Talking Desktop Clock 1.2.1.97

Talking Desktop Clock is an extremely configurable clock for your desktop.

By default the program displays an analogue clock in the bottom right-hand corner of your desktop. Right-click its system tray icon and select Options, though, and you can tweak this in a host of different ways.

There are multiple clock styles available, for instance, from simple digital examples to the old style "classic wall clock" or "pocket watch". If you don't like the position of the clock, then enable dragging and you can move it wherever you like. And if you find a bulky desktop clock just a little intrusive, then you can make it largely transparent, or ditch the desktop clock entirely, and have the program replace the Windows taskbar clock, instead.

You can also have Talking Desktop Clock play your choice of chime every 15, 30 or 60 minutes, or at some custom interval. And it's possible to restrict this to a particular time of day, say 8:00am to 6:00pm. The program would then remind you of the time when you needed it, during the day, but otherwise stay quiet.

Of course, this is called the Talking Desktop Clock, so you can also have the program use Microsoft Speech and your chosen voice to say the time whenever you like.

Just in case this isn't enough, a separate Settings dialog provides even more options. There are configurable hotkeys you can use say the time or show and hide the clock, for example, as well as various mouse click settings (double-clicking the desktop clock can say the time, for instance, or show and hide the desktop clock).

And all this comes in a surprisingly compact package, which when running in the background typically required less than 2.5MB RAM on our test PC.

There are a few small issues with Talking Desktop clock. Some of the settings dialogs are a little inconsistent, for instance, and they don't always work as you expect. It's also fun, easy to use and has no adware or other hassles, though, so if you're looking to upgrade the Windows desktop clock then it's a great choice.

Lightweight and with a host of configuration options, this is one of the best desktop clocks we've seen