Download Statusbar is a browser extension that allows you to keep track of ongoing and completed downloads in a hide-away statusbar.

Features:

• Auto-hides when not in use
• Pause all, Resume all, Cancel all, and Remove all finished - available from the context menu of the bar itself
• Run a completed file with a double click on its finished box. Open containing folder, remove, and rename from the context menu
• In-line view of percent done, speed in KB/sec, KB downloaded so far, and remaining time, can be customized in the options
• Updating tooltip provides a more detailed view of the current download, including source, destination, size of the download and the remaining time
• Option to automatically clear files after a specified number of seconds
• Stop downloads and save them for the next browser session
• Delete a file from your system from the context menu
• Localized strings for translation
• Download history can be viewed and configured to only keep the last download items
• Option to start virus scanner when a download completes
• On browser close, option to continue downloads in download manager

Download Download Statusbar Extension 0.9.6.3 in Softonic

In case you don't know, the 'Places Bar' is that left-side menu that appears on every Windows File Explorer window and that includes shortcuts to the most frequently used folders.

The problem is that you may not agree with what Windows considers to be a frequently used folder. If so, simply load Findexer on your system and you'll be able to customize this menu with shortcuts to your actual favorite folders.

Using the program is a bit tricky, as it doesn't have a proper graphical interface. You need to run the register.bat in order to load it on your system and then restart Windows File Explorer. Open any folder, click on View > Explorer Bar > Findexer and you'll be ready to use it. You can customize Findexer in many aspects, from the menu's appearance to the number of links displayed, including number of shortcuts, the order they appear and the icon and text font. Plus, adding new shortcuts is as easy as dragging and dropping them onto the Places Bar.

Though the idea behind Findexer is very good, there's one big drawback to the program: apparently you need to activate it (that is, go to View > Explorer bar > Findexer) every time you open a new window, even if you already activated it before on that same window.

Findexer lets you customize the Places Bar on Windows File Explorer, though unfortunately you have to manually enable it on every single window.

Download FindeXer 1.1.0.3 in Softonic

Organizing how many Windows you've got open can be a real nightmare if you work with multiple applications.

Actual Window Manager is an innovative desktop organization application which changes the way you organize your windows and workspace. The aim is to make your working environment more productive, convenient and enjoyable. The application features more than 40 tools to help you work.

Actual Window Manager works discreetly in the background and automatically places windows exactly in the most convenient space to maximize your working area. They can be resized according to automatic parameters that you've defined or you can make certain windows automatically stay on top of others. Alternatively, you can ensure that windows are minimized, rolled up or made semi-transparent.

If you're struggling to organize the windows open on your desktop, then Actual Window Manager can help ensure it doesn't affect your productivity.

Download Actual Window Manager 5.1 in Softonic

Each time you start programs from the Start menu, you use an interface that has not changed in 10 years! No wonder it has become more difficult to use as the number of programs has increased...

Vista Start Menu is a completely different approach to the interface. In the process of development we were oriented towards how people perceive information and also towards the ability to remember the position of items.

All you see in the standard menu is a long list and you have to read most names in order to find the program you need. Vista Start Menu shows the icons of the program that is why it is much easier to find the program you need with one glance. Besides, the programs are arranged in a table visually divided into sections, which also contributes to finding what you need quickly.

With Vista Start Menu, you just open the menu and click the program icon. If you need supplemental files installed together with the program, just move the mouse pointer over the icon and you will see a submenu where you can find all you need. Vista Start Menu retains the position of icons that is why when you install or remove programs, icons remain in their places. You do not have to spend time on looking for icons that have "slid away" as it usually happens in the standard menu.

Download Vista Start Menu 3.0 in Softonic

You may have already seen one of those Firefox add-ons that let you manage the browser with mouse gestures. Mazzick is based on the same principle, only it enables you to manage your whole system.

Once installed, Mazzick equips your mouse with the ability to perform different tasks according to the movements you make with it. Tasks are activated with special mouse button or key combinations, so that you don't accidentally trigger one of them simply by dragging the mouse around the screen.

The actions included in Mazzick range from basic operations like minimizing all windows or opening a given folder, to more complex functions such as sending an email to someone or searching the selected text on Google. The best thing about Mazzick though is that you can create as many new gestures as you want and associate them with new tasks – always choosing from a closed task list, that is.

Mazzick worked fine during our tests and really proved to be a very handy add-on to improve the way you manage your system. The only drawback, in my opinion, is the fact that you need to draw gestures too accurately: a one-inch misplaced stroke and the gesture won't be recognized.

With Mazzick you'll be able to control the basic tasks in Windows with mouse gestures, provided you draw them accurately.

Download Mazzick 1.0 in Softonic

USB memory sticks are undoubtedly very handy devices to carry and share files anywhere, but the way Windows handles them is still slow and annoying.

Desk Drive can help you manage USB removable devices in a much more comfortable way by automatically creating a desktop shortcut every time you connect a USB device to your computer. This is the way USB memory sticks are usually handled with in Mac OS and Linux, so if you're used to those operating systems and miss that functionality in Windows, you'll love Desk Drive.

The program is really easy to use: simply launch it and it'll rest in silence on the system tray, waiting for the moment you plug a USB device, in which it'll create a desktop shortcut to access the USB content.

Desk Drive makes USB device management easier on Windows, but my advice is to disable the autoplay window, as it interrupts the whole process and makes the program not that useful anymore.

As long as you also disable the autoplay dialog window, Desk Drive makes USB memory device management really comfortable on Windows – just like Mac OS and Linux.

Download Desk Drive 1.6.2 in Softonic

GAG allows you to boot up from a choice of 9 different operating systems. It can boot operating systems installed in primary and extended partitions on any available hard disk.

It doesn't need its own partition. It installs itself in the first track of the hard disk, which is reserved for this type of program. It has a timer to boot a default operating system (selectable by the user).

Hides the primary partitions which allows the user to have installed more than one DOS and/or Windows in the same hard disk. Can exchange disk drives, allowing to boot from the second, third... hard disk operating systems such as MS-DOS. Supports a great variety of keyboards (QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ and DVORAK keyboards). Full support for hard disks up to 4 terabytes (4096 gigabytes).

Download GAG 4.10 in Softonic

If you've got a lot of Windows open at once, it's a real pain to go through each one by one and minimize them.

That's why GameMinimizer offers an excellent solution via a simple application which sits in your tray ready for action at any moment. It works quite simply by minimizing every single window you've got open. Alternatively, you can use GameMinimizer to select a hotkey as the minmizer instead. Unfortunately, this is not customizable - you can only use the combination keys of WIN M or ALT TAB or just F12.

GameMinimizer is very useful in cases where you have several applications open and one of them crashes. Alternatively, it's useful as a "boss" key if you're using windows you shouldn't be in the office. However, the annoying thing is if you've got JavaApplet windows open, it doesn't seem to close them at the same time as other windows which is a bit frustrating or embarrassing depending on what you're doing.

GameMinimizer, despite the name, minimizes everything that's full screen including games, although it will leave certain things behind.

Download GameMinimizer 1.0 in Softonic

Tabs can be created that show the contents of folders. These mini-explorer windows provide true explorer context menu access for folders and files as well as full drag/drop support. Enter richly formatted or plain text notes into note tabs. Each note tab is associated with a text file of your choice anywhere on disk. It offers basic word processing functions but more readily available than your average word processor.

You can browse the web using internet tabs. These tabs offer the rudimentary function you expect from a web browser but with the convenience of being readily available in a screen tab. These are great for sites that you frequent throughout the day like weather, traffic, news, etc. The tab manager is your control panel for Stick. Create, delete, edit tabs on the fly. Tabs are very customizable with the ability to have their font, colors, slide behavior, transparency and more changed quickly and easily. Save groups of settings as templates and apply them to other tabs with the press of a button.

The RSS News Feed Plugin is a simple RSS client that allows users to connect to one or more RSS feeds in a single tab. The plugin supports auto-refresh, auto-pruning and textual previews of items. It will also notify you via popup when new items are downloaded. Only supports RSS 0.91 and RSS 2.0.

Download Stick 2.8.0.82 in Softonic

If you want to access your favorite programs as quickly as possible, you may find Microsoft Speed Launcher interesting.

Microsoft Speed Launcher is an application launcher from which you can access and run your most frequently used programs. Not only does it work with software, but it can also open web pages. Plus the program comes with a few handy shortcuts bundled as an example.

Microsoft Speed Launcher stays on your desktop at all times for quicker access, but being a semi-transparent icon on the bottom right corner it won't disturb you. You can always reduce the size of the icon or hide it completely (in which case you'll have to use a keyboard shortcut to open the launcher).

You can easily customize Microsoft Speed Launcher with your favorite programs, either using the built-in shortcut manager or simply dragging and dropping the executable file on the launcher's icon.

Microsoft Speed Launcher works fine as an app launcher, but it's not certainly the handiest I've seen. I miss having more configuration options plus a more comfy way to access shortcuts. Then again, the program is still under development, so hopefully it'll be improved in future versions.

Microsoft Speed Launcher lets you quickly access applications and websites from a desktop customizable menu.

Download Microsoft Speed Launch 1.0.811.0 in Softonic

Do you get tired of using desktop shortcuts or the Start Menu to access programs in Windows? If so, don't fret because Launchy can make your life a lot easier.

Launchy is a free windows utility designed to help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager. Launchy indexes the programs in your Start Menu and can launch your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks in just a few keystrokes! Launchy is very fast and ultra discreet because it runs quietly in the background or system tray ready for use.

When you need Launchy, simply bring it the fore by holding the Alt key and tapping the space key. Then type in a few letters of the program you are searching for and hit enter once it has been found. To make Launchy disappear, just hit escape or alt+space. It's a bit annoying to have to hit two keys but a small price to pay for a quick launch method such as Launchy.

Launchy can help boost your productivity and cut down the amount of mouse clicking time you need to do every day - you won't be disappointed.

Download Launchy 2.1.2 in Softonic

Using the Windows Command Tool or Run Dialogue still remains a mystery to many people - it's virtually redundant unless you are a system administrator.

Super Run XP (which despite the name also runs on Vista) aims to bring this tool to the masses by making the command tool more accessible and usable via a much friendly user interface. Super Run XP is a bit easier to access than the command tool as it sits in the taskbar and can be called up with the single click of a mouse. You can instantly access the applications on your computer via Super Run XP with the "Open With" icon which gives you a secondary menu of the applications and programs installed on your machine.

With Super Run XP, you can also view and monitor processes on your computer and close down or block those that may be causing problems in the same way as you can with Windows Task Manager. Of course, you can also launch your internet browser using Super Run XP as well as documents and photos. In fact, you can do pretty much anything you'd normally do via your Start menu with Super Run XP but in a slightly quicker way.

Super Run XP doesn't make a huge deal of difference to the speed you can access programs on your computer but it's a handy alternative to a messy Start menu.

Download Super Run XP 2.5 in Softonic

Have you ever wanted to align all the Windows you have open on your desktop Mac OS style?

If so, and this should be standard with Windows in my opinion, allSnap Portable is a small system tray app that makes all top level windows automatically align like they do in programs such as Winamp or Photoshop. Simply double click on the allSnap Portable system tray icon or right click on it and your windows will snap into line.

Once allSnap Portable is up and running, all windows will snap into each other and the desktop while you are re-moving and re-sizing. Alternatively, you can hold down ALT while sizing and moving windows to toggle allSnap Portable on and off if the snapping becomes a bit too annoying (which it can do if you don't particularly want your Windows). You can access the allSnap Portable program settings by clicking on the system tray icon as well.

allSnap Portable is a nice little windows organisation tool that rips of Mac OS a little bit but that's no bad thing in my book.

Download allSnap Portable 1.41 Beta in Softonic

Windows Explorer is certainly not the best file manager out there but fortunately you can make up for its limitations with plug-ins like StExBar.

StExBar adds a new toolbar to Explorer's windows with direct access to some convenient functions in Windows file manager, as well as to other new functions that the plug-in itself adds.

Some of the standard Explorer functions included in StExBar are the ability to rename files, create new folders, open a terminal or show system files; StExBar just makes it easier by enabling you to access them right on the spot.

But probably the best thing about StExBar is the new functions it adds to Explorer, like being able to copy any folder's or file's name to the Clipboard, as well as allowing you to add more customizable commands to the toolbar.

StExBar adds a new toolbar to Windows Explorer with direct access to some of its functions, plus new handy tools and the possibility to add your own.

Download StExBar 1.5.1 in Softonic

Think about it: during a complete working day on your computer you hardly use more than three of four folders, always the same ones, to open and save your documents. Wouldn't it be a good idea then to always have those folders at hand?

With PlacesBar Editor you can easily customize the standard Windows Open/Save dialogs and add your most frequently used folders to the left-side pane (the so called Places bar). This means that you'll be able to access your folders in just one click, instead of having to browse the whole disk structure every time you want to open or save a file. In other words, your workflow will be faster, easier and more productive.

The program lets you choose system folders (Desktop, My PC, My Documents and so on) and also any other folder on your hard drive. There's also a special area for Office shortcuts which you can configure if you use any Office suite app. I liked the "Defaults" function that lets you revert changes very easily, and also the "Test" function that enables you to check how your new places bar will look like. Just one thing: remember to click on "Save" before testing the new places bar; otherwise the changes you've made won't show up.

With PlacesBar Editor you can customize Windows dialogs with your most frequently used folders, thus improving your workflow and making it more productive.

Download Melloware PlacesBar Editor 1.0.9.59 in Softonic

If you're constantly opening new programs throughout your working day, do you realise how much time you could save by using a launch application such as Key Launch Portable?

If you've used a Mac, you'll instantly recognise the format of Key Launch Portable from the Spotlight application on Mac's. With this program however, the small interface appears when you repeatedly press the spacebar or control key. You can also configure other keys to activate the interface in the preference menu.

As you write something in the interface, you'll see the name of the program you want to launch before you've even typed it as Key Launch Portable predicts as you type. You can configure this to recall specific web pages and even documents too according to their name. For example, you can enter 'c' to open the 'calculator' or assign the letter 'w' to open 'Microsoft Word'.

With Key Launch Portable, you'll save precious minutes of your day rather than looking through your Start menu for programs. However, it can sometimes be annoying when it brings up the wrong program which it frequently can do if you have many installed on your PC.

Download Key Launch 1.9 in Softonic

If you're not familiar with file hashes then don't beat yourself up too much about it because you probably won't ever need to think about them. However, if you are interested then basically they are check codes used to identify the validity of files. This is sometimes useful if you're transferring some data from one source to another and want to make sure it's the same packet.

What HashTab does is to put a new tab in the Windows Explorer File Properties menu called 'File Hashes'. Selecting this tab will displaythe hashes used for that particular file, and allows you to quickly compare it to a second file on your system automatically, by clciking the 'Compare a File' button.

If you know what you're doing, then HashTab is very straightforward and serves its purpose well. There's no real help system in the program so if you don't really understand file hashes then don't bother using it.

Download HashTab 2.1 in Softonic

Let's face it: more often than not, we end up using the same apps and opening the same files day after day. So why not use a special launcher to access them in an easier way?

You can Enso Launcher for this purpose: this original app launcher lets you open files, launch applications and run certain commands just by typing the first few letters of their names, which appear written in large print on your screen. So for example, if you want to launch your web browser, just begin typing "open firefox"; by the moment you reach the letter r the browser will already be opened.

Enso Launcher includes a bunch or parameters that have already been configured to use, but you can "teach" the program as many as you want in a very easy way. All parameters must be entered while pressing a certain hotkey, which sometimes feels a bit uncomfortable. This key can be customized but only among a few choices. Apart from that, there are no other configuration settings.

Enso Launcher is an original app launcher with not many configuration options but with a great capacity to learn.

Download Enso Launcher Build 3268 in Softonic

Sometimes the standard Windows toolbar falls short of expectations and you start looking for a replacement toolbar that features more functionality and also looks better on your desktop.

This is precisely what you can get with Gizmo Toolbar, a fully customizable Windows toolbar alternative that gives you instant access to your favorite applications, documents or even websites. What's more, you can group several items together so they're all launched at the same time with just a single click.

The toolbar is completely customizable, from the place it's shown on the desktop when you hit the correspondent hotkey to the skin and layout used in its design, as well as the way it displays buttons for your personal shortcuts. There's certainly a ton of options to choose from, but there's also an important feature missing: apparently there's no support for drag-and-drop, which would definitely be the easiest way to add new shortcuts.

Gizmo Toolbar is part of a more complete suite, so when you're asked to install Gizmo Central don't thing you've got the wrong program. Simply go ahead and you'll install just the toolbar.

Gizmo Toolbar provides you with a complete, fully customizable attractive toolbar with which to replace the standard Windows toolbar and access more features.

Download Gizmo Toolbar 2.6 in Softonic

Anyway you can cut down on launching programs is valuable time saved during your working day.

XStart is one of the simplest program launchers you'll ever use that at the same time speeds up your launch time without being fussy to setup. XStart is a solid alternative to Windows Start Menu although due to improvements in Vista, it's probably more useful to XP users. The program provides a convenient access point to reach all of your favourite programs, shortcuts, folders, documents and websites. You can create custom groups which means you can create groups of programs that you use according to type e.g. work, social, media etc. There are a limited but attractive number of themes to choose from and you'll notice a distinct decrease in the amount of time it takes you to open and close programs. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that programs will always start quickly - if you've got too many temporary files or you haven't defragged your drive, you won't notice much difference.

If you're looking for an easy way to increase your productivity and program startup times, then XStart is limited but easy option.

Download XStart 2.4.1 in Softonic