Give ClamWin simple real-time protection with Clam Sentinel
ClamWin is an easy-to-use open source antivirus tool which runs on every version of Windows from 98 upwards.
The program doesn’t offer any real-time protection, unfortunately, which is a significant weakness. But you can add this yourself, to a degree, just by installing Clam Sentinel.
Manage your passwords, credentials with oneSafe for Windows Phone
The recommended practice for passwords and credentials is to avoid using them in more than one place, and make them extremely difficult to crack. It sounds easy, at first glance. But, as we sign up for an increasing number of accounts, it can prove to be quite a chore to keep track of them all. Ten accounts, for instance, means ten usernames and ten passwords, all distinct.
For this reason, users who wish to store sensitive login information, and have quick access to it, rely on password managers. Such tools are available on all major platforms. They are easy to use and, if needed, can generate more secure passwords than we can come up with (certainly more secure that users' favorites, "123456", "password" or, like it will stop hackers more than the first one, "12345678"). One such offering is oneSafe for Windows Phone. It was just made available as a trial in Store, so let us take a look at it.
Mozilla's Metro move shows that modern apps belong in the mortuary
Just a few days ago, Mozilla announced that it would not bother releasing a modern version of Firefox for Windows 8.x -- this in spite of the fact that a team of developers have been working on it for over a year. It seems that the company behind the famous foxy browser regards the modern interface with just about as much disdain as everyone else. So much contempt, in fact, that it can't even bring itself to use the proper terminology: "I know [Metro is] not what Microsoft calls it anymore, but it remains how we talk about it in Mozilla", sneers Johnathan Nightingale, Vice President of Firefox.
Despite acknowledging that Mozilla is no longer "tiny" (far from it, really), Nightingale says that the company needs to focus its attention on those projects that will have the most impact. According to StatCounter, Firefox still manages to grab over 20 percent of the desktop browser market, dropping very slightly to just over 19 percent once tablets are factored in. But moving forward, there will simply be no more work carried out on the modern version of the browser. It is being abandoned like the runt of a litter.
Convert is a handy unit conversion tool
When you’re unsure about Fahrenheit vs Celsius, feet and meters, or just wondering how large a petabyte really is, there’s no substitute for a good conversion tool.
There are plenty of candidates online. Google has several (search "convert F to C" for an example). But if you just need something lightweight for your PC desktop, then Convert could prove very useful.
Microsoft Office Configuration Analyzer 1.2 now available
Microsoft has updated its handy troubleshooting tool Microsoft Office Configuration Analyzer to version 1.2.
The Scan screen has been redesigned to add new tools. An "Office Alerts" section displays links to relevant Office support documents, while corporate customers will find help with Key Management Services activation issues.
The most popular stories on BetaNews this past week March 9 -- 15
This is the week that saw the web celebrating its 25th birthday and Tim Berners-Lee took the opportunity to call for a web bill of rights, which I argued is essential for the future of democracy.
Another week means a fresh batch of security concerns. In Europe, users were warned of the dangers of connecting to public wifi hotspots, while a new report found that cybercriminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their techniques. Ian was on hand with advice for anyone trying to tackle or avoid viruses.
NConvert -- an amazing command line-based image processor
In an increasingly touch-oriented world, the idea of using a command line utility to process images might seem, well, just a little old-fashioned.
And maybe it is. But if you regularly need to resize, rotate, crop or convert multiple images, then there’s still no substitute for a console tool like NConvert.
Mozilla disses Microsoft -- cancels Modern UI version of Firefox for Windows 8.x
The hatred of Modern UI and its associated Start Screen is well documented. Many users dislike the full-screen Windows apps, stating they are less productive with them. There can be truth to that -- working with multiple open programs and apps simultaneously can be problematic. Not to mention, there are very few apps compared to legacy programs. Some users may feel that if they cannot go "all in" on Modern UI, they don't want to use it at all.
It is hard to blame developers for not embracing Modern UI -- Microsoft hasn't even done so with Office. One notable app that has been conspicuously absent, is Firefox. Mozilla developers have been working on it, but a final, stable version never came to fruition. Sadly, Mozilla announces that it is cancelling the project, dealing Microsoft's Windows 8.x a significant blow.
Facebook for Android improves photo support, group admin tools
Facebook has unveiled a major update to its Android app with the release of Facebook for Android 7.0. The latest version concentrates on improving photo management for users, and also gives group administrators more control from within the app itself.
For the first time, users can now include photos when posting comments using the Android app -- it’s an overdue update, as the feature has been present on the web since June 2013 and first appeared in Facebook for iOS five months ago.
Concord Hospitality wisely chooses Chromeboxes instead of Microsoft Windows
Choosing the right computer for a task can be tricky. If you spend too little money, you may buy an under-powered machine with poor performance. Conversely, if you spend too much, you may end up with too much power, effectively wasting money. Finding the balance is key.
Chromebooks and Chromeboxes are all the rage lately -- they are great computers if they meet your needs. For many businesses, they would be a bad choice. You see, the firms may need Microsoft Office and other specialized software, which will not run on Google's Chrome OS. However, if your needs are browser-based, it is a great choice. One such company, Concord Hospitality, is utilizing Chromeboxes with great results.
Fixya reveals top problems affecting Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Wii U consoles
Games consoles, like any complicated piece of hardware, can go wrong in myriad ways, and usually at the most inappropriate moment -- when your wife’s out for the evening and you’ve got a freshly purchased copy of Titanfall, and a group of trigger-happy friends standing by, for example.
Popular product Q&A service Fixya has sifted through over 40,000 troubleshooting requests relating to the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U and put together a report detailing the top five commonly encountered problems for each of the next-gen consoles. It doesn’t break down the number of problems per console (thereby neatly sidestepping fanboy accusations of one being shoddier than the other) but does still make for interesting reading.
ASCOOS Web Server is a convenient Apache/ MySQL/ PHP bundle for developers
If you’d like to test your latest web development project locally then you could download Apache, then whatever other components you might need, install them individually and hope they all work together.
Or you could just grab a copy of ASCOOS Web Server, which does most of the hard work for you.
Best Windows 8 apps this week
Seventy-two in a series. Welcome to this week's Best Windows 8 apps guide. I browse the store each week to find the best new apps for Windows 8 that have been released to it that week.
The big news this week was Mozilla's announcement that it would be postponing the release of the Modern UI version of the Firefox web browser once again.
First look: DrawPad Graphics Editor
Australian developer NCH Software has announced the availability of DrawPad Graphics Editor, a straightforward and easy-to-use free vector graphics tool.
The program’s tiny size (566KB) didn’t leave us expecting very much. This isn’t just a downloader, either: even when installed, DrawPad requires barely more than 2MB drive space.
How to assign custom address bar keyword for Google Search query, function
If you repeatedly use Google Search for a certain query, like "breaking news", you have to type in the same thing, every time, in the browser's address bar to get the results. It can quickly get irritating. Luckily, there is a more efficient way to do it -- you can assign a custom keyword.
To give you an example, you can set the combination "bn" to substitute "breaking news". You can then use the keyword instead, to see the respective results. This trick works with various functions Google Search offers, like isolated site queries (triggered by "site:", followed by what you are looking for). It is incredibly useful in day to day usage.
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