One thing that is often missing from programs and web applications is the notification functionality and there are few programs that, when a certain event occurs, show a message on the desktop that warns the user. Notification is perhaps the most important function on modern cell phones and smartphones on which you can receive a message for anything: low battery, new email, new message on Facebook, blocked system (on Android) and so on.
On the computers and, in the specific case on Windows, you will notice the complete absence of real-time information about what it is doing and no notice on the reception of messages or for new events.
So, for example, to see if there are new emails, you must therefore keep the client or web browser open on your account page, to see Facebook notifications, you must open the site, to see why the system appears blocked, you must open the task manager.
Beyond the fact that there are applications or extensions for browsers that send desktop notifications about specific services or events, there are two open source programs that if properly configured can send notifications on the screen for almost everything .
READ ALSO: How to use the Windows 10 notification center or remove it
Growl For Windows is a notification tool that notifies the user, via a small pop-up at the bottom right, immediately, when an event occurs .
Put simply, it informs the user when something happens that may be new email in the Thunderbird email client, a new article on the favorite website, or if there are spikes in computer or CPU memory usage .
Notifications are sent by plugins that put Growl in communication with the program or service you want to be notified of.
For example, you can install a Firefox add-on to receive notifications when a file download finishes, a Gmail application that notifies you of new incoming emails or a plugin for Microsoft Outlook to receive e-mail notifications.
To use Growl, just install it and then, from the program's Apps page, download and install the applications you want to use.
Growl should automatically recognize the presence of these plugins which are listed in the Apps tab on the program interface.
Most applications have configuration options that also concern the appearance of the message and the presence of audible alarms.
Among the apps are: Android Notifier to receive notifications of the Android mobile phone on Windows, Feed Monitor to receive updates from blogs, Firefox, Outlook, Gmail, iTunes, Vuze, Google Reader, Windows Media Player, Twitter, System Monitor and others .
A similar program to Growl is Snarl which works the same way, sending desktop notifications for configured events.
Like Growl, the various applications can also be installed on Snarl from the program website.
The peculiarity of Snarl is that, after installation, it already contains notification plugins regarding the internal events of the Windows system .
among these the Sysinfo is very useful, which sends notification messages for: low available memory, peak processor usage, little disk space, connected or disconnected network, change of IP address, active caps lock, low battery charge .
Among the downloadable Snarl apps there are notification systems for the most popular media players (iTunes, Winamp, Mediamonkey etc.), for mail clients such as Thunderbird, for Skype, Pidgin, Google+, Vuze, Pop Peeper and many others.
Snarl also records open programs and their notifications can appear on the desktop even if the program window remains iconic or hidden.
Both tools are excellent desktop notification systems for all application and program events used.
On both of them you can also see a history of past but not displayed warnings (because you were not looking at the screen).
In some cases the plugins may not work because they are not updated by those who created them.
I remember, however, from other articles, which, specifically to some services, can be;
- receive alerts with the notification of new emails on Gmail on the desktop
- receive Facebook notifications and messages on the desktop
- Receive alerts on your computer for new incoming E-Mail messages from any mail service.
