Normally, this series is called ‘Apps for Windows’, but this one is titled for Windows 7 because the application is made specifically for this OS. This must be one of the first third party applications that supports Jump Lists, Taskbar previews and even controls in the previews like Windows Media Player does. Made by Neowin member Baptiste Girod (daty2k1), Gmail Notifier Plus is a unique application that does what Windows Live Mail doesn’t. It notifies you when you have new email in your Gmail account through a notification on its taskbar button, which works like a charm. It doesn’t pop up an ugly notification but instead looks pleasing.

Want to see a preview of the new mail? Hover over the taskbar button, and it’ll show you snippets of your new mail. You can use the arrow buttons to navigate between new mails right there in the thumbnail preview.

Permalink: Apps for Windows 7: Gmail Notifier Plus

I had been planning on starting a section on Apps for Windows since some time now, and no better way to start with version 2 of one of my favorite applications, The New York Times Reader. Previously based on WPF, and now shifted to Adobe Air, for cross platform compatibility, the new Times Reader 2.0 is available for Windows, Linux and OS X users. It contains some new enhancements over version 1, but most of the changes have been cosmetic. It really looks as if it was designed for the Mac only, if you take a cue from the new UI. It’s clean and slightly gray, with excellent typography and streamlined navigation. While the application itself is free, along with some of the news sections, you’ll have to shell out $3.45/week for full access. That shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the free version though, as it could cater most users very well with its variety of content. The available news sections increases on Sunday, with Magazine being the added free section for that day with several other paid ones.  Read more...

Permalink: Apps for Windows: A Review of The New York Times Reader 2.0