Windows only: Instant Eyedropper is a simple system tray tool that can identify the colour of any pixel on screen -- a useful trick if you're designing a web site or performing other graphics-related tasks. Just drag the tray icon to the part of the screen whose colour you want to copy, and release. Instant Eyedropper copies the colour code for that pixel onto your clipboard (you can choose from a range of formats), ready for use in your HTML editor or graphics program. This is a simple one-task tool, but if you're trying to experiment with different colour schemes it could save you a lot of hassle. Instant Eyedropper is a free download for Windows users. Thanks Chris A!

Windows only: AnVir Task Manager Free is a Windows Task Manager replacement boasting an enormous feature set. This utility can manage startup applications, running applications, processes, services, and oh-so-much more. When you select a running process in the top pane, the bottom pane provides a wealth of information about the process, from a brief description of what it does to the network connections it's making and DLLs it's using. One of my favourite unusual features is the Check with AntiViruses on VirusTotal right-click option—which streamlines my favourite method of determining if a file really has a virus. You can find tons of Task Manager replacements out in the wild, but AnVir still manages to stand out. If you want even more functionality, this free download is also available in a Pro version with a kitchen sink full of features.

Windows only: Free clipboard utility xNeat Clipboard Manager is a lightweight, agile utility for those who do their fair share of text wrangling. Much like other clipboard managers, including ControlC and ClipX, xNeat can track all your copied text, folders, and files, and allow you to call them up again with a keyboard shortcut. xNeat's unique features are allowing you to make certain copies "sticky," so they're always available for quick pasting, and utilising Google to both search and translate copied terms. The big drawback is a lack of image handling, available in similar products, but for those shuffling around a good deal of text, xNeat draws a tiny amount of memory for a helpful function. xNeat Clipboard Manager is a free download for Windows systems only.

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Windows only: Free application ClickGone (or One Click App Killer—there's some confusion over the actual name) turns your mouse cursor into a crosshair and forcibly kills the first app your pull the trigger on. Although it's fun to fire up Internet Explorer and kill it for sport, the application is actually intended to kill off frozen apps quickly and easily. Assuming you were to create a keyboard shortcut to run ClickGone, it could serve as a simple go-to for knocking out a stalled application. This single-use utility is freeware, Windows only.

Windows only: Free right-click enhancer Moo0 RightClicker adds contextual images and a host of useful features to your standard right-click menu in Windows. Copying and moving files and folders to bookmarked or standard system folders is made easy with quick-collapsing menus. Perma-deleting items (as opposed to merely "recycling" them) is added to your options, and intelligent copying—the name, path, or contents of an actual file—is a nice touch. Best of all, Moo0 doesn't eliminate any customisations you've already made, and lets you customise what you see on right-clicking, so it works nicely with any other utilities you may have installed. Moo0 RightClicker is a free download for Windows systems only.

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Windows only: While we're generally fans of the multi-function Taskbar Shuffle 'round these geeky parts, some users might not want much more than the ability to drag and drop their tasks around the bottom of their Windows desktop—especially if the software that does it has to take up 6MB of memory. Taskix, a tiny, free utility, turns on and off to enable dragging taskbar items around each other, and even move around items if you've enabled taskbar grouping. Auto-starting the app with Windows is a one-click affair, and it used only 800KB of RAM on my XP system, so it's hardly a performance hit. Taskix is a free download for Windows systems only. Thanks, Derek!

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Windows only: Free mouse utility Slowmousion is a small, memory-resident app that can be seriously helpful for Photoshop/GIMP aficionados and anyone else who has to draw or select objects with precision. The app sits in your desktop tray (taking up about 3.6MB on my Vista system) and lets you enable its cursor-slowing function with a keyboard key, middle mouse button, or other hotkey. The one big drawback is a missing option to adjust the slow-down speed—those who really need fine-point control may like it, but some might miss a gradual velocity option. If you'd rather do the delicate stuff with your keyboard keys, our own Adam Pash's Mouser can get that done. Slowmousion is a free download for Windows systems only.

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Windows only: Free Windows utility Tiny Watcher tattles on your system and what's been changed on it without having to stay open and use resources in the background. After running a system scan once at installation, Tiny Watcher checks the registry and system folders to see what's changed since it was last run, as well as offering options to "Remove," "Disable," and search the web for information on system processes and common Windows changes. You have to be really cautious, of course, before deleting or disabling things you don't fully understand, but it's a great way of checking just when and why that mysterious folder at your hard drive root was created, without digging through logs or keeping a monitor open. Tiny Watcher is a free download for Windows systems only.

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Windows XP only: Free system utility Phlox has a single, small purpose, but it's one that's caused certain people to hunt down free ways to get Vista's features into XP. That feature is a smarter renaming scheme, one that doesn't make you re-type the file's extension just to change its name. Hit the F2 key on a file, and it does its advertised job. As the FreewareGenius blog points out, however, it uses about 5MB of memory to get the job done, so fans of scripting utility AutoHotKey can get the same feature, or check out system-wide tweakers in Adam's XP-like-Vista guide that do the same. Phlox is a free download for Windows systems only.

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Windows only: Free slipstreaming utility Microsoft Office Integrator does something similar for Office to what nLite does for Windows XP—namely, save you a lot of time if you have to reinstall the thing. After running the program, pointing it to your Office CD/DVD or installation directory, and choosing service packs, updates, and hotfixes to integrate, it creates a new ISO that installs Office XP, 2003, or 2007 with everything rolled in. You can save more time by checking out the "hotpacks," or bundles of fixes and updates, at the forum where Office Integrator is released. My Vista installation had some trouble opening the package from the second download link at the app site, but the first opened, with a seemingly different interface. Office Integrator is a free download for Windows XP and Vista only.

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