By Larry Anders, Librarian, Tampa PC Users Group

For as long as I’ve been using Windows, way back to Windows 3.0, I have made it my main ambition to find utility programs that Microsoft left out. I’ll have to admit that Microsoft has done a heck of a job adding utilities over the years but their File Manager, or Windows Explorer, has always been thin on built-in utilities. And as much as I work with files this has been my area of concentration. Well, not anymore!

MIJENIX™ Corporation has developed PowerDesk® Utilities 98 that took the "work out of working with Windows." (Not my phrase – it came from their website, as does some of the text below.) PowerDesk is actually several programs in one. All of the standard stuff is there like move, copy and format but there’s a whole lot more too. Here’s some of what you get:

• File management. PowerDesk is the heart of PowerDesk Utilities 98. PowerDesk is a supercharged file manager that optionally replaces the Windows Explorer, and is also the "umbrella" program, providing access to most of the various other tools. Each tool can also be accessed independently of PowerDesk. In addition, you can split PowerDesk's window into two panes (rather than opening a second copy of the program, as you have to do with Windows Explorer), which makes drag-and-drop operations between folders or network drives much easier.
• File Finder. PowerDesk’s File Finder is a Super Search Engine for your PC that finds files over multiple drives, views the files you've found, and uses more advanced choices to narrow your search.
• Instant graphic viewing of what's eating up space on your hard drive. The Size Manager shows you which files are cluttering up your drive.
• Open and save files easier than ever before. Have you ever forgotten the name of a file you were working on? The PowerDesk Dialog Helper includes two enhancements to the Windows "common" file dialogs (open, save, and save as). Fullview allows users with larger monitors to resize their dialogs, and the Tracker "remembers", for each program, which files or locations were recently opened or visited (up to 20 per application).
• Built-in Zip/Unzip. With the power of a complete Zip File Manager, PowerDesk's built-in zip utility supports every major compression format, including zip, arj, arc, lzh, z, gz, tar, rar. In addition, support is also included for automatically detecting the need for and spanning of large compressed files over multiple disks, password protection for zip files, multiple compression ratios and more.
• Convert image files. PowerDesk has the ability to convert files from over 20 different graphic file formats: LEAD, JPEG, JTIF, GIF, (Animated/Interlaced /Normal), TIFF, BMP, ICON, CURSOR, KODAK, EXIF, PCX, WMF, PSD, PNG, TARGA, EPS, SUN, WPG, PCT, FAX, MAC, MSP, IMG, and it even supports "batch" conversion, for large-scale multi-format conversions from one graphic format to another.
• Keep folders in sync and up-to-date. The Synchronizer makes quick work of comparing and updating folders. Select two folders, compare the contents, and quickly synchronize their contents with one click. Great for backups! (Far superior to Windows’ Briefcase!)
• Toolbar provides quick access to favorite programs and files. Create your own Custom Toolbar for one-click access to your favorite files and applications, as well as functions like Print Screen, restarting your PC, or changing your active printer. Even display multiple clocks for different time zones, or get a quick view of system resources!
• Fast access to file viewing. A fully integrated File Viewer that supports over 80 file formats (too many to list- but believe me I don’t think you’ll have any problems here viewing anything you have) lets you view your files as you browse your hard drive. You can quickly scan the contents of files without launching a viewer or separate application.
• Decode those unreadable email attachments. Nothing is more frustrating than receiving an email attachment that you can't open. PowerDesk Utilities includes a powerful Email Attachment Decoder, so you can right-click on a file to decode MIME/Base64, BinHex and UUencoded mail attachments (it can create UUencoded files as well).
• Keep your files private. Protect your data with PowerDesk Utilities' own encryption, DES encryption, or completely remove all traces of a file through low-level deletion.

…and much, much more.

As I said before, I am always looking for the best utilities to make Windows work better, faster and easier. PowerDesk Utilities 98 is by far the BEST set of utilities I have come across for Windows 95. It is absolutely everything that Explorer should have been all along. It’s almost like Explorer on steroids. And the best part is it works fine under Windows 98, too. I seldom give a "SUPER" recommendation to software (maybe never). If not, this is my first! This is one software program you need to add to your arsenal and absolutely the first one you need to add to Windows 98.

You can download a fully functional version of PowerDesk Utilities 98 for a free 30-day trial period from http://www.mijenix.com/download.htm#PowerDesk. If you like it half as much as I do then order the software for $39.95 plus S+H from Mijenix. If you’re using any earlier version the upgrade is only $19.95. Don’t pass this one up! u