Free Software

Setting up a web server can be a lengthy and complicated process, with so many components to download, set up and manage.

A WAMP server (Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP) like VertrigoServ makes life easier by bundling together everything you need, and adding its own centralized management tools.

Markdown is a lightweight and readable markup language which makes it easy to create rich text documents with a plain text editor.

How easy? Grab a copy of the open source Markdown Edit (for Windows 7 or later) to find out.

You’re watching something great on YouTube, but you’ve also got real work to do elsewhere. Which do you choose? Decisions, decisions…

Sideplayer is a free Chrome extension which enables you to do both, watching YouTube clips in a floating player window while also carrying on browsing elsewhere.

Chronoplex Software has released a major new version of its free genealogy tool, My Family Tree 5.

Tree building is simpler than ever, with a new Relationships view making it easy to browse and edit an individual’s relationships from one place.

Wondering what other users might be doing on your PC? Checking browser or application histories might give you some clues, and monitoring software can also help.

But the simplest route is probably to build a file timeline, something which shows you when files were created or modified on your PC.

Websites often go through redesigns to keep them looking "fresh", changing colors, backgrounds, layouts and more. Which is fine, if you wanted something new -- but not so great if you were happier before.

Stylish is a free browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Safari which uses custom CSS code to restyle websites, changing colors, replacing fonts, dropping content and generally improving their look and feel.

Finding out what others are doing on your PC can be difficult. You might spend an age exploring various histories -- browsers, applications launched, documents opened -- and still not be entirely sure.

Hidden Capture is a free tool which can help by automatically taking screenshots of your desktop at regular intervals.

Hit File > Open in any modern edition of Microsoft Office and all your OneDrive cloud files are just a couple of clicks away.

That’s less than helpful if you keep your files on Google Drive, of course, but fortunately there’s a simple solution.

ASCII art is a graphics design technique dating back to the 1960s, where pictures are produced entirely from text characters.

The results are, well, basic. But they can have plenty of retro appeal, and producing them is a whole lot easier than you think.

Most internet security suites include some kind of browsing protection which blocks access to known malicious websites.

But if you don’t have anything installed -- or you’d just like to add a second layer of protection -- then you might be interested in the Windows freeware Hosts Block.

O&O Software has shipped an updated for its Windows 10 antispy tool, O&O ShutUp10.

The latest build has been repackaged as a single executable, making it more convenient to use.

It’s been around for almost 40 years, yet the arcade classic Space Invaders is still hugely popular, the inspiration behind an array of new games on every possible platform.

This isn’t always a good thing. Many games use the name, but don’t bear any resemblance to the original. Others require bulky installations or "in-app purchases" before you can really get started.

AVAST Software has unveiled its 2016 product range, including Avast Free Antivirus 2016, Avast Internet Security 2016 and Avast Premier 2016.

The highlight is Avast Passwords, a new password manager available in every edition (yes, even the Free build).

TeamViewer GmbH has unveiled TeamViewer 11 beta, a preview of its free-for-personal-use remote control package.

Performance enhancements are a highlight, with up to 15x faster file transfers, and a potential 30 percent reduction in data usage.

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Amazon -- it’s hard to get any work done when there are so many web distractions around.

LeechBlock is a free Firefox extension which can help by blocking access to your favorite time-sucking sites.