MaximumPC 2007 04

APRIL 2007 MAXIMUMPC 

CCleaner

It’s like a high colonic for Windows XP

You’re probably feeling a little like Harcourt Fenton

Mudd, the way we constantly nag you to empty your

Recycle Bin, clear out old chkdsk fi le fragments, and

zap old prefetch data. Well, good news: CCleaner, aka

Crap Cleaner, does the dirty work for you. With the

push of a button it dumps Windows XP’s useless detri-

tus and clears out those log fi les that, umm, you don’t

want anyone to know about. Best of all, this handy app

comes at the right price—it’s free. Run it once a month

to shut old Stella up. http://www.ccleaner.com

Skype allows you to make crystal-

clear, absolutely free, encrypted

calls to anyone who also has a

Skype account—no matter where

they are—and calling to a land line

or cell phone can cost as little as

2.1 cents a minute. Conferences,

video calls, fi le transfers, and

instant messaging are just a few of

the other features we love that

are included in this program.

And with the service installed

on your smartphone, you can

make low-cost or free interna-

tional calls from anywhere you

can get a Wi-Fi connection.

http://www.skype.com

Your OS will be frolicking like a clean install once it’s

been freed of its bloat.

Call anyone—and stick it to

the telecoms—with Skype.

I

t’s true that amid all our oohing and aahing over

cutting-edge hardware and benchmark results, soft-

ware often gets short shrift. But that’s not to say

the ones and zeros don’t excite us. An email program

that anticipates our needs, an app that uses the Internet

to build a personal VPN, a utility that gives Windows

the white-glove treatment—that kind of stuff makes us

giddy. That’s what the Softy Awards are all about. Our

annual bacchanal gives us a chance to salute the pro-

grams and utilities that have truly improved our lives.

Whittling down dozens of hopefuls into a standout

handful is no easy task, and this year our task was even

more diffi cult. We expanded our rigorous selection cri-

teria to include applications that extend the power of

mobile devices and web browsers. In the end, the soft-

ware we present here was unanimously chosen by the

uber-fi nicky Maximum PC staff—and all of it is free.

So, without further ado, let’s get on with the ceremony!

10 kick-ass applications win our highest

praise—and a shiny, shiny statue

MAXIMUM PC’

s

FIFTH ANNUAL

Skype 3.0

Go ahead and throw out

your phone