Nick Peers

It has been a momentous year for Mozilla and its Firefox and Thunderbird products. Last March, Mozilla released Firefox 4 as part of a new rapid-release cycle, adding Thunderbird to the same cycle shortly thereafter, which ensured a brand new version number would appear every six weeks or so.

Consequently, it will come as little surprise, that practically six weeks to the day since Firefox 8 made an appearance, Mozilla released Firefox 9 Final . Those looking for a slew of new features will be disappointed, but it does contain one major performance fillip that makes upgrading worthwhile.

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How’s this for a Christmas present? On Monday, December 19, you can get hold of a full version of Ashampoo WinOptimizer 8, which normally retails for $49.99, completely for free, courtesy of BetaNews’s Downloadcrew. For a period of 24 hours only (from 00.00 to 23.59, Central European Time, on Dec. 19, 2011), you’ll be able to download, install and register the software, completely free.

Ashampoo WinOptimizer 8 is the first of a number of full commercial applications we have lined up for you over the next few months. Downloadcrew is launching a brand new giveaway website, which will also host exclusive discounted software that you will not find elsewhere.

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Does your PC feel in need of a good system tune up? With the Holidays just around the corner and some potential quality time with your PC beckoning, IObit’s flagship tool Advanced SystemCare PRO 4 is just the tool you need to get to the root of your PC’s performance and stability problems with the minimum of fuss.

To celebrate the recent launch of Advanced SystemCare PRO 5, we’re giving away full, unlimited versions of ASC PrRO 4, worth $19.95, helping to deliver you the perfect present of a faster, less frustrating computer for the Holiday season.

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Developerinabox has released a major update to its powerful open-source surveillance software. iSpy 3.5.0 allows Windows users to use a collection of webcams and microphones as part of a complete security system for free, although certain features, including remote access and email alerts, require a monthly subscription.

Version 3.5 promises vastly improved resource management, and adds two major new features: the ability to detect and recover from crashes and hangs, plus a built-in media browser.

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Twitter has released the first stable release of TweetDeck 1.0, its recently acquired, multi-columned Twitter client. TweetDeck 1.0, which runs on both Mac and Windows, is the first release to be written in native code as opposed to as an Adobe AIR application.

The release has proved controversial -- many users feel let down by the loss of a number of features that were present in earlier, beta releases of the software. Users must also register separately with TweetDeck before being able to use the new app -- in previous releases, registration was optional.

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Google has updated its popular cross-platform image-viewing, editing and sharing tool, Picasa to version 3.9. Despite the minor version number, there are a significant number of new features and improvements.

Google is keen to showcase Picasa’s new Google+ sharing capabilities, but of more interest to most will be the smorgasbord selection of new photo editing effects and the ability to compare “before” and “after” images side-by-side.

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The world of academia and research thrives on organization and collaboration. And when it comes to keeping your research, notes, journals and other documents in order, Mendeley is just the service you need.

It’s cloud-based, allowing you to not just back up and sync your research library online and across multiple computers via the cross-platform Mendeley Desktop tool and Mendeley (Lite) for iPhone and iPad, but you can also collaborate with others, too, thanks to the tools it provides in conjunction with its group sharing capabilities.

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The release of OS X Lion unleashed some cool new features. It also seemed to turn some other cool, established features on their head. Suddenly, things that worked perfectly adequately in Snow Leopard changed, leaving users first scratching their heads and then frustrated at having to learn new ways of doing things.

Thankfully, it’s possible to revert back to the old way of doing things. And while it’s not always intuitive or easy to do so, there are free third-party solutions available. One of the newest is Indonesian firm TweakNow’s Lion Secrets.

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EASEUS, best known for its Windows data recovery and partition management software, has ventured into the Mac market with its first new release.

MacCleaning Free 1.0.0 is a drive monitoring and cleanup tool for OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or later. Not only does it give you a quick overview of your drives’ free space from the menu bar, but it also provides a “fast clean” option for clearing out certain parts of your hard drive.

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Opera Software has announced the release of Opera 11.60 Final. Despite the relatively minor version number, Opera 11.60 boasts three major new features, including revamped Address Bar, browser engine and mail client.

Opera, which runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, has long been regarded as a pioneer when it comes to the web browser -- it was the first to introduce tabbed browsing, for example, and is still the only major browser to also include a mail client.

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RootsMagic has updated its popular family history software  to version 5.0. RootsMagic 5, which can be road-tested as a cut-down Essentials version, adds a number of new features for those who purchase the full version. These include media tagging, a research manager and timeline view.

The software also benefits from around 80 non-specified improvements, a selection of which apply to RootsMagic Essentials 5 package too.

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Trim Enabler 2.0 Beta 2 has been released for Apple Mac owners running OS X Lion on non-Apple SSDs. By default, OS X only supports the TRIM command -- a technology designed to keep SSDs running at optimum performance over a prolonged period of data writes and deletes -- on Apple SSD drives. Trim Enabler is designed to extend this support to cheaper SSDs manufactured by third parties too.

Version 2.0 is a major rewrite of the original code, which was optimized for Snow Leopard users. Although marketed as Lion-compatible, the free app’s author (Cindori), has since admitted that the older version wasn’t optimized for use with the newer OS.

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Anyone who’s ever used a Mac will probably be aware how beautiful and functional its dock is. In comparison, the Windows Taskbar, even the revamped version sported in Windows 7, can feel a little outdated.

If you’re hankering to ditch the Taskbar in favor of something more akin to the Mac, take a look at Winstep’s Nexus, a powerful -- and free -- dock that aims to supplant the Windows taskbar in your affections.

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Astonsoft Ltd has released version 4.5 of both free and Pro editions of its personal information manager, EssentialPIM. Version 4.5, which is also available as a portable build, adds a number of new features and improvements.

The most notable new features -- full sync capabilities with Google Docs and Google Tasks, a new Attachment Manager and support for custom fields and filters in the To Do Module -- are restricted to EssentialPIM 4.5 Pro only.

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Boris Eyrich Software has released version 3.0 of its painting application. Artweaver 3.0 Free, which is also available as a paid-for Plus edition with more features, adds a new collaborative feature that allows artists sat at different computers to work on the same document -- either over their local area network or via ArtweaverTeam.com (free account required).

This is the only new feature in the free version, and is accompanied by a number of unspecified bug fixes. The Plus Edition, which costs €29, boasts many more new features to go with its enhanced feature set, plus performance and interface improvements.

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