Magnifying Glass

Just like the name says, this freeware creates an effective desktop magnifying glass for easy viewing of text and images. Magnifying Glass creates a system-tray icon that, when double-clicked, quickly opens a rectangular magnifying window. Use the right-click button for the Options menu to alter the window's transparency and size, change the zoom (up to four times), and select the window's position relative to the mouse pointer. We like the ability to offset the window from the cursor, a feature not readily available, but one that allows for an unobstructed view of the area around your cursor. However, we encountered some syntax errors when we attempted to assign some zoom factors; the developers erred and placed a comma instead of a decimal on numbers such as 1.5. Nonetheless, users searching for an effective and free desktop magnifying tool should consider this small program as an option.