Articles about Free Software

A number of on-premise identity systems from major suppliers including CA, Oracle and IBM are coming to the end of their lives and many businesses are looking to migrate to cloud alternatives.

But before migration can begin it's necessary to discover and catalog legacy identity systems. This is a largely manual process because there is no unified view of older environments that span multiple stakeholders, have evolved over a number of years, and can contain hidden complexities.

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After last month’s major redesign, you’d be forgiven for thinking Firefox might take it easy with its latest update. But while there are no standout features to rival version 89’s facelift, Firefox 90 sports some notable new features and improvements to make the update a noteworthy one.

The Windows build gets particular attention with this new release. Firefox 90 introduces a new about:third-party page to help users identify compatibility problems caused by third-party modules and apps.

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Web users' interest in privacy and security has gradually increased over the years, and demand for secure, anonymity-offering browsers like Tor is also on the up. Now a new version of Tor Browser is upon us, introducing various protection methods.

Perhaps most apparent in Tor Browser 10.5 is the improved experience of connecting to Tor. While the Tor Network has undeniably rocketed in popularity, there are still plenty of people who like the idea of the security and privacy it offers, but feel uncomfortable with getting started. In particular, this latest version of the browser makes life easier for people forced to use censored connections.

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It is very common for PCs to have two hard drives (often one SDD or NVMe storage, and one traditional mechanical drive) with the majority of these systems configured to have both Windows and the standard documents folders stored on the C: drive. Many users like the idea of moving Windows library folders such as Documents, Pictures and Videos to a different drive, but have no idea how to proceed.

This is precisely what PCmover Reconfigurator can help with. This is a free tool from Laplink that dramatically simplifies the process of making optimal usage of the storage devices you have.

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Foxit Software has taken the opportunity to rebrand its popular PDF viewing and editing products with its latest major release. Foxit Reader is now Foxit PDF Reader 11.0, while PDF-editing tool Foxit PhantomPDF is reclassified Foxit PDF Editor 11.0.

Both newly renamed tools unveil revamped user interfaces with the promise of being leaner, simpler, and more intuitive to use. They both also gain support for more 3D functions and digital signature enhancements.

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Cyber risk management company Axio is expanding its free Axio360 Ransomware Preparedness Assessment tool to give organizations detailed visibility into their cyber posture with regard to ransomware.

The assessment tool has been developed based on guidance from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Axio's proprietary research based on hundreds of real ransomware events.

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It’s no secret that Microsoft wants you to use its Edge browser in Windows 10. It’s tried a lot of ways to persuade users to switch from Chrome, Firefox or other browsers over the years, including advertising Edge in Windows.

The new Edge is genuinely good now, but that doesn’t mean you have to use it if you prefer another browser, like Chrome or Firefox.

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Productivity suite Zenkit has unveiled a major platform update (4.5.0) that applies to all its standalone apps: Zenkit To Do, Zenchat and Hypernotes by Zenkit.

The undoubted highlight of this new release is the addition of a standalone drawing and annotation component, which works in the same way across all platforms. Version 4.5.0 also sees several improvements to the recently launched Hypernotes application.

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QR Codes offer a simple way to do all sorts of things on your smartphone, from opening a web page in your browser or adding a new contact, to opening a map at a specific location.

Prolific software developer NirSoft has created new tool for Windows that lets you quickly generate a QR Code ready for scanning with your phone.

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There are plenty of screencast tools out there, but while many offer cut-down free versions, they’re often more crippleware than freeware. Eyeing a spot in this market is IObit, which claims -- with some justification -- to provide a genuinely usable free screen-recording tool with its latest new release: iFun Screen Recorder 1.0.

The software promises no time-limited recordings, unwanted watermarks or other restrictions forcing you to upgrade to make proper use of the program -- a Pro version does exist, but its features can be safely ignored by most. And while it may lack the more sophisticated features of well-known screen-casting tools, you get all the core functionality you need to produce decent screencasts.

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We all know we should backup our data to keep it safe in the event of problems, but it's a task that often gets neglected.

To mark World Backup Day on March 31st, AOMEI is giving BetaNews readers the chance to make their backups easier by geting its Backupper Professional Edition software -- worth $29.95 -- completely free.

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While Audacity has been in receipt of pretty regular updates, it is quite a while since there were any major changes to the free audio editing software. All of this changes with the release of Audacity 3.0.0, however.

To kick things off, there are bug fixes -- lots of bug fixes. In fact, there are more than 160 that have been addressed, ranging from minor problems to "really juicy high priority bugs". But Audacity 3.0.0 is about much more than just fixing bugs. There are improvements across the software as well as a completely new project format.

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Vivaldi Technologies has unveiled Vivaldi 3.7 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. The challenger web browser’s main focus in this new release is performance on desktop, while Android users gain improvements to the Bookmarks Manager as well as onboarding pages to introduce new versions as well as welcome new users to the app.

Performance gains are primarily delivered through faster opening and closing of new tabs and windows, with tabs opening twice as fast as previously and new windows appearing 26 percent faster than before. Lucky owners of Apple’s new M1-based Mac range should also notice further improvements thanks to the unveiling of the first native build for the ARM-based chipset.

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Say hello to Hypernotes from Zenkit, the third standalone productivity tool from Germany’s Zenkit. The tool follows on the heels of Wunderlist-replacement Zenkit To-Do and Zenchat and is designed to work in conjunction with both tools as well as a standalone app.

The new app's sales pitch is the promise of creating, sharing, and understanding knowledge in a new way. Think of it as a tool for managing knowledge in various forms, from simple notes to complete documentation like a wiki. As with other Zenkit tools, it offers both free and paid-for tiers, and can be accessed through any modern web browser as well as via a cross-platform collection of desktop and mobile apps for offline use.

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Jellyfin 10.7.0, the open-source pretender to Plex’s media-streaming crown, has been released. What started out life as a fork of the last open-source release of Emby (3.5.2) is rapidly evolving into its own, distinct media server with the added advantage of being completely free.

Version 10.7.0’s highlights include extending SyncPlay support to TV shows and music in addition to movies, redesigned OSD and Up Next dialogs and new PDF and Comics reader functionalities. Behind the scenes, things have undergone major changes with the promise of "significantly improved web performance".

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