Le freeware en liberté
The last time we looked at KidiFree was in July. Since then, this freeware database from France has grown to more than 400 programs. You can browse them en masse or by one of 10 categories. There’s a submission form if you would like to add to the database, plus a small collection of Flashpaper-based tutorials.
What’s the catch? Well, along with the freeware come some “Extras” such as a photo store, where I’m sure the KidiFree developers would like you to spend some money. However, you’re free to ignore them and stay in the freeware section.
So what’s changed since last time? As I mentioned, KidiFree now has more than 400 programs in the database, up from 386 in July. It’s not a huge increase, but an increase nonetheless. Also changed is the interface. It does seem a little more refined and easy to get around in.
But a downside for people who don’t speak French persists. They say each program has both French and English descriptions, but in reality this a bit hit and miss. For example, here’s the English description of Alligator: “We call this new technology ‘BLOGCASTING’. Alligator makes you more widely use in the Podasitng world!! supporting widely file types.” Hmm, it appears to have something to do with podcasting …
Or how about this English description of a game called Bo-Jong: “Sorry !” Well, at least they’re sorry.
I speak French fairly well, so these English descriptions are more amusing than anything else. But if you don’t know any French, they could be quite irritating.
Unfortunately, this is not the only problem with KidiFree. It seems their database is not as up to date as it could be. I tried downloading Tuxtype, a program that helps you learn to type. You’re supposed to be able to do this by clicking a download (télécharger) button in KidiFree. But instead of getting Tuxtype, I found a BBEdit document sitting on the desktop. I opened it up and found some HTML informing me that “the document has moved.”
Luckily, KidiFree also includes a button for the program’s website (site web), so I was able to figure things out that way.
All in all, though, if you’re a fan of freeware, you’ll find KidiFree hard to resist. It may not be the easiest way to find freeware, but if you relax and let yourself explore, it can be a lot of fun.
Check out KidiFree over here.
Posted Tuesday, December 5, 2006 in Reviews
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