Mike Williams

Whether you’re looking to optimize your PC, troubleshoot problems or check up on its security, taking a closer look at your system’s services and drivers can often help.

The standard Windows Services applet is a little on the basic side, though, so for the best results you should install the compact, free and far more powerful Service Manager.

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Every PC user would like their system to run a little faster, but making that happen yourself usually requires time, effort, and an in-depth knowledge of how Windows really works.

Does that sound too much like hard work? Then maybe you should just install a copy of TuneUp Utilities 2012, which the authors say can restore "over 50 percent of speed and free space" on cluttered PCs, while improving "battery life by up to 30 percent".

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Feature-packed and easy to use, CyberLink PowerDirector has always been one of the better consumer video editors. Of course there’s always room for improvement, though, and the latest version, PowerDirector 10 Ultra, has some very interesting additions.

Full 3D editing support allows you to import 3D videos and photos, or convert 2D media to 3D, then enhance these with 3D effects, titles, transitions and more. New 2D effects include a time-lapse tool, or support for recording hand-drawn animations (signing your name, say), and playing them back within a video.

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If you’ve ever tried CyberLink’s PowerDirector then you’ll know it’s one of the fastest and most feature-packed consumer video editors around. So you may not be surprised to learn that PowerDirector 10, released today, carries on this proud tradition by adding plenty of essential new functionality, and some very worthwhile speedups.

The program is now a very capable video editor, for instance. PowerDirector 10 can open many native 3D videos (MVC, dual stream AVI, side-by-side, over-under) and some 3D image formats (MPO, JPS); or, if you don’t have any of these, then you can always convert 2D videos and photos to 3D with CyberLink’s TrueTheater 3D.  These can be then be enhanced with many 3D effects, titles and menu templates, and once you’re done may be exported as 3D videos (including the anaglyph format, so anyone with a pair of standard 3D glasses can view them).

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If you’re looking for a free PC maintenance suite then there’s not exactly any shortage of options. A few moments at your favorite search engine will turn up a long list of potential candidates, each promising that they’ve the technology to best improve your PC’s performance, and for no charge at all.

All this free competition makes it difficult for the vendors of commercial PC maintenance packages to stand out from the crowd. But iolo technologies is now fighting back with the new System Mechanic Free, a cut-down version of the company’s flagship System Mechanic suite.

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Symantec has revealed the first public beta of Norton 360 6.0, the company’s do-everything security suite.

The Norton site claim this build offers “our best protection and performance ever” and “improved local or secure online backups”. If you’re familiar with the package you’ll see it’s also had a few interface tweaks, but there are no other specifics regarding new features available just yet.

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If you were hoping that Avira’s new 2012 range would unleash some major new features and technologies then the reality may at first seem a little underwhelming. There are no game changers here, no new killer features. But if you’re happy simply to see incremental improvements, a company that’s building on what’s gone before to produce something better, then it could be a different story -- and that’s because there are plenty of small but still worthwhile enhancements and improvements dotted all around the package.

When we decided to try Avira’s Antivirus Premium 2012 (their commercial antivirus engine), for example, the first tweak was immediately obvious in the arrival of a new Express installation option. This keeps all the usual setup complexities at bay, getting you up and running with the minimum of hassle.

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If you're tired of sluggish antivirus tools taking forever to scan your system, then you're not alone.

But the good news is that at least the security vendors are finally listening. Emsisoft today became the latest company to announce major performance improvements, with the claim that their new Anti-Malware 6 is now on average 450-percent faster than before. And by making smarter decisions about what it checks, the program continues to get faster with every scan.

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Webroot is describing its new SecureAnywhere 2012 range as being “the fastest and lightest virus and spyware protection you can buy”. And while this sounds like more security company hype, on first glance at least it looks like they may have a point.

The core antivirus engine is a compact and ultra-lightweight cloud-based affair, which makes smart choices about the files it checks to minimize scan times. Webroot say this means system scans will typically be under two minutes, something that we confirmed (they were closer to 30 seconds on our test PC). And the program is very careful about its use of RAM: we found it peaked at around 50MB when scanning, and when idle was closer to 5MB (private working set).

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It has been around since 1988, but German antivirus company Avira has finally said goodbye to the AntiVir brand. And so its 2012 range will now follow the same naming convention as, well: “AntiVir Personal” becomes “Free AntiVirus“; “AntiVir Premium” becomes “Antivirus Premium 2012″ and “AntiVir Premium Security Suite” is now “Internet Security 2012“.

The latest releases don’t have any major new technologies to help them stand out from the crowd, either, unfortunately.  Still, Avira has been working hard, and there are plenty of smaller worthwhile improvements tjhat should be welcome to Avira fans.

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Firefox 7 was finally released this week, to promises of improved memory management and better performance than ever before.

But if it still doesn’t quite deliver the speed you need then you could always turn to Pale Moon 7, a browser that takes the same Firefox source code and makes more use of compiler optimizations to increase its speed and efficiency.

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Skype has updated its Windows software to version 5.6, and while the build is primarily a maintenance release, it does have a few notable changes. Beginners should find it easier to configure the program, for instance, as an enhanced “getting started” wizard walks them through the process of setting up their audio, webcam, adding a profile picture and more.

If you switch to another window or application while on a call, the call monitor automatically pops up to show you the live video call and give you access to basic call controls.

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German multimedia specialist MAGIX has introduced the next generation of its high-end consumer video editor, Movie Edit Pro MX.

MX apparently stands for Media-X-change, and represents the idea that MAGIX MX-tagged programs will make it easier to exchange your files with online services, mobile devices and other MAGIX tools.

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Some Registry values are easy to understand. Find a file path, say, and you’ll often be able to figure out its purpose at a glance.

Dates and times, though? That’s often a very different matter.

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Paragon Software’s Backup & Recovery has always been one of the most feature-packed backup tools around, and the latest release, Backup & Recovery 11 Home, does its best to carry on this proud tradition.

At a first glance down the “new features” list, though, the strategy doesn’t appear to be entirely successful. The program is more about evolution, than revolution: there’s no game-changer here, it’s really just building on what’s come before.

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