Genealogy sites like Ancestry are great for presenting family trees, taking all that raw data and presenting it in a straightforward graphical form.

But if you want to really understand your tree, to spot problems, links, patterns you might have missed, then you’ll need to delve a little deeper.

MindMaple Lite is a free application for generating mind maps, project plans, running brainstorming sessions, and generally helping to organise, present and share your ideas.

Download and installation is straightforward – no registration, adware or other hassles here – and conveniently the program opens with a mind map explaining itself: the main features, what’s new in this edition, what you get from upgrading to the Pro edition, and more.

We're always being told that we need to use stronger passwords, but most of us tend to trade off security for real world convenience.

Minneapolis-based Password Boss is hoping to convert people with the launch of its free password manager and digital wallet aimed at consumers.

Piriform Software has released CCleaner 5.0.8 FINAL and CCleaner 5.0.8 Portable, the latest builds of its Windows cleaning tool.

The new build promises compatibility with the RTM build (10240) of Windows 10, and adds support for Microsoft Edge Browser Monitoring to the Professional version of the software. By adding Edge to the Browser Monitoring feature in CCleaner Pro, users can now automatically clean the browser whenever it’s closed (or be prompted to do so).

Optimizing your PC’s screen colors cuts eyestrain, reduces headaches, and helps you sleep at nights. It can be surprisingly easy, too -- set up a program like SunsetScreen and it works largely automatically.

There may still be times when your display is too light, or maybe too dark, though, and that’s where NegativeScreen comes in. It’s a tiny freeware app for Windows 7 and later which can invert your screen colors on demand.

Managing your money can be complicated, tedious, time-consuming. It’s tempting to just leave your accounts to look after themselves, and if your finances aren’t too tight then you might get away with that. For a while, anyway.

Keeping track of your balances is a much better idea, though, and it doesn’t have to be difficult. Yapbam (Yet Another Personal Bank Account Manager) is a cross-platform personal finance manager which helps you get started almost immediately.

Windows provides many ways to browse a folder of images, but it’s much less flexible when it comes to printing. Typically you’ll have to print your pictures one at a time, or make do with whatever fixed multi-image formats your printer driver supports.

Primg is one of the simplest solutions around, a tiny portable freebie which gives much more control over your picture printouts.

EaseUS has released System GoBack Free 1.0, a tool aimed squarely at those about to upgrade to Windows 10.

The stakes are high for Microsoft’s new OS -- it’s a free update to many, but those who have reserved their upgrade may be getting twitchy ahead of the big day. System GoBack Free aims to soothe their nerves by offering an easy fallback option.

One of the main reasons businesses move their systems to the cloud is to save money. Where business communications are concerned the savings can be significant but can lead to having yet another separate platform.

Now though business communications specialist RingCentral is announcing the integration of RingCentral Office with Microsoft Office 365. This blends RingCentral's cloud business phone system with Microsoft's cloud productivity work environment, giving joint customers a powerful solution.

All-in-one remote networking toolkit MobaXterm 8.0 has shipped with the ability to create credentials for multiple sessions.

The latest build is packed with technology derived from the open source PuTTY, including the SSH/ telnet/ rlogin/ serial engines, the embedded terminal, a new "MobaKeyGen" graphical SSH keys generator -- even a new Games menu with simple puzzles and games from the PuTTY developer. (No, really.)

PopKey for Desktop is a free Windows and OS X tool for browsing, saving and sharing the latest animated GIFs.

It’s a desktop spin on the company’s PopKey GIF keyboard for iOS, and has a simple, app-like interface which keeps options and controls to an absolute minimum.

Classic open source audio editor Audacity has been updated to version 2.1.1 with some welcome additions and improvements.

A new Ctrl+click "scrub play mode" enables playback -- both forwards and backwards -- just by moving your mouse cursor across the waveform.

When you’re regularly trying out new software, it’s important to look for anything odd or unusual, any sign that a program might not be what it seems.

The Windows "virtual desktop manager" virgo seemed like a great example. A 3.7KB download? Which unpacked to a single 8KB executable? There had to be something wrong here. Surely?

Your PC’s large screen, quality sound card and speakers make it great for viewing and sharing media, but having to control the system via a keyboard and mouse isn’t always convenient.

AndroMouse provides a versatile alternative, with a comprehensive collection of tools which allows you to remotely control a PC from your Android device.

Security developer Malwarebytes has unveiled Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac 1.0, the company’s first Mac product.

The new app hasn’t been coded from scratch, but is a rebranded (and updated) version of AdwareMedic, which was acquired by Malwarebytes back in March.