Opal - in search of zen, relaxing music player

Opalis an app that plays relaxing background sounds while you work or when you take a break.

Opal

It's a free and open source music player (provided) that helps you relax by mixing nature and office sounds to create the perfect relaxing background noise, while you're working or you take a break.

Opal is very simple and includes different groups of sounds to suit everyone from desktop to fancy. The 40 relaxing tracks are available and all have a slider volume control so you can put them in the background or put them in the foreground with a lot more presence.

You can also set up a timer from the Settings tab to remind you to take a break. You also have the ability to combine multiple sounds at varying volumes to produce the perfect background noise on a loop that can help you stay focused. So you can listen to the music and enjoy it for as long as you want without interruption.

Language: multilingual

OS: Windows, Linux & Mac OS Price: Free

Official Page

Disk SpeedUp scans, optimizes and defragments your hard drives

Disk SpeedUp is free software from the same publisher as the excellent Glary Utilities already featured on the blog. Disk SpeedUp analyzes, optimizes and defragments your hard drives.

Disk SpeedUp

Very fast, it detects all the scattered fragments in seconds and reorganizes the files stored on your disks to accelerate access speed, accelerate application launches, increase search speed and shorten boot time of the system.

In short, improve the overall performance of your system, which is what we all expect from this type of software.

You can also configure Disk SpeedUp to perform defragmentation when the PC is idle and instruct it to shut down the system after the defragmentation process is complete.

FAT, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, NTFS5, NTFS+EFS file system support

Warning!

It offers to analyze the hard drive before starting the defragmentation operation and based on the analysis you can decide whether defragmentation is really necessary.

If it deems that defragmentation is not necessary, it returns a message, in this case The disk seems to be in good shape. Defragmentation may reduce its lifespan. Are you Are you sure you want to continue?

Disk SpeedUp

Other caveats:

There are a number of different opinions about Disk SpeedUp. Some users claim it has dramatically improved their computer's performance, while others have seen little or no effect and extremists swear it's useless 🤪

It is important to note that Disk SpeedUp is not a silver bullet. It cannot speed up a hard drive that is already outdated or in poor condition.

If you plan to use Disk SpeedUp, it is recommended that you back up your data before you begin. This will allow you to restore your computer to its original state if you are not satisfied with the results. libellules.net declines all responsibility in the event of misuse of this program.

OS: Windows 10 & 11 Language: English, French License: Freeware

Official page

StartAllBack returns to the Start menu and taskbar of Windows 10 or Windows 7

If you're unhappy with Windows 11's Start menu and taskbar management, StartAllBack lets you restore the display to Windows 10 or even Windows 7, with multiple customization options.

StartAllBack

For those who like to work with the taskbar at the top or side of the screen, this will once again be possible.

StartAllBack also offers numerous customization options. You can choose the appearance of the Start menu, the position of the taskbar and which features to include. You can also create shortcuts to your favorite applications and files.

The program is by the same author(s) as StartIsBack. It is not free, and costs a modest $4.99 for one PC and $8.99 for 2 PCs.

You can test it and see for yourself for 30 days.

Uninstalling the program returns you to the Windows 11 interface. In any case, it worked fine for me!

Warning! libellules.net declines all responsibility for the use of this software and the bizarre consequences it may cause on your PC... You alone assume the risks!

Language: multilingual

OS: Windows 11

Price: $4.99 for one PC, $8.99 for 2 PCs and $11.99 for 3 PCs

Official website