficult to ascertain which of their myriad initiatives are simply adjuncts intended to drive scale for their advertising business, or which might ultimately grow to substantively challenge our offerings. Although Yahoo also has significant communications assets that combine software and services, they are more of a media company and – with the notable exception of their advertising platform – they seem to be utilizing their platform capabilities largely as an internal asset. The same is true of Apple, which has done an enviable job integrating hardware, software and services into a seamless experience with dotMac, iPod and iTunes, but seems less focused on enabling developers to build substantial products and businesses.
Even beyond our large competitors, tremendous software-and-services activity is occurring within startups and at the grassroots level. Only a few years ago I’d have pointed to the Weblog and the Wiki as significant emerging trends; by now they’re mainstream and have moved into the enterprise. Flickr and others have done innovative work around community sharing and tagging based on simple data formats and metadata. GoToMyPC and GoToMeeting are very popular low-end solutions to remote PC access and online meetings. A number of startups have built interesting solutions for cross-device file and remote media access. VoIP seems on the verge of exploding – not just in Skype, but also as indicated by things such as the Asterisk soft-PBX. Innovations abound from small developers – from RAD frameworks to lightweight project management services and solutions.
Many startups treat the ‘raw’ internet as their platform. At the grassroots level, such projects actively use standards such as vCards and iCal for sharing contacts and calendars. Most all use RSS in one way or another for data sharing. Remixing and mashing of multiple web applications using XML, REST and WS is common; interesting mash-ups range from combining maps with apartment listings, to others that place RSS feeds on top of systems and data not originally intended for remixing. Developers needing tools and libraries to do their work just search the internet, download, develop & integrate, deploy, refine. Speed, simplicity and loose coupling are paramount.
And the work of these startups could be improved with a ‘services platform’. Ironically, the same things that enable and catalyze rapid innovation can also be constraints to their success. Many hard problems are often ignored – the most significant of which is achieving scale. Some scale issues are technological and result from the fact that they are generally built on application server platforms rather than high-scale service platforms. But new services also need to build user communities from scratch – generally by word of mouth. Many fund their sites using syndicated ads, but have a difficult time transforming their services into higher levels of commerce. Some seek to incorporate client software into their user experience, but then need to reinvent software deployment, update, communications and synchronization mechanisms. User identity and cross-service interoperability mechanisms are still needlessly fragmented. Intuitively there seems to be a platform opportunity in providing such capabilities to developers in a form that retains the speed, simplicity and loose coupling that is so very important for rapid innovation.
Key Tenets
Today there are three key tenets that are driving fundamental shifts in the landscape – all of which are related in some way to services. It’s key to embrace these tenets within the context of our products and services.
1. The power of the advertising-supported economic model.
Online advertising has emerged as a significant new means by which to directly and indirectly fund the creation and delivery of software and services. In some cases, it may be possible for one to obtain more revenue through the advertising model than through a traditional licensing model. Only in its earliest stages, no one yet knows the limits of what categories of hardware, software and services, in what markets, will ultimately be funded through this model. And no one yet knows how much of the world’s online advertising revenues should or will flow to large software and service providers, medium sized or tail providers, or even users themselves.
2. The effectiveness of a new delivery and adoption model.
A grassroots technology adoption pattern has emerged on the internet largely in parallel to the classic methods of selling software to the enterprise. Products are now discovered through a combination of blogs, search keyword-based advertising, online product marketing and word-of-mouth. It’s now expected that anything discovered can be sampled and experienced through self-service exploration and download. This is true not just for consumer products: even enterprise products now more often than not enter an organization through the internet-based research and trial of a business unit that understands a product’s value.
Limited trial use, ad-monetized or free reduced-function use, subscription-based use, on-line activation, digital license management, automatic update, and other such concepts are now entering the vocabulary of any developer building products that wish to successfully utilize the web as a channel. Products must now embrace a “discover, learn, try, buy, recommend” cycle – sometimes with one of those phases being free, another ad-supported, and yet another being subscription-based. Grassroots adoption requires an end-to-end perspective related to product design. Products must be easily understood by the user upon trial, and useful out-of-the-box with little or no configuration or administrative intervention.
But enabling grassroots adoption is not just a product design issue. Today’s web is fundamentally a self-service environment, and it is critical to design websites and product ‘landing pages’ with sophisticated closed-loop measurement and feedback systems. Even startups use such techniques in conjunction with pay-per-click advertisements. This ensures that the most effective website designs will be selected to attract discovery of products and services, help in research and learning, facilitate download, trial and purchase, and to enable individuals’ self-help and making recommendations to others. Such systems can recognize and take advantage of opportunities to up-sell and cross-sell products to individuals, workgroups and businesses, and also act as a lead generation front-end for our sales force and for our partners.
3. The demand for compelling, integrated user experiences that “just work”.
The PC has morphed into new form factors and new roles, and we increasingly have more than one in our lives – at work, at home, laptops, tablets, even in the living room. Cell phones have become ubiquitous. There are a myriad of handheld devices. Set-top boxes, PVRs and game consoles are changing what and how we watch television. Photos, music and voice communications are all rapidly going digital and being driven by software. Automobiles are on a path to become smart and connected. The emergence of the digital lifestyle that utilizes all these technologies is changing how we learn, play games, watch TV, communicate with friends and family, listen to music and share memories.
But the power of technology also brings with it a cost. For all the success of individual technologies, the array of technology in a person’s life can be daunting. Increasingly, individuals choose products and services that are highly-personalized, focused on the end-to-end experience delivered by that technology. Products must deliver a seamless experience, one in which all the technology in your life ‘just works’ and can work together, on your behalf, under your control. This means designs centered on an intentional fusion of internet-based services with software, and sometimes even hardware, to deliver meaningful experiences and solutions with a level of seamless design and use that couldn’t be achieved without such a holistic approach.
The Opportunities
These three tenets are causing a shift in the software landscape that started with consumers and is progressively working its way toward the enterprise – changing how software is monetized, how software is delivered, and what kind of software is ultimately embraced. With our presence in so many markets serving so many audiences, and with such a broad variety of products and solutions, we are well positioned to deliver seamless experiences to customers, enabled by services and service-enhanced software, including:
SEAMLESS OS – The operating system as it would be designed for today’s multi-PC, multi-device, work anywhere, web-based world. Enabling you to login using any of your service-based or enterprise identities. Deploying software automatically and as appropriate to all your devices, and roaming application data and settings. Permitting seamless access to storage across all your PCs, devices, servers and the web.
SEAMLESS COMMUNICATIONS – Communications and notifications – from voice to typing to shared screen; from PC to service-based agent to phone. Maintaining continuous co-presence with intimate friends and family; improving the coordination amongst individuals who need to work together by reducing latency and adding clarity through shared context.
SEAMLESS PRODUCTIVITY – Enabling you to create, find and organize documents and data among all the desktops, devices, servers and services to which you have access, and with all the others with whom you need to work, through ‘shared space’ products that are internet service-based, enterprise server-based and directly peer-to-peer. Working within and across homes, small businesses, virtual workgroups and enterprises.
SEAMLESS ENTERTAINMENT – Enabling you to create, store, organize, present, consume and interact with media of all kinds; accessing, caching and viewing it anywhere you like regardless of where the media resides. Gaming experiences that bring two or two million people together across PCs, devices and the web.
SEAMLESS MARKETPLACE – Enabling you to research, find, buy and sell whatever you want through a seamlessly integrated purchase, billing & payment & points, advertising & lead generation & sales management system designed to satisfy the needs of both buyers and sellers.
SEAMLESS SOLUTIONS – Enabling workgroups and businesses to rapidly create and customize any of a broad class of template-driven, semi-structured data-based applications and solutions that “just work” and provide instant value – whether using them from the web, from enterprise servers, or from mobile client PCs.
SEAMLESS IT – Enabling enterprises to seamlessly and cost-effectively manage many of the things they’ve classically done within their data centers – e.g. PCs, messaging, content and applications. The management experience might be wholly within the cloud, or with the cloud seamlessly integrating enterprise server assist.
Moving Forward
In order to adapt to the requirements underlying these key tenets, groups must reflect upon their existing plans, and assess their designs in the context of the end-to-end experiences they need deliver in order to understand how services might make a substantive impact. Groups should consider how new delivery and adoption models might impact plans, and whether embracing new advertising-supported revenue models might be market-relevant.
In assessing where we are and where we need to be, some new efforts will surely require incubation. But in many areas we have 80% of the product and technical infrastructure already built – we just need to close the 20% gap. Following are but a few thoughts for each division intended to catalyze a “services-enhanced software” mindset.
Platform Products & Services Division
a. BASE vs. ADDITIVE EXPERIENCES – In MSN, and in Windows Update and software deployed by it, we have quite a bit of experience with methods and practices for getting innovations to market on a rapid cycle. In the form of a newly combined division, we should consider many options as to how we might bring user experience innovations and enhancements to users worldwide. Specifically, we should consider the achievability, desirability, and methods of increasing the tempo for both ‘base’ OS experiences as well as ‘additive’ experiences that might be delivered on a more rapid tempo. In doing so, we would better serve a broad range of highly-influential early adopters.
b. SERVICES PLATFORM – Through years of experience, the MSN team understands the methods and practices of building ‘internet scale’ services. The Platform team understands developers and has deep experience in communications and storage architectures. These teams must work together, benefiting from each others’ strengths, to develop a next generation internet services platform – a platform for both internal and external innovation. A platform with capabilities and an operations infrastructure that takes those services to a scale never yet seen on the internet - to our benefit, and to the benefit of our partners and customers.
c. SERVICE/SERVER SYNERGY – A tension has emerged between our products designed for the enterprise and those for the internet. Exchange/Hotmail, AD/Passport, and Messenger/Communicator are but three examples. All our enterprise clients and servers must interoperate with and complement our internet services. Our functional aspirations are generally “server/service symmetry”, but architectural considerations dictate that different implementations may be required to economically reach internet scale. We must quickly find the best path to achieve seamless user, developer, and administration experiences involving servers and services.
d. LIGHTWEIGHT DEVELOPMENT – The rapid growth of application assembly using things such as REST, JavaScript and PHP suggests that many developers gravitate toward very rapid, lightweight ways to create and compose solutions. We have always appreciated the need for lightweight development by power users in the form of products such as Access and SharePoint. We should revisit whether we’re adequately serving the lightweight model of development and solution composition for all classes of development.
e. RESPONSIBLE COMPETITION – We will compete energetically but also responsibly and with recognition of our high legal responsibilities. We will design and license Windows and our internet-based services as separate products, so customers can choose Windows with or without Microsoft’s services. We’ll design and license Windows and our services on terms that provide third parties with the same ability to benefit from the Windows platform that Microsoft’s services enjoy. Our services innovations will include tight integration with the Windows client via documented interfaces, so that competing services can plug into Windows in the same manner as Microsoft’s services. We will compete hard and responsibly in services on the basis of software innovation and price – and on that basis we will offer consumers and businesses the best value in the market.
Business Division
a. CONNECTED OFFICE - How would we extend or re-conceptualize Office modules to fit in this seamless model of connectedness to others, and to other applications? Should PowerPoint directly ‘broadcast to the web’, or let the audience take notes and respond? How should we increase the role of Office Online as the portal for productivity? What should we do to bring Office’s classic COM-based publish-and-subscribe capabilities to a world where RSS and XML have become the de facto publish-and-subscribe mechanisms?
b. TELECOM TRANSFORMATION - How should our investments in RTC evolve to serve not just the enterprise, but also fully embrace the concept of grassroots adoption? How can RTC begin as an individual phenomenon, growing into a small business offering with a level of function that they’d never imagine possible, growing into the enterprise? How should we utilize service-based federation and hosting to ensure a ‘just works’ experience for all users, whether or not an administrator was ever involved?
c. RAPID SOLUTIONS - How can we utilize our extant products and our knowledge of the broad historical adoption of forms-based applications to jump-start an effort that could dramatically surpass offerings from Quickbase to Salesforce.com? How could we build it to scale to hundreds of millions of users at an unimaginably low cost that would change the game? How could we re-shape our client-side software offerings such as Access and Groove, and our server offerings such as SharePoint, to grow and thrive in the presence of such a service? Could these rapid solutions encourage a new ISV ecosystem and business model?
Entertainment & Devices Division
a. CONNECTED ENTERTAINMENT - How can XBox Live benefit from interconnection with other services assets, such as PC-based and mobile-based IM and VoIP? How might both the PC and XBox mutually benefit from a common marketplace? Might PC users act as spectators/participants in XBox games, and vice-versa?
b. GRASSROOTS MOBILE SERVICES – How might the Windows Mobile device experience be transformed by for consumers by connection to a services infrastructure – in particular one enabled by RTC-based unified communications? How might unmediated connection to a rich services infrastructure transform mobile phones into a mass market messaging, media and commerce phenomenon?
c. DEVICE/SERVICE FUSION – What new devices might emerge if we envision hardware/software/service fusion? What new kinds of devices might be enabled by the presence of a service?
What’s Different?
One perspective on this memo might be to say “This is in many ways is pretty close to what we’re already working on. What’s the big deal?” Or “We tried something similar years ago; why will we succeed this time?” These are understandable reactions. Many visions of the future going all the way back to “Information at Your Fingertips” contain elements of what has been laid out here.
That said, I have a number of reasons for optimism that we can deliver well on this vision. First, I know that Bill, Steve and the senior leadership team understand that Microsoft’s execution effectiveness will be improved by eliminating obstacles to developing and shipping products. The recent reorganization into three divisions is a significant step, and the division presidents are committed to changes to improve our agility.
Second, we are just now completing a wave of innovation that has never been seen in this company. 2006 is going to be an amazing year for shipping products, and many across the company will be ready to take on a new mission.
Third, regardless of past aspirations, this is the right time to be focusing on services for two specific reasons: the increasing ubiquity of broadband has made it viable, and the proven economics of the advertising model has made it profitable. It can be argued, for example, whether or not Hailstorm was the ‘right’ undertaking. But regardless, the effort would certainly have benefited from having a known-viable services business model for which to design.
Finally, I believe at this juncture it’s generally very clear to each of us why we need to transform – the competitors, the challenges, and the opportunities. As an outsider, I was repeatedly impressed and awed over the years by how this company’s talent has swarmed to effectively respond to huge business challenges and transitions.
That said, even when we’ve been solidly in pursuit of a common vision, our end-to-end execution of key scenarios has often been uneven – in large part because of the complexity of doing such substantial undertakings. In any large project, the sheer number of moving parts sometimes naturally causes compartmentalization of decisions and execution. Some groups might lose sight of how their piece fits in, or worse, might develop features without a clear understanding of how they’ll be used. In some cases by the time the vision is delivered, the pieces might not quite fit into the originally-envisioned coherent whole. We cannot allow the seams in our organization, or our methods of making decisions, show through in our products, or result in the failure to deliver on key end-to-end experiences.
Complexity kills. It sucks the life out of developers, it makes products difficult to plan, build and test, it introduces security challenges, and it causes end-user and administrator frustration. Moving forward, within all parts of the organization, each of us should ask “What’s different?”, and explore and embrace techniques to reduce complexity.
Some problems are inherently complex; there is surely no silver bullet to reducing complexity in extant systems. But when tackling new problems, I’ve found it useful to dip into a toolbox of simplification approaches and methods. One such tool is the use of extensive end-to-end scenario-based design and implementation. Another is that of utilizing loosely-coupled design of systems by introducing constraints at key junctures – using standards as a tool to force quick agreement on interfaces. Many such tools are not rocket science: for example, by forcing a change in practices to increase the frequency of release cycles, scope and complexity of any given release by necessity is greatly reduced. Another simple tool I’ve used involves attracting developers to use common physical workspaces to naturally catalyze ad hoc face-time between those who need to coordinate, rather than relying solely upon meetings and streams of email and document reviews for such interaction. Embracing change at a local level through such tools can make a real difference – one project at a time.
Next Steps
We’re off to a great start with many initiatives already under way – from efforts occurring now within MSN, to the IW services being launched imminently. We’re in a tremendous position to succeed, but doing so will require your belief, creativity, support, leadership, follower-ship and action.
This memo was intended to get all of us roughly on the same page, and to get you thinking. The next steps are:
1) I am working with the division presidents to assign, by December 15th, “scenario owners” – a role intended to improve our execution of key services-based initiatives through leadership. These leaders will provide an outside-in perspective in mapping out and communicating specific market objectives, while at the same time working with developers and others at the detail level to ensure expedient decision making and continuity. These individuals will be responsible for driving critical decisions such as feature re-prioritization and cuts while appreciating the business tradeoffs and impact of such decisions. They’ll listen. They’ll rapidly effect changes in plans to ensure execution and improve agility, even for scenarios that span divisions. Initial scenarios to be assigned ownership will include the seven seamless experiences described earlier.
2) Beginning in January these individuals will work with me and with product groups to concretely map out scenarios and pragmatically assess changes needed in product and go-to-market plans related to services and service-based scenarios. For some groups this will impact short-term plans; for many others on path to shipping soon, it will factor significantly into planning for future releases.
3) All Business Groups have been asked to develop their plans to embrace this mission and create new service offerings that deliver value to customers and utilize the platform capabilities that we have today and are building for the future. We expect both technical and non-technical communities to be increasingly engaged on the topic of services and service-enhanced software. As we begin planning the next waves of innovation – such as those beyond Vista and Office “12” – we will mobilize execution around those plans.
4) I have created an internal blog that will be used to notify you of further plans as they emerge. There, I’ll point you to libraries of documents that you will find interesting to read, and I’ll be experimenting with ways that you can directly engage in the conversation.
http://blogs/live
These steps are important and necessary, but not sufficient, for us to deliver on our aspirations. The most important step is for each of us to internalize the transformative and disruptive potential of services. We must then focus on the need for agility in execution, and take actions as appropriate where each of us can.
The opportunities to deliver greater value to our customers, to our developer and partner communities, and to our shareholders are significant. I very much look forward to embarking on this journey with all of you.
-- Ray
Sunday, October 16, 2005
The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities
The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm
There are a lot of great freeware products out there. Many are as good or even better than their commercial alternatives. This list features my personal pick of the "best of the best."
All these utilities in this list have been featured in past issues of of my free monthly newsletter "Support Alert" More freebies are featured in every new issue. If you are interested in great utilities and freeware you really should consider subscribing. It's free.
You'll get the most from this list by browsing through it at leisure. The pathologically impatient can consult the index.
This page is updated regularly. Last update: September 27, 2005.
Bookmark now : del.icio.us furl spurl
The Best-ever Freeware List
1 Best Free Web Browser
Internet Explorer is a good browser but it has become such a target for malicious exploits that it is now a major security risk. Quite separately, the browser itself is now looking dated with most alternative products offering tabbed browsing and other productivity enhancements. There are several excellent alternatives but Mozilla Firefox is the stand-out pick. It's safer than Internet Explorer, so safe in fact that many users have reported no spyware infections since they started using the product. It's also browses faster than Internet Explorer and since the release of version 1.0, it's stable and reliable as well. It loads a little slower than IE but once running, it zips along at lightning speed. With tabbed browsing and more free extensions than you could ever want, it offers a major upgrade in your browsing experience. Unlike IE, it's also standards compliant. Firefox is now my everyday browser though occasionally I have to fire up IE to browse a site designed around IE's non-standard features. (4.7MB) http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
http://www.techsupportalert.com/firefox.htm <= Free Firefox migration guide
2 Best Free Anti-Virus Software Updated September 27, 2005
There are two equal recommendations in this category. First there is AVG Antivirus 7.0 Free Edition. This product [1] has been continuously refined since it was first released in 1991 and now offers very impressive protection capabilities. Additionally, it's relatively small, light on resources, has regular automatic updates and handles email scanning. There is a free and a pro version, the only difference being that the free version has a few non-critical features disabled and has no direct technical support. Even so, it's an impressive package and offers the financially challenged a real alternative to the major anti-virus suites. Equally impressive is the free Avast! scanner [2] though its funky media player style interface is not to everyone's taste. Avast! also required periodic re-registration while AVG does not. A possible third option is AntiVir [3]. It offers slightly better detection rates than either AVG or Avast! but the lack of email scanning precludes general recommendation. However it's the perfect choice as a second on-demand scanner. If you use it in this role, make sure you disable its resident virus guard during installation to prevent it interfering with your main AV scanner.
[1] http://free.grisoft.com
[2] http://www.avast.com (5MB)
[3] http://www.free-av.com (6.8MB)
[4] http://www.techsupportalert.com/free-vs-paid-av.htm <= review of the effectiveness of free security software
3 Best Free Adware/Spyware/Scumware Remover Updated August 23, 2005
My top recommendation is Microsoft's Antispyware program [1] which is currently available as a free beta to users of Windows 2000 and later. The Microsoft program is based on the Giant Antispyware product that Microsoft purchased late in 2004. I used Giant for some time and found it to offer outstanding detection and real time protection against the current plague of scumware products. The only minus being that it uses a fair slab of processing power and that could can slow down older PCs. The free Microsoft version is very similar to the previous commercial Giant version. I just hope Microsoft doesn't mess around too much with this excellent product however Microsoft's track record in this area has not been good. It's something I'll be keeping a close eye on; so far, so good. Microsoft has announced that the product will remain free even when out of beta so, subject to my previous reservations, it's a good long term choice. For Windows 9x and ME users I suggest two free products: Ad-Aware SE V1.6 [2] and SpyBot Search and Destroy V1.4 [3]. Both work well together and between them you'll get excellent protection. If you have a relatively fast PC, I suggest you turn on the TeaTimer option when you install SpyBot. It will give you reasonable active protection but at the cost of eating up some of your processing power. The active protection offered by TeaTimer is not as comprehensive as the Microsoft product but Internet Explorer users can augment it by using SpywareBlaster (see next item)
[1] http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx ( 6.4MB)
[2] http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ (1.7MB)
[3] http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html (4.6MB)
4 Best Free Browser Protection Utility
There's a scumware plague at the moment. All it takes is a visit to a pushy web site or a loaded shareware install and next minute your Internet Explorer homepage has been changed, your default search setting altered, unwanted ads pop up on your screen and worse. You can help protect Internet Explorer against these attacks by using SpywareBlaster [1]. It's is not a system scanner rather it is monitor that's designed to prevent an initial infection. It provides active protection for Internet Explorer users against thousands of malevolent products that use ActiveX based exploits and offers defenses against hostile sites and unwanted cookies as well. SpywareBlaster can be used with Firefox but there's not much point as Firefox doesn't need to be protected against ActiveX exploits. SpywareBlaster is free but the automatic update service costs $9.95 annually. A companion program to SpywareBlaster is SpywareGuard [2]. It is also a protective program that checks programs before they are run for malware signatures and also checks program behavior as well. However of late SpywareGuard seems to have been rather neglected with no new signature updates for more than a year so I can no longer give it my recommendation. SpywareBlaster though, is a terrific product and a must-have for Internet Explorer users who also use the free version of Ad-Aware. If you are using Microsoft Antispyware, Ad-Aware Pro or other anti-spyware utility with a real-time monitor, you don't really need it.
[1] http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html (2.2MB)
[2] http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html (1.96MB)
5 Best Free Firewall Updated September 27, 2005
No other single product class seems to cause as much angst to average users in their installation and day-to-day use as Firewalls. That's why my choice for "best" goes to Kerio Personal Firewall [1], the product that seems to cause the fewest problems for users yet manages first rate protection as well. However it looks like Kerio may be discontinuing this product by the end of 2005 so hop in and get a copy while it is still available. The latest free version (V6) of the ZoneAlarm firewall [2] comes in a a good second choice though there have been considerable teething problems with the new version. Also the current ZoneAlarm free has become a true bare bones version of that company's class-leading commercial firewall. Such is life. More adventurous users and the technically inclined may however wish to consider Sygate [3]. It offers more control and more information but is not the easiest to setup and use. Sygate has recently been purchased by Symantec and that doesn't bode well for the future. The most technically advanced firewall of all is possibly the latest Tiny version. However it is so fiendishly difficult to install and setup that I can only recommend it to network specialists and masochists. Note: The free and paid versions of Kerio and Sygate are the same. If you don't buy the product some advanced features are automatically turned off after 30 days.
[1] http://www.kerio.com/kpf_home.html (7.3MB)
[2] http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp (9.0MB)
[3] http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf/summary_spf.htm (8.8MB)
6 Best Free Trojan Scanner/Trojan Remover Updated August 23, 2005
Ewido is the best of a new crop of anti-Trojan programs. On my recent tests over at www.anti-trojan-software-reviews.com it emerged as was one of the few products that could reliably detect polymorphic and process injecting Trojans that were totally missed by anti-virus products like Norton and AVG. Unfortunately the free version of Ewido doesn’t have a memory monitor and this omission significantly reduces the level of active protection provided. However the on-demand scanner is excellent. I recommend that all average PC users who don't have an anti-trojan scanner download Ewido and scan their PCs weekly. I suspect you may be surprised at what you will find. Ewido is also pretty good at removing some spyware infections so bear that in mind next time you encounter a spyware product you can't remove with normal anti-spyware products like Ad-Aware. Note that Ewido only works with Windows 2000 and later so Win 9X users should consider the free version of a2 (a-squared) anti-trojan as an alternative. It's not quite as effective as Ewido but is still an excellent product. High risk PC users such as P2P file sharers and frequenters of hack sites, should however consider the industrial strength protection of Trojan Hunter or the full version of Ewido both of which offer the active protection they need. Note: The free version of Ewido is actually the same as the paid version but after 14 days the active protection (i.e. memory monitor) becomes non-functional.
http://www.ewido.net/en/ (2.2MB)
http://www.anti-trojan-software-reviews.com/review-ewido.htm <= review of Ewido
7 Best Free Rootkit Scanner/Remover Updated September 27, 2005
Rootkits are a special kind of software tool used to hide trojans, viruses and other malware from your anti-virus scanner and other security products. Unfortunately there are extremely effective which means that some of you reading this will be infected even though you believe your PC to be totally clean. Thankfully there is a new class of security product now available called rootkit detectors that use specialized techniques to detect these dangerous intruders. Most of these detectors require quite a bit of technical skill to interpret the results but one of the simplest to use and most effective is also free. It's called BlackLight [1] and is currently available as a free beta from F-Secure until the 1st of January 2006. I suggest everyone download this product and scan their PC. The chances of you being infected are small but for five minutes work it's not worth taking the risk. BlackLight will detect most rootkits missed by AV scanners but can still be fooled by state-of-the-art rootkits like Hacker Defender. To detect this and a few other insidious rootkits, you need heavier artillery. Currently the biggest gun in the rootkit detection war is a free Chinese product called IceSword [2]. It will reveal absolutely everything running on your PC. Usage, however, requires considerable skill together with the patience to work out the program which is currently only documented in Chinese. In the hands of an expert, its an amazing tool.
[1] http://www.f-secure.com/blacklight/cure.shtml Windows 2000 and later, 911KB.
[2] http://www.Xfocus.net/tools/200505/1032.html slow Chinese site, 1.5MB
8 Best Free Intrusion Prevention and Detection Utility for Home Use
These days all users face a real risk of malicious programs secretly installing themselves on your computer. Anti-virus and anti-spyware products dramatically reduce the chance of infection but you can enhance your protection further by installing an additional layer of defense with an intrusion detection program. For advanced users Prevx is a stand out recommendation. It's so good I made it my Free Product of the Year for 2004. However it's talkative nature and sometimes cryptic messages make it only suitable for experienced users. For other users (but not beginners) I recommend the free version of WinPatrol. Like Prevx it provides a vital "last ditch" defense layer by telling you when a product is trying to change any of the critical settings on your PC such as the registry and auto-start areas. WinPatrol simply throws up a dialog asking whether you want to allow the change or not. Of course being warned is useless unless you have some idea how to respond to the warning. That's why neither Prevx nor WinPatrol is suited to inexperienced users. If you are a beginner you should seriously consider the $29.95 Plus version of WinPatrol which provides lots of guidance to help you make sense of any warning messages. As a bonus it offers better protection as well.
http://www.prevx.com/prevxhome.asp (7.5MB)
http://www.winpatrol.com/ (880KB)
http://www.techsupportalert.com/intrusion-detection.htm <= Brief survey of IDS software
9 Best Free Anonymous Surfing Service Updated September 27, 2005.
There are lots of reasons folks have for wanting to surf anonymously, ranging from simple paranoia to possibly being murdered by a malevolent foreign government. Whatever the reasons, commercial services that offer anonymity are doing real well. However one of the best services JAP, is totally free. In fact JAP is perhaps a little too good. That's why the German Police insisted in 2004 that a backdoor be put into the product to allow interception of child pornographers. This was done but subsequently removed as a result of court action by JAP. An alternative to JAP is another system called Tor. It not only allows anonymous browsing but anonymous email, IM, and IRC chat as well. Given the US Navy origin of Tor, the suspicion arises that this system may indeed have a permanent backdoor. However the source code is now publicly available so that suspicion can now be set aside. Whatever, both JAP and Tor offer a level of secrecy that is better than many commercial systems. However expect your surfing to slow down as you'll be relayed through a chain of servers. You'll also need to change your browser settings to work through a proxy. Note: the latest V5 release of JAP now allows Tor users to use JAP as a software access point.
http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html
http://tor.eff.org/
10 Best Free Software Suite Updated August 23, 2005.
The Open CD site offers for free a wonderful collection of just about every application software product you need to run a PC including the latest version of OpenOffice. Many of these freebies substitute admirably for expensive commercial products. There is Abi Word as an alternative for MS Word, OpenOffice for MS Office XP, Thunderbird for Outlook, The Gimp for Adobe Photoshop, 7-zip for WinZip and many more. If you then add to this collection some of the other utilities from my "46 Best-ever Utilities" collection you will have all the software you'll ever need without spending a cent. Note: All of the Open CD utilities can be downloaded for free as a CD ISO image. If you have a slow connection you can purchase the CD for a as little as $1.99. In addition to the Windows versions, the CD also contains the same collection of programs implemented under a version of Linux called Ubuntu that can be booted and run directly from the CD. That way you not only get to try all these great programs you can try Linux as well, without interfering in any way with your current Windows installation.
http://theopencd.org
(Sponsored Links)
The Best Windows Backup Software
We are in the process of updating all the backup reviews at our site but I can tell you right now that the top product has blitzed the field for a second year in row. In fact, it's improved so much that it's now a one horse race for our "editor's choice." The updated review of the top product is now online. If you have been looking for a backup program, this is the one.
http://www.backup-software-reviews.com/
The Best Spyware Detector
If you use Ad-Aware or SpyBot you will be surprised just how more effectively SpySweeper detects and protects your PC from Adware, Spyware, Trojans and other malicious products. That's why it won the prized "Editor's Choice" award in PC Magazine's massive March 2004 survey of anti-Spyware products. Try the free evaluation copy and see for yourself.
http://www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php?rc=1132
The Best Remote Access Software
Our reviewer had given this product category away as "too slow, tool clumsy and too unreliable" but after reviewing this product he's changed his mind; "at long last a remote access solution that actually works! Quite frankly we agree with him, it's an impressive product. Read the full review here:
http://www.pcsupportadvisor.com/best_remote_access_software.htm
The Best Spam Blocker for Dummies
Most spam filters require you to be a computer expert. Our Editor has found two spam filters for average users that will remove the spam from your email and yet are simple to use.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-antispam.htm
The Best Anti-trojan Scanner
Most users are not aware that their anti-virus scanner can only provide a moderate level of protection against trojan programs that try and take control of your PC. To really protect your computer, you need a dedicated anti-trojan program. Our editor's have reviewed every major product on the market and have concluded that two scanners stand head and shoulders above the other contenders.
http://www.anti-trojan-software-reviews.com
11 Best Free File Manager
Windows Explorer is fine for simple file management activities but when you have some serious work to do, you need a two pane file manager. I use Directory Opus which is without doubt the best product in this class but costs $59. Recently I discovered xplorer². It offers a good part of the functionality of Directory Opus and is totally free. As a bonus, its user interface is very similar to Windows Explorer, so most users will find this tool easy to learn and use.(575KB)
http://www.netez.com/xplorer2/x2lite.htm
12 Best Free Email Client
Thunderbird is a free open source POP and IMAP email client developed by Mozilla.org, the same folks who brought you Firefox. Feature-wise it sits somewhere between Outlook Express and Outlook which means that it offers an upgrade to Express users and a downgrade to those who use the more advanced PIM features of Outlook. All Outlook Express users should seriously consider switching. You’ll be rewarded with a more advanced product including built- in spam filtering, built-in RSS reader, better security, message color coding, fast email search and the ability to view your mail in conversational threads. On top of that, the product is more secure than OE and, unlike the latter, is still being actively developed. The transition is made easier by the fact that Thunderbird looks and works similar to OE. Tools within Thunderbird also allow you to easily import OE account settings and stored email. Outlook users who aren’t reliant on calendaring, Microsoft Exchange or Outlook plug-ins should also consider switching. If you switch to Thunderbird, you should also consider using the free Copernic Desktop Search program, the latest version of which now indexes Thunderbird email files.
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird
http://www.nidelven-it.no/articles/introduction_to_thunderbird
13 Best Free Web Mail Accessory
Two suggestions: the first is a nifty free product called YPOPs! (formerly YahooPops!) that allows you to collect your Yahoo webmail from within your POP email client such as Outlook, Thunderbird or Eudora. I use it on multiple Yahoo accounts and it works wonderfully. The second suggestion is an Open Source utility called MrPostman. It's a much more flexible product than YPOPs! and will download HotMail, Lycos, Yahoo and several other webmail services into your POP email client. It can also give you access to email accounts on MS Exchange 5.5. If you only use Yahoo webmail, go with YPOPs! as MrPostman is a more complex program and can need a bit of fiddling to work correctly. You'll find a couple of links below that will help you. Note that MrPostman requires the Java Runtime Environment to be installed on your PC.
http://yahoopops.sourceforge.net/ (1.3MB)
http://mrpostman.sourceforge.net/ (1.5MB)
http://2mod2.com/mohot/ <= Installing Mr Postman
http://sourceforge.net/forum/?group_id=68124 <= MrPostman forum
14 Best Free Clipboard Replacement Utility New! Added August 23, 2005
The regular clipboard in Windows has limitations – one item at a time and no retention after logging off. Clipboard replacement utilities provide the ability to hold multiple items and store them for future use, even after logging off. There are many free clipboard replacement utilities available, including CLCL,
Clipboard Magic, Clipboard Recorder, Clippy 2001, Ditto, DzSoft Paste & Save, and Yankee Clipper III. While none of these have the very extensive set of features of the class-leading shareware product ClipMate 6 ($29.95), they all offer the basic clipboard replacement features that 95% of us really want and
need. If you just need a basic clipboard replacement utility, look no further than Clipboard Recorder [1]. It will store up to 99 items that can be easily selected and pasted from the popup history list by pressing the shortcut key (Ctrl-Alt-V by default). It supports a variety of formats (text, RTF, HTML, CSV, Bitmap, etc.) and has the ability to transfer copied items between computers. In addition, it is a very small program and uses very little resources. Clipboard Recorder is what the regular clipboard in Windows should have been! However, if you need advanced features such as the ability to support additional item types, create groups of items, search previous items, and synchronize clipboards across multiple computers, then I would recommend trying Ditto [2]. In addition to its extended feature set, its user interface is very clean, easy to use, and has many configurable options that you can configure to meet your needs. Note that Ditto requires DAO to be installed [3].
[1] http://www.lw-works.com/ Windows 98 and later, 382 KB
[2] http://ditto-cp.sourceforge.net/ Windows 95 and later, 422KB
[3] http://ditto-cp.sourceforge.net/dao_setup.exe .3MB
15 Best Free HTML Editor New! Added August 23, 2005
This is one of my most requested items but up until now I've not been able to give any product my hearty endorsement. There have been any number of contenders: Amaya for example, impressed with its standards compliance but was incomplete while Selida looked slick but had too many bugs. Finally a worthy contender has arrived on the scene in the form of the Open Source Nvu. In reality Nvu is nothing new but rather a reworking of the old Netscape Composer. Composer was always a solid product and the revamp has lifted the product into another class. Here is an HTML editor and site manager that's easy enough for beginners to use but powerful enough to build large sites. It's closer in concept to Microsoft's FrontPage more than any other product but unlike FrontPage it, thankfully, produces standards compliant code. Its easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor will delight HTML newbies while HTML honchos can simply click a tab to switch to code view. Multiple tabs can be kept open to allow simultaneous editing and there is excellent support for forms, tables and templates. An internal spell-checker is included. CSS is handled through the CaScadeS editor from Mozilla Composer. Nvu also has the handy ability to call W3C's HTML validator from within the product. It's also extensible via XUL. Nvu can upload files to your site via FTP and has some basic site management features but this is not its strength. Overall it's an impressive product; no, it's not a replacement for DreamWeaver but those looking for a competent, free HTML editor that's easy to use need look no further. Free Open Source, Windows 98 and later plus Linux, 6.57MB
http://www.nvu.com/
16 Best Free Spam Filter for the Average User
This is a difficult category as ordinary users need products that are easy to use and frankly, most free spam filters are way too complex to set up and use. The best products in this class are in fact, shareware not free. That said, MailWasher is for most folks, the best free option. MailWasher is an email preview utility that allows you to check your email on your mail server before you download it to your PC. The advantage of this approach is that you can kill unwanted messages including spam, viruses and large attachments before they get anywhere near your computer. MailWasher flags for you any messages containing possible spam and viruses for you to quickly check. It's a simple idea but quite effective and one which average users find easy to understand. The last free version of MailWasher [2] before it went commercial is still floating around the web. It lacks many of the advanced spam detection features of the current commercial version but is still quite effective. Alternatively, try XTerminator [3] which works much the same way as MailWasher and is totally free. I must say though, I prefer MailWasher's user interface
[1] http://www.mailwasher.net ( 3.05MB)
[2] http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/page2.html#Mailwasher (1.57MB)
[3] http://www.artplus.hr/adapps/eng/xterminator.htm (1.87MB)
[4] http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-antispam.htm <=brief review of the best spam blockers
17 Best Free Spam Filter for Experienced Users
There are many different spam filters available employing lots of different techniques. In my experience "learning" spam filters that use the Bayesian statistical approach out-perform most other types of filters I've tried. Not only are they better at detecting spam they are also less liable to classify your real mail as spam. This effectiveness takes a little time to develop as the filter has to be trained to recognize your spam from your normal mail. It takes a week or so before results start becoming accurate and best results may take a month or more. POPFile, a free, open source spam filter, was one of the first Bayesian filters and is still one of the best. It works as a proxy mail server so that means that it can be used with any POP email client. Setup is reasonably straightforward for experienced users but beginners may be better off with Mailwasher. If you use Outlook there are several excellent free Bayesian spam filters available including SpamBayes and K9. Both are simple to install though, like all statistical filters, they need to go through a training phase before they reach full effectiveness.
http://popfile.sourceforge.net/old_index.html (4.3MB)
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/ (3.6MB)
http://www.keir.net/k9.html (113KB)
18 Best Free Popup Stopper
The need for popup stopper utilities has fallen away in recent months as many browsers such as Firefox now have this function built in. If you need a separate popup stopper and have good PC skills I suggest you try The Proxomitron.. It operates by filtering and transforming all your Web pages on the fly. As a result you can not only stop pop-ups but pop-unders, ads, flash animations, status bar scrollers and just about anything else. Besides, next time you are asked what pop-up stopper you use, you can answer; "why, I use The Proxomitron" and how cool is that. The first link below is to version 4.5, the last and final version of this superb utility. The following two links offer useful setup and usage tips. Note: For Novice PC users I suggest you try the Google toolbar rather than The Proxomitron. It's free as well and has an excellent popup filter built in. It's nowhere near as flexible as as The Proxomitron, but it requires no setup. As a bonus it also makes Google searches easier.
http://computercops.biz/files/ProxN45.exe
http://accs-net.com/smallfish/prox.htm
http://www.sankey.ws/proxomitron.html
http://toolbar.google.com/
19 Best Free Desktop Search Utility Updated September 27, 2005
In early 2004 there were no contenders for this title. Today we have a wealth of choices. In a close race I would have to say the Free Desktop Search from Yahoo comes out in front because of the clear way it presents search results. It's powered by the well established X1 local search engine and can index the contents of 200 different file types including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, Outlook, Outlook Express, HTML, text, ZIP and Adobe PhotoShop though at the moment it will only handle email files from Outlook, Outlook Express and Thunderbird. It will index html files but can't index your web browsing history. If the later is important to you, you may want to look at Version 2 of Google desktop search. It not only will search your web history but offers an Outlook toolbar, integrated Gmail search and a novel desktop sidebar that allows personalized search, news, weather, photos and more. The Sidebar also includes a quite effective application launcher. Some folks love the Sidebar others, me included, find it intrusive. Unfortunately though, to run either the Yahoo or Google DTS you'll need Windows 2000 or later. If you are stuck with earlier version of Windows then try the free Copernic Desktop Search. It offers many of the key features as the others though the presentation of search results is not quite as elegant as Yahoo DTS.
http://desktop.yahoo.com
http://desktop.google.com (1.4MB)
http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/download.html (2.3MB)
20 Best Free Digital Image Viewer Updated August 3, 2005
Two good choices here. First there's the classic IrfanView. Irfan is a first class product but one for which I have mixed feelings. That's why it's been in and out of my "46 Best Freeware" list several times. It's an amazingly capable product but it just doesn't work the way I want it to. Other users though, just love it. A product I feel more comfortable with is XNView. Like Irfan it is very versatile; it can read and display nearly 400 types of graphic files and convert any of these to over 50 formats. It displays pictures very quickly and these may be viewed full screen, as slideshows or thumbnails. It's quite capable at processing images, too; you can adjust brightness, color, apply filters or effects, crop photos, re-size, convert format and more. These operations can also be carried out from a batch file, which makes it ideal for converting large digital photos to smaller sizes for the web or emailing. It supports drop and drag, has many plug-ins, is available in 44 languages and has full cross-platform support including Mac. XNView has a lot of similarities with IrfanView, so many in fact, that it comes perilously close to plagiarism. Put positively, one may say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery however the developer of IrfanView must feel more than a little miffed. XNView is free for non-commercial use, all Windows versions plus many other platforms. The standard version for Windows is 3.3MB but I suggest you download the complete version with all plug-ins which weighs in at 6.8MB
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pierre.g/xnview/endownloadwin32.html
21 Best Free Digital Image Editor Updated September 27, 2005
I use to recommend The Gimp but after dozens of letters from less-experienced users who couldn't manage to install it or work out the idiosyncratic user interface, I've decided to confine that recommendation to experienced users. If that's you and you patient enough to learn the product's sometimes quaint ways then you have no need to consider anything else. For other users I have two recommendations: First there is Paint.net, an amazingly sophisticated piece of work from computer science students at Washington State University. It's not quite as powerful as The Gimp but a lot easier to use and install. It's also getting better; the new V2.5 continues this product's impressive development record. It is however only for Windows 2000 and later and you'll need Microsoft's bulky .NET framework installed on your PC. My second choice is PhotoPlus 6.0 from a company called Serif. It's an impressive piece of work; again it installs easily and it's loaded with features including layer support. In fact, it looks and feels like a "lite" version of Adobe PhotoShop except that it is relatively easy to use. I say "relatively" because graphics editing is by its nature, not simple. Both Paint.net and PhotoPlus are outstanding free products. Which is the best? Easy, the answer is .... your call ;>)
http://www.gimp.org/windows/ (7.07MB)
http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/ (5.1MB)
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PhotoPlus/default.asp (19.4MB)
22 Best Free Digital Photo Organizer
It’s rare for me to be utterly wowed by a product but this one certainly did it. When you first run Picasa it offers to scan your whole hard drive (or designated locations) for photos and videos. Scanning is surprisingly quick and when finished you’ll have all your shots neatly organized into folders on a time line basis. Now you can view you shots one at a time, in slideshow or traversing the time line. The editing features are limited compared to professional image editors yet they provide you with every function amateur photographers need including one click red eye reduction. Similarly adding labels to photos is a cinch while a simple but effective star rating system allows you to flag favorite snaps. Individual folders can also be password protected. Facilities are provided to import your images from your camera in multiple formats including RAW. You can send photos to your choice of web printing service, cut a CD, print to a local printer or share with others via your own blog or instant messaging. Simply sensational. Windows 98 or later, 300MHz Pentium with 128MB memory or better, 3.2MB.
http://www.picasa.com/
23 Best Free Notepad Replacement
There are lots of text editors and Notepad replacements. Some of these aspire to be programming editors while others try to be word processors. What I love about EditPad is that, unlike the others, it concentrates on simply being a better plain text editor and in that role, it succeeds brilliantly. It has a Notepad like interface combined with tabbed document windows and the ability to open as many documents as you like with no file size limitations. I use it every day for tasks as diverse as writing Support Alert Newsletter to examining my web log files. Some of the latter can be up to 100MB, yet EditPad handles these huge files with ease. (849KB).
http://www.editpadlite.com/editpadlite.html
24 The Best File Archiver/Zip Utility
When I last looked at archiving utilities I checked out six utilities: QuickZip, ICEOWS, IZArc, TUGZip, ZipGenius and 7-Zip. The product that impressed me the most was the Open Source program 7-Zip. It was the only product in the group that could unpack a multi-part RAR volume embedded in a ZIP archive and the only product to give a meaningful error message when an attempt was made to unpack a 256bit encrypted WinZip archive. However I was unable to recommend 7-Zip due to the lack of drop-and drag. With the release of version V4.23 on the 29th of July that feature has now been added. Also new is the ability to copy directly from one archive to another. 7-Zip still handles fewer archive types than IZArc, my former top recommendation. It only supports 7z, ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, Z, TAR, CPIO, RPM and DEB while IZArc can read nearly 50 archive types including media formats like ISO, BIN and IMG and can write (and convert) to 12. You couldn't go wrong with either product. 7-Zip is a little more robust while IZArc is a little more flexible. If you already use WinZip you'll find either 7-Zip or IZArc make excellent companion products. They can can read just about all the major archive formats WinZip can't, including the widely used RAR.
http://www.izarc.org/download.html Windows 9x and later, 3.1MB
http://www.7-zip.org/ Windows 9x and later, 1.05MB
25 Best Free Hotkey Utility
Hotkeycontrol XP is a free utility that allows you to define your own hotkeys so that a single key press can launch an application, insert commonly used text, change your volume, or just about anything else. Hotkeycontrol works with all versions of Windows from 98 onwards, though some features will only work with Win2K or XP. Some folks with slower PCs have reported that Hotkeycontrol can be a little slow to react. If you experience this, you might like to try PS Hot Launch VVL as an alternative. It works on all versions of Windows and is an excellent performer even on slow PCs. A third alternative is not really a hotkey utility at all but achieves the same result by using "magic words." It places a tiny text box on your screen and when you type specially assigned words into the box, they will launch a program, go to a web site or whatever. For example if you type "mail" it can launch your mail reader. Type in "46" and it can take you to the web page of the "46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities." Of course, it's up to you to define these magic words and you can have as many as you want. It all works very neatly with some really nice touches like auto-complete for your magic words which means you only have to type in two or three letters and SlickRun will complete the rest. Nice too, is an eyedropper tool that allows you to identify a program you want to "hotkey" just by clicking in its application window. There's also a built-in note jotter and a calendar date display. It requires Win 98 or later.
http://www.digital-miner.com/hkcontrol.html (0.91KB)
http://www.pssoftlab.com/pshl_info.phtml (743KB)
http://www.bayden.com/SlickRun/ (168KB)
26 Best Free Registry Cleaner
To keep the registries on my PCs in top running order I use Fix-It utilities. This is a commercial product but I must admit that Toni Helenius' Easy Cleaner performs almost as well and is totally free. As a bonus, it will also detect duplicate files and help you clean up temp files to make more disk space. Remember though, as with every Registry cleaner, to back up your Windows Registry before use. (2.64MB)
http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm
27 Best Free BitTorrent Client
It's amazing how quickly BitTorrent has become one of the major download formats. With good reason, too: it's fast, equitable and efficient. If you haven't yet installed a BitTorrent client on your PC, you should as there are some great free clients available. I recommend the Open Source program Azureus. It's beautifully implemented, well supported and, being Java based, is available for multiple platforms. The latest version also features a new technology called DHT (Distributed Hash Table) which distributes indexing responsibility across multiple clients rather than relying on a single web-based tracker. With BitTorrent sites coming and going regularly DHT is definitely a plus. One downside with Azureus is that the Java code will eat up your CPU cycles so you need a reasonably fast PC. Those with older machines should check out BitTornado. It's also cross platform and is fast and highly configurable as well. Both products are adware and spyware free.
http://azureus.sourceforge.net/ (6.4MB)
http://bittornado.com/ (3.3MB
28 The Best Free FTP Client
I used WS_FTP Pro as my principal FTP client for years. What started out as simple and effective product gradually with each new version became more feature-bloated and less effective for routine tasks. With the release of Version 9 it was clear to me that the product had totally lost its way so I started looking for an alternative. After trying seven different FTP clients I decided that the best for me was the Open Source utility FileZilla. It uses a simple layout based on a two pane interface that looks a bit like the early versions of WS_FTP. But this simplicity is deceptive, it is actually a quite powerful product There's a full featured site manager, firewall and proxy support, SSL and Kerberos GSS security, restart, drop and drag and a lot more. The only significant feature that's missing is site-to-site transfer but that's of no importance to me. What is of importance is that FileZilla is fast, totally reliable, secure and and very easy to use. There's also a free FileZilla FTP server which I haven't used but I hear that it's just as good as the client. (4.5MB)
http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/
29 Best Free Bookmark Cleaner
AM-DeadLink scans your bookmark file for dead links or duplicate links. When I tried it on my huge favorites file I discovered 17% of my links were dead. I've now got a much leaner set of favorites and the comfort of knowing that the links actually work. (546KB)
http://aignes.com/press/deadlink140.htm
30 Best Free Route Tracer
3D Traceroute graphically displays Internet route information. You can use it for technical tasks such as diagnosing slow connections or for general purpose snooping like determining the location and owner of a web site or tracing spammers. (996KB)
http://www.d3tr.de/
31 Best Free Screen Capture Utility
Two recommendations here: The first is PrintScreen. It does exactly what I want, in the way I want and furthermore avoids the trap of providing lots of useless and confusing features. It's the little things that count like making the hot key PrtSc so I don't have to remember it, and automatically sequentially naming the output files for multiple screen shots. A second recommendation is Screen Hunter. It's a commercial product but the free version is excellent, offering more features than Gadwin at the cost of a little added complexity. Both products work with Win 98 and later.
http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/?prnscr (976KB)
http://www.wisdom-soft.com/products/screenhunter.htm (381KB)
32 Best Free Search Toolbar
Search toolbars allow users to do web searches without having to go first to the home page of a search engine. This really saves a lot of time. In the last year search toolbars have become a hotly competed product class and as result, users now have an excellent choice. The "best" in terms of features is probably Yahoo's Toolbar whose features include anti-spyware capabilities as well as popup blocking. It's for Internet Explorer but they are currently offering a beta version for Firefox. My only beef with the Yahoo product is that I prefer to use Google for my web searches rather than Yahoo and that's why I use the Google Toolbar which also offers popup blocking though no anti-spyware features. On the other hand it includes a useful web form spell-checker and a few other goodies not found in the Yahoo product. Google also offers a full Firefox version as well as the standard IE version. Some folks still like Dave’s Quick Search Bar because it gives access to multiple search engines. Another advantage is that it resides in your task bar rather than your browser so it's easily accessible from any application. Other Dave's features include a dictionary, thesaurus, calculator and a lot of customizability.
http://toolbar.yahoo.com/ie (3MB)
http://www.dqsd.net/ (327KB)
http://toolbar.google.com/deskbar/ (447KB)
33 Best Free Download Manager
For some time I've been recommending Star Downloader but the freeware version has been effectively frozen at version 1.44 with future enhancements restricted to the shareware version. It is however, still a fine choice. After trying half a dozen other products, I've settled on "Free Downloader" as my new selection. It's fast, stable and integrates well into both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Furthermore, there is no embedded adware or nag screen. After using it for a couple of weeks, I've decided that it's actually just as good as Star Downloader with the advantage that it's still being actively developed. (1.31MB).
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/download.htm
34 Best Free Web Site Ripper
HTTrack is one impressive product: it's easy to use, has an excellent user interface, offers every feature you could want, is blindingly fast and free of any adware as well. If you like to download web sites so that you can "browse them offline", this is the product to get. ( 3.23MB)
http://www.httrack.com/
35 Best Free Download/Upload Meter New, September 27, 2005
NetMeter shows upload and download speeds, along with cumulative weekly and monthly volumes and projected values. The program reminds me in many ways of Hagel's excellent $20 shareware product "DU Meter." In essence, everything you need for nix. Freeware, all Windows versions, 601KB.
http://readerror.gmxhome.de/
36 Best Free TCP Settings Tweaker
Whether you use a modem or broadband, you'll get a faster connection if you tweak your connection's TCP parameters. Among the most important of these is MaxMTU which, in simple terms, needs to be set to the largest value possible without your data being broken up into smaller chunks en-route. Most techies determine MaxMTU by trial and error pinging using different packet sizes but it's a tedious procedure and definitely not for beginners. TCPOptimizer from SpeedGuide.net is a free utility that will do the job for you automatically. Furthermore, it will use this value to advise you on your other TCP settings and then apply these values at the press of the button. There are commercial programs that will do much the same thing but TCPOptimizer does it just as well and is totally free. The only minus is the lack of in-program help. However you'll find a useful FAQ at the SpeedGuide site. (225KB)
http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php
http://www.speedguide.net/faq_in.php?category=100
37 Best Free File Cleaner
I've tried quite a few commercial products designed to clean unused, temporary and unnecessary files off your hard disk but must say that the free utility "Empty Temp Folders" ranks with the best. It takes a few minutes to set up but after that, just press a button to recover many megabytes of disk space. An equally attractive alternative is CCleaner. It's a tad easier to use though not quite as effective in removing temporary files. Its default settings are also quite aggressive so check the options carefully before running for the first time. Both products may be used together for maximum cleaning. Between them you may be surprise how much disk space you will free up.
http://www.danish-shareware.dk/soft/emptemp (667KB)
http://www.ccleaner.com/ (403KB)
38 Best Free Resource Meter
This is cute. TinyResMeter is an itsy-bitsy system monitor. Unlike many other monitors, it doesn't consume a lot of CPU utilization in order to tell you your CPU utilization. In addition to CPU usage, you can optionally monitor cache, RAM, page file and swap file usage, running processes and threads, disk space utilization and a number of other parameters as well. Also built-in, is a screen grabber that saves the current screen to disk when you press PrintScreen. How they fit all this into 96KB beats me. I
http://perso.accelance.net/~pesoft/trm/us_trm.html
39 Best Free Sticky Notes Utility
Some people hate these programs others swear they can't work effectively without them. I used to be in the first category but with so many things on my plate these days, I'm slowly being converted. The function that I find really useful is the reminder that pops up at a designated time and date. I use it for simple things like "put up the latest issue on the web site." ATnotes is a neat implementation that features configurable alarms, resizable windows, variable fonts and a host of other useful features. The product is remarkably similar to the commercial sticky notes utility called, TurboNotes. Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Maybe not. NOTE: As of the 30th of May 2005, development work has ceased and the author's site pulled down. However someone has built a mirror of the author's site [1] where you can read about ATnotes and download the final version. You can also download ATNotes from the a number of other sites including the second link below. (723KB)
[1] http://atnotes.free.fr/news.html
[2] http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,17660,00.asp
40 Best Free Secure Erase Utility
Eraser is a free, GNU license utility that will securely erase files, folders or even whole disks from any Windows or DOS PC. Eraser overwrites data area with selectable random data patterns and also wipes data in the paging file, Internet cache, temporary files, Internet cookies, unused disk space and a number of other places where data can secretly lurk. It handles FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS partitions as well. Erasing files with high security will always be a difficult and time consuming task and can never offer absolute 100% safety. However Eraser makes the task about as easy as it be, with a security level beyond most conceivable requirements. An impressive package. (2.8MB)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/eraser
41 Best Free Registry Editor
I've used the full version of Resplendent Registry Editor for years and have never had any reason to look for an alternative. Recently a subscriber asked me what was the best free registry editor and that made me realize I've never looked at that particular product category. The first product I checked out was Registrar Lite, the free version of Resplendent Registry Editor and I'd have to say it's an impressive freebie. To start with, it works totally reliably - an essential feature for any registry editor. On top of that, the user interface is simple, the functionality excellent and, perhaps most importantly, it has a really fast search. I did, however, miss a "search and delete" option - that's unfortunately only available on the full product. That said, it leaves Regedit for dead. If you know a better free registry editor, drop me an email. (2.0MB).
http://www.resplendence.com/reglite
42 Best Free Process Viewer
PrcView has long been my personal choice but Process Explorer has pushed it aside. The reason? A better display setup coupled with more features and even more information. Process Explorer uses two vertical panes. The top contains all active processes while the second shows either all the handles opened by a selected process or, optimally, a list of DLLs and memory mapped files. A very handy search feature allows you to work backwards from named DLLs or handles to the owning process. A gem. Freeware, 230KB.
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/procexp.shtml
43 Best Free PC Inventory Tool
The freeware utility AIDA32 was the best system inventorying tool ever, regardless of price. It documented just about every aspect of your hardware and software configuration as well as checking networks and providing memory benchmarks. However the developer announced in March 2004 that the free product had been frozen. Development work shifted to a commercial organization called Lavalys and AIDA32 was re-launced as Everest. Lavalys now provide a commercial "professional" version of Everest as well as a free home version. The free version is not as full featured as the old AIDA32 but it is still impressive. You can however still find the old AIDA32 at the second link below.
http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?lang=en (3.0MB)
http://www.soft32.com/download_9181.html (5MB)
44 Best Free Search and Replace Utility
There are several contenders for this title but HandyFile's excellent Find and Replace program is my favorite. It's fast, has a simple but effective user interface and some nice features including support for regular expressions. It started life as a free product before going commercial however the free version is still floating around and can be downloaded from a number of sites including the one below. (361KB)
http://www.pcsupportadvisor.com/downloads/HFFRSetup.exe
45 Best Free Outliner
I'm not a great fan of outliners - my brain doesn't work that way. Some folks however, swear by them and if that includes you, then you should check out Keynote, an Open Source freeware program that has a dedicated band of followers. Its major design attribute is its ease of use. Words like "natural" and "seamless" come close to the mark but really don't capture the essence of what is really a great design. What do you do with it? Well to quote the web site “KeyNote is used by screenwriters to draft screenplays, by medical doctors to keep patient databases, by developers to store source code snippets - and to everyone it serves as a place to put all the random pieces of information that have no particular structure of relationship to other data, and do not fit easily in task-specific applications such as word-processors, databases or spreadsheets.” (1.7MB)
http://www.tranglos.com/free/index.html
46 Best Free Rename Utility
Two great choices here: First Lupas Rename 2000. This is a small utility for Win 98 and later that globally renames all the files in a directory and its subdirectories. It can convert names to upper/lower case, change the case of the first letter, add text, left crop, right crop and just about anything else you can think of. And unlike DOS based utilities, it will work on hidden files as well. Add in a nice GUI interface, an undo feature, full preview of changes, MP3 tag renaming, support for regular expressions and the fact that it's free and you have an outstanding product. The second and equally attractive option is Flexible Renamer. It's quite similar to Lupas and choosing between them is not easy. Lupas seems to me to be easier to use for simply renaming files while Flexible Renamer has the edge with tags. Flexible Renamer can also can bulk change file attributes while Lupas can't. It also runs without installation, a definite plus.
http://www.azheavymetal.com/~lupasrename/download.php <= Lupas (742KB) http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA014830/english/FlexRena/ <= Flexible Renamer (648KB)
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm
There are a lot of great freeware products out there. Many are as good or even better than their commercial alternatives. This list features my personal pick of the "best of the best."
All these utilities in this list have been featured in past issues of of my free monthly newsletter "Support Alert" More freebies are featured in every new issue. If you are interested in great utilities and freeware you really should consider subscribing. It's free.
You'll get the most from this list by browsing through it at leisure. The pathologically impatient can consult the index.
This page is updated regularly. Last update: September 27, 2005.
Bookmark now : del.icio.us furl spurl
The Best-ever Freeware List
1 Best Free Web Browser
Internet Explorer is a good browser but it has become such a target for malicious exploits that it is now a major security risk. Quite separately, the browser itself is now looking dated with most alternative products offering tabbed browsing and other productivity enhancements. There are several excellent alternatives but Mozilla Firefox is the stand-out pick. It's safer than Internet Explorer, so safe in fact that many users have reported no spyware infections since they started using the product. It's also browses faster than Internet Explorer and since the release of version 1.0, it's stable and reliable as well. It loads a little slower than IE but once running, it zips along at lightning speed. With tabbed browsing and more free extensions than you could ever want, it offers a major upgrade in your browsing experience. Unlike IE, it's also standards compliant. Firefox is now my everyday browser though occasionally I have to fire up IE to browse a site designed around IE's non-standard features. (4.7MB) http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
http://www.techsupportalert.com/firefox.htm <= Free Firefox migration guide
2 Best Free Anti-Virus Software Updated September 27, 2005
There are two equal recommendations in this category. First there is AVG Antivirus 7.0 Free Edition. This product [1] has been continuously refined since it was first released in 1991 and now offers very impressive protection capabilities. Additionally, it's relatively small, light on resources, has regular automatic updates and handles email scanning. There is a free and a pro version, the only difference being that the free version has a few non-critical features disabled and has no direct technical support. Even so, it's an impressive package and offers the financially challenged a real alternative to the major anti-virus suites. Equally impressive is the free Avast! scanner [2] though its funky media player style interface is not to everyone's taste. Avast! also required periodic re-registration while AVG does not. A possible third option is AntiVir [3]. It offers slightly better detection rates than either AVG or Avast! but the lack of email scanning precludes general recommendation. However it's the perfect choice as a second on-demand scanner. If you use it in this role, make sure you disable its resident virus guard during installation to prevent it interfering with your main AV scanner.
[1] http://free.grisoft.com
[2] http://www.avast.com (5MB)
[3] http://www.free-av.com (6.8MB)
[4] http://www.techsupportalert.com/free-vs-paid-av.htm <= review of the effectiveness of free security software
3 Best Free Adware/Spyware/Scumware Remover Updated August 23, 2005
My top recommendation is Microsoft's Antispyware program [1] which is currently available as a free beta to users of Windows 2000 and later. The Microsoft program is based on the Giant Antispyware product that Microsoft purchased late in 2004. I used Giant for some time and found it to offer outstanding detection and real time protection against the current plague of scumware products. The only minus being that it uses a fair slab of processing power and that could can slow down older PCs. The free Microsoft version is very similar to the previous commercial Giant version. I just hope Microsoft doesn't mess around too much with this excellent product however Microsoft's track record in this area has not been good. It's something I'll be keeping a close eye on; so far, so good. Microsoft has announced that the product will remain free even when out of beta so, subject to my previous reservations, it's a good long term choice. For Windows 9x and ME users I suggest two free products: Ad-Aware SE V1.6 [2] and SpyBot Search and Destroy V1.4 [3]. Both work well together and between them you'll get excellent protection. If you have a relatively fast PC, I suggest you turn on the TeaTimer option when you install SpyBot. It will give you reasonable active protection but at the cost of eating up some of your processing power. The active protection offered by TeaTimer is not as comprehensive as the Microsoft product but Internet Explorer users can augment it by using SpywareBlaster (see next item)
[1] http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx ( 6.4MB)
[2] http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ (1.7MB)
[3] http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html (4.6MB)
4 Best Free Browser Protection Utility
There's a scumware plague at the moment. All it takes is a visit to a pushy web site or a loaded shareware install and next minute your Internet Explorer homepage has been changed, your default search setting altered, unwanted ads pop up on your screen and worse. You can help protect Internet Explorer against these attacks by using SpywareBlaster [1]. It's is not a system scanner rather it is monitor that's designed to prevent an initial infection. It provides active protection for Internet Explorer users against thousands of malevolent products that use ActiveX based exploits and offers defenses against hostile sites and unwanted cookies as well. SpywareBlaster can be used with Firefox but there's not much point as Firefox doesn't need to be protected against ActiveX exploits. SpywareBlaster is free but the automatic update service costs $9.95 annually. A companion program to SpywareBlaster is SpywareGuard [2]. It is also a protective program that checks programs before they are run for malware signatures and also checks program behavior as well. However of late SpywareGuard seems to have been rather neglected with no new signature updates for more than a year so I can no longer give it my recommendation. SpywareBlaster though, is a terrific product and a must-have for Internet Explorer users who also use the free version of Ad-Aware. If you are using Microsoft Antispyware, Ad-Aware Pro or other anti-spyware utility with a real-time monitor, you don't really need it.
[1] http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html (2.2MB)
[2] http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html (1.96MB)
5 Best Free Firewall Updated September 27, 2005
No other single product class seems to cause as much angst to average users in their installation and day-to-day use as Firewalls. That's why my choice for "best" goes to Kerio Personal Firewall [1], the product that seems to cause the fewest problems for users yet manages first rate protection as well. However it looks like Kerio may be discontinuing this product by the end of 2005 so hop in and get a copy while it is still available. The latest free version (V6) of the ZoneAlarm firewall [2] comes in a a good second choice though there have been considerable teething problems with the new version. Also the current ZoneAlarm free has become a true bare bones version of that company's class-leading commercial firewall. Such is life. More adventurous users and the technically inclined may however wish to consider Sygate [3]. It offers more control and more information but is not the easiest to setup and use. Sygate has recently been purchased by Symantec and that doesn't bode well for the future. The most technically advanced firewall of all is possibly the latest Tiny version. However it is so fiendishly difficult to install and setup that I can only recommend it to network specialists and masochists. Note: The free and paid versions of Kerio and Sygate are the same. If you don't buy the product some advanced features are automatically turned off after 30 days.
[1] http://www.kerio.com/kpf_home.html (7.3MB)
[2] http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp (9.0MB)
[3] http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf/summary_spf.htm (8.8MB)
6 Best Free Trojan Scanner/Trojan Remover Updated August 23, 2005
Ewido is the best of a new crop of anti-Trojan programs. On my recent tests over at www.anti-trojan-software-reviews.com it emerged as was one of the few products that could reliably detect polymorphic and process injecting Trojans that were totally missed by anti-virus products like Norton and AVG. Unfortunately the free version of Ewido doesn’t have a memory monitor and this omission significantly reduces the level of active protection provided. However the on-demand scanner is excellent. I recommend that all average PC users who don't have an anti-trojan scanner download Ewido and scan their PCs weekly. I suspect you may be surprised at what you will find. Ewido is also pretty good at removing some spyware infections so bear that in mind next time you encounter a spyware product you can't remove with normal anti-spyware products like Ad-Aware. Note that Ewido only works with Windows 2000 and later so Win 9X users should consider the free version of a2 (a-squared) anti-trojan as an alternative. It's not quite as effective as Ewido but is still an excellent product. High risk PC users such as P2P file sharers and frequenters of hack sites, should however consider the industrial strength protection of Trojan Hunter or the full version of Ewido both of which offer the active protection they need. Note: The free version of Ewido is actually the same as the paid version but after 14 days the active protection (i.e. memory monitor) becomes non-functional.
http://www.ewido.net/en/ (2.2MB)
http://www.anti-trojan-software-reviews.com/review-ewido.htm <= review of Ewido
7 Best Free Rootkit Scanner/Remover Updated September 27, 2005
Rootkits are a special kind of software tool used to hide trojans, viruses and other malware from your anti-virus scanner and other security products. Unfortunately there are extremely effective which means that some of you reading this will be infected even though you believe your PC to be totally clean. Thankfully there is a new class of security product now available called rootkit detectors that use specialized techniques to detect these dangerous intruders. Most of these detectors require quite a bit of technical skill to interpret the results but one of the simplest to use and most effective is also free. It's called BlackLight [1] and is currently available as a free beta from F-Secure until the 1st of January 2006. I suggest everyone download this product and scan their PC. The chances of you being infected are small but for five minutes work it's not worth taking the risk. BlackLight will detect most rootkits missed by AV scanners but can still be fooled by state-of-the-art rootkits like Hacker Defender. To detect this and a few other insidious rootkits, you need heavier artillery. Currently the biggest gun in the rootkit detection war is a free Chinese product called IceSword [2]. It will reveal absolutely everything running on your PC. Usage, however, requires considerable skill together with the patience to work out the program which is currently only documented in Chinese. In the hands of an expert, its an amazing tool.
[1] http://www.f-secure.com/blacklight/cure.shtml Windows 2000 and later, 911KB.
[2] http://www.Xfocus.net/tools/200505/1032.html slow Chinese site, 1.5MB
8 Best Free Intrusion Prevention and Detection Utility for Home Use
These days all users face a real risk of malicious programs secretly installing themselves on your computer. Anti-virus and anti-spyware products dramatically reduce the chance of infection but you can enhance your protection further by installing an additional layer of defense with an intrusion detection program. For advanced users Prevx is a stand out recommendation. It's so good I made it my Free Product of the Year for 2004. However it's talkative nature and sometimes cryptic messages make it only suitable for experienced users. For other users (but not beginners) I recommend the free version of WinPatrol. Like Prevx it provides a vital "last ditch" defense layer by telling you when a product is trying to change any of the critical settings on your PC such as the registry and auto-start areas. WinPatrol simply throws up a dialog asking whether you want to allow the change or not. Of course being warned is useless unless you have some idea how to respond to the warning. That's why neither Prevx nor WinPatrol is suited to inexperienced users. If you are a beginner you should seriously consider the $29.95 Plus version of WinPatrol which provides lots of guidance to help you make sense of any warning messages. As a bonus it offers better protection as well.
http://www.prevx.com/prevxhome.asp (7.5MB)
http://www.winpatrol.com/ (880KB)
http://www.techsupportalert.com/intrusion-detection.htm <= Brief survey of IDS software
9 Best Free Anonymous Surfing Service Updated September 27, 2005.
There are lots of reasons folks have for wanting to surf anonymously, ranging from simple paranoia to possibly being murdered by a malevolent foreign government. Whatever the reasons, commercial services that offer anonymity are doing real well. However one of the best services JAP, is totally free. In fact JAP is perhaps a little too good. That's why the German Police insisted in 2004 that a backdoor be put into the product to allow interception of child pornographers. This was done but subsequently removed as a result of court action by JAP. An alternative to JAP is another system called Tor. It not only allows anonymous browsing but anonymous email, IM, and IRC chat as well. Given the US Navy origin of Tor, the suspicion arises that this system may indeed have a permanent backdoor. However the source code is now publicly available so that suspicion can now be set aside. Whatever, both JAP and Tor offer a level of secrecy that is better than many commercial systems. However expect your surfing to slow down as you'll be relayed through a chain of servers. You'll also need to change your browser settings to work through a proxy. Note: the latest V5 release of JAP now allows Tor users to use JAP as a software access point.
http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html
http://tor.eff.org/
10 Best Free Software Suite Updated August 23, 2005.
The Open CD site offers for free a wonderful collection of just about every application software product you need to run a PC including the latest version of OpenOffice. Many of these freebies substitute admirably for expensive commercial products. There is Abi Word as an alternative for MS Word, OpenOffice for MS Office XP, Thunderbird for Outlook, The Gimp for Adobe Photoshop, 7-zip for WinZip and many more. If you then add to this collection some of the other utilities from my "46 Best-ever Utilities" collection you will have all the software you'll ever need without spending a cent. Note: All of the Open CD utilities can be downloaded for free as a CD ISO image. If you have a slow connection you can purchase the CD for a as little as $1.99. In addition to the Windows versions, the CD also contains the same collection of programs implemented under a version of Linux called Ubuntu that can be booted and run directly from the CD. That way you not only get to try all these great programs you can try Linux as well, without interfering in any way with your current Windows installation.
http://theopencd.org
(Sponsored Links)
The Best Windows Backup Software
We are in the process of updating all the backup reviews at our site but I can tell you right now that the top product has blitzed the field for a second year in row. In fact, it's improved so much that it's now a one horse race for our "editor's choice." The updated review of the top product is now online. If you have been looking for a backup program, this is the one.
http://www.backup-software-reviews.com/
The Best Spyware Detector
If you use Ad-Aware or SpyBot you will be surprised just how more effectively SpySweeper detects and protects your PC from Adware, Spyware, Trojans and other malicious products. That's why it won the prized "Editor's Choice" award in PC Magazine's massive March 2004 survey of anti-Spyware products. Try the free evaluation copy and see for yourself.
http://www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php?rc=1132
The Best Remote Access Software
Our reviewer had given this product category away as "too slow, tool clumsy and too unreliable" but after reviewing this product he's changed his mind; "at long last a remote access solution that actually works! Quite frankly we agree with him, it's an impressive product. Read the full review here:
http://www.pcsupportadvisor.com/best_remote_access_software.htm
The Best Spam Blocker for Dummies
Most spam filters require you to be a computer expert. Our Editor has found two spam filters for average users that will remove the spam from your email and yet are simple to use.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-antispam.htm
The Best Anti-trojan Scanner
Most users are not aware that their anti-virus scanner can only provide a moderate level of protection against trojan programs that try and take control of your PC. To really protect your computer, you need a dedicated anti-trojan program. Our editor's have reviewed every major product on the market and have concluded that two scanners stand head and shoulders above the other contenders.
http://www.anti-trojan-software-reviews.com
11 Best Free File Manager
Windows Explorer is fine for simple file management activities but when you have some serious work to do, you need a two pane file manager. I use Directory Opus which is without doubt the best product in this class but costs $59. Recently I discovered xplorer². It offers a good part of the functionality of Directory Opus and is totally free. As a bonus, its user interface is very similar to Windows Explorer, so most users will find this tool easy to learn and use.(575KB)
http://www.netez.com/xplorer2/x2lite.htm
12 Best Free Email Client
Thunderbird is a free open source POP and IMAP email client developed by Mozilla.org, the same folks who brought you Firefox. Feature-wise it sits somewhere between Outlook Express and Outlook which means that it offers an upgrade to Express users and a downgrade to those who use the more advanced PIM features of Outlook. All Outlook Express users should seriously consider switching. You’ll be rewarded with a more advanced product including built- in spam filtering, built-in RSS reader, better security, message color coding, fast email search and the ability to view your mail in conversational threads. On top of that, the product is more secure than OE and, unlike the latter, is still being actively developed. The transition is made easier by the fact that Thunderbird looks and works similar to OE. Tools within Thunderbird also allow you to easily import OE account settings and stored email. Outlook users who aren’t reliant on calendaring, Microsoft Exchange or Outlook plug-ins should also consider switching. If you switch to Thunderbird, you should also consider using the free Copernic Desktop Search program, the latest version of which now indexes Thunderbird email files.
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird
http://www.nidelven-it.no/articles/introduction_to_thunderbird
13 Best Free Web Mail Accessory
Two suggestions: the first is a nifty free product called YPOPs! (formerly YahooPops!) that allows you to collect your Yahoo webmail from within your POP email client such as Outlook, Thunderbird or Eudora. I use it on multiple Yahoo accounts and it works wonderfully. The second suggestion is an Open Source utility called MrPostman. It's a much more flexible product than YPOPs! and will download HotMail, Lycos, Yahoo and several other webmail services into your POP email client. It can also give you access to email accounts on MS Exchange 5.5. If you only use Yahoo webmail, go with YPOPs! as MrPostman is a more complex program and can need a bit of fiddling to work correctly. You'll find a couple of links below that will help you. Note that MrPostman requires the Java Runtime Environment to be installed on your PC.
http://yahoopops.sourceforge.net/ (1.3MB)
http://mrpostman.sourceforge.net/ (1.5MB)
http://2mod2.com/mohot/ <= Installing Mr Postman
http://sourceforge.net/forum/?group_id=68124 <= MrPostman forum
14 Best Free Clipboard Replacement Utility New! Added August 23, 2005
The regular clipboard in Windows has limitations – one item at a time and no retention after logging off. Clipboard replacement utilities provide the ability to hold multiple items and store them for future use, even after logging off. There are many free clipboard replacement utilities available, including CLCL,
Clipboard Magic, Clipboard Recorder, Clippy 2001, Ditto, DzSoft Paste & Save, and Yankee Clipper III. While none of these have the very extensive set of features of the class-leading shareware product ClipMate 6 ($29.95), they all offer the basic clipboard replacement features that 95% of us really want and
need. If you just need a basic clipboard replacement utility, look no further than Clipboard Recorder [1]. It will store up to 99 items that can be easily selected and pasted from the popup history list by pressing the shortcut key (Ctrl-Alt-V by default). It supports a variety of formats (text, RTF, HTML, CSV, Bitmap, etc.) and has the ability to transfer copied items between computers. In addition, it is a very small program and uses very little resources. Clipboard Recorder is what the regular clipboard in Windows should have been! However, if you need advanced features such as the ability to support additional item types, create groups of items, search previous items, and synchronize clipboards across multiple computers, then I would recommend trying Ditto [2]. In addition to its extended feature set, its user interface is very clean, easy to use, and has many configurable options that you can configure to meet your needs. Note that Ditto requires DAO to be installed [3].
[1] http://www.lw-works.com/ Windows 98 and later, 382 KB
[2] http://ditto-cp.sourceforge.net/ Windows 95 and later, 422KB
[3] http://ditto-cp.sourceforge.net/dao_setup.exe .3MB
15 Best Free HTML Editor New! Added August 23, 2005
This is one of my most requested items but up until now I've not been able to give any product my hearty endorsement. There have been any number of contenders: Amaya for example, impressed with its standards compliance but was incomplete while Selida looked slick but had too many bugs. Finally a worthy contender has arrived on the scene in the form of the Open Source Nvu. In reality Nvu is nothing new but rather a reworking of the old Netscape Composer. Composer was always a solid product and the revamp has lifted the product into another class. Here is an HTML editor and site manager that's easy enough for beginners to use but powerful enough to build large sites. It's closer in concept to Microsoft's FrontPage more than any other product but unlike FrontPage it, thankfully, produces standards compliant code. Its easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor will delight HTML newbies while HTML honchos can simply click a tab to switch to code view. Multiple tabs can be kept open to allow simultaneous editing and there is excellent support for forms, tables and templates. An internal spell-checker is included. CSS is handled through the CaScadeS editor from Mozilla Composer. Nvu also has the handy ability to call W3C's HTML validator from within the product. It's also extensible via XUL. Nvu can upload files to your site via FTP and has some basic site management features but this is not its strength. Overall it's an impressive product; no, it's not a replacement for DreamWeaver but those looking for a competent, free HTML editor that's easy to use need look no further. Free Open Source, Windows 98 and later plus Linux, 6.57MB
http://www.nvu.com/
16 Best Free Spam Filter for the Average User
This is a difficult category as ordinary users need products that are easy to use and frankly, most free spam filters are way too complex to set up and use. The best products in this class are in fact, shareware not free. That said, MailWasher is for most folks, the best free option. MailWasher is an email preview utility that allows you to check your email on your mail server before you download it to your PC. The advantage of this approach is that you can kill unwanted messages including spam, viruses and large attachments before they get anywhere near your computer. MailWasher flags for you any messages containing possible spam and viruses for you to quickly check. It's a simple idea but quite effective and one which average users find easy to understand. The last free version of MailWasher [2] before it went commercial is still floating around the web. It lacks many of the advanced spam detection features of the current commercial version but is still quite effective. Alternatively, try XTerminator [3] which works much the same way as MailWasher and is totally free. I must say though, I prefer MailWasher's user interface
[1] http://www.mailwasher.net ( 3.05MB)
[2] http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/page2.html#Mailwasher (1.57MB)
[3] http://www.artplus.hr/adapps/eng/xterminator.htm (1.87MB)
[4] http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-antispam.htm <=brief review of the best spam blockers
17 Best Free Spam Filter for Experienced Users
There are many different spam filters available employing lots of different techniques. In my experience "learning" spam filters that use the Bayesian statistical approach out-perform most other types of filters I've tried. Not only are they better at detecting spam they are also less liable to classify your real mail as spam. This effectiveness takes a little time to develop as the filter has to be trained to recognize your spam from your normal mail. It takes a week or so before results start becoming accurate and best results may take a month or more. POPFile, a free, open source spam filter, was one of the first Bayesian filters and is still one of the best. It works as a proxy mail server so that means that it can be used with any POP email client. Setup is reasonably straightforward for experienced users but beginners may be better off with Mailwasher. If you use Outlook there are several excellent free Bayesian spam filters available including SpamBayes and K9. Both are simple to install though, like all statistical filters, they need to go through a training phase before they reach full effectiveness.
http://popfile.sourceforge.net/old_index.html (4.3MB)
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/ (3.6MB)
http://www.keir.net/k9.html (113KB)
18 Best Free Popup Stopper
The need for popup stopper utilities has fallen away in recent months as many browsers such as Firefox now have this function built in. If you need a separate popup stopper and have good PC skills I suggest you try The Proxomitron.. It operates by filtering and transforming all your Web pages on the fly. As a result you can not only stop pop-ups but pop-unders, ads, flash animations, status bar scrollers and just about anything else. Besides, next time you are asked what pop-up stopper you use, you can answer; "why, I use The Proxomitron" and how cool is that. The first link below is to version 4.5, the last and final version of this superb utility. The following two links offer useful setup and usage tips. Note: For Novice PC users I suggest you try the Google toolbar rather than The Proxomitron. It's free as well and has an excellent popup filter built in. It's nowhere near as flexible as as The Proxomitron, but it requires no setup. As a bonus it also makes Google searches easier.
http://computercops.biz/files/ProxN45.exe
http://accs-net.com/smallfish/prox.htm
http://www.sankey.ws/proxomitron.html
http://toolbar.google.com/
19 Best Free Desktop Search Utility Updated September 27, 2005
In early 2004 there were no contenders for this title. Today we have a wealth of choices. In a close race I would have to say the Free Desktop Search from Yahoo comes out in front because of the clear way it presents search results. It's powered by the well established X1 local search engine and can index the contents of 200 different file types including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, Outlook, Outlook Express, HTML, text, ZIP and Adobe PhotoShop though at the moment it will only handle email files from Outlook, Outlook Express and Thunderbird. It will index html files but can't index your web browsing history. If the later is important to you, you may want to look at Version 2 of Google desktop search. It not only will search your web history but offers an Outlook toolbar, integrated Gmail search and a novel desktop sidebar that allows personalized search, news, weather, photos and more. The Sidebar also includes a quite effective application launcher. Some folks love the Sidebar others, me included, find it intrusive. Unfortunately though, to run either the Yahoo or Google DTS you'll need Windows 2000 or later. If you are stuck with earlier version of Windows then try the free Copernic Desktop Search. It offers many of the key features as the others though the presentation of search results is not quite as elegant as Yahoo DTS.
http://desktop.yahoo.com
http://desktop.google.com (1.4MB)
http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/download.html (2.3MB)
20 Best Free Digital Image Viewer Updated August 3, 2005
Two good choices here. First there's the classic IrfanView. Irfan is a first class product but one for which I have mixed feelings. That's why it's been in and out of my "46 Best Freeware" list several times. It's an amazingly capable product but it just doesn't work the way I want it to. Other users though, just love it. A product I feel more comfortable with is XNView. Like Irfan it is very versatile; it can read and display nearly 400 types of graphic files and convert any of these to over 50 formats. It displays pictures very quickly and these may be viewed full screen, as slideshows or thumbnails. It's quite capable at processing images, too; you can adjust brightness, color, apply filters or effects, crop photos, re-size, convert format and more. These operations can also be carried out from a batch file, which makes it ideal for converting large digital photos to smaller sizes for the web or emailing. It supports drop and drag, has many plug-ins, is available in 44 languages and has full cross-platform support including Mac. XNView has a lot of similarities with IrfanView, so many in fact, that it comes perilously close to plagiarism. Put positively, one may say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery however the developer of IrfanView must feel more than a little miffed. XNView is free for non-commercial use, all Windows versions plus many other platforms. The standard version for Windows is 3.3MB but I suggest you download the complete version with all plug-ins which weighs in at 6.8MB
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pierre.g/xnview/endownloadwin32.html
21 Best Free Digital Image Editor Updated September 27, 2005
I use to recommend The Gimp but after dozens of letters from less-experienced users who couldn't manage to install it or work out the idiosyncratic user interface, I've decided to confine that recommendation to experienced users. If that's you and you patient enough to learn the product's sometimes quaint ways then you have no need to consider anything else. For other users I have two recommendations: First there is Paint.net, an amazingly sophisticated piece of work from computer science students at Washington State University. It's not quite as powerful as The Gimp but a lot easier to use and install. It's also getting better; the new V2.5 continues this product's impressive development record. It is however only for Windows 2000 and later and you'll need Microsoft's bulky .NET framework installed on your PC. My second choice is PhotoPlus 6.0 from a company called Serif. It's an impressive piece of work; again it installs easily and it's loaded with features including layer support. In fact, it looks and feels like a "lite" version of Adobe PhotoShop except that it is relatively easy to use. I say "relatively" because graphics editing is by its nature, not simple. Both Paint.net and PhotoPlus are outstanding free products. Which is the best? Easy, the answer is .... your call ;>)
http://www.gimp.org/windows/ (7.07MB)
http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/ (5.1MB)
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PhotoPlus/default.asp (19.4MB)
22 Best Free Digital Photo Organizer
It’s rare for me to be utterly wowed by a product but this one certainly did it. When you first run Picasa it offers to scan your whole hard drive (or designated locations) for photos and videos. Scanning is surprisingly quick and when finished you’ll have all your shots neatly organized into folders on a time line basis. Now you can view you shots one at a time, in slideshow or traversing the time line. The editing features are limited compared to professional image editors yet they provide you with every function amateur photographers need including one click red eye reduction. Similarly adding labels to photos is a cinch while a simple but effective star rating system allows you to flag favorite snaps. Individual folders can also be password protected. Facilities are provided to import your images from your camera in multiple formats including RAW. You can send photos to your choice of web printing service, cut a CD, print to a local printer or share with others via your own blog or instant messaging. Simply sensational. Windows 98 or later, 300MHz Pentium with 128MB memory or better, 3.2MB.
http://www.picasa.com/
23 Best Free Notepad Replacement
There are lots of text editors and Notepad replacements. Some of these aspire to be programming editors while others try to be word processors. What I love about EditPad is that, unlike the others, it concentrates on simply being a better plain text editor and in that role, it succeeds brilliantly. It has a Notepad like interface combined with tabbed document windows and the ability to open as many documents as you like with no file size limitations. I use it every day for tasks as diverse as writing Support Alert Newsletter to examining my web log files. Some of the latter can be up to 100MB, yet EditPad handles these huge files with ease. (849KB).
http://www.editpadlite.com/editpadlite.html
24 The Best File Archiver/Zip Utility
When I last looked at archiving utilities I checked out six utilities: QuickZip, ICEOWS, IZArc, TUGZip, ZipGenius and 7-Zip. The product that impressed me the most was the Open Source program 7-Zip. It was the only product in the group that could unpack a multi-part RAR volume embedded in a ZIP archive and the only product to give a meaningful error message when an attempt was made to unpack a 256bit encrypted WinZip archive. However I was unable to recommend 7-Zip due to the lack of drop-and drag. With the release of version V4.23 on the 29th of July that feature has now been added. Also new is the ability to copy directly from one archive to another. 7-Zip still handles fewer archive types than IZArc, my former top recommendation. It only supports 7z, ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, Z, TAR, CPIO, RPM and DEB while IZArc can read nearly 50 archive types including media formats like ISO, BIN and IMG and can write (and convert) to 12. You couldn't go wrong with either product. 7-Zip is a little more robust while IZArc is a little more flexible. If you already use WinZip you'll find either 7-Zip or IZArc make excellent companion products. They can can read just about all the major archive formats WinZip can't, including the widely used RAR.
http://www.izarc.org/download.html Windows 9x and later, 3.1MB
http://www.7-zip.org/ Windows 9x and later, 1.05MB
25 Best Free Hotkey Utility
Hotkeycontrol XP is a free utility that allows you to define your own hotkeys so that a single key press can launch an application, insert commonly used text, change your volume, or just about anything else. Hotkeycontrol works with all versions of Windows from 98 onwards, though some features will only work with Win2K or XP. Some folks with slower PCs have reported that Hotkeycontrol can be a little slow to react. If you experience this, you might like to try PS Hot Launch VVL as an alternative. It works on all versions of Windows and is an excellent performer even on slow PCs. A third alternative is not really a hotkey utility at all but achieves the same result by using "magic words." It places a tiny text box on your screen and when you type specially assigned words into the box, they will launch a program, go to a web site or whatever. For example if you type "mail" it can launch your mail reader. Type in "46" and it can take you to the web page of the "46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities." Of course, it's up to you to define these magic words and you can have as many as you want. It all works very neatly with some really nice touches like auto-complete for your magic words which means you only have to type in two or three letters and SlickRun will complete the rest. Nice too, is an eyedropper tool that allows you to identify a program you want to "hotkey" just by clicking in its application window. There's also a built-in note jotter and a calendar date display. It requires Win 98 or later.
http://www.digital-miner.com/hkcontrol.html (0.91KB)
http://www.pssoftlab.com/pshl_info.phtml (743KB)
http://www.bayden.com/SlickRun/ (168KB)
26 Best Free Registry Cleaner
To keep the registries on my PCs in top running order I use Fix-It utilities. This is a commercial product but I must admit that Toni Helenius' Easy Cleaner performs almost as well and is totally free. As a bonus, it will also detect duplicate files and help you clean up temp files to make more disk space. Remember though, as with every Registry cleaner, to back up your Windows Registry before use. (2.64MB)
http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm
27 Best Free BitTorrent Client
It's amazing how quickly BitTorrent has become one of the major download formats. With good reason, too: it's fast, equitable and efficient. If you haven't yet installed a BitTorrent client on your PC, you should as there are some great free clients available. I recommend the Open Source program Azureus. It's beautifully implemented, well supported and, being Java based, is available for multiple platforms. The latest version also features a new technology called DHT (Distributed Hash Table) which distributes indexing responsibility across multiple clients rather than relying on a single web-based tracker. With BitTorrent sites coming and going regularly DHT is definitely a plus. One downside with Azureus is that the Java code will eat up your CPU cycles so you need a reasonably fast PC. Those with older machines should check out BitTornado. It's also cross platform and is fast and highly configurable as well. Both products are adware and spyware free.
http://azureus.sourceforge.net/ (6.4MB)
http://bittornado.com/ (3.3MB
28 The Best Free FTP Client
I used WS_FTP Pro as my principal FTP client for years. What started out as simple and effective product gradually with each new version became more feature-bloated and less effective for routine tasks. With the release of Version 9 it was clear to me that the product had totally lost its way so I started looking for an alternative. After trying seven different FTP clients I decided that the best for me was the Open Source utility FileZilla. It uses a simple layout based on a two pane interface that looks a bit like the early versions of WS_FTP. But this simplicity is deceptive, it is actually a quite powerful product There's a full featured site manager, firewall and proxy support, SSL and Kerberos GSS security, restart, drop and drag and a lot more. The only significant feature that's missing is site-to-site transfer but that's of no importance to me. What is of importance is that FileZilla is fast, totally reliable, secure and and very easy to use. There's also a free FileZilla FTP server which I haven't used but I hear that it's just as good as the client. (4.5MB)
http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/
29 Best Free Bookmark Cleaner
AM-DeadLink scans your bookmark file for dead links or duplicate links. When I tried it on my huge favorites file I discovered 17% of my links were dead. I've now got a much leaner set of favorites and the comfort of knowing that the links actually work. (546KB)
http://aignes.com/press/deadlink140.htm
30 Best Free Route Tracer
3D Traceroute graphically displays Internet route information. You can use it for technical tasks such as diagnosing slow connections or for general purpose snooping like determining the location and owner of a web site or tracing spammers. (996KB)
http://www.d3tr.de/
31 Best Free Screen Capture Utility
Two recommendations here: The first is PrintScreen. It does exactly what I want, in the way I want and furthermore avoids the trap of providing lots of useless and confusing features. It's the little things that count like making the hot key PrtSc so I don't have to remember it, and automatically sequentially naming the output files for multiple screen shots. A second recommendation is Screen Hunter. It's a commercial product but the free version is excellent, offering more features than Gadwin at the cost of a little added complexity. Both products work with Win 98 and later.
http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/?prnscr (976KB)
http://www.wisdom-soft.com/products/screenhunter.htm (381KB)
32 Best Free Search Toolbar
Search toolbars allow users to do web searches without having to go first to the home page of a search engine. This really saves a lot of time. In the last year search toolbars have become a hotly competed product class and as result, users now have an excellent choice. The "best" in terms of features is probably Yahoo's Toolbar whose features include anti-spyware capabilities as well as popup blocking. It's for Internet Explorer but they are currently offering a beta version for Firefox. My only beef with the Yahoo product is that I prefer to use Google for my web searches rather than Yahoo and that's why I use the Google Toolbar which also offers popup blocking though no anti-spyware features. On the other hand it includes a useful web form spell-checker and a few other goodies not found in the Yahoo product. Google also offers a full Firefox version as well as the standard IE version. Some folks still like Dave’s Quick Search Bar because it gives access to multiple search engines. Another advantage is that it resides in your task bar rather than your browser so it's easily accessible from any application. Other Dave's features include a dictionary, thesaurus, calculator and a lot of customizability.
http://toolbar.yahoo.com/ie (3MB)
http://www.dqsd.net/ (327KB)
http://toolbar.google.com/deskbar/ (447KB)
33 Best Free Download Manager
For some time I've been recommending Star Downloader but the freeware version has been effectively frozen at version 1.44 with future enhancements restricted to the shareware version. It is however, still a fine choice. After trying half a dozen other products, I've settled on "Free Downloader" as my new selection. It's fast, stable and integrates well into both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Furthermore, there is no embedded adware or nag screen. After using it for a couple of weeks, I've decided that it's actually just as good as Star Downloader with the advantage that it's still being actively developed. (1.31MB).
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/download.htm
34 Best Free Web Site Ripper
HTTrack is one impressive product: it's easy to use, has an excellent user interface, offers every feature you could want, is blindingly fast and free of any adware as well. If you like to download web sites so that you can "browse them offline", this is the product to get. ( 3.23MB)
http://www.httrack.com/
35 Best Free Download/Upload Meter New, September 27, 2005
NetMeter shows upload and download speeds, along with cumulative weekly and monthly volumes and projected values. The program reminds me in many ways of Hagel's excellent $20 shareware product "DU Meter." In essence, everything you need for nix. Freeware, all Windows versions, 601KB.
http://readerror.gmxhome.de/
36 Best Free TCP Settings Tweaker
Whether you use a modem or broadband, you'll get a faster connection if you tweak your connection's TCP parameters. Among the most important of these is MaxMTU which, in simple terms, needs to be set to the largest value possible without your data being broken up into smaller chunks en-route. Most techies determine MaxMTU by trial and error pinging using different packet sizes but it's a tedious procedure and definitely not for beginners. TCPOptimizer from SpeedGuide.net is a free utility that will do the job for you automatically. Furthermore, it will use this value to advise you on your other TCP settings and then apply these values at the press of the button. There are commercial programs that will do much the same thing but TCPOptimizer does it just as well and is totally free. The only minus is the lack of in-program help. However you'll find a useful FAQ at the SpeedGuide site. (225KB)
http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php
http://www.speedguide.net/faq_in.php?category=100
37 Best Free File Cleaner
I've tried quite a few commercial products designed to clean unused, temporary and unnecessary files off your hard disk but must say that the free utility "Empty Temp Folders" ranks with the best. It takes a few minutes to set up but after that, just press a button to recover many megabytes of disk space. An equally attractive alternative is CCleaner. It's a tad easier to use though not quite as effective in removing temporary files. Its default settings are also quite aggressive so check the options carefully before running for the first time. Both products may be used together for maximum cleaning. Between them you may be surprise how much disk space you will free up.
http://www.danish-shareware.dk/soft/emptemp (667KB)
http://www.ccleaner.com/ (403KB)
38 Best Free Resource Meter
This is cute. TinyResMeter is an itsy-bitsy system monitor. Unlike many other monitors, it doesn't consume a lot of CPU utilization in order to tell you your CPU utilization. In addition to CPU usage, you can optionally monitor cache, RAM, page file and swap file usage, running processes and threads, disk space utilization and a number of other parameters as well. Also built-in, is a screen grabber that saves the current screen to disk when you press PrintScreen. How they fit all this into 96KB beats me. I
http://perso.accelance.net/~pesoft/trm/us_trm.html
39 Best Free Sticky Notes Utility
Some people hate these programs others swear they can't work effectively without them. I used to be in the first category but with so many things on my plate these days, I'm slowly being converted. The function that I find really useful is the reminder that pops up at a designated time and date. I use it for simple things like "put up the latest issue on the web site." ATnotes is a neat implementation that features configurable alarms, resizable windows, variable fonts and a host of other useful features. The product is remarkably similar to the commercial sticky notes utility called, TurboNotes. Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Maybe not. NOTE: As of the 30th of May 2005, development work has ceased and the author's site pulled down. However someone has built a mirror of the author's site [1] where you can read about ATnotes and download the final version. You can also download ATNotes from the a number of other sites including the second link below. (723KB)
[1] http://atnotes.free.fr/news.html
[2] http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,17660,00.asp
40 Best Free Secure Erase Utility
Eraser is a free, GNU license utility that will securely erase files, folders or even whole disks from any Windows or DOS PC. Eraser overwrites data area with selectable random data patterns and also wipes data in the paging file, Internet cache, temporary files, Internet cookies, unused disk space and a number of other places where data can secretly lurk. It handles FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS partitions as well. Erasing files with high security will always be a difficult and time consuming task and can never offer absolute 100% safety. However Eraser makes the task about as easy as it be, with a security level beyond most conceivable requirements. An impressive package. (2.8MB)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/eraser
41 Best Free Registry Editor
I've used the full version of Resplendent Registry Editor for years and have never had any reason to look for an alternative. Recently a subscriber asked me what was the best free registry editor and that made me realize I've never looked at that particular product category. The first product I checked out was Registrar Lite, the free version of Resplendent Registry Editor and I'd have to say it's an impressive freebie. To start with, it works totally reliably - an essential feature for any registry editor. On top of that, the user interface is simple, the functionality excellent and, perhaps most importantly, it has a really fast search. I did, however, miss a "search and delete" option - that's unfortunately only available on the full product. That said, it leaves Regedit for dead. If you know a better free registry editor, drop me an email. (2.0MB).
http://www.resplendence.com/reglite
42 Best Free Process Viewer
PrcView has long been my personal choice but Process Explorer has pushed it aside. The reason? A better display setup coupled with more features and even more information. Process Explorer uses two vertical panes. The top contains all active processes while the second shows either all the handles opened by a selected process or, optimally, a list of DLLs and memory mapped files. A very handy search feature allows you to work backwards from named DLLs or handles to the owning process. A gem. Freeware, 230KB.
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/procexp.shtml
43 Best Free PC Inventory Tool
The freeware utility AIDA32 was the best system inventorying tool ever, regardless of price. It documented just about every aspect of your hardware and software configuration as well as checking networks and providing memory benchmarks. However the developer announced in March 2004 that the free product had been frozen. Development work shifted to a commercial organization called Lavalys and AIDA32 was re-launced as Everest. Lavalys now provide a commercial "professional" version of Everest as well as a free home version. The free version is not as full featured as the old AIDA32 but it is still impressive. You can however still find the old AIDA32 at the second link below.
http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?lang=en (3.0MB)
http://www.soft32.com/download_9181.html (5MB)
44 Best Free Search and Replace Utility
There are several contenders for this title but HandyFile's excellent Find and Replace program is my favorite. It's fast, has a simple but effective user interface and some nice features including support for regular expressions. It started life as a free product before going commercial however the free version is still floating around and can be downloaded from a number of sites including the one below. (361KB)
http://www.pcsupportadvisor.com/downloads/HFFRSetup.exe
45 Best Free Outliner
I'm not a great fan of outliners - my brain doesn't work that way. Some folks however, swear by them and if that includes you, then you should check out Keynote, an Open Source freeware program that has a dedicated band of followers. Its major design attribute is its ease of use. Words like "natural" and "seamless" come close to the mark but really don't capture the essence of what is really a great design. What do you do with it? Well to quote the web site “KeyNote is used by screenwriters to draft screenplays, by medical doctors to keep patient databases, by developers to store source code snippets - and to everyone it serves as a place to put all the random pieces of information that have no particular structure of relationship to other data, and do not fit easily in task-specific applications such as word-processors, databases or spreadsheets.” (1.7MB)
http://www.tranglos.com/free/index.html
46 Best Free Rename Utility
Two great choices here: First Lupas Rename 2000. This is a small utility for Win 98 and later that globally renames all the files in a directory and its subdirectories. It can convert names to upper/lower case, change the case of the first letter, add text, left crop, right crop and just about anything else you can think of. And unlike DOS based utilities, it will work on hidden files as well. Add in a nice GUI interface, an undo feature, full preview of changes, MP3 tag renaming, support for regular expressions and the fact that it's free and you have an outstanding product. The second and equally attractive option is Flexible Renamer. It's quite similar to Lupas and choosing between them is not easy. Lupas seems to me to be easier to use for simply renaming files while Flexible Renamer has the edge with tags. Flexible Renamer can also can bulk change file attributes while Lupas can't. It also runs without installation, a definite plus.
http://www.azheavymetal.com/~lupasrename/download.php <= Lupas (742KB) http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA014830/english/FlexRena/ <= Flexible Renamer (648KB)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)