Tech-Pro launches xaddr.com - an url shortening service

Turn long gobbledygook web addresses into tiny urls with xaddr.com

Cockermouth, Cumbria, UK - March 30 2007. Tech-Pro Limited announces the launch of a new free web url shortening service, xaddr.com. In common with alternative services such as TinyURL(TM), xaddr.com allows Internet users to turn long, impossible-to-type web addresses into short ones that can easily be typed in or spelled out over the phone, and which will not be broken by the word-wrap of many email programs, news readers and forum software.

xaddr.com is safer to use than many of the alternative url shortening services. All xaddr.com urls open a landing page on which the destination address is displayed as a link. The user must click on this link to go to the destination. This prevents unscrupulous people from using the short urls to hide the real destination address and trick web users into opening pages containing pop-up ads, offensive content or spyware.

xaddr.com is also more convenient to use than most other services if you're a Windows user. Users may install a free desktop client that runs as an icon in the system tray of the task bar and converts any address copied to the clipboard into a short url when the icon is clicked. The short url is copied back to the clipboard ready for pasting into a document. xaddr.com may be used to shorten ftp and email addresses as well as web addresses. The xaddr.com website also has a bookmarklet that can be added to the toolbar of a web browser.

Julian Moss, technical director of Tech-Pro Limited says: "I write a regular column for a computer magazine and often need to mention in print complicated addresses for support articles or driver downloads. The magazine was using a popular url shortening service to convert the links for publication. One month I received a number of complaints because the editors had shortened an ftp address without testing it and the address did not work when it was used. This gave me the idea of creating my own alternative url shortening service with the features that I considered important, such as the ability to support ftp addresses.

"When I visited the sites of some well-known services I was surprised how amateurish they looked. This must partly be responsible for the suspicion with which such services are viewed in some quarters. I have tried to create a service that cautious web users feel they can trust, just as Tech-Pro.net is regarded as a trusted site for downloading Windows software."

xaddr.com is free to use, and the Windows client is freeware.

For more information see: http://xaddr.com

Windows client download: http://xaddr.com/downloads/xaddr_setup.exe. Free distribution on magazine cover CDs is welcomed.

XML PAD file: http://xaddr.com/downloads/xaddr.xml.

TinyURL is a trademark of Gilby Productions.

About Tech-Pro Limited

Tech-Pro Limited sells a wide range of tried and tested Windows utility software, both developed in-house or from third parties, including system tuning, security and data recovery tools.

About the author

Julian Moss is Technical Director of Tech-Pro Limited. He has worked in the IT industry for more than 30 years in programming and technical support roles. He also writes for a number of computer publications in the UK.

Contact information

Tech-Pro Limited, Julian Moss
Web: http://www.tech-pro.net/
Email: Tech-Pro Sales
Phone: +44 1900 838214