Microsoft’s alternative to Maximize is Snap, a feature of Windows 7. It allows you to drag windows left or right to “maximize” to half of the screen. Snap also lets you drag a window up to maximize and use Win-Left and Win-Right to snap (my favorite part of the feature). You can have these same features in Windows XP or Vista with AeroSnap Beta. It’s free, it’s simple, and it does just what it says.

• Take a look at AeroSnap Beta.

MacFUSE allows you to support 3rd-party file system drivers on your Mac, including NTFS. A company called Tuxera has an open-source driver for NTFS (they also sell a high-performance version) which allows your Mac to read and write windows latest file systems.

With most external hard drive now formatted with NTFS, not being able to write to these drives can be a serious stumbling block on the path to interoperability.

• Download MacFuse at Google Code
• Download NTFS-3G from Tuxera

VLC also offers features such as transcoding and streaming support for the advanced user. I recently set up VLC as the default player on a computer for my friend’s five-year-old daughter. She can double-click a movie and VLC is set to open full-screen and start playing. No hassle.

If you don’t have VLC, just get it. It’s free, it runs on Macs, Windows, and Linux. It plays almost everything, and it just works. It has plenty of advanced settings if you want them, but mostly, double-click and start watching.

• Get VLC now

SuperPreview is all about comparison. Choose IE6, your current version of IE (If you are using IE8 you can opt for Compatibility Mode), or an image – even a Photoshop PSD file. Select any two and display them next to, above and below, even overlaid on each other. Simultaneously scroll both panes and zoom in to 500% for pixel-perfect analysis. Box Highliting will select the same item on both panes, and select it in the DOM if you choose to view it. You can change the rendered browser size, and more.

Expression Web has a more complete version, including the ability to add other installed browsers like Firefox or Safari. But, then, it’s $300, and SuperPreview is free. It doens’t work every time (on my machine msnbc.com will not render under IE6) but it’s better than wandering off to the computer with IE6 still installed.

• Pick up SuperPreview from Microsoft

SyncToy has three modes for all sorts of different needs. If you find yourself copying files, or wishing you had,  SyncToy might be for you.

• Download SyncToy from Microsoft 

• Learn more about Paparazzi!

• Go Download Taskbar Shuffle

You can use this same small program on any PC — I’ve tested it on a netbook running XP on an 8.9-inch screen and a desktop running Vista on a 30-inch screen. It’s handy if you need a temporary rotated view or want to confuse people.

As a special note for Synergy users, Synergy did not respond well when the server’s screen was rotated. The cursor, but not the ability to click, was on the server, the keyboard was on another.

• Get EeeRotate Now.

SharePod solves that by allowing me to manage my music from a free,  small program I keep on the iPod itself. It’s just a few megs, and you can add and remove songs, create and change playlists. When my hard drive failed in my home PC, SharePod exported all my music, playlists, ratings, playcounts… everything into a format iTunes could import.

SharePod is donation-supported, so take a look, and if you like it, shoot Jeff a couple of dollars using the donation link on the Download page.

• Get SharePod for free.

Just choose one computer to be the server — the computer with the mouse and keyboard attached — and the rest connect as clients. Synergy runs inside the operating system, so don’t expect to modify BIOS settings or select startup options with a remote keyboard.

Installation is easy under Windows (works with Windows 95 through Vista). There is no installer or configuration tool for Macintosh, but the online documentation is quite extensive, and even includes step-by-step instructions to have to launch automatically.

Configuring Synergy  uses a somewhat confusing interface.  You have to identify each computer which will be connected (even the host) and how the different screens “touch” each other. You have to tell it how to get out from each screen, even if it is the opposite of the way you got on to it.  During initial setup you may find your cursor “stranded” on a screen with no way off. Exiting Synergy on that computer will return your cursor to the main screen.

I even leave the Synergy client running on my laptop, so when I open it at work, I can control it with the same keyboard and mouse I always use.

While it isn’t for everyone, there are plenty of multiple-computer users that could benefit from the simplicity of one keyboard, one mouse, and no hassled (well, after setup).

• Take a look at Syngery on SourceForge.