Attractive Locus Workstation standing desk an excellent choice

Brendan Wilhide, 24 May 13 Focal Upright's Locus Workstation is the company's flagship product. Martin Keen, the man who founded the Keen shoe company, designed this upright desk. After he sold his shoe company, Keen started Focal Upright, and the Locus Workstation began shipping last year.

Foxit PhantomPDF 6 shines in the paperless office

Nathanael Strong, 24 May 13 Foxit Software's PhantomPDF (in both Standard and Business editions) make a good choice for basic office needs, but it suffers from an identity crisis once you get to the high-end features. Foxit's download page makes the bold claim that it is "Better than Adobe Reader and Acrobat," but a more accurate statement would be that it might be better, in very specific circumstances that may or may not apply to you.

Microsoft breeds new generation of Windows 8-compatible mice

Alex Cocilova, 24 May 13 Windows 8 has changed the way we navigate the desktop, so it's not surprising that Microsoft has a pair of new wireless mice designed specifically for Windows 8 (they're also compatible with Windows 7 and the Mac OS X OS).

Timebar turns your menu bar into your timer

Lex Friedman, 23 May 13 While I often set timers with Siri on my iPhone, doing so means I need another Siri command or series of swipes and taps to check the timer's progress. When I'm at my desk working, I prefer a simple onscreen timer. Whimsicalifornia's $3 Timebar (Mac App Store link) is a nifty timer app that lives in your menu bar. Actually, lives isn't quite the right word: Timebar consumes your menu bar--but in a good way.

PDF Editor Pro 3 a pricey step up from Preview for PDF editing

Jeffery Battersby, 21 May 13 PDF Editor Pro is a PDF editing and annotation tool from Wondershare that aspires to be a replacement for Apple's built-in Preview app. While the app offers some features that aren't available in Preview, it also lacks many of the basic features that make Preview so appealing as a PDF editing and annotating tool.

Connectify Dispatch combines network adapters to increase speed and reliability

Jim Norris, 21 May 13 Beyond the Hotspot software that comprises the bulk of their business, Connectify Inc. makes another utility for laptop enthusiasts: Dispatch.

Microsoft Flight looks beautiful, might as well stay grounded

Erez Zukerman, 21 May 13 Microsoft Flight is the current incarnation of a long and illustrious franchise of games, dating back to 1977. Unlike SimCity, you can start playing Microsoft Flight for free: Simply download the game and embark on a series of missions planned to both teach you the basics of flight, and hook you into buying later missions and additional aircraft. Microsoft Flight is the last of its kind: Microsoft permanently stopped work on the game in July 2012, just a few short months after releasing it.

Read and write PDF files easily with Foxit Reader 6

Nathanael Strong, 18 May 13 There's a lot to be said for software that just works. That isn't to say that Adobe Reader doesn't work, but it has a lot of baggage attached to it that Foxit Reader doesn't. As a result, Foxit is significantly smaller and faster.

Mash your motor with Euro Truck Simulator 2

Erez Zukerman, 18 May 13 I never thought a truck-driving simulator could be fun, but Euro Truck Simulator 2 proved me wrong. There is something soothing in watching the world go by from the high and mighty cockpit of a Volvo FH16 Globetrotter XL. If you are used to more traditional racing games, getting used to the way trucks handle in the game may take some time. They really do feel like trucks: Slow to accelerate, jarringly fast to brake thanks to air brakes, ungainly to maneuver, and immensely powerful.

HardShell Case coats Retina MacBook Pro in a candy-colored shell

Roman Loyola, 18 May 13 As sturdy as Apple's MacBooks are, it's a little depressing to pull your laptop out of your bag and discover a ding or scratch on the aluminum case. If you want some extra protection for your laptop, Handy Candy Cases' $60 HardShell Case might be the answer.