Nick Peers

Microsoft has released a minor update to its Windows Live Essentials 2011 suite of free tools, which includes Mail, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker and Messenger. Live Essentials 2011 build 15.4.3538.0513 is available for download now, while existing Live Essentials users will be prompted to update later this month.

This latest release contains a number of specific fixes and improvements for Mail, Messenger and Photo Gallery, as well as containing other "usability, performance and stability improvements" across the entire suite.

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When Mozilla released Firefox 4 (and now Firefox 5), it appeared to have finally fixed some of the performance-related gripes of earlier releases. Compared to Firefox 3.6, Firefox 5 is lightning fast, but sadly behind the scenes all is not as it should be. Firefox still suffers from a memory leak that sees its memory demands slowly spiral over an extended period of time, stealing precious system resources and affecting your PC's performance as a result.

A simple restart fixes the problem, but it's still annoying. The good news is that Mozilla developers are targeting this memory leak and think they may have found a way to fix it. If we're lucky, the fix may even make it into Firefox 7, which is due to be released as Firefox Aurora imminently. In the meantime, how you can stop Firefox's increasing memory demands from spiralling out of control? The answer lies with a tiny add-on appropriately titled Memory Restart.

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Today, Skype updated its Mac client with one major new feature and a promise of improved multi-tasking thanks to a tweaked control bar that allows video conversation windows to remain in focus even when switching to another application.

Skype for Mac 5.2 also heralds the arrival of group screen sharing for multi-video conferencing. This makes it easier for users to share their screens with other people in the conferencing call for the purposes of sharing documents, photos and presentations.

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Acronis has released the first private beta of Acronis True Image Home 2012, its flagship backup tool. True Image, which combines drive-imaging, online and file-based backups in one program, is now available to Acronis account users. After registering, the beta can be downloaded and installed.

Acronis True Image Home 2012 introduces a new file synchronization feature, closer integration with Acronis Online Backup and a number of under-the-hood improvements as well as some other minor changes.

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We all know how important backing up your hard drive is. Whether you're backing up a clutch of files and settings, or want a complete backup of the entire hard drive, there are solutions a-plenty to choose from. But while you may have given a lot of thought to backing up your computer, have you ever considered what you'll do if the worst comes to pass and you need to restore that data?

What you need is a tool that doesn't rely on you being able to load your operating system before it allows you to get at your data. And if it's free, well so much the better! The good news is that you can have your cake and eat it, with the aid of Redo Backup and Recovery, which has just enjoyed its first stable release (1.0) after a lengthy period in beta.

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On Friday, Dropbox revised its terms of service, privacy policy and security overview documents. Although the updates are designed to make Dropbox's T&Cs simpler and easier to understand, it has reignited the debate that first surfaced when Dropbox announced it was changing its terms and conditions to allow it to hand over data if required to do so by the authorities.

In its defense, Dropbox has always recommended software to let users encrypt their data before its uploaded to Dropbox's servers, thereby protecting their data even if Dropbox was forced to hand it over. TrueCrypt is one such solution, and BoxCryptor is another, and now there's a third option available for Linux and Windows users in the form of SecretSync.

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The Document Foundation has released LibreOffice 3.4.1, a landmark update for its open-source, multi-platform office application. With its release, LibreOffice 3.4.1 is now the recommended build for all users except large enterprises, thanks to the bug fixes and improved stability that provide the focus of the release.

LibreOffice is an off-shoot of the OpenOffice project, development of which has stalled since many developers switched across to LibreOffice when it was launched in September, 2010.

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TRIM Support Enabler, a tool for enabling TRIM support on non-Apple manufactured Solid State Drives, has been updated to version 1.2. The change is a minor one, designed to make the tool more compatible with OS X 10.6.8, which was released last week.

TRIM support is a technology designed to optimise SSD performance, which is affected over time as data is written to and deleted from the drive. TRIM Support Enabler successfully allows OS X Snow Leopard to recognize, and utilize, TRIM support on SSD drives that aren't manufactured by Apple.

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Mozilla has placed the final code for Thunderbird 5.0 on its download servers. Version 5.0 represents the first major upgrade of Thunderbird for 18 months, although the number of headline features is relatively small: an improved email account wizard, better and more versatile tab handling, and a brand new Add-ons Manager and extensions management API.

There's also a new troubleshooting information page (accessible from the Help menu) that contains key information about your individual Thunderbird setup to aid fixing problems that may occur, as well as the fact attachments are now displayed with the file size next to them.

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Opera has released the final version of its popular alternative web browser for Windows, Mac and Linux, Opera 11.50. Codenamed "Swordfish", this latest release actually debuted yesterday as Release Candidate 5, but was quickly updated to become a final release.

The most notable change in Opera 11.50: it features major improvements to the program's Speed Dial page, making it possible to get all the information you need from a Speed Dial without having to open the web page itself.

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It's all very well buying a photo editing package with lots of bells, whistles and complicated tools, but actually having to learn and use all that functionality can, to put it mildly, be slightly off-putting. Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 3 is designed to simplify the process of improving your photos by providing a number of one-click tools that can quickly improve individual photos or entire albums up to scratch.

Ordinarily, Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 3 would cost you $9.99, but the good news is that you can download and use the software for free via this link -- all you have to do is register by email within 10 days and you won't have to pay a dime.

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If you're the kind of person who regularly runs Firefox with multiple tabs open, you might find keeping track of which website is where challenging. In those circumstances, Tab Scope for Firefox is the perfect add-on for your needs.

Tab Scope for Firefox allows you to preview any tab by rolling the mouse over it, just like the Aero Peek feature in Windows Vista and 7. A small pop-up preview of that tab's contents will appear, allowing you to quickly locate the tab you're looking for. But while that's impressive in itself, there's more: not only does Tab Scope provide you with some handy shortcuts for that tab via its preview window, it's also infinitely customizable too.

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Cyberlink has unveiled the final release of PhotoDirector 2011, a photo-editing tool aimed at photo enthusiasts and semi-professional users. It takes a workflow-based approach to organizing and editing images, steering the user through the process of importing, managing, correcting and finally exporting and sharing photos.

PhotoDirector 2011 includes native support for RAW-format images from Canon and Nikon cameras, a non-destructive editing environment allowing users to experiment with different edits before committing to changes, and an online resource for pros called DirectorZone where users can share and download image editing presets.

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Many people never truly take advantage of all the little shortcuts built into Windows, sometimes because they're not aware of them, but also because they don't find the options on offer suit their needs. The right-click menu is a case in point. It offers some useful shortcuts when you click a folder or file with the right mouse button, but often it's missing the kind of tweak you'd actually use.

Thankfully, there's a free tool in the shape of Right Click Enhancer that can give you a lot of functionality you need, enabling you to shape the right-click menu to your more precise needs. Also available as a standalone portable tool, Right Click Enhancer can do everything except remove existing context menu items -- for that you'll need a program like ShellView.

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Nitro PDF Software has released version 2.0 of its popular free PDF editor/creator software, Nitro PDF Reader. Available in separate 32-bit and 64-bit builds, Nitro PDF Reader 2.0 is actually the first stable release of the software -- previous 1.x versions were classed as beta.

PDF Reader 2.0 offers PDF conversion, creation and editing tools in addition to its basic viewing capabilities. Nitro markets the software as "no strings attached" software because of its extended functionality and lack of registration nags or ad-supported components. Version 2.0 includes some notable performance improvements, particularly in the field of PDF creation -- as well as a number of new features.

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