First Looks and Nifty Gadgets

irst Looks and Nifty Gadgets brings you reviews of the new and novel. Each month we take a look at what's just hitting the streets and some tiny, but tried and true products that are still helping people be as productive as possible.

This month we look at: Program Commander/2 2.0 | Time Tracker | WarpBar 0.83

Program Commander/2 2.0

Program Commander/2 2.0 has a split personality as both an enhancement to the existing Workplace Shell, and as a replacement for it. As an enhancement it offers a considerable array of features, from a Win95-like task switching bar, virtual Desktop manager, popup-menu for quick launching of applications, the ability to launch or switch applications by a hotkey combination, advanced marking in OS/2 or DOS windows, a scheduler, custom environment spaces (meaning you no longer have to edit your CONFIG.SYS and reboot for applications like Netscape) and lots more.

As a replacement for the Workplace Shell, PC/2 offers all of the above in addition to massive memory savings. Without the WPS in memory, you'll have another 4 megs of RAM to play with -- greatly speeding up a RAM constrained computer without having to sacrifice MMOS/2 or the BonusPak applications. Look for a full review of Program Commander/2 in a future issue of OS/2 e-Zine!

Program Commander/2 2.0

by Roman Stangl
download from the OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 1 meg)
Registration: Freeware

Time Tracker

Consultants, freelancers, web designers and other professionals make their bread and butter by charging clients for the time they spend working on a project. You're probably familiar with hourly fees if you've ever hired a plumber, for example. So if you're one of those whose time comes with a price tag, you'll know it's important to keep a log of exactly what you work on and for how long. You could keep a diary and stopwatch handy, or, if you do most of your work on the computer, you could use Time Tracker.

Time Tracker is a tiny little utility that floats inconspicuously in a corner of your Desktop. It has a row of 9 buttons, each of which can be assigned to a separate client or project. They can be numbered, color coded, or given a letter to help remind you which button is assigned to which client. Click on one of these buttons and the clock starts ticking. Click on another and the first task's clock stops, the time is recorded in a log file, and the clock for the new task begins. This way you can jump from project to project as you're interrupted throughout your work day.

Time Tracker can be set to prompt you every X number of minutes if you need (so you don't fall asleep at the wheel, one supposes) and you can display how many minutes have elapsed for a given task by holding your mouse over the blank gray area.

Time Tracker

by Trevor Hemsley
download from the Time Tracker Web Site
Registration: Freeware/E-Mailware

WarpBar 0.83

It seems like this is the month for thin toolbar type gadgets. WarpBar, a handy system information display that runs in a compact strip, is good at showing you all the vital statistics of your computer at a glance. Date, time, virtual memory, physical memory, uptime and drive space are all shown next to a graphical CPU usage meter and an optional POP mail checker. Also present is a quick command-line button for launching a program that you type in or browse for -- but no customizble menus of apps.

WarpBar 0.83

by Alex Spanidis
download from the OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 71K)
Registration: Freeware

That's it for this month. Tune in next time for more reviews of neat gadgets and first looks at new OS/2 tools.

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ISSN 1203-5696