Wine is not an Emulator! If you are remotely interested in Linux as an OS you probably have some things holding you back from switching.

Namely that piece of software that you love so much. Be it Microsoft Office or World of War Craft, every one it seems, has that one app they can’t live without. Ah, but we have Linux alternatives some might cry, but alas not everyone wants to use a new piece of software. They want their widget to be exactly like they remember it and that toolbar has to be in just the right spot. Enter Wine. Wine is an abstraction layer (pretty name for “it makes Windows programs think they are installing in Windows”.)

While far from being a true blue install of Windows it has some amazing benefits. Aside from the amazing activity level of the developers (I have seen a new version every 2 or 3 weeks). Its simplicity and brilliance are amazing. Imagine being in Linux and popping in your Office XP CD, up pops the installer, you type in your name, your product id code, and boom it starts installing. When the installer finishes you click on your K or Gnome menu click Wine and there is Office. And it looks and runs just as well (for the most part) as it would in Windows. This amazing product has come a long ways since it’s early development and has recently added support for DirectX 9.0c and is actively working towards .NETt integration. To download go to http://www.winehq.org. Enjoy your Wine!

Last.fm is a free music recommendation and internet radio service. Users download a small application which tracks which music you listen to, and uses this data to build a personalized radio station with recommended songs. Your listening statistics are also provided on the web site for use in forum signatures or personal web pages.

In addition to providing recommendations and radio, the Last.fm application shows track information, cover art, and an artist bio for each song that plays, as well as a list of similar artists. You can tag each song as it plays, and listen to radio stations with tracks others have tagged. In addition to tagging songs, users can join groups of those with similar interests, and Last.fm provides a group page with the listening statistics for the whole group, as well as group forums and a place to post journal entries relating to the music you listen to. With thousands of users, Last.fm is an excellent place to track, listen to, and discuss your favorite music!

Many people believe that DOS is dead. Nothing could be further from the truth. A lot of individuals would probably be incredulous if you were to tell them that there was a version of the Disk Operating System that is still undergoing active development.

However, this case is indeed quite true. After all, there are many who would like to see command line driven systems forever deceased. Nevertheless, there is indeed a new version of this standby out there. FreeDOS (freedos.org) is made in the spirit of free software, as the name might suggest. Therefore, its development base is largely volunteer staff. On the other hand, however, this does not detract from the fact that DOS has always been a stable operating system. Indeed, it is among the most stable. Moreover, many options for modern graphical user interfaces have been added on. This makes the FreeDOS experience a positive boon for individuals who have to work with older or discarded computers and do not want to pay to have an operating system installed on them. Furthermore, many of the utilities will be of great use to individuals running commercial DOS and Windows based operating systems, and would be a welcome download for a great many consumers.

HiddenApp is a great little theft recovery program for the Mac.

After a computer is stolen the owner can activate the hidden app and set the wheels to recovery in motion. Think of it as a kind of “Lo-Jack” for your laptop. When the thieves or unlucky recipients of the stolen computer next log on to the internet, the IP address and other information is automatically sent to the rightful owners email address. The application will even utilize the Mac’s built in video camera to secretly take snap shots of who ever uses the computer after it has been stolen and send these to your email as well! For fans of spy movies and James Bond flicks, this feature alone is worth the very affordable price. HiddenApp claims that 90% + of stolen Macs that had “Undercover” installed on them, have been recovered. If you’ve invested in a nice new laptop for college or work this safeguard seems like it’s at least worth a look.

Cyberduck is an open-source FTP client for Mac OS X.

Beneath its cute “ducky” icon and easy-on-the-eyes interface, Cyberduck is an easy and functional FTP application. Besides doing all the usual FTP and SFTP duties, Cyberduck features easy editing of files from the server without manually downloading them, the user can simply select “edit,” and the file will open in the correct application to be edited; when it is saved, the file on the server will be updated. Cyberduck will display notifications such as error messages and transfer updates in a Growl notification, if Growl is installed. For the less network-savvy or simply for convenience sake, uploads and downloads can be done via “drag-and-drop” – e.g. a file icon can be dragged directly from the OS X desktop into the remote window to upload. With convenient features, a slick look, and the ultimate price “absolutely free” OS X users can’t go wrong with Cyberduck. Cyberduck is available in several languages and in a portable version, which can be run from a memory stick.