Alloy

The functionality some applications provide is obvious from their name. When you come across an application called Blah Blah Audio Converter, you know it can convert audio files from one format to another. When you come across an application called Blah Blah Media Player, you know it can play audio and video files.

The functionality some applications provide is not immediately obvious from their name. My favorite example is the Mozilla-developed Firefox browser. By simply taking a look at the name – Firefox – you couldn’t tell that this is a good looking, fast and easy to use browser. You know all these things because Firefox is immensely popular.

Just like in the Firefox example, the functionality the PGWARE-developed application Alloy provides is not obvious from its title. Someone has to tell you what Alloy is and what it can do. Alloy is a software development tool, an executable compiler you can use to compile and distribute single file executables without an installer. Alloy, a tool that’s fully compliant with Visual C++, Delphi, Visual Basic and many other programming languages, gives software developers the ability to distribute stand-alone executables.

Before you go get Alloy and put it to the test, take a look at the technical details presented below:
Download – the download weighs in at 1.7MB. A 1.7MB download, even on a less than spectacular internet connection, will complete in no time at all. To my mind, not having to wait a long time for a download to complete is always nice.
Supported OS – at the time of writing this and according to the developer, Alloy provides support for Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, 2003, 2008, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit editions).
Limitations – you can use Alloy free of charge for a trial period of 28 days. Once that trial period is over, you will have to get a license to keep using Alloy.