Piriform has released Recuva 1.47 and Recuva Portable 1.47, new versions of its freeware data recovery tool for Windows PCs. Version 1.47 comes with one major new feature -- the ability to filter results by file type during deep scans -- along with a number of minor tweaks and improvements.

Recuva 1.47 allows users to recover lost and deleted data from hard drives -- the Portable build can be unzipped and run directly from a removable device such as a thumb drive, ensuring data isn’t written to the drive users are trying to recover data from.

Hong Kong-based developer Kingsoft Software has released KingSoft Office Suite Free 2013, a brand new version of its sleek free alternative to Microsoft Office. Version 9.1.0.4056 makes its bow with a redesigned user interface with choice of three skins, plus improves support for the latest Office formats. There’s better support for foreign characters as well as date and number formats too, while users can now undo changes even after saving documents.

The suite consists of three tools -- Writer, Spreadsheets and Presentation -- all of which gain specific new features and improvements. All three sport a ribbon-based user interface with one key advantage over Office’s own: the ability to view and switch between multiple documents in a single tabbed window.

Emsisoft has released minor updates for its commercial and free anti-malware tools with the publications of Emsisoft Anti-Malware 7.0.0.25 and Emsisoft Emergency Kit 3.0.0.6. Although minor, both updates are strongly recommended for existing users.

Emsisoft Anti-Malware 7.0.0.25 builds on the improvements introduced with the release of version 7 last September. Major new features in that build included a second malware scanning engine -- Bitdefender -- being added alongside Emsisoft’s own along with performance tweaks for advanced users who wished to control how many system resources should be given over to the program.

SweetLabs Inc has just released a new version of Pokki, its ambitious Start Menu replacement and app framework. There are few visual changes -- and not even that many in total -- but the release does deliver some high value improvements which should make a real difference to the product.

Full touch support for Pokki apps and menu will help make the program far more usable to a tablet audience, for instance.

Dashlane, Inc has launched Dashlane 2.0 for desktop and Dashlane for Android 2.0.1, major new updates of its secure password management tool that allows users to securely store sensitive personal details such as online passwords and credit card information via free desktop and mobile apps.

Both builds gain a complete new user interface, the promise of a "massive jump" in product quality and support for two-factor authentication via Google Authenticator. In addition the desktop build gains a new Security Dashboard feature, while the Android version expands support for tablets and adds in-app browsing.

It’s common knowledge that Google is closing its Google Reader service, and that July 1 deadline is creeping ever closer. Now is the perfect time to switch to an alternative service and become acclimatized to a slightly different way of working, and the good news is that you can make the switch in minutes without having to perform any convoluted tricks, thanks to Feedly.com.

There are two ways to access Feedly -- if you’re on a desktop or laptop, you’ll need to install the Feedly for Firefox, Chrome and Safari plug-in, and if you’ve an Android or iOS mobile, you’ll want to install Feedly 15.0.1 instead (or in addition to) in order to access the service.

Linux users are a strange bunch. As a distro gets popular, it tends to lose credibility with the Linux elitists. It is much like an underground rock band. As the band gains mainstream success, the original fans view the band as "sell-outs". For instance, Ubuntu, the most popular Linux distro, is viewed negatively by many as a beginner distro (Linux users only feel this way because of its success -- Ubuntu is a wonderful OS). Linux Mint however, is the exception to the rule -- it is revered by newbies and elite users alike. This is despite its long-held top spot on www.distrowatch.com and the fact that it is based on Ubuntu.

On May 29, 2013, Linux Mint 15, codenamed "Olivia" was released. This is the newest version of Mint and is based on Ubuntu 13.04. While Linux Mint is built on Ubuntu, it removes what many users hate about that distro -- the Unity desktop environment and integrated Amazon.com search.

In theory, a free online storage account sounds like it should be a great way to share files with others. And this can be true, at least sometimes, but there are complications. Like having to upload your data first, for instance. And then trusting its security to your service provider.

If these are issues for you, though, you could try another option: installing Weezo and allowing it to run a secure server on your own PC, making selected files and folder available to whoever you like. This is far easier to get working than you might expect. And it’s just a small part of what this interesting free program can do.

These days, the ability to browse the web anonymously is built into most web browsers. Firefox has a special Private Browsing mode where no trace of your history -- including searches, downloads, web forms and cookies -- is kept, although any downloaded files and bookmarks will remain as evidence of your secret browsing session.

It’s certainly more robust than a general browsing session, but it’s not as secure as it might be. That explains the reasoning behind Private Browsing by PortableApps.com 3.0, a free add-on for Firefox Portable Edition for Windows.

Multifunction printers have many useful features, but the ability to work as a photocopier has to be one of the best. Place your document on the scanner, click the Copy button, and a duplicate should appear in just a few seconds.

You don’t have to miss out on this kind of convenience just because you’ve a separate printer and scanner, though. Grab a copy of iCopy and the program will combine your devices into a straightforward yet very capable photocopier.

We all know that the internet is home to illegal software, music, movies and much more. It may seem like an impossible task to put figures to piracy levels, but a report by Ofcom, the independent regulator for the communications industries in the UK, has done just that. The Online Copyright Infringement Tracker report found that a staggering 30 percent of regular downloaders of media did so illegally.

The report looked at the period from November 2012 to January 2013 and analyzed UK consumption of online music, film, TV programmes, books, games and software. Compared to the previous three months, the percentage of web users accessing any of this type of content increased from 57 percent to 60 percent.

EaseUS Software has released EaseUS Todo Backup 6.0 Free and EaseUS Todo Backup 6.0 Workstation, major new versions of its image- and file-based backup tool. Version 6.0 adds support for recovering individual files from partitions, while WorkStation users also gain tools for simplifying migration between physical and virtual machines.

The major new feature affecting all users is support for recovering selected files from image-based backups. Previously users could only recover entire partitions or disks, but now users can either recover individual files using the Recovery wizard, or mount the image as a virtual drive for browsing and extracting files.

If you’d like to automatically run an antivirus scan at a particular time, or maybe defragment your hard drive, then it’s usually very easy. And that’s because security packages and defrag tools almost always include a scheduling option, which allows them to carry out some preferred action even when you’re not around.

Most programs don’t have this kind of feature, unfortunately, but automating them may still be possible, with just a little help from System Scheduler.

If you find a program on your PC which you think might be malware, then checking it with an antivirus tool is a good first step -- but it’s not the only option. You could also try "static analysis", which involves examining the executable file itself to learn more about it. Most static analysis tools are aimed at developers and extremely complex, but the free PeStudio is an interesting exception: it offers plenty of low-level detail, but also has more straightforward features that just about anyone can use.

It’s easy to get started with the program. Just download and unzip it, launch PeStudio.exe, and drag and drop your suspect executable onto the PeStudio window. Wait a few seconds for the program to run its analysis, and a detailed report then appears.

Opera Software has unveiled Opera Next 15, the first look at a major new direction for its cross-platform web browser. Opera Next 15 -- which installs alongside the existing stable version, Opera 12.15 -- sees the browser jump not one, but three version numbers, such is the radical nature of the new release.

The major news surrounding Opera Next 15 is the switch from its own Presto proprietary web rendering engine to Google’s open-source Chromium engine. But other changes include a revamped user interface, overhauled Speed Dial page, new Discover and Stash features, plus the dropping of all integrated email features, which will be available as a separate product, Opera Mail, also available in pre-release form.