Windows; Mac; Linux If you're trying to figure out why a video won't play on your machine it might help if you knew exactly what format you were dealing with.

Windows; Mac; Linux Being able to focus on writing can be a tough task, but there are apps that try to help draw your attention to the task at hand. One such free program is FocusWriter that, despite it's simplistic interface, has a wealth of features and settings available to help you hit your writing goals.

Last month we wrote about a cool website that would let you generate a temporary email address that gets forwarded to your real email address. After a period of time that you specify that temporary address would expire so that you don't have to worry about getting spammed later on down the road.

Windows only A few months ago we pointed out that Notepad++ has an option to find and replace text in multiple files, but that is obviously not the sole purpose of the app. If you need to perform a find and replace operation across multiple files I'd highly suggest that you try out a program that focuses on that kind of task, such as TextCrawler.

Windows only I've always felt like Windows would benefit from a native virtual desktop implementation, but that is something Microsoft has yet to provide. There are plenty of third-party apps that can add this to just about any Windows operating system, but more often than not they aren't that great.

The Tilt 3D Firefox extension provides a unique view of any website using WebGL. It combs through the source code of a site and generates a 3D view that web developers may find useful. The extension's 3D view helps identify areas of the site that contain various HTML elements like a div, span, table, and many others.

Mac only A couple months ago we covered a Mac app called Moom that would let you move windows to various positions on your screen much like what is offered in Windows 7. The grid interface it incorporates is intuitive and I still stand by how much more productive the app makes me, but I know some of you were probably drawn away by the fact that it is $5 to buy.

Windows only When working with large XML files they can take awhile to load depending on the program you're using, but the free (and portable) XML Explorer can handle some big files with ease. This XML file viewer can pull up a 100MB file in just seconds, and it displays the information in a tree view so that you can efficiently browse the contents of the file.

Windows only Many times when I'm moving a window it is to take a peak at something that lies behind it. There are tools I've seen in the past where anytime you start moving the window it will immediately become transparent so that you can see through to what is in the background, but it quickly becomes annoying when it happens you move a window.

Mac only Do you hate the drop shadow that appears around all the windows and menus on your Mac? If you search around there are hidden settings on the Mac that you can modify to have the shadows disabled while taking a screenshot, but being able to disable them 100% of the time was a little tougher for me to find.

Windows only We've posted about other music download utilities in the past, and thought that Songr would be a good one to cover as well. It's a free program that can be used to search for music around the Internet, and more often than not can find high quality versions of the songs you're looking for.

Windows only I've tried out several free VPN services in the past and generally they are difficult to use or are extremely slow. When I tried out SecurityKISS I was pleasantly surprised at how it surpassed both of those hurdles. I was able to download the software, install it, and get connected to a VPN in under a minute.

We've covered some free alternatives to Visio before, such as the online Gliffy and this cross-platform app, but Diagramly is one of the better no-hassle options available. As soon as you visit Diagramly you can instantly start creating a diagram without having to mess around with registering for an account or downloading software. It's about as good as it gets in terms of a free diagram maker.

Sometimes as a web developer you may get an idea in your head that you want to try out, but by the time you get the necessary files in place you may have forgotten what you were going to do.

Windows only Using scheduled tasks on your Windows PC you could create things that emulate an alarm clock, such as playing some sort of media. It's not impossible to do that way, but also not all that convenient. Start My Day is a free app that wants to help get your computer ready each morning without you having to fuss around with scheduled tasks.

The idea of Map Envelope is simple, really. Locate a position on the map (preferably a location that might make the person on the receiving end green with envy), type a message, and wait for your custom Google Maps image to appear. Print, cut, fold on the dotted lines, glue/tape, and bam!, you’ve got your own custom made map envelope.

Windows only If you're one of those people that have to suffer with a PC that takes minutes to boot up this is something you'll want to consider doing. It can be frustrating when restarting a computer that takes forever because many times you can't just walk away and come back to it ready to be used.

Windows only Many people consider magnifiers to only be for accessibility purposes, but they are also useful when working on projects that require pixel-perfect precision. Pointing Magnifier is a free Windows app that works really well when it comes to needing to do more than just read what is on the screen.

Windows only Markdown is a language that is supposed to make writing easier by letting users compose formatted content in a plain-text editor. Getting used to some of the syntax can take time, but there is a lot of intuitiveness behind it as well. Once you decide that you want to give Markdown a try I recommend checking out the free MarkdownPad app for Windows.

Windows; Mac Most screenshot apps out there don't have integrated sharing options, but there is definitely a trend to make screenshot sharing easier with these types of programs. TinyGrab is a free utility that focuses on snapping a screenshot and immediately uploading it to their servers or your own custom location through FTP/SFTP.