ClipMate by Thornsoft
Development has been the definitive
windows clipboard utility since it first appeared in 1991. The
latest and greatest version is 5.206 which is a 32 bit program
although you can still find a 16 bit version for Windows 3.11.
I regularly used ClipMate back in the Windows 3.1 days and found it
to be just as
well done.
ClipMate is a tool that gives the Windows Clipboard greatly
expanded functionality. When you cut or copy to Windows
clipboard you must paste it somewhere or you will lose it when
you make your next cut or copy. ClipMate allows you to copy
as many clips as you have memory and hard drive space for …but this is just the beginning.
ClipMate allows you to manage
those clips in a easy to use interface and stores your clips
on your hard drive in a folder that you can specify. ClipMate then allows
you to create a "collection" that you
can view as thumbnails. You can delete specific clips or
arrange them in the order you want to view or paste them. You
can even do some editing in text, rich text, or html format.
There is a search engine that will allow you to search through
your clips. ClipMate even provides a data filter.
When your ready you can paste your clips in the order you
wish. You can even glue them together into one file. For
example, you could copy text clips from an article and use
ClipMate to glue all your text clips into one document. You
can even clip multimedia into the document.
It is amazing how useful windows clipboard can be when
using ClipMate. Doing research was the first thing I used ClipMate
for. You can go from source to source coping text and pictures
on to the clipboard. Then you can use ClipMate to instantly
glue the whole collection into one document. Pretty cool!
ClipMate runs in the system tray and / or from a hot key
combination. During installation you will be asked if you wish
to auto run ClipMate at startup, what hot key you wish to
assign, and whether you wish to run ClipMate in the system
tray. ClipMate has two interfaces.
The small normal one...
Or a larger Explorer type view which I
prefer and which supports drag and drop, editing and easy
clip management. Of course if you use a 15 inch monitor you
will probably use the small interface.
Once installed it is easy to configure ClipMate
for your needs using the preferences screen. This interface
will allow you to configure the program in just about any way
imaginable.
No detail has been over looked. I really
appreciate it when software allows the user to set things up
they way they work rather then the way the software developer
thinks you should work.
ClipMate is Shareware and is a very fair
$25.00 U.S. to register. You can give it a try for 30 days
without any restrictions or nag screens.
In computer years ClipMate is a dinosaur! It has survived a
half a dozen windows upgrades, the emergence of the Internet and all the competitive
utilities of the last decade. ClipMate is still going strong because it is
still the best utility for what it does.
Rode
