Thanks Gizmo. You represent everything that is great about the Internet.
Very few people have helped so many - you should be really proud of your achievements.
I hope you have a long, healthy, happy and rewarding retirement.
Thank you, Gizmo, for all that you did and (hopefully) will continue to do for Gizmo's Freeware.
There has NEVER been (and continues not to be) anything like this masterpiece you created.
Recognizing your need for help, and then convincing others to actually help you to not only keep the site going but improve it, was again a genius decision.
Best of luck to you and your family in the future!!
When I saw that you are retiring - then I registered as a user on this site just so that I could post this big 'Thank you' to you.
Thank you so much for all your hard work and for making a site which is useful and trustworthy
I don't know you - but can I make a suggestion........Don't completely retire. Still keep your hand on the wheel. It'll be good for you - and, I'm sure, good for the site.
Wishing you happiness, success and fulfillment for the coming years
You have enlightened me over the years about the options I had to download secure software. I also learned things I would not have learned on my own. I wish you good health and a happy life. You shall have the satisfaction that your effort has done a lot of good and is, and will continue to be, appreciated.
May the team of senior and volunteer editors can continue your legacy and expand it, as all good legacies should.
Hi Gizmo, Your site has been a tremendous help to me over the years. Many thanks to you and your staff. You will be missed but never forgotten. Have fun in your retirement. Regards Dell Robinson
Jojo, Midnight Cowboy, Rhiannon and George Lewe are taking over?
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are the new bosses, huh?
Oh, we are so doomed ...
:)
Enjoy your retirementwith your wife, may it be long in health and happiness. I found this site by chance about 15years ago and what a goldmine of info it's been. From freeware to forums and you and the editors. Some businesses could take a leaf out of your book. Amazing and take care
Been coming to your site for quite a few years now, been more than happy to recommend to all n sundry as the place to get info and software for any purpose, started following/using your site mainly from the blog/newsletter you had back in the day. So I feel like “an old friend” is leaving. Sorry to see you go but happy to have “known you” so to speak, enjoy the retirement and take care of yourself and yours. Good luck.
Many, many thanks for such a reliable, trustworthy site. With great appreciation, I've passed this site on to friends and family.
All the best, and enjoy retirement!!!
I agree. My perspective has always been to give more options and more information that's as accurate as possible so that people can decide what works for them.
What a great enterprise you started here. I've adopted many of the recommendations made on this site over the years, all of which have proved successful. I'm just a little older than yourself and chose to take early retirement at the age of 57. So, you are most certainly deserving of your long awaited retirement.
I wish you every happiness in what you choose to do in the future and may that be both long and fulfilling. Best wishes.
I followed you from the very beginning. I have enjoyed every comment of yours throughout the years. Your accomplishments on the internet are legendary. While I will miss you, I wish you well in your retirement. Best wishes to one of the true legends of the internet. Farewell gizmo.
'Gizmo' as it has always been known to me and bookmarked that way too, has been my go to since my early days on Windows. Thank you for all your hard work, I wish you a fabulous retirement.
Gizmo is retiring! Long Live the Team!
Many thanks for all you've done for Gizmo's Freeware and for us users, and may your legacy live on with the Team to follow in your footsteps.
Wow Gizmo, I've been following you for ... very very very long, I don't even have an idea how long already, but I'm speaking decades... And you always treated us with great content. Thanks for everything, and for making sure the service remains alive. You really left a mark in my life. Enjoy your retirement with your wife, and perhaps discover other great things to do. You're never too old (unless maybe for bungee jumping)!
Many thanks, ol' pal, for the foresight that birthed techsupportalert and the stick-to-it-iv-ness (thanks for that, Sister Mary Albert) that has been instrumental in its growth, development, and success. May you live long and prosper!
Longtime follower and admirer. Thanks for your efforts and your contributions to the computing community. Your site has been iconic in the world of free and open source software. Best wishes in your retirement!
Try to reconsider with a surpise thought once every 3 months - just to keep in touch - as retirements can be...... not what you thought>
A big THANK YOU for all waht you and your ideas have given us
All the best
Thank you Gizmo! Enjoy your retirement.
Over the years, I have given the link to his websites to so many people that I have lost count.
This is an unparalleled site...good luck for its future in the capable hands of the new admin team.
I wish U all the best "sir" amd all the health and happiness u can find i really luv ur website and have folled it for a couple yrs now and it wa sreally helpful to me U take care and may god bless u Sir!!
al young
I'VE FORWARDED MANY OF YOUR LINKS TO FRIENDS AND FACEBOOK. ALWAYS DESCRIBING YOUR SITE AS A TREASURE OF THE INTERNET. ENJOY AUSTRALIA, A LAND WHERE EVERYTHING IS TRYING TO KILL YOU. MANY THANKS FOR AN INVALUABLE SERVICE. LIVE LONG AND PROSPER. (i'M 75. STILL WORKING...YOU QUITTER).
Thank you Gizmo.
Amazing perfect, consistent, innovative and fiendly work.
Your site is resourceful and a worthy reference for enthusiasts.
Happy New Year and retirement.
Renato.
Open Source is great stuff. But I cannot condone software distribution that does not include everything required to install and run it. This program requires Java runtimes. I get that these cannot be distributed with the software due to license issues perhaps, but other software with the same limitations have the installer program actually go and get the required additional items making it EASY for the person installing and wanting to use the software to actually accomplish that task. Call it lazy, or careless programming maybe? It just makes for a poor end-user experience. If you are going to do something, then do it fully, IMHO. Moving on to some other program that actually works after I complete the install.
All the best for your retirement. This DEFINITELY is a "go to" site for me ALMOST every day.
Many heartfelt thanks for your amazing dedication but as a 75 year old myself, I know exactly where you are coming from.
Happy 2021 and many years to come!!
You have created one of the most useful resources on the web. Thank you for all the years. Sorry your retirement begins during such a time of distress and travel restriction.
I was introduced to the Tech Support Alert back in the day through the Internet Tourbus. I don't know what I would have done all these years without this wealth of information that has helped me troubleshoot problems, improve productivity, and manage my 'digital life' effectively. Gizmo, your work has been a gift to the world! I'm happy to see that the site will go on, leaving a long-lasting legacy. Many blessings to you in your retirement! May you enjoy a well-deserved permanent vacation! From a grateful Gizmo fan. :)
Happy Retirement. You deserve it for all your good work. I for one read Gizmo's every day and for years and have learned much. Glad to hear that it will continue.
Thank you so very much for your many years of dedication. As a 75 year old, I too understand where you are coming from but still I am saddened by your retirement news.
Happy 2021 and many year to come!!! Take care my friend!
I wish you all the very best for your future!
I sincerely hope that the "projects" that you have lined up keep you out of mischief, and really do keep you busy and fully engaged.
Having been at this game for so long, you do realize that you will have to give your new activities a substantial push if you want to feel fulfilled.
I wish you all good things!
Ian has been such a friend to the freeware coders of this planet, and techsupportalert has always been one of the very best sites on the web. We will miss you.
i've read few articles about those two and some others before. but forgot on which sites.
i think much of the content on both ptio and priv australia are quite similar. what Panzer said could also be noted.
the site that Panzer gave the link is also quite good.
i believe that in the end what matters is what do you need and want in certain level, according to situation and condition.
there's no such thing as too much too many as for security and privacy.
sometimes we can just utilise few things for daily basis activities. sometimes we put on more from the arsenal.
these more and updated info could be integrated into Gizmo's Freeware's Security and Privacy List also.
thanks to the team, for all the effort to collect and provide us these info for us to read and learn.
Enjoy your retirement, and I will join the chorus of voices claiming this is the end of an era. Your insights, knowledge and enthusiasm for this stuff have been a great resource for more people than you'll ever known -- thanks for everything!
Thanks for making this site and this community. It gives me memories of the old BBS days when techies helped techies with finding great software that wasn't necessarily mainstream.
You did real good.
Enjoy yourself.
You've earned it....
The end of an era. I remember when you first started with your freeware newsletter Ian and the TechSupportAlert site was little more than a basic repository for your newsletter archives. Although you probably won't remember, you and I used to communicate occasionally via email back in those days. You were, and always have been, a freeware guru with an extraordinary understanding of new and innovative freeware... and a thorough gentleman to boot. I sincerely wish you all the best in retirement and thank you for your years of helping us mere mortals.
Congratulations, Ian/Gizmo!
You've accomplished something great here. And the fact that it will continue without you is a testimony to how your vision of quality free software has resonated with others.
I remember the hoopla around Windows Secrets, which was not much more than just that: hoopla. But your work has stood the test of time.
Many thanks.
Bruce Fraser
I had to login for the first time in years just to wish you the best. This website has helped me find the best freeware ever and helped steer me away from "acquiring" software. I used to show people this website all the time when I was working retail and helping people with their computer and electronic purchases. Sometimes they would come in looking software to do specific things and I would show them this site and tell them to see if they could find what they were looking for. Words really can't explain how valuable this site has been to me over the years. Enjoy your retirement and thanks again.for all you've done.
Yes, it's amazing that 12 years+ have just sailed by and now we're left to pilot the ship without our venerable captain. Quite some challenge and quite an act to follow. Hopefully our current status and aims for the future will encourage a few more volunteers to come forward since we have quite a number of reviews in need of updating. As ever I'll be here to help whoever and with whatever I can. Thanks Gizmo for all your support and not least for enduring my off beat sense of humor. All the best to you and everyone else here for a pandemic free 2021. MC - Site Manager.
For me it started with "Gizmo's 46 Best" list many years ago, a list of free and useful PC software products. I liked the idea of freeware and finding good ones out there. Not before long I contacted Gizmo and the rest is history. The history of the Techsupportalert site and community.
Thank you so much, Gizmo, for your contribution. What you have started will live on and we will do our best to manage it in your spirit.
I wish you all the best for your retirement. Enjoy other great aspects of life now with your wife and maybe say Hello now and then.
Thank you again for everything,
George
I would also like to add the AceThinker Online Audio Recorder as one of the best streaming media recorder. It is an online app that can help you record music in high qualiy output. Here's the link of the tool https://www.acethinker.com/record-audio
i've checked the site mentioned above. not very much difference on them. both australia and ptio. priv australia tools also mentioned those things criticise by the that "lemy.ml". there are even the similar "mistakes" on both sites. like; duckduckgo, brave, etc.
This is a list of the most recently posted comments on the site sorted so that the most recent comments appear first.
You can however sort the list on Article title by clicking on the column heading. To see actual comments click the + sign.
Ditto... :-)
Thank you so much, Gizmo! :-)
God bless you, your family and all the people around you: Happy New Year, HEALTH and PEACE! *thumbsup*
Thanks Gizmo. You represent everything that is great about the Internet.
Very few people have helped so many - you should be really proud of your achievements.
I hope you have a long, healthy, happy and rewarding retirement.
Most definitely.
Best. Site. EVER!
Thank you, Gizmo, for all that you did and (hopefully) will continue to do for Gizmo's Freeware.
There has NEVER been (and continues not to be) anything like this masterpiece you created.
Recognizing your need for help, and then convincing others to actually help you to not only keep the site going but improve it, was again a genius decision.
Best of luck to you and your family in the future!!
Thank you!!
Thank You!!!!
THANK YOU!!!!!!
When I saw that you are retiring - then I registered as a user on this site just so that I could post this big 'Thank you' to you.
Thank you so much for all your hard work and for making a site which is useful and trustworthy
I don't know you - but can I make a suggestion........Don't completely retire. Still keep your hand on the wheel. It'll be good for you - and, I'm sure, good for the site.
Wishing you happiness, success and fulfillment for the coming years
Thanks and may the road rises up to make every step an easy one. You have been a great help to this old 71-year-old and I wanted to thank you.
Vivaldi should definitely be on the list.
https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-3-5-for-android/
https://github.com/stnkl/EverythingToolbar/issues/57
You have enlightened me over the years about the options I had to download secure software. I also learned things I would not have learned on my own. I wish you good health and a happy life. You shall have the satisfaction that your effort has done a lot of good and is, and will continue to be, appreciated.
May the team of senior and volunteer editors can continue your legacy and expand it, as all good legacies should.
Hi Gizmo, Your site has been a tremendous help to me over the years. Many thanks to you and your staff. You will be missed but never forgotten. Have fun in your retirement. Regards Dell Robinson
Thank you Gizmo! Enjoy your retirement!
Lol yep you're stuck with us. :)
Enjoy your retirementwith your wife, may it be long in health and happiness. I found this site by chance about 15years ago and what a goldmine of info it's been. From freeware to forums and you and the editors. Some businesses could take a leaf out of your book. Amazing and take care
Thank you for all the work you have done. Best wishes for a happy and enjoyable retirement.
Congratulations on your retirement!
Been coming to your site for quite a few years now, been more than happy to recommend to all n sundry as the place to get info and software for any purpose, started following/using your site mainly from the blog/newsletter you had back in the day. So I feel like “an old friend” is leaving. Sorry to see you go but happy to have “known you” so to speak, enjoy the retirement and take care of yourself and yours. Good luck.
Many, many thanks for such a reliable, trustworthy site. With great appreciation, I've passed this site on to friends and family.
All the best, and enjoy retirement!!!
I agree. My perspective has always been to give more options and more information that's as accurate as possible so that people can decide what works for them.
What a great enterprise you started here. I've adopted many of the recommendations made on this site over the years, all of which have proved successful. I'm just a little older than yourself and chose to take early retirement at the age of 57. So, you are most certainly deserving of your long awaited retirement.
I wish you every happiness in what you choose to do in the future and may that be both long and fulfilling. Best wishes.
Gizmo, thanks for your contributions to the technology area, enjoy your retirement !!!
Gotta echo all the other posts here, always been one of THE internet goto sites. Hope you enjoy many years of happy, healthy retirement.
A giant THANKS FOR ALL YOUR WORK.
Thanks a lot!! And best wishes for your future!
I followed you from the very beginning. I have enjoyed every comment of yours throughout the years. Your accomplishments on the internet are legendary. While I will miss you, I wish you well in your retirement. Best wishes to one of the true legends of the internet. Farewell gizmo.
Thanks for all your time in the past. I've been following for years and have learned much. Enjoy your time off and new dreams.
Thank you Gizmo! Enjoy your retirement!
'Gizmo' as it has always been known to me and bookmarked that way too, has been my go to since my early days on Windows. Thank you for all your hard work, I wish you a fabulous retirement.
Gizmo is retiring! Long Live the Team!
Many thanks for all you've done for Gizmo's Freeware and for us users, and may your legacy live on with the Team to follow in your footsteps.
Wow Gizmo, I've been following you for ... very very very long, I don't even have an idea how long already, but I'm speaking decades... And you always treated us with great content. Thanks for everything, and for making sure the service remains alive. You really left a mark in my life. Enjoy your retirement with your wife, and perhaps discover other great things to do. You're never too old (unless maybe for bungee jumping)!
Many thanks, ol' pal, for the foresight that birthed techsupportalert and the stick-to-it-iv-ness (thanks for that, Sister Mary Albert) that has been instrumental in its growth, development, and success. May you live long and prosper!
Longtime follower and admirer. Thanks for your efforts and your contributions to the computing community. Your site has been iconic in the world of free and open source software. Best wishes in your retirement!
Always friendly if not the friendliest web visit of every day. Thank you for your presence, presents, and prescience. Best wishes always.
Try to reconsider with a surpise thought once every 3 months - just to keep in touch - as retirements can be...... not what you thought>
A big THANK YOU for all waht you and your ideas have given us
All the best
This site has been an invaluable resource for many years. Thank you, and enjoy your retirement.
Thank you Gizmo! Enjoy your retirement.
Over the years, I have given the link to his websites to so many people that I have lost count.
This is an unparalleled site...good luck for its future in the capable hands of the new admin team.
I wish U all the best "sir" amd all the health and happiness u can find i really luv ur website and have folled it for a couple yrs now and it wa sreally helpful to me U take care and may god bless u Sir!!
al young
Many many thanks to you sir enjoy ur retiremant
al young jr
Thanks for all your time here! Enjoy your retirement and stay healthy!
Best of luck in the future !!! Enjoy your retirement. May you have many happy years in the future.
I'VE FORWARDED MANY OF YOUR LINKS TO FRIENDS AND FACEBOOK. ALWAYS DESCRIBING YOUR SITE AS A TREASURE OF THE INTERNET. ENJOY AUSTRALIA, A LAND WHERE EVERYTHING IS TRYING TO KILL YOU. MANY THANKS FOR AN INVALUABLE SERVICE. LIVE LONG AND PROSPER. (i'M 75. STILL WORKING...YOU QUITTER).
Thank you Gizmo.
Amazing perfect, consistent, innovative and fiendly work.
Your site is resourceful and a worthy reference for enthusiasts.
Happy New Year and retirement.
Renato.
This site has been an invaluable resource for many years. Thank you, and enjoy your retirement.
Many Thanks for creating this wonderful site and making it what it is. Here's a wish for many healthy and happy years of retirement.
Open Source is great stuff. But I cannot condone software distribution that does not include everything required to install and run it. This program requires Java runtimes. I get that these cannot be distributed with the software due to license issues perhaps, but other software with the same limitations have the installer program actually go and get the required additional items making it EASY for the person installing and wanting to use the software to actually accomplish that task. Call it lazy, or careless programming maybe? It just makes for a poor end-user experience. If you are going to do something, then do it fully, IMHO. Moving on to some other program that actually works after I complete the install.
Can you share please.
Thank you for all your work, and best wishes for your retirement!
Best wishes and good health for a long retirement.
All the best for your retirement. This DEFINITELY is a "go to" site for me ALMOST every day.
Many heartfelt thanks for your amazing dedication but as a 75 year old myself, I know exactly where you are coming from.
Happy 2021 and many years to come!!
You have created one of the most useful resources on the web. Thank you for all the years. Sorry your retirement begins during such a time of distress and travel restriction.
I was introduced to the Tech Support Alert back in the day through the Internet Tourbus. I don't know what I would have done all these years without this wealth of information that has helped me troubleshoot problems, improve productivity, and manage my 'digital life' effectively. Gizmo, your work has been a gift to the world! I'm happy to see that the site will go on, leaving a long-lasting legacy. Many blessings to you in your retirement! May you enjoy a well-deserved permanent vacation! From a grateful Gizmo fan. :)
Hey Gizmo, enjoy a well earned retirement, you have been my go to person and website whenever I have needed anything PC related, thanks.
Regards
Geoff
All the comments posted just about sum up what you have given so many people. Take care and have a happy retirement.
Happy Retirement. You deserve it for all your good work. I for one read Gizmo's every day and for years and have learned much. Glad to hear that it will continue.
Thank you so very much for your many years of dedication. As a 75 year old, I too understand where you are coming from but still I am saddened by your retirement news.
Happy 2021 and many year to come!!! Take care my friend!
Many thanks, Gizmo. Enjoy your retirement: it has its perks :).
& the best possible New Year to you.
Thanks. Good luck.
---
75? Time flies.
I just wanted to say THANK YOU! I have used a
lot of the tips, ideas, applications and so much
more I found on Gizmo over the years.
Have a great retirement.
Bandit
Happy retirement. You've made an impact on my life. I have found many good programs and start all searches here.
I wish you all the very best for your future!
I sincerely hope that the "projects" that you have lined up keep you out of mischief, and really do keep you busy and fully engaged.
Having been at this game for so long, you do realize that you will have to give your new activities a substantial push if you want to feel fulfilled.
I wish you all good things!
Many thanks for all the help you've provided over the years and for all the wee gems you've brought us.
Enjoy your retirement and thank you so much for many years of useful information. I'm glad too that the site will be continuing in good hands.
Thank you. You're efforts have been invaluable to me since you began so many years ago.
Cheers, m'dear!
Enjoy the well-deserved retirement! Everything you have done for all of us is so appreciated!
Sincere thanks for having selflessly given up your time, energy, knowledge and sense of humour to us all.
Thanks Gizmo for a great site. Have been a follower for as long as I have been on the 'net.
All the best for the future!
Thank you Gizmo for all your hard work!!
Thanks, goodbye, and enjoy your retirement!
Ian has been such a friend to the freeware coders of this planet, and techsupportalert has always been one of the very best sites on the web. We will miss you.
-mouser from donationcoder.com
Thanks Gizmo!
Your website is a thorn in the side of all those software webpages that put ‘commercial’ interests over helping the public
Your invention of an honest webpage without hidden agendas truly revolutionised how the public can obtain much needed information about FREE software
I can safely say your website revolutionised my life and how I can obtain maximal productivity from my computer
May TechSupportAlert live forever. Thank you to all the moderators who keep this dream alive
i've read few articles about those two and some others before. but forgot on which sites.
i think much of the content on both ptio and priv australia are quite similar. what Panzer said could also be noted.
the site that Panzer gave the link is also quite good.
i believe that in the end what matters is what do you need and want in certain level, according to situation and condition.
there's no such thing as too much too many as for security and privacy.
sometimes we can just utilise few things for daily basis activities. sometimes we put on more from the arsenal.
these more and updated info could be integrated into Gizmo's Freeware's Security and Privacy List also.
thanks to the team, for all the effort to collect and provide us these info for us to read and learn.
sounds good. already have read that post of yours too, Rhiannon.
many thanks for your dedication since you started. may you enjoy life more, knowing that you've helped many.
Enjoy your retirement, and I will join the chorus of voices claiming this is the end of an era. Your insights, knowledge and enthusiasm for this stuff have been a great resource for more people than you'll ever known -- thanks for everything!
Thanks for making this site and this community. It gives me memories of the old BBS days when techies helped techies with finding great software that wasn't necessarily mainstream.
You did real good.
Enjoy yourself.
You've earned it....
The end of an era. I remember when you first started with your freeware newsletter Ian and the TechSupportAlert site was little more than a basic repository for your newsletter archives. Although you probably won't remember, you and I used to communicate occasionally via email back in those days. You were, and always have been, a freeware guru with an extraordinary understanding of new and innovative freeware... and a thorough gentleman to boot. I sincerely wish you all the best in retirement and thank you for your years of helping us mere mortals.
Cheers... Jim in Oz
All the best for your retirement. This is a "go to" site for me every single day.
Many thanks.
Congratulations, Ian/Gizmo!
You've accomplished something great here. And the fact that it will continue without you is a testimony to how your vision of quality free software has resonated with others.
I remember the hoopla around Windows Secrets, which was not much more than just that: hoopla. But your work has stood the test of time.
Many thanks.
Bruce Fraser
Congrats! I’m your age but retired 10 years ago.
Gizmo has been a staple of mine since I first got internet. LOL
Thank you kindly!
Su
Godspeed
Happy trails Ian !...
love, hugs and spitty kisses from Wally in Bundanoon, Oz
I had to login for the first time in years just to wish you the best. This website has helped me find the best freeware ever and helped steer me away from "acquiring" software. I used to show people this website all the time when I was working retail and helping people with their computer and electronic purchases. Sometimes they would come in looking software to do specific things and I would show them this site and tell them to see if they could find what they were looking for. Words really can't explain how valuable this site has been to me over the years. Enjoy your retirement and thanks again.for all you've done.
By George!
All the best to you Gizmo, and thank you for this digital legacy that managed to survive through such rugged times!
Thank for all the years, best of luck in all you do in the future
Thank you !!!!!
I would also like to add the AceThinker Online Audio Recorder as one of the best streaming media recorder. It is an online app that can help you record music in high qualiy output. Here's the link of the tool https://www.acethinker.com/record-audio
I noted the comments on Brave and DuckDuckGo. I'd want to see more info on that before I made an assessment.
i've checked the site mentioned above. not very much difference on them. both australia and ptio. priv australia tools also mentioned those things criticise by the that "lemy.ml". there are even the similar "mistakes" on both sites. like; duckduckgo, brave, etc.
Thanks Doc Fish (LOL) just saw your advice and off to have a peek
WOW! *applause*
:-)
I was dubious when I first saw it but after playing with it I thought it was fun and worth sharing. I'm glad you like it. :)
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