#StandWithUkraine
Andrey “Rarst” Savchenko —  — Software — calendar, freeware

Customizing tray clock with AlfaClock

alfaclock_icon Time is important. Time displays are stuffed in every electronic device in existence and numerous are made exactly to display time.

Computers as prime of consumer electronics should have best clock display ever. Unfortunately tray clock in Windows sucks. It’s tiny, non-customizable and only facelift it ever got was ability to receive correct time from Internet.

Because of that numerous programs for customizing tray clock were born. Unfortunately lots of them are dumb eye-candy and hardly an improvement.

AlfaClock is one of the few that puts functions before looks.

AlfaClock doesn’t use graphic skins. Instead it offers combination of template and font settings. Templating can be simple (choose one of the pre-made ones) or as complex as you want to make it. It gives you plenty of control over content including number of digits you want to use for specific values.

alfaclock_template

Aside from everything time and date related there are some system indicators available - CPU usage, RAM stats and battery status. Not much but most important ones.

Font settings are everything you can use in Windows - any installed font, any size and any color.

alfaclock_font

Result (nothing too complex in my case but you can really go wild with it :) )

alfaclock_tray

Major trick - there is also separate “copy-to-clipboard” template which you can set to execute on tray click or double-click. Never again type dates. :)

Most important secondary function is calendar - also very customizable.

alfaclock_calendar

Rest are:

  • syncing time with online time services (scheduling, plenty of servers, proxy support);
  • “talking clock” mode that says time at specified intervals;
  • alarms with plenty of options and ability to play music, show messages, open documents and launch programs (my work PC cuckoos when it’s time for lunch :) ).

Overall AlfaClock does one thing - displays time and date the way you want to see it. Exactly what native Windows clock lacks.

AlfaClock is freeware but with expiration date. Expireware (I had to google it to make sure word really exist). :) Basically you have to re-download and re-install it twice a year. I think this is subtle suggestion to check out that shareware AlfaClock2 on developer’s site.

Home&download page http://www.alfasoftweb.com/alfaclock/

Related Posts

4 Comments

  • The DataRat #

    . Have been using T-Clock for my tray clock from Windows 98 thru Win ME, XP, and Vista. This applet has been around ~forever~ ! And it has come out in different iterations by different developers. You can D/L the major versions of it here: http://www.stoicjoker.com/TClock/ It's highly customizable, and besides a configurable tray clock includes a timer, calendar, and configurable 'jump list' menu of hard drive locations and proggies. Again: This utility has been around since Moses bought his first computer ! There's a reason for that. . The DataRat .

  • Rarst #

    @DataRat I had mostly moved on to Samurize. A lot of trouble to make own config (still lazy to add some stuff like drives bandwidth) but results is awesome.

  • The DataRat #

    . "A lot of trouble to make own config" . Yeah, I tried Samurize a few months back. Very steep learning curve, and I decided the difficultly-to-benefit ratio was way too high. . The DataRat .

  • Rarst #

    @DataRat Well, it took me few years and three attempts. :) But it was totally worth it - all indicators I want in a perfectly informational and unobtrusive way.