Download: Dicom Portable

If you find it hard to type quickly, software such as Dicom can save a lot of time by completing words for you. Open Office has this feature built in but Dicom adds autocomplete suggestions to all programs in Windows.

Read more: Portable App reviews

There are several installation options. It can be integrated into the Portable Apps launcher or the installation program can be run to install into the folder of your choice. If you want to install it into the Portable Apps launcher it may be easier to install through the Apps menu as the process is integrated. The advantage of using the Launcher is that updates will be offered when they become available.

Once started Dicom starts to offer suggestions as you type. Up to ten suggestions will be displayed at once. Just press the relevant function key to complete a word. We found the suggestions to be pretty accurate. If the word we wanted wasn't displayed, adding a couple of extra characters normally made it appear.

Using the function keys does make sure that there are plenty of logical suggestions and the shortcuts make sense. Of course it is harder to press the function keys when you are touch-typing as they are a long way away from the home keys. Then again, if you want to use a program like Dicom you are probably not touch typing and so this won't make a difference.

The other problem with using the function keys is that they are no longer available to use with any other program. For example, when we were testing Dicom we were not able to use F2 to rename files in Windows Explorer.

It is also not aware of where you are working so it is possible that the suggestions will appear on top of where you are typing. A little careful arrangement of windows should solve this problem.

All of the program setting can be found by right-clicking on the Dicom icon in the Notification Area. They are worth checking as they can make Dicom much more useful.

The first setting we changed was the number of letters in a word that must be entered before Dicom starts making suggestions. Increasing this to four stops Dicom from making suggestions for common short words such as and and the.

The font and colours of the suggestion can be changed and a preview shows how the changes will look before they are made.

Dicom can also add words to its dictionary, ideal if you often use long words that don't appear in free dictionaries. It will offer to add words as you type or the dictionary can be accessed through the Notification Area icon.