nomacs is a free image viewer with some unusual extras
Does the world really need another image viewer? It’s tempting to say no, as even Windows Explorer does a reasonable job of helping you browse your pictures, but nomacs is a cross-platform viewer which is aiming to change your mind. And it just might be good enough to succeed.
The program opens much like any other image viewer. You can display individual files or complete folders, for instance (there’s support for viewing all the main formats, including many RAW file types). A thumbnail browser helps you manually navigate to the images you need, or you can use the Player to create an automatic slideshow.
FotoSketcher adds new knife-painting effect, improves existing brushstrokes filter
Freeware digital art creation tool FotoSketcher 2.45 has been released by French author David Thoiron. FotoSketcher, also available in portable form, provides quick and easy tools for Windows users wishing to transform digital photos into virtual works of art.
Version 2.45 introduces a new stylized effect (Emergence 2) and improves on an existing brushstrokes-based effect. It also includes a number of minor bug fixes and coincides with the author making a series of scripts available for download.
Panda Cloud Antivirus adds Data Shield, Parental Control and Rescue Boot creator
Bilbao, Spain-based Panda Security has released Panda Cloud Antivirus Free 2.2, a major new version of the company’s cloud-based antivirus tool. Version 2.2 adds a number of notable new features, including protection against data theft through malware infection and parental control tools.
The new version also bundles a bootable rescue creation tool and also adds support for access in Safe mode, ensuring it’s more capable of dealing with stubborn malware that proves hard to shift or even cripples the user’s PC entirely.
RightToClick lets you restore the right-click menu and fix other web page annoyances
Most web pages work just as you expect. You can browse them, left-click here, right-click there, and leave whenever you like -- which is just as it should be.
Other sites aren’t quite so straightforward, unfortunately. They might disable the right-click menu. Prevent you copying text. Maybe even try to stop you leaving a particular page. It’s annoying, but the Firefox add-on RightToClick does at least give you a very effective way to fight back.
TweetDeck 3 for Windows unveils new design and better navigation
Twitter has released TweetDeck 3.0.2 for Windows, a major new build of its desktop Twitter client. The new release adds support for minimizing the application to the Taskbar Notification area, plus unveils a new layout, followers column and additional search filters.
TweetDeck is designed to make it easier to track real-time conversations as well as monitor specific Twitter feeds or hashtags through the use of a multi-columned layout. Users can also access TweetDeck via their browser using its web-based app, which also recently gained a redesign.
qMetro helps you travel the world’s subways like a local
Subways can be a great way to get around a big city, but of course you have to understand their layout, first. That can be a challenge, particularly if you leave it until the last minute, and are left peering at a huge map on a tiny smartphone screen (that’s if you can get a signal at all). But plan ahead with a little help from qMetro and your life could be very much easier.
An open source tool available for Windows, Linux, OS X and more, qMetro comes bundled with 23 maps covering subways in many big cities: Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, Tokyo and others. But if that’s not enough, there are something like 200 maps available online (and in theory, at least, you can even create more yourself).
NirSoft’s TurnedOnTimesView reports when a PC was turned on or shut down
It’s only a couple of weeks since NirSoft’s last release, but the unstoppable freeware machine has just announced another addition to its lineup. TurnedOnTimesView is a simple tool for reporting when a PC was turned on, restarted, or shut down.
This has some obvious applications for system monitoring. If you’re wondering whether someone’s been using the family PC in the middle of the night, for instance, TurnedOnTimesView may be able to tell you more.
ESET releases new betas for NOD32 Antivirus and Smart Security
ESET has unveiled the first public betas of its NOD32 Antivirus 7 and Smart Security 7 products.
The Smart Security suite now includes a Vulnerability Shield to better protect your PC from known network issues, while its Anti-Theft service gains the ability to track what’s happening on your stolen hardware via regular screen captures.
WordWeb 7 offers a universal dictionary, thesaurus, and spellchecker
UK-based WordWeb Software has released WordWeb Free 7.0, a major new version of its universal spellchecker and thesaurus tool for English-speaking Windows users. When running, users can look up definitions for words as well as alternatives such as synonyms from any application by holding the [Ctrl] key as they right-click the word in question.
Version 7.0 offers new and revised definitions and related words, along with updated audio pronunciations. One-click integration with other programs has also been improved, along with support for 64-bit systems and Windows 8.
AV Audio Editor lets you easily tweak and convert your music files
What makes a good audio editor? Many developers seem to think it’s all down to the length of the feature list, and so they’ll try to cram in just as much functionality as they possibly can. That can have its appeal, too, but there’s often a usability price to pay.
AV Audio Editor takes a very different approach. Its feature list is fairly basic, just the usual cut, copy and paste options, along with a few effects (volume tweaks, an equalizer and so on). But that’s still more than enough for many situations, and the real plus here is that AV Audio Editor takes these basics and implements them very well indeed.
Opera Mail says goodbye to the browser and goes it alone
Opera has unveiled the first stable release of its standalone mail client. Opera Mail is based on the integrated Opera email client found in the current version of Opera 12.15 FINAL, but which is due to be dropped from the next major release of Opera (currently in alpha as Opera 15.0 Next).
Opera Mail promises to be both lightweight and fast, and while mirroring the functionality found in previous versions of Opera, which includes features such as labelling, filtering, multiple tabs and thread support.
View Outlook’s Calendar and Tasks on your desktop with DeskTask
While Outlook is great at organising your To Do lists, and maybe setting up your schedule, it’s not exactly lightweight. And that can be an issue if you’d like to keep an eye on your tasks, appointments and more, without having to regularly switch back to it just to remind yourself what’s coming up next.
There is a simpler alternative, though -- and it’s called DeskTask. This small free program displays your Outlook calendar and tasks in a transparent window on the desktop, which means you can track your schedule at any time with a glance.
IObit Driver Booster keeps your system drivers fully up to date
Keeping your PC’s drivers up-to-date can sometimes help to enhance performance, improve stability, and generally make your system run just a little more smoothly. Most people don’t have time to regularly check for updates, of course, but that doesn’t matter as there’s now a whole class of utilities which will do that for you. The latest example is IObit’s new beta, Driver Booster, and we gave the program a quick trial to see how it worked.
It’s immediately obvious that the program is focused primarily on ease of use. There’s no complex interface, no jargon, no searching around trying to decide what you need to do: just launch Driver Booster, it immediately scans your PC, and a report appears just a few seconds later.
USSU Unlimited automatically keeps Windows programs up-to-date
If you’ve set up a new PC recently then you won’t need us to tell you just how tedious the experience can be, as you scour the web for your favorite applications, downloading and installing them one by one.
Fortunately there are plenty of tools which will try to simplify this process for you, though, and USSU Unlimited is one of the latest. The program supports 45 common applications (Flash, Java, Firefox, Chrome, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Adobe Reader, VLC Media Player and more), can download and install them in a click, and then detects and downloads updates as they appear.
Troubleshoot your PC’s memory problems with Sysinternals RAMMap
Understanding your PC’s RAM usage is a key part of troubleshooting many odd Windows problems, but unfortunately this isn’t always easy. The standard tools, like Task Manager, are fine for diagnosing simple issues, but just don’t provide the information you’ll need to cope with anything more complex.
As usual, though, Microsoft Sysinternals has a portable tool which can help. RAMMap provides a very in-depth look at your PC’s current RAM usage, and while it’s aimed mainly at Windows experts, the program also has some elements which will be useful to just about anyone.
Recent Headlines
BetaNews, your source for breaking tech news, reviews, and in-depth reporting since 1998.
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.