I am hard to please: very few programs made this list and in every case I have supported my vote with my wallet. Read this introduction page to learn more about how the programs make it to my exclusive list.

This section is not updated often: programs I can really recommend wholeheartedly do not show up every month. As a matter of fact, there are perhaps two new shareware programs a year which may deserve a consideration.

Every program is reviewed in more detail on a separate page; click on the program title to get there.

Programs you simply can't do without

If I had to limit my recommendations to just two programs, it would be these two. If you are more than a casual computer user, and you are not using these programs (or you are, but without having paid the programmers for their excellent work), then something is very, very wrong.

TextPad (v4.7.2, November 2003)

A must: the best Windows text editor, period. Lean, fast, feature-packed and easy to use.

Top-notch utilities

These two are also quite indispensable, although the first one will be of interest only to the more advanced computer users. I've been using them both for years, and I can vouch for both.

Fine Print (v4.69, March 2002)

Print two or four pages of output on one page of paper, save the forest and carry less when on travel.