Utility software

PCWorld Reviewers' Favorites: November 2011

What do hard drive utilities, virtual desktop managers, mindmappers, Windows 7 themes, and creative writing software have in common? They're all kinds of programs PCWorld's Downloads reviewers tried in November. This unranked chart shows some of their favorite finds.

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EASEUS Todo Backup 3.5

Back up entire partitions, restore partitions and individual files for free with this highly useful backup program from Easeus.

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Finestra Virtual Desktops

Elegant, feature-rich virtual desktop manager Finestra works very well--most of the time.

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ExamDiff Pro

Compare the contents of a wide range of file types, merge changes, and generate diff reports with ExamDiff Pro.

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TheBrain

TheBrain lets you keep and organize all of your thoughts and files in one central place.

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BluMind

Blumind is a free, tiny, portable tool for quickly creating mind maps, org charts, and logic diagrams.

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Fade In

Fade In gives you the tools to produce the next "Citizen Kane," or the next "Mansquito vs. Megacroc."

O&O DiskImage Professional Edition

Drive imaging software doesn't get any better than this affordable program, which also performs file-level backup.

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Autumn Leaves Windows 7 Theme

Celebrate the colors of fall with this series of eight beautiful nature photographs.

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Poser

Poser 8 is the world’s most complete solution for creating art and animation using 3D characters. With Poser, it’s easy to make 3D art, whether you’re an experienced artist or you’re dabbling in graphics for the very first time.

Poser...

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Studio One Artist

This is the best entry-level audio and music recording software available, but it's pricey.

WriteMonkey

Clear the screen of distracting menus while writing with this freebie.