14 DAY TRIAL // If you think that the system tray isn't that good for your needs, then you might need to search for a clock and metering application that does the job better.
A simple clock? I think not!
Let me introduce you to SysMetrix, a small utility that shows the time (it synchronizes to an atomic clock server that you can configure or replace) and also provides system metric information.
The skin support is not only useful in a visual sense, but changes the program's functionality too!
The default Shex panel theme has an unpolished metal look, and features an analog clock, plus meters for the hard drives that you have installed. Also, there are indicators for the SWAP and Physical memory usage level, as well as a graph that indicates the processor usage.
But wait, there's more!
Personally, I like best the tubes theme, because it provides more accessible information. It's vertically structured, with a square analog clock at the top.
After that you get a date and time meter, composed out four elements: time, day, date and uptime. The information here is text only.
Moving down, you can see a CPU graph showing how busy your processor is and the physical and swap memory indicators.
The program automatically detects whether you're connected to a network or not, and if you are, you get two histogram indicators: one for the upload and one for the download traffic. These indicators auto scale themselves, depending on the recent traffic history that's been recorded, so that you get a relevant image.
SysMetrix also shows you what are your hard drives, and shows the free space in a progressive bar indicator.
What I like about this application is that it can show you whether the recycle bin is full or not, and also show you how many files it contains, as well as the disk space that they take up. It's harder to see the disk space that the items in the recycle bin occupy from Windows, but SysMetrix solves the problem nice and easy.
Another feature I like is the fact that you can configure it to check your POP email account(s), and even play a sound when you receive a new message.
If you want to, you can apply a more classic-like skin from the available ones, and set the program to play a sound every hour. This way it will act as one of those antique pendant clocks.
Furthermore, if you would like to have a part of the day (or night) when you don't want to be bothered by any sound from the computer, you can configure SysMetrix to take care of this for you. It can also be configured to modify the system's sound settings, as well as toggling the mute state on and off.
A nice visual effect is the fact that the program can disappear on mouse-over, so that you can work on the window that's behind it, and that you can adjust the transparency (if you set it to about 50%, and have the program be on top of every application, you will be able to carry on with your daily activities, and see your computer's status at any given time, with no extra commuting between applications hassle).
SysMetrix can also be configured to give you up to date weather information, depending on your location; you have to choose your country and the program will list the available cities. For these coordinates you get the local temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure (for each of these you get the minimum, current and maximum values), wind speed, visibility and clouds.
It's pretty hard to cover all the things SysMetrix can do. At first I thought that this is primarily a clock application, but after using it for a little while I've come to the conclusion that it can be configured to show and change pretty much all system settings (it can even copy the color of the pixel that's under the mouse cursor into the clipboard memory).
The Good
This application is nice to have around for daily use. If you want to use it only as a clock, you're free to do so; there are themes that give it a nice, smooth clock look, hiding the other features. There are many options you can configure. The program's control panel, as well as its interface are easy to use and don't require much time to get accommodated with.
The Bad
The program minimizes to the system tray, but when double clicking its icon the task manager pops up, and your only option is to right click it so that it will come to the front. I would have liked it better if these two options were switched one with the other.
The Truth
I would recommend this as a good download. You get a feature-rich application that's easy to work with, even for a beginner, in a small installation package. Also, the program is free for personal use, so it's calling you to download and give it a try!
Check out the screenshots below to see the program in action:
