Articles about Free Software

The Blender Foundation has released Blender 3.6 LTS, the latest -- and final -- point release in the 3.x series. As is customary with all Blender point releases, version 3.6 of the popular and powerful open-source, cross-platform 3D creation suite contains several eye-catching new features along with "significant" performance improvements.

These include initial support for simulations in Geometry Nodes, which allows users to define simulations through the "Simulation Zone". This connects both Simulation Input and Output together through nodes. After the inputs are initially evaluated on the first frame, subsequent outputs simply outputs the results of the previous frame.

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The Files Community has released Files 2.5, a major new release of its File Explorer replacement tool for Windows users. The open-source tool restores the Acrylic backdrop material, adds new swipe gestures and makes improvements to the Preview and Details pane as well as crushing numerous bugs.

Files 2.5 continues to build on recent major updates, the last of which -- released back in February -- introduced support for tagging files and folders. This time round, however, Files 2.5’s headline new feature isn’t brand new, but one that’s been reintroduced.

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Good news, fellow Linux nerds! After many months of development, the Debian project has finally released the latest stable release of its popular Linux-based operating system. Debian 12, codenamed "Bookworm," marks a significant milestone in the ongoing battle against proprietary operating systems, particularly Windows 11. Debian 12 offers a legitimate alternative that truly empowers users.

One of the standout features of Debian 12 is its commitment to long-term support. Thanks to the joint efforts of the Debian Security team and the Debian Long Term Support team, Bookworm will receive support for a generous five-year period. This ensures that users can rely on Debian 12 for their computing needs without the constant pressure to upgrade or migrate to newer versions.

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Microsoft’s Chinese division has unveiled a major new update of its system optimization and maintenance tool with the release of Microsoft PC Manager 3.0 Beta. The app, which provides users with easy access to a wide -- and growing -- selection of built-in Windows tools, adds a new floating desktop toolbar option for even easier access to its offerings.

The new desktop toolbar is made accessible via Microsoft PC Manager’s Toolbox section, where users can both enable the feature and choose which tools to place on it for easy access.

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Open-source video broadcasting, recording and streaming tool OBS Studio 29.1 has been released for Windows, macOS and Linux.

The chief highlight is added support to allow users to livestream on YouTube using AV1/HEVC over Enhanced RTMP, resulting in lower bandwidth requirements and widening access to 4K60 streaming. The app also makes several improvements to the program’s preferences.

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Accessing your home or work devices from a remote location just got a lot easier -- and more secure -- with the launch of TeamViewer Remote 15.41.7, out now for Windows, Mac and Linux.

The headline new feature is a major revamp of how TeamViewer connects one user to another’s device. In place of a password-based system, users make use of session links to connect directly, and adds a new option that allows users to connect and control remote devices through any web browser.

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Vivaldi Technologies has unveiled Vivaldi 6.0 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android, a major new release of its customizable web browser.

Version 6.0 lands with two heavyweight new features: an additional layer of tab organization called Workspaces, and support for custom icons on the browser toolbar.

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As cloud and SaaS use grows a major challenge for IT, security and compliance teams is the lack of visibility into their organization's SaaS ecosystem.

Metomic is launching a new, free cybersecurity tool that scans Google Drive accounts to find sensitive data and information lurking in Google Docs and files. After entering a Gmail address and password, Google Drive Risk Report will scan the Google Drive connected to the address and, in a matter of seconds, generate a report.

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Mozilla has released Firefox 112.0 alongside Firefox ESR 102.10.0, the latest versions of its open-source, cross-platform browser.

Version 112 introduces performance improvements for those running Intel GPUs on Windows, plus makes it possible to restore the previous session using the Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + T shortcut.

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The Blender Foundation has unveiled Blender 3.5.0, the latest 3.x point release of its popular and powerful open-source, cross-platform 3D creation suite. The new release boasts several new features, including GPU-powered viewport compositor and vector displacement sculpting.

Blender 3.5’s main highlight, however, is that it builds massively on the curves-based hair system it introduced in version 3.3 with the addition of 'hair assets', 26 pre-built textures users can simply drag and drop on to existing models.

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Two months ago, the stable version of Kodi 20 'Nexus' arrived, bringing with it a wealth of new features to the hugely popular home theater software, including support for multiple instances of binary add-ons, AV1 Video support, and a massive rework of the subtitle system.

Today, the Kodi Foundation releases a new version, and Kodi 20.1 is well worth installing it as comes with an assortment of important bug fixes and some backports.

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A new report on the antivirus market from Security.org reveals that almost three-quarters of Americans still strongly believe computers need antivirus to protect their devices and 61 percent are relying on free options like Microsoft Defender.

The number relying on free solutions has held steady, down only one point since 2021. Interestingly, only eight percent of free antivirus users have experienced a breakthrough virus in the past year, compared to 10 percent of paid users.

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Primate Labs has unveiled a major new version of its cross-platform free benchmarking tool with the release of Geekbench 6.0.0 for desktop and mobile. The release comes more than three years after the last major update came out in September 2019.

Geekbench 6 has been engineered around how Primate Labs envisages computers and mobiles are being used in 2023. Its tests now include several new workloads, including the effects of blurring backgrounds in video conferencing streams, removing unwanted objects automatically from photos, and the use of scripting languages to analyze, process and convert text.

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Open-source BitTorrent client Transmission 4.0 has landed after over a year in development. Sporting over one thousands commits, the new release focuses on no fewer than four areas: resource efficiency, better community, code modernization and new features.

In terms of more efficient use of resources, Transmission 4.0’s code has been streamlined to fix poorly performing code and memory usage, with developers claiming 50 percent fewer CPU cycles and 70 percent fewer memory allocations are now used based on stress test benchmarking. In addition, payloads are smaller and bandwidth usage reduced.

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On schedule, The Document Foundation’s open-source, cross-platform office suite gains its first major point release of the year with LibreOffice 7.5. Version 7.5 unveils various design tweaks -- including a new application -- along with another long list of new and improved features right across the suite.

LibreOffice 7.5 opens with some design tweaks -- including "major improvements" to its dark mode support, which basically consist of over 40 bug fixes. There’s also new application and MIME-type icons, described as "more colorful and vibrant".

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