Lurch is an open source math word processor which allows you to create documents, insert a full mathematical argument, and validate it, too.

This isn’t just a matter of checking that "2+2=4", either. The program also supports and "understands" algebra, calculus and proofs.

REG files can be a very convenient way to import Registry data. Double-click them, Regedit launches, reads their contents and adds them to your Registry, all in just a few seconds.

There can still be problems, though. Your system may have blocked REG files for security reasons. You might want to import the data as part of an unattended installation, or maybe you just need more control of the import process.

LightShot is a simple free tool which makes it very easy to take, edit and share your screengrabs online.

The program doesn’t force you to learn new hotkeys, for instance. To launch it you’ll just press PrtSc, as usual.

Moving a few files around your system is simple, and you’ll probably just do it yourself: drag/ drop, copy/ paste, whatever it might be.

When you regularly need to process a lot of files, though, it might be quicker to automate the task with LimagitoX FileMover Lite.

jAlbum AB has released jAlbum 12, a major update of its popular web album builder.

A major interface revamp sees the program now include an embedded web browser (Chromium), enabling you to preview changes as soon as you adjust your project settings.

Homedale is a straightforward portable tool which detects local wireless networks and tells you more about them: name, channel, MAC address, encryption type and so on. It’s great for troubleshooting various wireless conflicts, or just finding out more about what’s going on around you.

The Homedale interface is, well, basic -- just a single tabbed dialog box. Click "Access Points" first and you’ll see a table with details on all your network neighbors, including their name, MAC address, vendor, signal strength, encryption, country ID, mode, frequency, band, first and last seen times, supported bitrates, model and adapter.

Baidu PC Faster is a free suite of tools to clean, optimize and maintain your PC. Yes, we know: we’ve heard this before, too. But PC Faster could be different, not least because it comes from Baidu, the company behind China’s largest search engine. Will this extra corporate power ensure it really delivers? We took a look.

Setup was easy, a small downloader fetching and installing the rest of the program. It’s also a little more intrusive than most of the competition, though, leaving two new services and some extra processes running permanently in the background.

Ashampoo GmbH has unveiled WinOptimizer 11, the latest edition of its PC cleanup, optimization and maintenance suite.

The new release introduces Game Booster, a tool which frees up valuable system resources by temporarily shutting down non-essential services and processes.

Downloading a file is usually very simple -- just point your browser at the appropriate URL, and wait -- so it’s hard to imagine why you might want to use a command line tool, instead.

Take a look at the open source aria2, though, and you might change your mind.

O&O Software has announced a major update for Syspectr, its remote PC monitoring and management service.

A new email notification system makes it much easier to define which events you’d like to track. A panel lists the event categories ("Security", "Updates", "Software", more), and you can choose whether you’d like to be informed of problems, warnings or "information" alerts with a click.

As you’ll guess from its name, Advanced IP Scanner is a network scanner for Windows, which checks your network for connected devices and tells you more about them.

That doesn’t sound particularly interesting, especially as there are already so many similar tools around. But wait -- Advanced IP Scanner does have some advantages which help it stand out from the crowd.

Utilities developer Tweaking.com has announced the availability of Hardware Identify, a tool which attempts to list the various devices on your PC -- even if Device Manager (or other system information tools) currently show them as "unknown".

Download, unzip and launch the program, and within a few seconds it displays a table listing all your hardware. Details include the device name, manufacturer, error code (if there’s currently a problem), class (USB, System, Port, Mouse and so on), driver version and hardware IDs. Clicking any column header sorts the list by that field.

Anki’s developer describes the project as "a program which makes remembering things easy". That sounds a little vague, but it's also very accurate. Anki is a smart and versatile flashcard-based tool which really can help you remember just about anything.

The program allows you to create, download and edit flashcards. Each card has a question on one side, its answer on the other. This could be simple text -- a deck on capital cities might use "France", "Paris" -- but Anki also supports graphics, audio, video, even scientific markup (via LaTeX), so there's plenty of scope to be inventive.

It’s no secret that interface design is difficult. Very, very difficult. Even the biggest and best companies regularly make big mistakes.

There are ways to improve your chance of success, though -- and you could start by creating a prototype of your app, program or website in the open source Pencil.

Most editors make it easy to replace text in the current document. Searching across multiple documents can be more challenging. And if you often need to replace text across a large number of files, perhaps of various formats, then it’s probably wise to call in some specialist help.

Multiple Search and Replace is a powerful free tool which can search multiple files -- plain text, PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, archives and more -- for the text you specify, then optionally replace it.