NookNak is a utility that brings a variety of useful functions to your desktop. You can set corners of your screen as hotspots to activate your screen saver, mute your system sounds or FastStart the program of your choice (FastStarting Windows Explorer would be my choice). The size of the corner hotspots (where you put your mouse to activate an option) can be set to anywhere from one pixel to 16 pixels. You can also set a delay before the screen saver is activated or audio is muted.

Weddings are huge events to organise. From the day the engagement is announced until the beginning of the honeymoon, the amount of organisation that has to go into the wedding day is enormous. Soon-to-be-married couples can now reduce the effort and stress involved by planning their big day with My Wedding Organizer.

This program is a lot more comprehensive than I imagined. The well-designed tabbed interface allows you to easily enter data such as the names on the guest list, seating arrangements and caterer's details. There's a To-Do-List with more than 100 pre-defined items which can be added to or deleted. A budgeting module brings together all the costs in one place, and you can easily track invitations and RSVPs for up to seven events (such as the Bachelor Party and Bridal Shower). The printing section helps with invitations, RSVP envelopes, place cards and more. The entire program is very customisable. You can add and delete items to suit your needs; you can even enter the default guest title (such as Mr and Mrs) that will appear on invitations.

Windows Restart 98 provides all the features that other quick-exit utilities provide along with a whole pile more. It sits in the system tray and can be accessed through the right-click menu. The quick-exit features include Shut Down Windows, Reboot Windows, Log Off Current User, Restart Windows, Exit to MS-DOS Mode, and the Windows Explorer Shut Down Dialog.

Talking Email will read your incoming email to you so that you can occupy yourself with other things at the same time. Set your mail server and account information in the options box, then choose how often you want Talking Email to check for mail. When mail comes in, an animated figure pops up and reads your mail aloud. Talking Email uses the Microsoft Agent technology (as seen in Office) to have animated characters read out your messages. Merlin is the only animated character that comes with the demo version, but he is a laugh. The voice that reads out your messages is not natural but still very clear and able to be understood.

I was going to say that this is a great program for anyone concerned about RSI, but then I thought, this program is great for everyone because everyone should be concerned about RSI. The more time you spend at the computer the more risk you have of getting RSI. WorkPace, however, comes to the rescue by reminding you to take micro pauses and proper rest breaks during the day.

Setting up WorkPace involves the answering of a series of questions. These questions find out about your normal computer usage, any set rest breaks you may have and any other factors that allow it to create a custom profile. The WorkPace Status Window sits in the top right-hand corner and displays how long you have till your next break, how many hours of work for the day and week you have left, as well as your overall typing speed.

Pop-up messages advise you when you're exceeding recommended limitations and suggest or even force micro pauses and more lengthy breaks. Exercises and stretches can also be displayed during rest breaks.

Months ago I tried to configure my Eudora email client to download my messages from my Hotmail account; with no success. Hotmail Express, however, allows you to download Hotmail messages through any POP mail client. It is simple to set up and easy to use. Just install it then enter the appropriate POP and SMTP settings in your mail client. After that there is little else to be done. Hotmail Express also has a system tray icon that notifies you when it is downloading messages from Hotmail.

If you are always inserting the same CD-ROMs into your drive to access data, you may find Virtual Drive very useful. Virtual Drive can create an image of a CD-ROM and then give you access to that data through a new drive letter. This virtual drive is then accessible through Explorer like any other drive. You can do this with as many CDs as you want and the image can be compressed to save space.

Not content with having the same wallpaper, screen saver and sound scheme every time you start Windows? Media Changer Deluxe will ensure that you do not get bored with your media settings as it cycles through different media settings each time you start up. You can also elect to have Media Changer change these settings with a click of the button or at specified time intervals.

An easy-to-use, tabbed setup screen has options to randomise, finetune, and enable or disable changes for each category. Not only can you rotate the standard Windows event sounds, but the program supports changing event sounds for other programs (if it's in the Control Panel's Sounds panel then Media Changer Deluxe can manipulate it.) Wallpaper options include automatic stretching or tiling based on criteria you set, plus you can use JPG files as well as BMP images.