Power Downloader rounds up back-to-school software

(Credit: CNET Networks)

With the school year quickly approaching for Kitty Kilobyte, Power Downloader wanted to make sure she had everything she needed. Along with Kitty's personalized laptop and other back-to-school necessities, Power knew that sending her off with the right software could make all the difference when faced with the stress of classes, homework, papers, and exams.

To make sure Kitty would get to class on time and know exactly which assignment to be working on at any given time, she would need a good scheduling program. After some quick research at Download.com, Power Downloader found Student Life. With this student organizer installed on Kitty's laptop, she would be able to block out time for study activities, enter in her class schedule, set times for meeting up with study buddies, and even track her progress in her chosen degree. Student Life would also let Kitty calculate her GPA and carefully map out her credits so she knew exactly what classes she would need to graduate. As Power looked at the various useful features and the easy-to-use interface, he could only wish there was a program like Student Life available when he was working his way through school.

To add to Kitty Kilobyte's student software arsenal, Power Downloader includes the newly released Firefox Campus Edition Web browser. In addition to the already great features and flexibility of Firefox, the folks at Mozilla included three great extensions with both fun and practical student needs in mind. FoxyTunes lets students control their music from the Firefox browser window so they don't have to break their concentration by switching apps during crucial studying time. Zotero helps students easily collect, manage, and cite research sources--always an issue when research involves browsing several sites on the Web. For study breaks, Firefox Campus Edition also comes with StumbleUpon, a great browser toolbar that lets students discover and explore cool stuff on the Web.

Though good software like Student Life and Firefox Campus Edition won't assure success in college, Power Downloader knows that the right tools can help reduce the stress level. Hopefully, with an easier way to organize her time, along with the power of Firefox and useful extensions, Kitty Kilobyte will have more time to enjoy her college years and be able to manage her school workload.