Windows/Mac/Linux (All platforms): Freeware Voice-over-IP (VoIP) application Gizmo Project makes phone calls from your PC similar to the popular Skype. Like when we first mentioned Gizmo Project, it still boasts several excellent features like voice integration with other Gizmo Project users as well as Google Talk, Windows Live and Yahoo Messenger users, support for AIM and MSN chat, and a free call-in number—making it sort of a kitchen sink version of Skype.The latest version of Gizmo Project supports video chat (though it’s not as high quality as Skype), an improved interface, and several worthwhile fixes. If you’ve tried Skype but you’re looking for more functionality and integration with other communication standards, Gizmo Project is worth a go. If you’ve been using Gizmo Project since we first mentioned it, let us know how it’s working for you in the comments. The current beta is Windows only, but will presumably support Mac and Linux soon.
Enable Firefox Address Bar Auto-completion
As you type a web site address into Firefox’s location bar, by default a dropdown with suggestions based on your history expands, and you can use the down arrow key to select one. For more aggressive URL auto-completion, head on into Firefox’sabout:configarea and set thebrowser.urlbar.autoFillvalue to true. The result takes away the arrow key step for the first hit. Check out the How-To Geek’s full explanation if you’re new toabout:config, and see also our top Firefox 2 config tweaks.
I’ve done this already but couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to tell people these people do!! 😉 I like how they did it.
Instantbird 0.1 is Like Firefox for Chat
Windows/Mac/Linux (All platforms): There are tons of great instant messaging applications available, but one nagging problem in the IM world is that there’s no great, fully cross-platform chat app (unless you count Meebo). Free, open source application Instantbird aims to do for chat what Firefox does for the browser. Based on the same tools used to create Firefox and Thunderbird, Instantbird should ultimately be just as extensible as the former—which means IM customization will be as simple as installing a Firefox extension. Right now Instantbird connects to virtually any IM network and supports a tabbed chat interface. Beyond that, the application is still very barebones, but its upcoming features are very exciting.Aside from the basics you’d expect from any chat app (like status notifications, contact management, and IM notifications), the ultimate roadmap for Instantbird includes video and voice support. What’s most exciting, though, is the possibility that the chat application will be subject to the same community of creative extension developers that make Firefox such a killer browser—so that Instantbird can easily be customized to deliver exactly what you want from it. Instantbird is free, works with Windows, Mac, and Linux. It’s still a very young app, so this one’s for the early adopters.
More very cool programs for people to use for everyday use. Integrate in Firefox.
Extend OpenOffice with OxygenOffice
Windows/Mac/Linux: Add clip art, advanced PDF functions, and in-editor Wikipedia searching to open source office suite OpenOffice.org with OxygenOffice Professional, a modified installation package and extension. Along with adding roughly 3,400 clip art files and templates, OxygenOffice’s extensions also add support for Microsoft’s Visual Basic for Applications in the Calc spreadsheet program and conversion tools for the Office Open XML format used in Office 2007. Combined with the Writer’s Tools package, this gives OO.org a number of exclusive features.To install, download the extension, open OO.org, go to Tools -> Extension Manager and click the “Add” button in the My Extensions section, or download a binary to make a fresh OO.org install. OxygenOffice is a free download that runs wherever OpenOffice.org does.
Keep Mail.app at a Glance With Mail.appetizer
Mac OS X Only: Freeware Mail.app add-on Mail.appetizer lets you read and delete email on the fly without having to open Mail’s main window every time a message arrives. What makes Mail.appetizer stand out from other notifiers is the customization—you tell it whether to show headers, icons, quoted reply text and determine its size. Mail.appetizer is freeware, available in a seemingly bug-free beta for OS X 10.4 Tiger and a stable version for 10.3 Panther. Thanks, dcharti!
Mail.appetizer [Bronson Beta]
This is Mac OS so I haven’t tried it.
