OnlyStopWatch (64-bit)

OnlyStopWatch (64-bit)

Nenad Hrg’s OnlyStopWatch has what we need in a desktop stopwatch, plus a few extras. For starters, it’s portable freeware, so you can take it with you on a USB thumb drive. It can time to the millisecond, so it’s precise enough for nearly any use. It counts down, too; and you can start the Stopwatch feature from a preset time point. A fullscreen view and high-contrast color options make for good visibility at a distance or outdoors. And you can start and stop the timer with a mouse click, which means any device that can activate a mouse click, so OnlyStopWatch has a tremendous range of potential applications. We tried OnlyStopWatch 3.44 for 64-bit Windows. A 32-bit version is also available, and each takes up less space than a small JPEG, so carrying both versions on a USB drive is no problem.

OnlyStopWatch opens with running minutes, seconds, and (in smaller numerals) milliseconds. The toolbar activates and lists function keys for basic commands: F5 Reset, F6 Continue/Pause, and so on. Why Continue/Pause and not Start/Stop? Perhaps because OnlyStopWatch’s controls have been translated from German (a few commands aren’t translated) but then many other interface languages are available, too, as well as interface colors. OnlyStopWatch offers a range of two-tone highlighted color schemes that may not suit every taste but offer good visual contrast. We enabled the hours counter on the Program menu. We could turn off milliseconds, set the mouse click option, change the color and language, and set other preferences, too.

A computer stopwatch that doesn’t keep totally accurate time isn’t worth reviewing, and most that do are freeware; so when evaluating stopwatch apps, we consider what sets one apart from the others. OnlyStopWatch has the feel of a field-tested application. We’d like a color-picker (we always want one, though) and maybe customizable numerals, but as a PC timekeeping instrument, it’s hard to fault.