For those of you using Internet Explorer 8, it probably might come as an inconvenience to have to open the browser to perform a search on Google. Because of this, you might be inclined to install a program that would allow you to perform these searches on your desktop and open the pages from the search results on your browser. For this, you can install the Google Quick Search Box, which adds to the graphical interface you currently use. Use this link to get to the download page. Be sure to download it from Internet Explorer 8, as opening it with other browsers wouldn’t initiate the download.

2. Universal Viewer

If you want to open Word documents without actually installing LibreOffice or Microsoft Office, you can use Universal Viewer for this. Universal Viewer allows you to open any type of file, even binary files and plugins, from one elegant interface. If you’re a developer looking for certain points of data within a binary file, Universal Viewer can help you achieve what you’re looking for, even if the binary file is supposed to be viewed through Unicode. Click on this link to download Universal Viewer. Note: The program also can view images and practically any other file type as long as it’s in the right extension. This is something Notepad++ fails to do.

3. Windows Taskbar Thumbnail Customizer

This is a very nifty app if you believe that the thumbnails showing up when you hover your mouse over an icon in your taskbar are too small. A developer took note of this and made an app that would help you customize the size of the window without needing any know-how. The application itself is no longer required after you’re done customizing your thumbnails, meaning that you don’t have to keep anything running in order for the changes to work. This is the size thumbnails currently show up at:

If you’d like to change this, use this link to download the Windows Taskbar Thumbnail Customizer.

4. Maxifier – Free Your Mouse From The Clutches of Windows Media Center When Running on Full Screen

Windows Media Center is a beautiful piece of software, but a problem occurs when you’re running it in full-screen mode while using Windows on more than one display. It doesn’t let your mouse move to another screen. To circumvent this, someone came up with Maxifier, a tool that lets you free up your mouse without having to stop running WMC. Use this link if you’d like to download Maxifier. It has many more features that we’re sure you’d like!

5. 3VRX – Really Cool Volume Control App

A lot of people today have keyboards that can manipulate the volume of a computer. If the sound adapter on your computer doesn’t have a volume indicator that pops up while lowering or raising the volume, it can get annoying, especially when you want to set the volume at a precise level. 3VRX not only solves this problem, but also presents a very elegant display of the current volume on your computer. You can change how the volume level is displayed as you wish. Click on this link to download 3VRX. Oh, we almost forgot: For those of you without those keyboards with volume control, 3RVX gives you some hotkeys to adjust the volume. Have a look at some of the ways that volume is displayed by the program:

6. Zum – Keep Your Desktop Free of Icons

You really don’t need to have a ton of shortcuts all over your desktop. Wouldn’t it be easier to sort all of this out with a list? There are many similar icons which can throw you off. Zum has the answer to this, allowing you to create an organized list like a small Start menu on your desktop, eliminating the need to keep any of your shortcuts. Once you get this, you’ll wonder why Windows never had it to begin with. Click on this link to go to Softpedia’s download page for Zum.

7. Preview Thumbnails Within ZIP and RAR Files With CBX Shell

One of the biggest problems with Windows’ interface is that it doesn’t show thumbnail previews with files that are compressed using ZIP or RAR algorithms. This leads you to have to guess which archive contains an image you’re looking for. CBX Shell does just this, decompressing images to show you their thumbnails. Beware, however, as this might take up a couple of extra system resources you might not be willing to spare. If your computer starts running slowly while trying to pull up thumbnails of compressed archives, uninstall CBX Shell. For those of you who have faith in your computers, click this link to download CBX Shell.

8. Disk Space Fan – See Your Disk Like Never Before!

Your drive is a complicated array of folders and files stored into a file system. As you install more stuff onto it, the space on the drive slowly shrinks until the drive starts pestering you to delete files. Where are your most filled directories? Got no clue? Let’s have a look at a graphical representation! Disk Space Fan allows you to see what folders are occupying the most space on your drive without having to right-click every folder and click “Properties.”

On another side of the screen, you’ll see a color-coded legend that shows you exactly what all those colors mean. It’s very transparent! Use this link to download the free version. You’ll have to buy the product to have more features. The free version is enough to see what’s up with your drive, at least.

Liked What We’ve Got? Have Any Alternatives?

Leave a comment below if you would like to either show appreciation, critique some of the programs we presented, or show other readers alternatives to the software you’ve just seen.