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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Windows x64

Add CPU and memory meters to your Windows 7 taskbar

I'm not the biggest Twitter fan, but let's face it: people sometimes share really useful information in their 140-character updates.

Scott Hanselman (@shanselman), for example, tipped users about a slick addition to your Windows 7 taskbar that you'll find over at Codeplex called Taskbar Meters.

Download developer Jeff Key's .zip file and extract the contents to a folder on your hard drive. Inside you'll find two executables - one for CPU and one for memory. Launch them, and the result is what you see in the screenshot.

The meters make use of the Windows 7 taskbar's progress indicator kung fu. Using the sliders in the ultra-simple options screens you can choose the update frequency and set at what percentage of utilization your indicators switch from green to yellow and then to red. Pin 'em to your taskbar and you've got a simple, Win7-friendly heads up display of your PC's vitals.

They're jumplist enabled as well, though right-clicking only gives you access to task manager (which you've always had by right-clicking the taskbar anyway) and the Windows Resource Monitor.

Each meter uses about 18Mb of ram and worked for me under both 32 and 64-bit builds of Windows 7.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Open Source, Windows x64

Open source Filebox eXtender speeds open/save folder navigation


Windows 7 already includes some built-in features (like Libraries and Favorites) to make browsing for files and folders from a dialog box easier. Heck, Favorites been around forever. If you'd like a bit more flexibility, however, give FileBox eXtender a try.

The app can embed two icons to the left of the close button - one for your custom list of folders and another that displays recently used locations. Submenus and separators can be added to keep your menu organized. Pinning individual files is supported as well and it makes short work of re-uploading or launching from the run box.

If there are cases when you don't want the buttons displayed, eXtender also allows you to add program exceptions.

A nice option if you're using a netbook with an undersized touchpad is to assign hot keys. Doing so enables you to select a location with a few quick keystrokes. Apart from providing convenient links to your files and folders, the program also includes to window arrangement features: always on top and Linux-style roll-up.

Downloads are available for both 32 and 64-bit Windows systems. Since Hyperionics no longer provides support for Filebox eXtender, they decided to make the program's source code available as well.

Filed under: OS Updates, Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Windows x64

Stardock Fences adds KDE 4 style desktop organization to Windows

Many of you have probably eschewed the practice of placing files and shortcuts on your Windows desktop. There are definitely more efficient options - Launchy or FARR, for example. If you still prefer having a well-stocked desktop, Stardock's Fences is a nice organizational tool you should try.

Fences add KDE4-style containers to your desktop into which you can drop shortcuts and files. As you would expect from a Stardock app, the aesthetics of Fences are nice out of the box and can be highly customized.

On first launch, you can choose to let Fences attempt to automatically corral your icons or go straight to work manually settings things up. The no-fuss option worked well on my desktop, grouping files, folders, and shortcuts in their own containers.

Once you have things sorted out to your liking, you can take a snapshot of your setup to easily switch between configurations. You can also lock your fences to prevent organizational mishaps. For a clear look at your desktop, a double click will hide everything - unless you have a container excluded from hiding.

Fences is currently free until August as a preview, and runs on both 32 and 64-bit Windows.

To see some more screens, view the gallery after the break!

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