SharpAlarm

Sure enough it can be quite the struggle to get out of bed in the morning, but there are various methods through which to attempt to make it easier. A common one is to use an alarm, which you can activate through your mobile phone, clock, or even computer. As such, SharpAlarm wants to offer a helping hand, or at least to remind you of upcoming events.

A cool thing about it is that there’s no setup involved, letting you see what it’s all about from the moment download is done. However, a couple more requirements need to be on your computer, such as .NET Framework for basic functionality, as well as Winamp, because it is used as a means of alert playback.

Although the visual design is wrapped around a classic window frame, it can be slightly tweaked to make it suit your style. It comes up with a default background picture, but it can be easily changed with an image of your own. There’s a clock to show system time, sa well as an intuitive set of controls to help with defining the process.

The core function is to help you get up in the morning, but this means you need to leave your computer running at almost all times. However, it can also come in handy for creating quick reminders for upcoming events, even if there’s no option to have a custom message show up when the target time is up.

Winamp’s role in this operation is more or less mandatory. This is because it needs to be active for the alert to be triggered, initiating playback of current items when the time comes. You can choose to set up a snooze timer, or completely disable the alarm after it rings.

Taking everything into consideration, we can state that SharpAlarm can manage to make you get out of bed in the morning while your favorite song is playing. Unfortunately, it completely depends on other components to be of full use, leaving much to be desired overall, even as a simple alarm clock.