Articles about Free Software

Are you a Mac user who’s just installed Windows 8 alongside OS X via Boot Camp? Or perhaps you’re a Windows user who’s just been tasked with the job of getting data from (or to) a Mac-formatted hard drive. In either event, to get full access to your hard drive requires third-party help.

Previously, gaining full read and write access to a drive formatted using Apple’s HFS+ file system would cost you money. If you’re a Windows 8 user, however, then give thanks for the release of Paragon HFS+ for Windows 8/8.1 Free Edition 1.0.

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Paragon Technologies has released Paragon Rescue Kit 14, its free-for-personal-use disaster recovery environment.

The program creates bootable recovery media based on Windows PE, or, new to this version, SuSE 12.3. The second adds support for migrating a Windows system to a different hardware platform, including 64-bit setups using UEFI.

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In the second of our (hopefully) regular competitions, we have quite a treat for you. You've read the headline so you should know what's up for grabs, but if you missed it, the prize is a year's subscription to Office 365 Home worth $99.99.

Microsoft has very kindly donated a full subscription for us to give away, but this is more than just one copy of the world-famous office suite -- you can install Office 365 Home on up to five PCs or Macs, as well as five tablets. Enough for all the family!

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Dashlane, Inc has released Dashlane 3.0 for Windows and Mac, a major new build of its secure password management tool. The new release is joined by Dashlane 2.7 for iOS, which has been updated to work with version 3.

Version 3 sports a completely redesigned user interface, adds a number of new tools, including a Sharing Center, Emergency Contacts section and a simpler way of viewing password histories.

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Google has unveiled Chrome 36 FINAL for Windows, Mac and Linux, with Chrome for Android 36 rolling out shortly. The desktop update adds a couple of user interface tweaks under the label "rich notifications improvements".

It also updates the incognito browsing page, adds a browser crash recovery bubble that could help prevent data loss and extends the Chrome App Launcher to Linux, plus adds various under-the-hood tweaks.

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PassMark Software has announced the release of OSForensics 3.0, a major update for its excellent PC investigation suite.

A stack of new viewers tell you more about your target system. The Prefetch viewer reveals when (and how frequently) applications have been run; the ThumbCache viewer displays thumbnails cached by Explorer, and the ESE Database viewer gives access to a host of low-level Windows information.

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French developer David Thoirin has released FotoSketcher 2.90, an update to his freeware Windows program for transforming digital photos into works of art.

The major new feature is a second watercolor effect (Edit > Drawing Parameters > Painting 9), which Thoirin has described as using "a loose style (with transparency)… based on a new segmentation algorithm".

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Oracle has released VirtualBox 4.3.14, the latest in a series of maintenance fixes for its cross-platform, part-open-source virtualization program.

Version 4.3.14 includes a wide range of fixes and tweaks, including one that sees the Mac build now include Blu-ray devices when scanning for host CD and DVD drives. Windows hosts should also now be able to install or upgrade VirtualBox without having to reboot their system.

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It’s all change for media server TVersity with a new major release. The old Basic version has been retired and in its place comes TVersity Media Server Free 3.0, which offers identical functionality to the Pro version minus the ability to transcode audio and video when required.

Version 3 also shows off a brand new and simplified user interface, introduces support for hardware-accelerated H.264 encoding in the Pro build and adds support for both Roku and Chromecast.

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Small home networks can take a while to set up -- especially if you’re a networking novice -- but once they’re up and running, there’s usually little else to do. Everything just works. And if it doesn’t, there’s generally a simple explanation (something’s been unplugged or turned off).

Add a few more systems, some of which are really important (a business server), and it’s another story. Problems quickly become complex, and have to be fixed right now.  To keep up it’s important to manage your network more carefully, and Axence nVision Free is the ideal program to help.

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WindowsX has released Windows 8 UX Pack 9.0 and Windows 8 Transformation Pack 9.0, new builds for its Windows skinning tools.

Each tool allows users to emulate the newer Windows 8.1 user interface on PCs running older versions of Windows -- the UX Pack works with Windows 7 or later, the Transformation Pack works with Vista and XP also.

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dotPDN LLC has released Paint.NET 4.0.1, a minor -- but important -- update to the recently released Paint.NET 4.0. Version 4.0.1 is primarily a major bug fix release, but does include some performance optimizations too.

Existing users will be prompted to update the software when launching it, or can manually check via the Settings > Updates > Check Now menu. Alternatively, simply download the latest version and install it over the top of the existing build.

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Screen sharing tools are great when you need to show someone else what’s happening on your own computer. You connect, do whatever you like, and your contact can follow every step.

If the remote user wants to make use of the other computer, however, it’s often more difficult. There’s still only one mouse cursor, so you’ll need to negotiate who can use it at any one time -- not exactly convenient.

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It used to be very basic, but Windows 7 saw Calculator evolve into a capable tool, with the addition of statistics, programmer, unit conversion and date calculation modes, amongst others.

The Calculator interface isn’t always the easiest to navigate, though, and if you’re more interested in speed and convenience then you might prefer Numculator.

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Apple has rolled out iTunes 11.3, the latest update to its popular media tool for Mac and Windows. Version 11.3, which is also available as a separate 64-bit build for Windows, extends its iTunes Extras feature to HD movies.

iTunes Extras include additional featurettes -- some of which may be interactive -- to accompany movies, such as behind-the-scenes documentaries, director’s commentary and high-resolution image galleries.

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