Looking for an apartment can be hard work. You need to find a place that is affordable, in a good area, nice looking and so many other things, that it can be overwhelming. Sure, a million websites show you the prices for apartments, but sometimes you want to look at apartments while out and about using a dedicated application for your iPhone. What if you are at the apartment and you want to see if the place stacks up to the description?

Fear not, apartment shopper, because with these three US-based iPhone apps, you will be ready to hit the apartment market with your best foot forward and armed with as much knowledge on what is available as possible. Each of these three apps has some great features, and because they are all free, there really is no reason not to download them all! Between the three, it is nearly impossible not to find what you need.

Apartment Guide

This is a great application for finding your next place to live. When you first boot it up, it will ask you to allow it to use your location, if you say yes it will be able to find apartments near you. At first, you can simply tap the “Search Nearby” button, and it will show you the apartments close to you. From the search nearby screen, you can tap refine to narrow the results by price, bedrooms, bathrooms and other parameters.

Clicking any result will bring you to the screen for more details on the apartment. You can quickly click “Call now” to call the place and set up an appointment to see the units. You will also be able to see a detailed description of the units, as well as a breakdown of different models and their prices. They also show amenities, pet policies, community features and special features.

You can also used the advanced search to limit the results it shows you to only ones that meet specific requirements. Of course, if you are not looking for an apartment near you, you can also type in a zip code to search anywhere. Another cool feature is that the app will remember places you have viewed recently as well as those you have called. It also allows you to store any place as a favorite for easy access later.

Trulia

Trulia is a full featured real estate iPhone application that does everything from finding houses for sale, houses that are sold, places that have been reduced in price, open houses and of course apartments for rent. To view the places available for rent, simply tap “For Rent” from the main screen. By default, the application will show you an aerial map view of all the places available in your proximity. You can tap any of them for a more detailed view.

If you do not enjoy looking at a map, you can tap the list button on the bottom right of the screen to view the apartments in an easy to read format. You can also tap the magnifying glass symbol to search using location,  minimum and maximum rent, the number of bedrooms, bathrooms and other things that are important in your search.

You can add places to favorites, but you must create a free account with Trulia. The nice thing about this is that you can get access to your favorites from another device or computer. Trulia, while not as easy to navigate as some apps, is your one stop real estate iPhone application.

MyApartmentMap

This app is incredibly streamlined and easy to navigate. It launches a simple screen that asks, “Where do you want your apartment?” The front page also features any places you have saved on the bottom. To start your search, simply enter a zip code or city into the box and click “Search!”

The results will start with a list, showing you all the apartments for rent in the area. You can scroll through these to find the one you like. At the top of the screen is where you can customize how you view the results. You can click “Map,” which, you guessed it, shows the results on a map. You can also click “Data,” which is an awesome feature that shows averages for the apartments in your results. You can see the average rents based on size and other data about the places you are looking for. You can also view deals on apartments in your area by clicking on the “Deals” tab.

On the top left of the screen you can click “Filter” to tweak the results. Do you need an apartment that will let you keep your dog? Do you need a place that is under $1,000 a month? Well from this screen, you can customize all that and more.

Conclusion

With these three applications, you will be ready to find the perfect place to live, for the right price and in a great location. They make finding an apartment as simple and painless as possible. The best part is; you can take them with you while looking at the places, to make sure they stack up to their description.

Image Credit: ShutterStock

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The internet can be a dirty place. No, I am not referring to the adult websites that are all over the place; I am referring to the fact that many websites are covered with junk that you do not want to see. If you go to a website to read an article, it would be convenient to be able to see the article. If you go to YouTube to watch a video, it would be amazing to watch it without a million suggested videos and comments detracting from your enjoyment.

Thanks to these three Chrome extensions, you can now have the clean web browsing experience you wanted all along. All your favorite articles and videos can be as clean as you always dreamt them to be.

The three extensions that I am going to highlight today will remove all the garbage from websites and leave you with a clean and shiny viewing experience. If you have a hard time concentrating and dealing with distractions, these extensions are tailor-made for you.

Clea.nr

Clea.nr is a simple extension. It cleans up YouTube and Amazon, and makes them much more pleasant places to be. It seems like YouTube keeps adding more and more stuff, making it less about the video you are watching now, and more about the video you need to watch next. Clea.nr solves that by removing everything but the video you are watching, and a search bar.

If that is not enough, you can also click the “Dim Lights” link right below the video to have the background fade. This way, it is even easier to lock in on the video and forget about everything that is going on around it.

The program works the same way for Amazon. It clears out all the extras Amazon shows you around the side of the screen, and simply shows the search results. This makes Amazon easier to navigate. It also prevents Amazon from up selling you to something you do not need.

TidyRead

We have covered TidyRead before, but it has made many improvements with this new extension. TidyRead is designed to clean up the websites you read. It removes all the extras and only shows you the article you are reading. I have to say, please support the websites you love by not blocking the ads completely, but instead use a program like this to hide them just while you are actively reading an article.

Tidy is packed with features. You can set it on automatic, so as soon as you click on an article it cleans it. You can choose to set it to manual, so it only cleans up an article when you click the icon next to the address bar.

Once you are looking at an article, there are all kinds of options. You can change the font size, color, background and so much more. The settings appear at the top of the article, and are easy to access and change.

If you are looking to make more changes, you can right-click the extension’s icon and go to options. From here, you can fine-tune the program even more. In the settings screen you can choose whether you want TidyRead to be automatic or manual.

Clearly by Evernote

For Evernote users, this should be your go to program. It does not offer as much customization as TidyRead, but it does allow you to tweak the color palette for the article. It cleans up the article and shows you only the important parts. To clean up an article, simply click the extension’s icon next to the address bar.

The thing that makes Clearly so great is the ability to quickly clip the article to your Evernote account for later reading. When you are viewing a cleaned up article, simply click on the Evernote logo on the right side of the screen, and it will automatically be saved to your Evernote account. This is awesome if you are in the middle of reading something and you have to stop for one reason or another.

Another nice feature of Clearly is the ability to print an article quickly. On the right side there is a little printer icon. Click that and Clearly will print the cleaned up version of the article.

Conclusion

With these three extensions, you will be ready to visit a clutter free internet. Just remember, websites rely on ads to give you free content, so support them and at least check out the ads before you clean everything up!

Did these extensions make browsing the web more pleasant? Let us know in the comments.

Image Credit: ShutterStock

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/car_speedometer_fast.jpg" alt="" />Today’s computers have hardware that do some pretty astounding work. This is especially true when comparing today’s hardware with the hardware from 5+ years back. However, today’s workloads have also been increased alongside the power increase of hardware. In that respect, people have been trying to find ways to make applications run more efficiently on their machines in order to get maximum performance.

However, there’s one technique that is rarely used. In fact, it’s much different from the common advice to close applications you don’t need. So what is this secret technique?

What Is Process Prioritization?

Process prioritization has existed in href="http://www.makeuseof.com/service/windows">Windows for quite a while now, but it hasn’t really been used by most people because it’s hidden in a pretty technical corner of your computer. Whenever a process, or running application, has an assigned priority, the system will try its best to allocate its resources (which will be primarily the amount of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/cpu/">CPU power) to fit the process’s needs based on its priority. So theoretically, the higher the priority, the faster the application should run.

How To Do It

There are two ways in order to do this. First, you can change the priority of processes through the task manager (Ctrl + Alt + Del) by right clicking on each process and changing the priority. However these changes disappear once the process ends, and it takes time to apply those priorities to multiple processes. You also can’t create “rules” for new processes. Here’s where a nifty little program comes in.

About Process Prioritizer

Process Prioritizer makes managing process priorities easier than with just the Task Manager. With Process Prioritizer, you can essentially create rules for Windows to follow for any processes that you choose. You can even choose to change the priority of system processes if you run the program as an administrator, but only do it if you’re 500% sure what you’re doing. However, you’ll need to install it first in order to make changes.

Installation

For installation, you’ll need to go to href="http://www.officeworldsolutions.com/freeware.html">this site, scroll to the very bottom, and hit the last download link. Go through the setup wizard as normal, and you should now have an entry in your start menu. Go ahead and click on it, and a tray icon should now appear. Right click on it and select Open to start the configuration.

The Program

As you can see, the window isn’t exactly stylish, but for a fairly administrative task you can’t really ask for much in that department. There are a couple of tabs for configuration, and each tab only has a certain option.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/process_prioritizer_operation_tab.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="440" />

The “Operation” tab allows you to choose how it should update the process priorities. I would recommend leaving it at the default setting as it’s the fastest without using up a lot of CPU power.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/process_prioritizer_normal_tab.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="434" />

The next four tabs simply allow you to enter in the names of processes for each level of priority. Real-time is the highest, and Idle is the lowest. Note that putting in process names in the Normal tab won’t do anything unless the operating system launches that process at a different priority by default, which I wouldn’t recommend touching.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/process_prioritizer_current_processes_tab.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="449" />

Also, when entering processes, don’t forget to add “.exe” to the end. So for example, you can add “chrome.exe” to change the priority of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/google-chrome/">Google Chrome. You can find out the name of the process you’re looking for in the task manager or in the tab labeled “Current Processes“. In that tab, you can confirm that the targeted process has changed priorities.

Conclusion

Like I mentioned above, the positive effects are theoretical. There isn’t a guarantee that it’ll bring much, but it’s always worth a try. Through personal experience I’ve seen that processes that don’t have a graphical part to it (like a GUI) have the most benefit from it. Chrome sometimes benefits from it, being faster one time and it feels like it’s stumbling over itself another time. It’s always best to try it out as you might get some much appreciated speed.

What’s your favorite way of speeding up your system? What has worked, and what hasn’t worked that you thought might have? Let us know in the comments!

Image Credit: href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-55441261.html" rel="nofollow">Shutterstock

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/java_logo.jpg" alt="" />There are plenty of people I know who’d like to know how to program, yet they’re confused by how to start and what the general ideas of programming are. In addition, there are a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/programming-language-learn-software-development/">large number of programming languages to choose from, so choosing the right one to start out with may be a little difficult for the inexperienced programmer. This article will help you get started with a relatively easy to learn language.

Why Java?

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/java/">Java is my programming language of choice when trying to learn the concepts of programming. This is because Java is very cross-platform, has a fairly readable syntax (compared to other languages), and there are many tools that can make developing in Java a fairly easy task. Before we begin, make sure that you have the href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html">JDK installed, as you won’t be able to do a thing without it.

Parts Of Java

Java programs are separated into classes. Technically each class is its own program, but you can work with numerous classes to make a larger, more complex program while maintaining good code organization. At least one of those classes needs to be the main class, or contain a main method. A method is a chunk of code that executes when you simply call the name of the method. The main method is required as Java looks for this method to start the program. You can pass parameters to other methods if you’d like, allowing the method to take input and do something with it.

Variables

More than likely you’ll also need to store information at certain points. These are variables, or sometimes called fields, that hold the information. You have to specify the type of variable so that Java knows what you’re trying to hold. This includes things like true/false (boolean), numbers (int, long, double, etc.), and much more. As Java can support object-oriented programming, you can even hold instances of a class in a variable.

Example

As an example, here is a class that would simply print out the number 6 onto the screen:

public class makeuseof /> { /> public static void main (String args[]) /> { /> int myNum = 6; /> System.out.println(myNum); /> } /> }

2 Recommended Applications

There are two applications I would recommend that will help you during your programming adventures.

Greenfoot

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/greenfoot_running.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="412" />

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/learn-write-programs-java-greenfoot/">Greenfoot is a very fun way to get the hang of programming, as you can see any changes you make to the code in a video game setting. Additionally, there is a great community that can give help, ideas, and much more. So if you want a visual programming experience, Greenfoot is a great way to get started.

Geany

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/geany_open.jpg" alt="" width="572" height="502" />

For those who want to have a good enough editor to do the nitty gritty programming, I recommend using href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/geany-great-lightweight-code-editor-linux/">Geany. It is available for all operating systems, is relatively lightweight, and simply gets the job done. There are indeed lots of other editors that people can choose from, and they’re welcome to use those instead, but my recommendation stays with Geany.

2 Recommended Websites

There are a couple of websites that can help you out if this introduction didn’t make much sense.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/javanotes_content.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="416" />

First is “ href="http://math.hws.edu/javanotes/">Javanotes 6.0” which provides a much more lengthy but complete explanation of basic Java programming concepts. Here you’ll find loads of information and some programming exercises. If you have the time for it, it’s a great read.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/howstuffworks_java.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="433" />

Lastly, you can also check out href="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/program.htm">HowStuffWorks’ page on Java. It also includes some information and guides you to making your first program. This is another interesting read, and involves a different first problem than the traditional “Hello World” example.

Conclusion

Getting started with Java isn’t as hard as it seems. With some time and practice you’ll get the hang of it, and from there you can build more complex programs that provides more functionality. Additionally, if you master the programming concepts, it’ll be easier to learn other programming languages as a large portion of the learning process is simply different syntax.

Let us know what your Java apps and tools are in the comments below.

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class="align-right"src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gnome_pie_intro.jpg" alt="launch applications linux"/>Over the years, we’ve changed a lot about the way we try to launch our applications. Out of all the operating systems out there, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/service/linux">Linux seems to be the experimental playground to try out different methods of launching applications. First it was typing in their name on the command line, then there were menus, then there was href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-launch-linux-applications-flash-gnome/">Gnome-Do, and recently there was href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/quickly-find-search-launcher-app-synapse-ubuntu/">Synapse.

However, all those have slowly faded, and a new, promising solution has appeared which already offers an effective way to launch your applications in Linux.

About GNOME Pie

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gnome_pie_multimedia.jpg" alt="launch applications linux" width="580" height="422" /> /> href="https://github.com/Simmesimme/Gnome-Pie">GNOME Pie is the latest piece of software that lets you launch any of your applications, favorite locations, and more using a hotkey combination and your mouse. When configured correctly, it seems to be very effective for users, but also visually appealing. So you have been warned: work comes before play.

Installation

The program can be easily installed via href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/ubuntu">Ubuntu thanks to its system of personal repositories, while users of other Linux distributions will have to compile it themselves (if you’re willing to do that, then you probably don’t need my help with that). So, in Ubuntu, you can run the following commands to add the repository, update your package lists, and install the new package:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:simonschneegans/testing /> sudo apt-get update /> sudo apt-get install gnome-pie

Usage

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gnome_pie_applications.jpg" alt="launch apps linux" width="580" height="433" /> /> Once that completes, you need to launch GNOME Pie via your terminal by entering gnome-pie. The application will, for now, run from the terminal, so if you close the terminal, you close GNOME Pie, but we will fix this shortly. Once it is opened, you can get the feel for it by playing around with it for a while. The default hotkeys are: View Bookmarks: Ctrl+Alt+B, Multimedia: Ctrl+Alt+M, Sessions: Ctrl+Alt+Q, Applications: Ctrl+Alt+A, Main Menu: Ctrl+Alt+A, Space and Windows: Ctrl+Alt+W. To exit, you can either hit Esc or simply right-click.

Settings

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gnome_pie_options1.jpg" alt="launch apps linux" width="557" height="580" /> /> Once you’ve had a little fun (or just want to go to the settings first), you can do that by clicking on the very nice looking system indicator (aka tray icon) and clicking on settings. In the General tab, you can choose things like whether you want it to startup on login, whether it should show an indicator, “turbo mode”, the overall size of the entire pie, and which theme you’d like to use. Ubuntu users will probably use the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ubuntu-1104-unity-big-leap-linux/">Unity theme as that is Ubuntu’s shell. GNOME 3 users will probably want to use Adwaita to keep everything uniform.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gnome_pie_options2.jpg" alt="launch applications linux" width="553" height="580" /> /> In the Pies tab, you can change any number of aspects for each pie. You can add new pies, add new slices, delete some as well, and change the hotkey combination to launch each pie. The exact configuration is up to you, so there isn’t much else I can say here. Configure as you please!

More Love

Now that you’ve configured everything to your liking, you can play around some more. Launching applications is very intuitive. After pressing the hotkey (Ctrl+Alt+Space), you’ll be presented with the different categories, where you can then click on one and get a different set of items on your pie, according to the category that you have chosen.

Conclusion

That’s it! GNOME Pie is easy to install, configure, and use, and its visual appeal is also very much appreciated. Now you can launch all your applications and folders quickly and in style. In time we’ll see whether GNOME Pie is just another fad like Synapse, or whether this little app is going to stick around for quite some time. Personally, I like it and hope that it gets to stay around.

Windows users, are you jelly yet? (For those who don’t know, “jelly” is slang among American youth for “jealous”.)

What are your opinions of GNOME Pie? Out of all the application launchers, which was your favorite? Why? Let us know in the comments!

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/image-98.jpg" alt="android application permissions" />Here’s an interesting question: why does an application such as a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dragonplay.blackjack&feature=top-free">Blackjack game require permission to send out SMS messages on your behalf, or read your phone identity? I’m not singling out this one application – it just popped up in a casual stroll through the market. The fact of the matter is that there are numerous applications that require very invasive permissions, and could potentially cost you money in all sorts of sneaky ways.

One solution is to just avoid such applications; Another solution may be to install them, but selectively deny their invasive permissions. That’s what href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.stericson.permissions">Permissions Denied for Android offers.  But since Permissions Denied modifies basic system settings, you will need a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/root-android-phone-superoneclick-2">rooted Android device to try it out.

As you start the app, you’re greeted with an inspiring quote from Yoda and a list of apps and their permissions:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/image-99.jpg" alt="android application permissions" width="300" height="500" />

Okay, so the graphics on that header could be a touch more polished, but we’re not here for the pretty looks. Let’s scroll down the list and tap Words With Friends to see what permissions Zynga’s scrabble clone requires.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/image-100.jpg" alt="android application permissions set" width="300" height="500" />

Instead of outputting a bunch of permission names and letting you figure out what they mean on your own, Permissions Denied takes the time to explain in elaborate detail what each and every permission means. The descriptions are clear and don’t use difficult jargon. Under each permission you can clearly see its current status.

I am not quite sure why Zynga needs access to all contact information stored on my phone. Let’s disable that permission:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/image-101.jpg" alt="android application permissions set" width="300" height="500" />

This is where we see the first root prompt. I gave Permissions Denied root access, of course. Once I did that, there was a notification asking me to wait for a few seconds, and then the READ_CONTACTS message was changed:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/image-102.jpg" alt="android application permissions set" width="300" height="177" />

There’s a bit of a contrast issue with the text and the background color, so I’ll type out the message here: “This permission will be disabled AFTER a reboot”. Alright, so we need to reboot. Tapping the Menu button reveals a single handy option:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/image-103.jpg" alt="android permissions app" width="300" height="500" />

How convenient. After tapping the menu option, Permissions Denied popped up a verification prompt, and once I confirmed, the phone rebooted.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/image-104.jpg" alt="android permissions app" width="300" height="500" />

After rebooting, I opened Permissions again and tapped Words With Friends to see if the permission was indeed disabled:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/image-105.jpg" alt="android application permissions" width="299" height="178" />

Indeed, the permission was disabled. That means Words With Friends can no longer access the contact information on my phone, and I’ve regained just a tad more privacy by sharing less of my personal information with Zynga.

Caveats

Before you try Permissions Denied, there are a couple of important issues you should be aware of:

• Some applications may force-close if you disable their permissions. Obviously, not all permissions are there for nefarious purposes, and applications may try to use them at any time. It is strictly up to the developer to control how an application reacts when it doesn’t have permission to perform a certain activity. In simple terms, this means some apps may crash after you’ve denied them permissions. If that happens, you should be able to restore the permission and use the app again. Incidentally, Words With Friends worked just fine even after I denied its READ_CONTACTS permission.
• Permissions Denied does not work on all phones, even if they’re rooted. The real test is the reboot: Once you deny a permission, reboot your phone and go back into Permissions Denied (as I did above). If the permission is still denied, it obviously worked. Otherwise, the permission would simply be marked as “Active”, as if you haven’t tried to disable it at all. The developer isn’t sure why this happens — he speculates it may be due to different ROMs.

Bottom Line

Permissions Denied is a worthwhile app, if only for the educational value. You might be surprised to discover what permissions certain apps require on your device, and what each permission means. Since it’s a completely free and open-source app, you’ve got nothing to lose by trying it out. If it works, you’ll gain that much more privacy and control over your data. To install it, go to the href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.stericson.permissions">Permissions Denied page on the Android Market.

Read comments: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/control-permissions-applications-permissions-denied-android/#disqus_thread">Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here …

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If the sixteen function keys (typically called F-keys) on your Mac keyboard are not being clicked regularly, you might be missing out on their time-saving uses.

If you rarely use these keys, launch System Preferences on your Mac and click Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts. In the resulting open window, click on Display in the left column and you will see by default that keys F14 and F15 are assigned to decrease and increase brightness of your computer screen. Under Exposé & Spaces the F9, F10, and F11 keys are assigned to “All windows”, “Application windows”, “Desktop,” respectively. If you have never used these keys, just click them and you‘ll see what they do.

The F-keys on your Mac keyboard can be a powerful set of application and Finder item launchers, saving you the trouble of burrowing through the Finder and bookmarks to launch say iCal, Address Book, your favorite websites, and other items. So why use the F-keys when you can simply launch items from the Dock? Well, sometimes the Dock may get overcrowded with applications. At the same time, it can be much faster to click say F5 to quickly launch iCal, your Dropbox folder, or your bank account website.

Empowering F-keys

If your F-keys are not being used, there are two ways you can assign functions to them. You can download a paid app called href="http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/11517/function-keys-mapper">Function Keys Mapper, and/or you can use Automator in your Applications folder to build workflows that you can be activated by your F-keys. There are href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/search/?cx=009717636731598800244%3Aqhe4rh7wuxs&cof=FORID%3A11&q=automator+&sa=%C2%A0">several articles on MUO that explain how to use Automator. You can also download my href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/awesome-automation-guide-mac-users-download/">MUO Awesome Automation Guide for Mac Users to learn more. But I’ll briefly take you through an exercise that shows you how to set up an Automator workflow for launching a website (in this case, MakeUseOf.com) that in turn can be activated by an assigned F-Key.

Star off by launching Automator. Select the Services template and click, “Choose.” /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/servicesaction.png" width="540" height="501" /> /> Change the “Service receives selected,” drop-down button to “URLs” in “any application.” This simply means that the action you are building will appear in the Internet section of the Keyboard Shortcuts, in System Preferences. It also indicates that this workflow will work in any application. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/urlservice1.png" width="572" height="357" /> /> Now click on the Internet actions in the Automator Library.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/internetactions.png" width="374" height="386" />

Slide the following two action in the main workflow window: “Get Specified URLs”, followed by “Display Webpages.” /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/muoscreenshot467.png" width="574" height="396" /> /> Change the default Apple URL in the first action to the ”http://makeuseof.com” URL or any site you wish. Notice that you can add a series of URLs if you like, and you will be able to open them all in one single click. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/muoscreenshot468.png" width="574" height="365" /> /> Click the Run button on the top-right side of the Automator toolbar to make sure the workflow is set correctly.

Click on File > Save, and give the workflow a name, such as “Open MUO.”

Assign a Function Key

Now open System Preferences and click on Keyboard. Select Keyboard Shortcuts, and then Services. You should find your Automator workflow under the Internet section. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/services.png" width="580" height="331" />

Select the workflow and click inside it. In the blank space, click and assign an F-key that will activate your workflow—i.e. launch your designated website(s). If your selected F-key is not accepted it means that it’s being used for another application or Finder item. After your F-key is applied, it’s ready to use. While it took a few minutes to put together this workflow, you’ll gain back that time and more when you can simply open your chosen website with a click of a button.

F-keys and Modifier Keys

You are not limited to using single F-keys as hotkeys. You can add one or more modifier keys to create a hotkey.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/modifier.png" width="408" height="108" /> /> For example, your hotkey could be Command+Option+F4, or any combination you can remember best.

Other Activations

Now that you have created your fist Automator action and assigned an F-key to it, go back to Automator and check out many of the other types of workflows you can create to assign F-keys to. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/servicesactions.png" width="145" height="292" /> /> In similar fashion, you could create a workflow to open a designated folder, e.g. your Downloads folder, or a similar action for creating a new mail message to someone or a company that you write to on a regular basis. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/newmailmessage.png" width="555" height="367" />

For you Mac laptop users who want to customize the function keys on your portable Mac, check out Jackson’s article about how to href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/flip-out-your-function-keys-with-functionflip-mac/">Switch Your Mac Function Keys with FunctionFlip.

For more about Mac keyboard shortcuts, check out href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-secrets-of-mac-shortcuts/">How to Master the Power of Mac Shortcut Keys.

Let me know how this is tutorial works for you, and feel free to share other tips you know for using the F-keys on your Mac.

Image Credit: rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-75857092/stock-photo-sphere-made-of-computer-keyboard-keys-over-white-isolated.html">Shutterstock.com />
/> href="http://flashvideodownloader.org/fvd-suite/track/s/makeuseof">Download videos from the sites like YouTube, Break.com etc. Convert videos to almost any format. /> href="http://flashvideodownloader.org/fvd-suite/track/s/makeuseof"> src="http://flashvideodownloader.org/fvd-suite/banners/aban3.gif">

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Read comments: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fkeys-launching-applications-finder-items-mac/#disqus_thread">Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here …

 

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/agt_update_recommended.png"/>When you’re pretty addicted to trying new applications like we are around this part of the web, our machines quickly become victims of heavy digital battery. To safeguard our computers, it’s always a good idea to use href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/portable-software-usb/">portable applications whenever possible. The application in question cannot store program settings or make changes in the Windows Registry so it poses little to no danger to our systems. However, the selection of portable applications may not always include a lesser-known or new application that we desperately want to test out, so the next best thing is to test drive them in isolated environments.

You might think it’s extra work to isolate these applications because you always keep your antivirus software updated and won’t ever think of downloading obscure software anyway. Yet practicing this type of caution by using special isolating software will likely be more beneficial in the long run. Having a computer overrun by viruses will not only be hair-splitting, but may also lead you to spend money to replace a machine that could have perfectly lived longer.

Let’s see then how you can protect your machine by isolating potentially unsafe applications.

Running Programs In Isolated Sandboxes

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/33.png" alt="" width="452" height="482" />We first took a good, long look at href="http://www.sandboxie.com/index.php?DownloadSandboxie">Sandboxie href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cool-programs-safe-from-hackers/">here, where we discussed how this Windows-only program creates virtual layers upon which programs can operate normally, that is, can perform read and write operations without permanently affecting your hard drive. href="http://www.sandboxie.com/index.php?DownloadSandboxie">Sandboxie basically runs your applications in isolated instances, namely sandboxes, so you can safely test drive even new or little-known programs that could potentially be unsafe.

After you install Sandboxie and its system-level drivers, you’ll see a yellow icon on the system tray and you’ll also be offered an online tutorial, which should open up in a web-browser that you can run sandboxed or not. Aside from letting you run a sandboxed web browser, Sandboxie lets you run sandboxed email programs, programs from the Start menu, executable programs or even from Windows Explorer.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/41.png" alt="" width="415" height="324" />

Sandboxie might be useful in many cases where you simply aren’t sure of how safe a program is, but you’re still curious to try it. Since it isolates that program from the rest of your system, you’re pretty much safe to install it and dispose of it if you don’t like it or encounter a problem. Destroying that sandbox is a matter of either closing the running programs in that instance or removing the specific sandbox. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/53.png" alt="" width="470" height="455" />Even if you have many programs in that sandbox, the entire session is cleaned up with a one click.

Additional uses for Sandboxie could be loading up a program that you don’t really need to have installed but might need to use it once in a blue moon, like ImgBurn or uTorrent. You could also use Sandboxie to load up additional instances of a running program, like a second instance of, say, Firefox so you can log on to your secondary Google Account and what not. It’s a pretty nice way to use programs safely since they fully work without limitations or incompatibilities. In fact, it’s pretty hard to tell apart from a regular, non-sandboxed running application. The only way to distinguish the sandboxed program is by looking at the title bar of the window. /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/63.png" alt="" width="546" height="475" />

Sandboxie is free for personal use, but the free version allows not more than one sandbox running at a time. While Sandboxie is pretty popular, there are similar applications that can provide a sandboxed environment for a program. Among these are href="http://www.evalaze.de/en/Evalaze-Softwarevirtualisierung-Evalazer/">Evalaze, href="http://www.gentlesecurity.com/geswall.html">GeSWaLL, href="http://www.trustware.com/BufferZone-Pro/">BufferZone Pro, href="http://icoresoftware.com/">iCore Virtual Accounts, and the former href="http://download.cnet.com/Software-Virtualization-Solution-SVS/3000-2651_4-10516806.html?tag=mncol;1">Altiris Software Virtualization Solution (SVS), for which I’ve found no way of obtaining a personal license.

Undoing System Changes After Installing A Program

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/71.jpg" alt="" width="540" height="426" /> href="http://www.returnilvirtualsystem.com/">Returnil System Safe Free is a program for Windows that basically lets your machine revert back to its original system status after a reboot. Download it href="http://download.cnet.com/Returnil-System-Safe-Free-2011/3000-2239_4-10704691.html?tag=mncol;1">here. What Returnil does is it clones your operating system, creating a virtual environment, which will be loaded in lieu of your original OS when you restart your system after installing Returnil. This will allow you to run or install even the most obscure programs without getting your computer infected since it will undo everything and return to its original state on the next system restart. Though it uninstalls any program you might have installed in your virtual environment, you can still save documents and files to a flash drive so you’ll have those even after a restart. Returnil might be one of the easiest ways on this list to roll back the system after you’ve tested out potentially unsafe applications, as all you need to do is restart the system, but a drawback is that you cannot install programs that require you to reboot after installation, which will promptly revert back to the original, unadulterated state.

Forget Installing – Just Run Windows Applications From Your Browser

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/81.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="221" />If you don’t want to install another program to help you isolate applications, you might want to check href="http://spoon.net/">Spoon, a website that runs a type of revolutionary virtualization software to stream desktop applications to your Windows machine. We have href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/spoon-runs-windows-desktop-applications-browser/">covered it in detail before. With Spoon, you can run any of the supported Windows desktop applications using just your browser and the downloadable Spoon plugin. Supported applications include popular web browsers like Google Chrome and Firefox, even productivity apps and games. The selection of supported apps consists of mostly popularly-used applications on Windows, for which you won’t notice the differences compared to a natively-running Windows application.

We also discussed a different type of application virtualization with href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-groups-portable-applications-cameyo-windows/">Cameyo, href="http://www.vmlite.com/index.php/products/vmlite-virtualapps-studio/overview">VMLite VirtualApps Studio, and href="http://enigmaprotector.com/en/aboutvb.html">Enigma Virtual Box, all of which are free programs that let you href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/pac-easily-create-portable-apps-programming-knowledge-required-windows/">create portable applications from programs you already have installed. On a related not, see also our homebrewed workaround to href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-make-skype-work-on-a-portable-usb-stick/">create a portable version from Skype, and also see href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/build-customized-portable-fast-operating-system-slax/">how to build your own portable OS with Slax.

Do you tend to download lots of applications on your primary machine? If so, do you use any of these programs?

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/0-evernote-intro.jpg" alt="do more with evernote" />When you test as much software as I do on a fairly regular basis, you tend to notice which apps you rely on and which ones fall off your radar after a while. href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/evernote/">Evernote, which is a handy note-taking and web clipping utility, isn’t necessarily one of those apps that I’ve been using regularly, but it is one that I keep coming back to again and again, and I’m always looking for ways to incorporate it into my routine.

Did you ever notice how the most popular apps & platforms have lots of additional add-ons and extensions that were created for them? Evernote is no different – check out the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/evernote-trunk-evernote-addons/">Evernote Trunk and you’ll see. In this article, I’ll show you a few of the simple applications that will help you do even more with Evernote.

1. href="http://readitlaterlist.com/">Read It Later

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Screen-shot-2011-04-21-at-8.40.50-AM.png" alt="do more with evernote" width="320" height="479" />

While it’s easy to copy text from a website to read later in Evernote, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/read-multiplatform-app-save-information-read/">Read It Later makes this process even easier.

Read It Later gives you an easy way to copy text from a website to read later in Evernote. The service’s bookmarklet makes reproducing the contents of a webpage simple with just the click of a button, and the iOS app comes with Evernote integration built-in. What’s good about that is it allows you to take your archive of pages on the go.

I also recommend you check out Instapaper, another great app that functions a lot like Read It Later.

2. href="http://www.catalystwo.com/web/FastFinga.html">FastFinga

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GEnRjcuvqgI?fs=1&hl=en_US" /> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="430" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GEnRjcuvqgI?fs=1&hl=en_US" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always">

Livescribe smartpens are great because they keep a digital record of the things that you write and draw with them, but if you don’t have one, FastFinga could function as a suitable replacement. This iOS app lets you write your messages by hand on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch.

You can link up your Evernote account and store the messages you’ve written there. The service’s handwriting recognition will transform what you’ve written into searchable text, which is really cool if you ask me.

3. href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/twipple-for-iphone/id400193255?mt=8">Twipple

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Screen-shot-2011-04-21-at-8.44.42-AM.jpg" alt="evernote apps" width="320" height="480" />

Twipple isn’t the most well-known or widely used Twitter client for iOS devices that’s out there, but it integrates with Evernote really well. With Twipple, your tweets can be saved to notebooks and tagged, allowing you to refer back to them later. This is especially useful considering Twitter Search only displays tweets for up to 2 weeks.

4. Twitter: href="https://twitter.com/#!/myen">@myEN

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Screen-shot-2011-04-21-at-8.45.20-AM.png" alt="evernote apps" width="498" height="139" />

Okay, this isn’t an app as such, but I felt I had to include it here because it is very handy. @myEN, which href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/archive-your-twitter-tweets-into-your-evernote-account-with-myen/">Mark covered a while back, is a Twitter account that lets you save tweets straight into Evernote. Using this service is simple. All you have to do is follow @myEN on Twitter and you will be direct messaged a link that will let you link up your Twitter and Evernote accounts. Afterwards, just add @myEN to the end of the tweets you would like to save.

5. href="http://voice2note.dial2do.com/">Voice2Note

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Screen-shot-2011-04-22-at-12.59.29-PM.png" alt="do more with evernote" width="356" height="81" />

Evernote already allows you to record voice notes, but they aren’t searchable and you have no cut and paste functionality. With Voice2Note, however, you can convert audio notes into text to make them easily searchable. Simply connect your Evernote account and the first 30 seconds of your notes will be transcribed.

Conclusion

If you aren’t a fan of Evernote but you like the idea of a web clipping utility, be sure to check out Saikat’s article on the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ditching-evernote-check-5-free-web-clipping-alternatives/">5 best Evernote alternatives.

What are some of your favorite Evernote add-ons? />
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class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/0-4sq-apps.png" alt="foursquare applications" height="200" />With the recent spike in smartphone usage and the emergence of the tablet PC, geolocation apps are starting to pick up steam rather quickly. I’ve personally seen stories in the news of companies teaming up with services like href="http://www.scvngr.com/">SCVNGR and href="http://foursquare.com/">Foursquare for some pretty cool campaigns, and I think we’re going to be seeing a lot more of that this year.

I originally wrote about href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/check-mayor-favorite-venues-foursquare/">Foursquare - and its href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-locationbased-alternatives-foursquare/">alternatives - back in July. Have you been utilizing these geolocation apps since then? If you have, good for you. If not, no worries, you still have time to get into them. As I’m about to show you, in fact, there are a lot of cool Foursquare applications out there (like href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/foursquare-photos-automatically-transferred-flickr-flicksquare/">Flicksquare) that complement the service really well, thus making it more useful.

id="more-66422"> /> Foursquare recently held a Hack Day in New York, where developers from around the country gathered to write apps on top of the company’s  href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/api-good-technology-explained/">API. I’ll talk about a few of those in this article, as well as some of the other creative apps I’ve seen.

1. href="http://4squareand7yearsago.com/">Foursquare & 7 Years Ago

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/1-4sq-apps.jpg" alt="foursquare applications" width="580" height="393" />

The first Foursquare application I would like to talk about, because it’s really cool, is Foursquare & 7 Years Ago. If you’ve been using Foursquare for a long time, this could be a very interesting app for you. All you do is sign in with your Foursquare account and Foursquare & 7 Years Ago will start sending you daily reminders of places you’ve checked into in the past. If you’d like to see where you were a year ago today, it can get you that information.

2. href="http://agora-app.heroku.com/">Agora

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/2-4sq-apps.jpg" alt="foursquare app" width="576" height="469" />

If you’d like to use your Foursquare information to connect with like-minded people on Twitter, you can do that with Agora. No one seems to be sure exactly how it makes its selections, but Agora will introduce you to people you have common interests with in real-time using your Twitter graph. It’ll also send you a tweet when it finds you’ve checked in somewhere with someone who is interesting.

3. href="http://fourgraph.me/">FourGraph

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/3-4sq-apps.png" alt="foursquare app" width="578" height="273" />

If you would like to be able to visualize your data from Foursquare in the form of an infographic, check out FourGraph. In just one click, you can grant the app access to your account and it will automatically pull all of your data onto a page where you can visualize it in different ways. Maps, pie charts, and statistics will all be displayed for you.

4. href="http://foursquare.heroku.com/">Foursquare Lists

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/4_4sq_apps.png" alt="foursquare app" width="391" height="230" />

I can honestly say I’m a pretty big fan of lists, and Foursquare Lists lets you create a curated list of venues around any topic (e.g. bars). You can use this app to create fun lists of things to do in the cities you frequent and can be shared with your friends. To create one, you just enter the name of the list and add venues by their venue number.

5. href="http://www.wheredoyougo.net/">Where Do You Go

Where Do You Go is an interesting app, especially if you check into a lot of different places. Essentially what it does is let you visually see the places you usually hang out at, giving you a visual representation in the form of a heat map.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/5-4sq-apps.png" alt="foursquare applications" width="579" height="268" />

When you use Where Do You Go, you’ll be asked to sign into your Google account first. This is because the app utilizes Google Maps, so it may not even ask you to complete this step if you’re already signed into your Google account. Anyway, then you can log in with your Foursquare credentials to grant the app access to your data.

Once you create your map, you can tweak the settings to get it to look how you want, then you can take a snapshot of it and share with others.

If you like Where Do You Go, href="http://badgeassistant.appspot.com/">Badge Assistant is a similar app you should investigate. It shows you where all of your friends have earned their badges using Google Maps as well.

What are your favorite Foursquare applications? />
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class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/netbookappsthumb.gif" alt="best netbook applications" width="300" height="201" />Netbooks, and other small ultra-portable computers including Windows tablets, are well loved because of their small footprint and light weight. However, netbooks are far less powerful than the typical notebook PC, which means they can have trouble running applications that other PCs have no problem with.

This means that anyone who wants a snappy netbook needs to pick the best netbook applications. Finding and judging the best netbook applications can take some time, which is why I’ve handled it for you.

id="more-64386">

Best Antivirus: class="vt-p" href="http://www.cloudantivirus.com/en/">Panda Cloud Antivirus

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/netbookapps1.jpg" alt="best netbook applications" width="513" height="318" />

Picking an class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ten-best-antivirus-programs/"> antivirus program for a netbook is tricky because of the limited system resources available. All antivirus software has the potential to become a real resource hog, because the process of shifting through files in search of virus signatures isn’t easy.

There are a number of relatively lightweight antivirus programs, however, and Panda Cloud Antivirus is at the top. It’s intuitive, quick, and provides solid protection. I will admit that this spot was hotly contested, however. If you’re not happy with Panda, try class="vt-p" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.avast.com%2Ffree-antivirus-download&ei=AWxATaHJB4-ssAPbjt3yCA&usg=AFQjCNESA4PpFkxcFAbaMJc8XgBh0ftqXg">Avast! free edition or class="vt-p" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.microsoft.com%2Fsecurity_essentials%2F&ei=4WtATZ28DIK0sAOHxa2BCQ&usg=AFQjCNG-Ti_cvPq5cgZj9K9dV513GtNQ2A"> Microsoft Security Essentials.

Best Browser: class="vt-p" href="http://www.google.com/chrome">Google Chrome

class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: left;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/googlechromelogo.png" alt="netbook software applications" width="200" height="82" />Honestly, there wasn’t much of a contest here. Google Chrome is incredibly light on system resources and does almost everything that you could want a browser to do.

I have occasionally run into websites that failed to support Chrome properly, but you can always keep a backup of Internet Explorer installed for those very rare situations.

Best Desktop Enchancement: class="vt-p" href="http://www.360desktop.com/">360Desktop

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/netbookapps2.png" alt="netbook software applications" width="580" height="198" />

Netbooks have small displays. This is a disadvantage that is common in small devices, and one that can feel very limiting. Fortuantely, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-indefinite-desktop-space-with-360desktop-windows/">360Desktop can help you get around this problem. No, it doesn’t magically make your display larger, but it does virtually enlarge it and provides the ability to scroll across it. This provides you with more usable space on the same small display.

Best Office Suite: class="vt-p" href="http://docs.google.com/">Google Docs

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Google-Docs07.png" alt="netbook applications" />

The decision to include class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/google-docs-spreadsheets/">Google Docs as the pick for best netbook office suite, rather than OpenOffice/LibreOffice or any other contender, is related to the small footprint of Google Chrome. If you’re already using Chrome on your netbook, as recommended, it only makes sense to use Google Docs. This has a very low impact on system resources but provides common office suite functionality.

Best Image Editor: class="vt-p" href="http://lmadhavan.com/software/fotografix/">Fotograpfix

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/netbookapps3.jpg" alt="netbook applications" width="500" height="433" />

There are a lot of image editing programs to choose from these days, but out of all of them I think class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/portable-multiple-layered-image-editor-fotographix/">Fotograpfix is the best for netbooks. Although the program isn’t very pretty, and doesn’t match the functionality of GIMP, Fotograpfix does include all the basic image editing features. It’s absurdly light, as well – if Windows Task Manager can be trusted, it typically uses less system resources than Mozilla Firefox with a single tab open. That’s not bad at all!

Best Resource Monitor: class="vt-p" href="http://perso.accelance.net/~pesoft/trm/us_trm.html">TinyResMeter

class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: left;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/netbookapps4.png" alt="netbook applications" width="150" height="92" />System resources on a netbook are important. They’re the entire reason I’m writing this blog post. With only so much to go around, you need to keep tabs on what is available and what isn’t.

TinyResMeter is a great way to do that. This light, customizable application provides information about your netbook without consuming much resources itself. It can monitor a huge range of  variables including not only common items, such as available RAM, but also more obscure information such as current hard drive disk speed. /> class="alignright" style="margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; border: 0px none initial;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/ImpulseLogo.png" alt="best netbook applications" width="240" height="230" />

Best Game Platform: class="vt-p" href="http://www.impulsedriven.com/">Impulse

Steam generally takes the cake when it comes to gaming on a PC, but it can be a bit unwieldy on a netbook. Steam itself always runs in the background, and I’ve found that during sales the pop-up Windows loaded by Steam can take some time to appear on a netbook.

Impulse is a solid alternative that provides many of the same functions. Although the game selection and social networking features aren’t as good as Steam’s, Impulse has an advantage – it can be shut off completely, and you can still play the games you purchased. Impulse also has a good selection of obscure indie titles that tend to be less demanding on system resources.

Conclusion

Obviously, there is always going to be some debate about the programs that are best for netbooks. There are also a lot of categories of software – I covered those I think most relevant, but if you have a favorite program that wasn’t included here, please post it in the comments.

Image Credit: class="vt-p" rel="nofollow" href="http://wardskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/11/conscious-consumer-oxymoron.html">Ward’s Kitchen />
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class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/00-Orbit-Logo.jpg" border="0" alt="orbit downloader" width="220" height="220" />Apple has released class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/apples-mac-app-store-live-news">the Mac App Store – a place where Mac users can find and download great Mac applications. This iOS App Store little brother has a similar behavior to its sibling: it will help users to keep their apps updated. When an updated version of any installed apps are available, users will be notified and they can easily download the updates from within the App Store.

Windows users who wish that this convenience could also be made available to them should keep their fingers crossed, because Microsoft is currently trying to persuade the court that the term “App Store” is too generic to be granted protection. The court may or may not approve Microsoft’s dispute, but while waiting for the verdict, why not try a combination of tools that are already available for Windows: class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/orbitdownloader/">Orbit Downloader and class="vt-p" href="http://www.recipester.org/">Recipester. These tools can help Windows users keep their applications updated, while helping users learn more about the apps.

id="more-63794">

The Software Updater

I found this feature by accident after I upgraded Orbit Downloader to version 4. There’s a new item in the left pane called “Software Updater” with a pair of numbers written after it.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/05a_Orbit_-_Software_Update.jpg" border="0" alt="orbit downloader" width="580" height="350" />

After clicking on it, the main area of the app showed me a list of updateable software on my computer. The pair of numbers represented the number of installed software and how many of them had updates waiting. Orbit gets this data by scanning the hard drive for the version number of installed software, then comparing the result with the list of the latest software releases on their database.

Clicking on any item on the list will open up more information about that software, such as the developer, the number of users, how many reviews it has, questions, tutorials, votes related to the app; and also buttons to “Write a Review“, “Ask a Question“, and “Visit Software Page“.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/05b_More_Info.jpg" border="0" alt="orbit downloader review" width="580" height="260" />

Most of the information is related to the data about that software on class="vt-p" href="http://www.recipester.org">Recipester. This is the site that dubbed itself as “Wiki Answers for all things about (your favorite) software“. The site is created by the maker of Orbit Downloader as a software database to support Orbit Downloader’s “Software Updater” feature.

Orbit Downloader could also be set to remind users about the availability of software updates on a regular basis. You can set how often you want to be reminded from the “Preferences – Software Updates” menu.

When you click on the update notification, you will be brought to the software update list on Recipester.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/02a_Update_List.jpg" border="0" alt="orbit downloader review" width="580" height="210" />

Even though Recipester has promised that our data is not accessible by anybody but us, it’s advisable to check the “make the list of your programs private” box just to make sure. The box is located at the top right area of the software update list.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/02b_Make_List_Private.jpg" border="0" alt="orbit downloader review" width="580" height="200" />

Clicking the download button of any item on the list will bring you to the software’s download page. Along with it you will see two small information links above: Reviews and Tutorials.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/03c_Recipester_-_Download.jpg" border="0" alt="what is orbit downloader" width="580" height="260" />

Let’s Learn More

It turns out that Recipester is more than a database to support Orbit Downloader. It’s also a source of information on software. For example, clicking “Tutorials “on the download page will bring you to the software’s tutorial page. You can see several available tutorials related to that software.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/04a_Recipester_Tutorials.jpg" border="0" alt="what is orbit downloader" width="580" height="200" />

The other link that you can follow from the download page is the “Reviews” link.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/04b_Recipester_-_Review.jpg" border="0" alt="what is orbit downloader" width="580" height="260" />

Basically, Recipester wants to be a one stop place for people who want to know everything about their software. All that users need to do is search for available information, or ask. Your questions will be answered by one of their 200-something experts.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/01a_Recipester_Main.jpg" border="0" alt="01a_Recipester_Main.jpg" width="580" height="280" />

Even though there are already many tutorials and Q&As in their database, I felt that Recipester is far from complete. Maybe it’s because the site is still in the early stages and still in the process of building their database.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/01f-First-Page-Guide-Activities.jpg" border="0" alt="orbit downloader" width="580" height="290" />

In general, I think that the combination of Orbit Downloader and Recipester provides Windows users with a convenient way to keep their software updated. But we still have to wait and see how everything will turn out in the future.

What do you think about this “Software Updater” feature? Do you know other alternatives?  If so, please share using the comments below. Meanwhile, if you have any technology-related questions of your own, why not try  class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/">MakeUseOf Answers? Our technology-savvy authors and readers are ready and able. />
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href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/zenstyle-listing-projects-workflowy/" title="Zen-Style Listing And Project Management with WorkFlowy">Zen-Style Listing And Project Management with WorkFlowy (25 comments)

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class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/2VUA.png" alt="launch linux application" width="232" height="193" />Do you find navigating menus boring and cumbersome? Too many programs to trawl through? Clearly you need a fancy launcher to do the hunting for you, and that’s where class="vt-p" href="http://do.davebsd.com">GNOME Do comes in.

Not only can GNOME Do launch applications, but also perform specific tasks based on the application you have chosen. Throw in a sexy-looking interface and you’ve got yourself an attractive, time-saving power tool.

Forget your mouse or touchpad, it’s time to do things keyboard-style.

id="more-62778">

Download & Install

GNOME Do is available for most major class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/getting-started-guide-linux">Linux distributions on the class="vt-p" href="http://do.davebsd.com/download.shtml">download page with instructions for installing from repositories and manual download. You can also class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/compile-install-tar-gz-tar-bz2-files-ubuntu-linux/">compile it from source if your particular distro isn’t listed.

If you’re using class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-fun-ways-explore-ubuntu-1010-linux/">Ubuntu you can choose to download GNOME Do with a simple command. The latest version is available from the repositories, so open up Terminal (in Applications, Accessories) and type:

sudo apt-get install gnome-do

Hit Y when asked to do so and the packages will download, unpack and install. Once you’re done you’ll find GNOME Do in the Applications then Accessories menu – launch and enjoy!

Note: GNOME Do is also available in the main Ubuntu repositories, though this version may not be as up to date as the official source. As I’m not running class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fedora-12-a-visually-pleasing-highly-configurable-linux-distro-you-might-want-to-try/">Fedora or class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/debian/">Debian I cannot say whether the respective packages and repositories are up to date. It’s also worth pointing out the project hasn’t been updated in a while, but it ran fine on Ubuntu 10.10.

GNOME Doing Things

When you first launch GNOME Do you’ll notice it all looks a bit plain. The launcher presents you with two tabs – the application on the left and the command or related action in the right hand pane.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/plain.png" alt="launch linux application" width="435" height="251" />

You can test it by starting to type – you’ll notice GNOME Do suggesting programs that match your keystrokes. You can use the Tab key to switch between the panels, so as an example beginning to type “Terminal” will reveal the Launch in Terminal application link, then hitting tab and entering a command followed by Enter will run that command in a new terminal window.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/terminal.png" alt="launch linux program" width="434" height="250" />

Once you’ve added oft-used services and applications to the launcher, many frequent tasks are a keyboard shortcut away!

The default keyboard shortcut for bringing up the GNOME Do launcher is Super key (or Windows key) + Space Bar. If you’ve not got a Super/Windows key then you’ll need to change the shortcut. Open GNOME Do and type “preferences” followed by Enter, or in the main launcher window click the small arrow in the top right and choose Preferences.

There are a number of tabs to choose from when customizing your launcher. The first General panel allows you to specify whether you’d like to launch the app at system start, in silent mode and whether you want a notification icon in your system tray.

The Keyboard tab displays a list of class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-useful-ubuntu-keyboard-shortcuts-that-you-might-not-know-of/">common shortcuts that you can edit to suit your own preferences (though if you’ve got the right layout, the default shortcuts work a treat). Appearance is a tab with a few themes to choose from, as well as colour preferences and eye candy.

You can also add plugins from the Preferences window, and plugins are what makes GNOME Do so special.

Plugins Do More

We’re already familiar with GNOME Do here at MakeUseOf, and in the past class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-most-useful-plugin-for-gnome-do/">we’ve produced a list of fantastic plugins for this snappy little launcher.

style="text-align: center;"> src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/GNOME-Do-Preferences_079.png" alt="launch linux program" width="434" height="465" />

Adding plugins is an incredibly simple task (and one the developers should be praised for). Your Preferences window contains another tab called Plugins, and from there you can greatly expand GNOME Do’s abilities.

There are several lists of available plugins, simply click the drop-down box next to Show and choose between official, community, docklets and all available extensions. To enable a plugin simply check the box next to it.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Remember-The-Milk-Configuration_080.png" alt="launch linux program" width="406" height="509" />

Certain plugins (those that use web services, mainly) will require configuration (by clicking Configure in the Plugins tab) to work, so make sure you’ve done this.

When you’ve grabbed all your desired plugins you can test them out. Happy launching!

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/launchpad.png" alt="launch linux application" width="580" height="231" />

Conclusion

GNOME Do greatly expands the power of a simple desktop with a fast, intuitive way of accessing your frequent applications and completing menial tasks.

Despite the good-looking icon filled GUIs found in today’s modern Linux distributions GNOME Do demonstrates that command-based computing can be a faster way of getting things done. You should also class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/be-more-productive-with-launchy-keystroke-launcher/">check out Launchy if you like this kind of thing.

Do you have any favourite launchers for your OS? Any priceless GNOME Do plugins? Let us know in the comments section below. />
/>NEW: href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/makeuseof/id366921965?mt=8" target="_blank">Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!

/>

 

href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-launch-linux-applications-flash-gnome/"> src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-launch-linux-applications-flash-gnome/"> href="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis/login?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-launch-linux-applications-flash-gnome/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/diggme.png"> href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-launch-linux-applications-flash-gnome/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/fb.jpg"> href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-launch-linux-applications-flash-gnome/&title=Find & Launch Linux Applications In A Flash With GNOME Do&srcTitle=MakeUseOf.com"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/gbuzz-feed.png"> href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-launch-linux-applications-flash-gnome/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/stumble.png">

 

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class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/2VUA.png" alt="launch linux application" width="232" height="193" />Do you find navigating menus boring and cumbersome? Too many programs to trawl through? Clearly you need a fancy launcher to do the hunting for you, and that’s where class="vt-p" href="http://do.davebsd.com">GNOME Do comes in.

Not only can GNOME Do launch applications, but also perform specific tasks based on the application you have chosen. Throw in a sexy-looking interface and you’ve got yourself an attractive, time-saving power tool.

Forget your mouse or touchpad, it’s time to do things keyboard-style.

id="more-62778">

Download & Install

GNOME Do is available for most major class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/getting-started-guide-linux">Linux distributions on the class="vt-p" href="http://do.davebsd.com/download.shtml">download page with instructions for installing from repositories and manual download. You can also class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/compile-install-tar-gz-tar-bz2-files-ubuntu-linux/">compile it from source if your particular distro isn’t listed.

If you’re using class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-fun-ways-explore-ubuntu-1010-linux/">Ubuntu you can choose to download GNOME Do with a simple command. The latest version is available from the repositories, so open up Terminal (in Applications, Accessories) and type:

sudo apt-get install gnome-do

Hit Y when asked to do so and the packages will download, unpack and install. Once you’re done you’ll find GNOME Do in the Applications then Accessories menu – launch and enjoy!

Note: GNOME Do is also available in the main Ubuntu repositories, though this version may not be as up to date as the official source. As I’m not running class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fedora-12-a-visually-pleasing-highly-configurable-linux-distro-you-might-want-to-try/">Fedora or class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/debian/">Debian I cannot say whether the respective packages and repositories are up to date. It’s also worth pointing out the project hasn’t been updated in a while, but it ran fine on Ubuntu 10.10.

GNOME Doing Things

When you first launch GNOME Do you’ll notice it all looks a bit plain. The launcher presents you with two tabs – the application on the left and the command or related action in the right hand pane.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/plain.png" alt="launch linux application" width="435" height="251" />

You can test it by starting to type – you’ll notice GNOME Do suggesting programs that match your keystrokes. You can use the Tab key to switch between the panels, so as an example beginning to type “Terminal” will reveal the Launch in Terminal application link, then hitting tab and entering a command followed by Enter will run that command in a new terminal window.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/terminal.png" alt="launch linux program" width="434" height="250" />

Once you’ve added oft-used services and applications to the launcher, many frequent tasks are a keyboard shortcut away!

The default keyboard shortcut for bringing up the GNOME Do launcher is Super key (or Windows key) + Space Bar. If you’ve not got a Super/Windows key then you’ll need to change the shortcut. Open GNOME Do and type “preferences” followed by Enter, or in the main launcher window click the small arrow in the top right and choose Preferences.

There are a number of tabs to choose from when customizing your launcher. The first General panel allows you to specify whether you’d like to launch the app at system start, in silent mode and whether you want a notification icon in your system tray.

The Keyboard tab displays a list of class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-useful-ubuntu-keyboard-shortcuts-that-you-might-not-know-of/">common shortcuts that you can edit to suit your own preferences (though if you’ve got the right layout, the default shortcuts work a treat). Appearance is a tab with a few themes to choose from, as well as colour preferences and eye candy.

You can also add plugins from the Preferences window, and plugins are what makes GNOME Do so special.

Plugins Do More

We’re already familiar with GNOME Do here at MakeUseOf, and in the past class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-most-useful-plugin-for-gnome-do/">we’ve produced a list of fantastic plugins for this snappy little launcher.

style="text-align: center;"> src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/GNOME-Do-Preferences_079.png" alt="launch linux program" width="434" height="465" />

Adding plugins is an incredibly simple task (and one the developers should be praised for). Your Preferences window contains another tab called Plugins, and from there you can greatly expand GNOME Do’s abilities.

There are several lists of available plugins, simply click the drop-down box next to Show and choose between official, community, docklets and all available extensions. To enable a plugin simply check the box next to it.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Remember-The-Milk-Configuration_080.png" alt="launch linux program" width="406" height="509" />

Certain plugins (those that use web services, mainly) will require configuration (by clicking Configure in the Plugins tab) to work, so make sure you’ve done this.

When you’ve grabbed all your desired plugins you can test them out. Happy launching!

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/launchpad.png" alt="launch linux application" width="580" height="231" />

Conclusion

GNOME Do greatly expands the power of a simple desktop with a fast, intuitive way of accessing your frequent applications and completing menial tasks.

Despite the good-looking icon filled GUIs found in today’s modern Linux distributions GNOME Do demonstrates that command-based computing can be a faster way of getting things done. You should also class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/be-more-productive-with-launchy-keystroke-launcher/">check out Launchy if you like this kind of thing.

Do you have any favourite launchers for your OS? Any priceless GNOME Do plugins? Let us know in the comments section below. />
/>NEW: href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/makeuseof/id366921965?mt=8" target="_blank">Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!

/>

 

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style="border: 0px none;margin-left:20px;float:right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/intro7.jpg" alt="convert f4v video"/>If you href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/download-youtube-video-windows-media-player/">save videos to your hard drive for offline playback with flash video detection software on a somewhat regular basis, you might have surely noticed that the format for these videos can be in F4V. The F4V container file format is, in short, a higher-quality FLV file encoded with H.264 video standard (for more explanations, see the excellent  href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/video-conversion-the-technicalities-explained/">Digital Video Formats Explained in plain English). Most powerhouse media players, such as  href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/vlc-media-player-play/">VLC and  href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/splayer-opensource-portable-playall-media-player-windows/">Splayer, and Adobe Flash Player (which you should have as a plugin if you use href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-awesome-chrome-extensions-productivity/">Chrome, otherwise, get it at href="http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/">the official site) can read F4V files without much as a hiccup.

However, if you fancy editing this type of video, even simple edits like trimming, you might have a hard time finding compatible programs as not many any video-editing software available for free, can handle it. Most software that claim to do this are of the commercial variety, which you’ll find roaming the web and Google search results (try href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-essential-cheat-sheets/">MakeUseof’s master list of search tips).

id="more-59935"> /> To remedy this, the most likely route to go will probably just be to re-encode into a common container file, such as AVI. Here are some converters that can convert these tricky-for- href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/rip-convert-movies-macx-dvd-ripper-video-converter-combo-mac/">DVD-burning F4V files. Finally, those rare clips from href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/clipgrab-download-videos-off-websites/">Tudou and similar video-sharing sites won’t have to go to waste.

href="http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/">Avidemux [Cross-Platform]

I first expressed my satisfaction with the open-source  href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/embed-subtitles-mp4-flv-videos-avidemux-crossplatform/">Avidemux video editor, noting how it could embed subtitles in MP4 and FLV files, file types which the more commonly-used application for permanent subtitle “burning”, href="http://www.virtualdub.org/">VirtualDub, doesn’t support (while it can do href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-video-editing-tasks-virtualdub-handles-ease-windows/">plenty of other tasks, like href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/merge-multiple-video-files-with-virtualdub/">merging multiple videos). It actually can also read F4V files.

If you have some experience using VirtualDub, you probably won’t have much trouble using Avidemux. If you’ve never used it, here’s a quick rundown. After you open the video you want to use, Avidemux initially will ask you whether you want to use another non-crashing mode, but since it might also lead to changes applying to inaccurate frames, I usually choose ‘No’.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-59946" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/19.jpg" alt="convert f4v video" width="579" height="438" />

You might also get a warning about rebuilding your frame index, which you can usually just click ‘Yes’ to.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-59947" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/23.jpg" alt="convert f4v" width="334" height="141" />

Then you can apply filters to your video (using href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/capturing-publishing-videos-youtube-settings-formats/">Xvid or Divx), which means you can trim it, or embed subtitles, as detailed href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/embed-subtitles-mp4-flv-videos-avidemux-crossplatform/">here, and finally choose an output format.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-59948" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/34.jpg" alt="convert f4v" width="419" height="533" />

href="http://download.cnet.com/Free-Video-to-iPhone-Converter/3000-2194_4-10898285.html?tag=mncol;5">Free Video To iPhone Converter by DVDVideoSoft [Windows]

The generic name of this application may not hint at specific file formats, but rest assured, it does handle the file type in question. There’s a collection of video-ripping and converting software from this software publisher so just perform a search on  href="http://download.cnet.com/">CNET’s download.com for your specific device. Make sure to opt out of the DVDVideoSoft toolbar, unless you desperately want your homepage and default search engines to be changed to DVDVideoSoft’s web search.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-59949" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/44.jpg" alt="convert f4v" width="503" height="386" />

As the name suggests, you’ll be able to convert the video to an iPhone-friendly MP4. This converter is simple as simple gets. You can choose 3 quality presets that change settings for formats according to the device that the video destined to reside in. There are the standard options to mass convert and to turn off the computer once conversion is completed, but there are also some unique features — namely, the ability to add converted videos to a new href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-big-book-of-itunes/">iTunes playlist, change the theme, and the fact that it’s available in 12 languages.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-59950" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/52.jpg" alt="convert f4v video" width="580" height="589" />

Now, I’ve only seen listed these two which worked great for me, but you might have luck with other video converters. I know I tried href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/hamster-free-highly-userfriendly-video-converter-windows/">Hamster Video Converter and it couldn’t open this file, while I did have more luck with href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/simple-home-video-editing-video-converter-pro-giveaway/">Daniusoft Video Converter Pro, which is paid. Surprisingly, I did get a few converters that don’t actually list F4V in their supported file formats to read it fine, so I’d recommend trying whatever converter you have first.

If you want to skip conversion altogether and own an href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-underground-guide-iphone">iDevice; try these recently-featured free apps, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/vlc-media-player-110-ios-devices-news/">VLC and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/watch-type-video-iphone-ipad-ipod-touch/">OPlayer. If you know of an alternative for Android handsets or know of converters that support F4V, share it with us in the comments! />
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class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Diner.png" alt="run desktop application in browser" width="300" height="208" />Virtualization applications create a virtual environment for you to run your applications in. This means you’ve got a playground on top of your usual playground, which can be fitted to your needs and is pretty safe to mess with. It’s often used by businesses and developers.

Even a regular PC user can find a need for virtualization software. Most specifically, when certain software won’t run. The biggest problem is that these virtualization suites usually install an entire operation system. This makes it heavy on system resources and often rather unpractical for most users. But there is another type of virtualization software, which handles matters wholly differently.

id="more-58028">

class="vt-p" href="http://www.spoon.net/">Spoon

Spoon is a website that runs a certain type of virtualization software. It uses that virtual environment to stream desktop applications to your PC. That’s right; using Spoon, you can run regular desktop applications from your browser, without even having to install them. Calling Spoon revolutionary wouldn’t do it justice. It’s a whole new way of experiencing software.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/spoon1.png" alt="run desktop application in browser" width="566" height="288" />

Rather than emulating hardware, and thus requiring an entire operating system to create a virtualization environment, Spoon only emulates those software components the applications need to function. In essence, it uses elements that are already present in the ‘real’ operating system and uses it to remotely stream applications into existence.

Spoon currently only works on Windows. We’ll certainly be keeping our fingers crossed for future Mac or Linux adaptations.

Getting Started

To get started with using Spoon, you only have to install one light-weight browser plug-in. Point your web browser to the website; class="vt-p" href="http://www.spoon.net/">Spoon.net. You’ll see a yellow ribbon on the top with an install button. Click it to download the installation file.

class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: left;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Screen-shot-2010-11-04-at-20.24.51.png" alt="run programs in browser" width="131" height="51" />With the plug-in installed, select sign in at the top right of the website and create a new account. You’ll also encounter this step if your try to run your first application. Signing up is as easy as entering your email and creating a password for your Spoon account; email confirmation isn’t even required.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/spoon2.jpg" alt="run programs in browser" width="362" height="330" />

With the plug-in installed and your Spoon account created, you’re all set to go.

Virtualize Desktop Applications

The Apps button will take you to the Spoon App Library. Here you’ll find all the available applications. You’ll notice that a lot of popular and free software is readily available, including other browsers, Microsoft Office document viewers and other practical applications. I was surprised to find video conversion and media player tools in the Spoon App Library as well.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/spoon-app.jpg" alt="run programs in browser" width="580" height="348" />

Selecting one of the applications gives you an extended description, also including the application version, size and buffer size. Comparing these last two gives you the ratio of what you’ll have to download. Often, the actual applications are several times larger than the Spoon buffer sizes. In short, it takes many times longer to even download an installation file than it takes to stream the application from your browser!

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/cdburner.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="230" />

If your operation system is compatible, you’ll be able to press the Launch button here. A floating pop-up will appear in the down right corner, showing you the buffer status. Once, the application has been buffered, it can run.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/buffering.jpg" alt="" width="256" height="59" />

I expected an awkward browser pop-up version of these applications to appear; I was greatly mistaken. Often, you won’t even notice the difference between the real application and the virtualization.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/cdburner2.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="221" />

Feeling a little creative, I tried to run a real install and browser virtualization side by side (CDBurnerXP). The results were amazing. There was no visual distortion and they performed on par. Besides, it took me a lot longer to actually install the application.

Virtualize Games

Spoon can also stream and virtualize games from your browser. After all, games are simply another kind of application. Side by side with the Spoon App Library, Spoon offers their Game Center.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/gamecenter.jpg" alt="run desktop application in browser" width="580" height="296" />

By and large, it is filled with simple, lightweight games, but you’ll find some real gems in this library as well, including a Half Life Uplink and demos of Halo and World of Goo.

These browser virtualizations are not just a fancy show of technology, they might actually be able to replace some desktop software bundles; at least for me. What do you think of the idea of streaming applications to your desktop? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! />
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