Vitrite - Free Windows 2000/XP Transparency Control

It's not too often I find a choice piece of freeware and post it within ten minutes...

Vitrite allows total control of all open windows via a systray icon. Ctrl-Shift plus a number chooses between 10 different levels of transparency, and even more impressive is Vitrite's small memory footprint.

Download Vitrite

via Lifehacker

Gaim 2.0 Beta Released

The massively awesome open source multi-instant message platform Gaim is now available in a tasty 2.0 beta flavor.

Minor changes to the interface layout, smooth scrolling, and a slew of other improvements indicate Gaim 2.0 is shaping out to be even better than the current stable version.

I've been using it for a couple days now and unless I run into a serious problem (none so far) I'll probably keep using this beta until 2.0 official is released.

Download Gaim 2.0 beta - Windows

Download Gaim 2.0 beta - gaim-2.0.0beta1.tar.gz

Download Gaim 2.0 beta - gaim-2.0.0beta1.tar.bz2

via linux edge/digg

VLC Media Player 0.8.4 Released

Do I ever love finding a piece of freeware that takes over a lot of my various media activities!

I tried VLC media player a few months ago when it was a much rougher version and uninstalled it after a few hours of trying to use it. Solid intentions, but obviously still in need of improvement.

The latest version has a new, permanent home on my computer.

VLC can be used to play just about every digital video format, CD's, DVD's, VCD's, and you can also stream outbound content with it as a server.

I thought about transcribing the full list of platforms and operating systems that VLC is available for, but just click the link and see for yourself.

Download VLC Media Player

Mozilla Thunderbird - Free Cross Platform E-Mail Client

Free Your Inbox With Mozilla Thunderbird

Did you know that the amount of junk e-mail you receive can be affected by which e-mail client you use?

Thunderbird, a free mail client from the Mozilla Foundation, is known for its tireless efforts to provide you with a fast, safe, and productive e-mail experience.

Manage junk e-mail with intelligent filters, customize the complete look and feel of the interface, read RSS feeds, HTML mail support, quick search, smart address books, and easy import tools make using Thunderbird a snap. A large amount of free extensions can also adapt Thunderbird to meet any demand.

Available for Windows, Mac OS X, and a variety of other operating systems.

Mozilla Thunderbird Information

Mozilla Thunderbird Download Page

As a bonus, Thunderbird 1.5 RC1 (release candidate 1) has been made available for public download. This preview version of Thunderbird (intended for computer professionals and experts) includes features that will be found in the next full release of the program such as as-you-type spell checking.

Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5 RC1 Information/Download

Official Del.icio.us Firefox Extension Released

Del.icio.us, the social/community bookmarks site, has released an official Firefox extension to help post, search, and easily access your del.icio.us bookmarks.

I'm a more recent del.icio.us convert, and in just one bookmark post I can tell you this extension blows all other bookmarklets and extensions out of the water (excluding perhaps the Flock browser).

Highly recommended for del.icio.us users, and, as usual, free.

Del.icio.us Firefox Extension Page

Paint.NET - Free Photoshop Replacement for Windows

Paint.NET is a free .NET-based (you should've known that from the name) image editing program along the lines of Photoshop and the GIMP. Some GIMP users have complained that the GIMP interface is hard to figure out (some say checkout GIMPshop, but I never got it to run on my machine).

Like the other two previously mentioned titles, Paint.NET uses layers, has an unlimited undo/redo history, special effect filters, and all the usual paintbrush/pen/masking tools.

Open Source, Windows XP/2000/2003/Vista only.

Download Paint.net

via Download Squad

Symantec Kills Sygate Firewall

SCREW YOU SYMANTEC!

That's right, I said it.

Here at Freeware Freak we try and avoid too much in the way of opinion, preferring instead to simply point you to the latest and greatest freeware titles.

But this is too much.

Sygate Firewall, which I have long recommended as the best in freeware firewall solutions, has been killed off by Symantec, less than three months after they acquired Sygate and all its holdings.

I'll be running my copy of SPF as long as possible, but if you need some alternatives here are some suggestions:

Zone Alarm

8Signs

Tiny Personal Firewall

Jetico

Google Analytics Available

Google Analytics, a web service which can handle all site traffic info for your web site or blog, has gone live as of today. Google purchased this functionality from another company who was charging up to $200 per month for it, and has made it free.

The servers are taking a beating today as it just launched, but once it's up and running freely I will be using it to replace statcounter on Freeware Freak and J*Blog.

Sign-up for a Google Analytics Account

Thunderbird 1.5 RC1

I've been running Firefox 1.5 RC1 (release candidate 1, meaning this version is very close to a full, stable release) for about a week now, and I've been very impressed with the improvements and ease-of-upgrade path compared to previous releases of Firefox.

This morning Download Squad pointed out that Thunderbird is also out in 1.5 RC1 form, and now includes in-line as you type spell checking. As we all know in-line spell checking is the best thing since man discovered fire.

Theme Recommendation: I've been using Littlefox and Littlebird from Alfred's Themes for years now, and for the moment the direct link to his site seems to be the only way to install the latest version into Thunderbird 1.5 RC1.

Download Firefox 1.5 RC1

Download Thunderbird 1.5 RC1

Download LittleMozilla visual themes

Firefox Extension Spotlight: IE Tab

IE Tab is a Firefox extension that allows you view pages with Internet Explorer inside a Firefox tab. Unfortunately there is no Mac version yet, but this is a must-have for Windows users.

Download IE Tab

Weather Watcher 5.6 Available

The all new Weather Watcher 5.6 is now available from Singer's Creations.

As you can see from the screen shot, the default skin now contains much more information in a slightly larger layout.

My favorite addition is the moon phases. That way I can tell what days to not drive as much (I swear the full moon causes crazy were-drivers to come out).

Download Weather Watcher 5.6
Freeware - Windows 98, ME, 2000, NT, XP