Articles about Free Software

NirSoft has released OpenSaveFilesView, a tiny portable tool which displays files opened and saved by the standard Windows Open and Save dialogs.

This has various potential applications, from reminding yourself where you saved that document last week, to getting an idea what someone else might be doing on a PC.

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Everyone -- and we mean everyone -- needs some kind of recovery disc. It could be the only thing between you and losing critical data, or a lengthy (and possibly unnecessary) Windows reinstall, for example.

Most PCs ship with some kind of onboard recovery or repair tools, but these are often limited. What’s the solution? If you’re running Windows 7 or 8 (but not, as yet, 8.1), it could well be AOMEI PE Builder Free 1.0.

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Popular open-source, cross-platform sound recording, editing and mixing tool Audacity 2.0.6 has been released. The new build contains a number of minor improvements and various bug fixes.

Most of these changes affect the user interface. Both Cut and Delete options have been moved to the top of the Edit menu, for example. The Transport menu has also been altered to offer a single Play/Stop button as well as a "Play/Stop and Set Cursor" option for leaving the cursor set where playback has halted.

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Your browser's misbehaving? It's a common problem, and you've probably got your own quick fixes: delete the cache, scan for malware, remove the last add-in you installed, whatever it might be.

Now Google is offering a little extra assistance with Chrome Software Removal Tool (CSRT), a Windows beta which scans for programs known to cause problems with Google Chrome and offers to remove them.

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Ever felt frustrated by CCleaner’s relative limited support for third-party apps? Did you know you can -- with a lot of care -- add your own programs to its cleaning database? Does that sound a bit scary? No matter, you can add support for hundreds more programs with no fuss using a free tool called CCEnhancer 4.1.

The tool lets you easily augment the CCleaner information file with 1,000 other program options, and with the release of version 4.1, the tool makes it easier for you to add your own program entries from within CCEnhancer itself.

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EditShare has announced the release of Lightworks 12, its powerful non-linear video editor for Windows, Linux, and -- at last -- Mac.

The hugely extended Content Manager is a highlight. Everything is immediately accessible, there’s easier searching and filtering to help you find what you need, you can even drag and drop files directly into open bins as required.

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IObit has announced the release of IObit Uninstaller 4, an interesting extension of its freeware program uninstaller.

The program now has the ability to completely remove Windows 8 apps. A "batch uninstall" option ditches as many as you like in a single operation, and the "Powerful Scan" tool ensures there's no hard drive or Registry junk left behind.

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Windows remote desktop, VNC, telnet, SSH -- there are many ways to access a remote computer, and using them all can require a whole library of networking tools.

Fortunately, there are alternatives. The open source Terminals not only handles a lengthy list of protocols -- RDP, VNC, ISA, SSH, Telnet, RAS, HTTP, HTTPS -- but a tabbed interface means you’re able to open and manage multiple connections simultaneously.

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Piriform Ltd has released CCleaner 4.18 and CCleaner Portable 4.18, the latest versions of its popular Windows cleanup tool.

This time the big addition is a limited version of Active System Monitoring, a smart feature previously reserved for the commercial CCleaner Professional. Turn it on and CCleaner monitors your system, checking for junk, and lets you know when it’s time to clean up.

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There are hundreds of free audio editors around, and if your needs are basic -- trimming an MP3 here, maybe adjusting volume there -- then just about any of them will do.

Finding more capable editors can be a real problem, but there are a few around, and ocenaudio is a very interesting example.

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Cyotek has announced the release of Gif Animator 0.0.3.0, an updated beta of its ultra-configurable GIF creator.

The program can now export any or all of your animation frames as a sprite sheet, with your choice of columns, rows, margins, spacing and more (there’s WebP format support, too).

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In its first major updates for almost 18 months, Foxit Corporation has unveiled Foxit Reader 7.0 and Foxit PhantomPDF 7.0. Both builds gain Shared Review capabilities along with 2D Barcode Display.

Each build also gains unique functionality -- user environment customization is the biggest draw in Foxit Reader, for example, while Foxit PhantomPDF users gain an Outlook Add-in, plus PDF Portfolios and Document Sanitzation features.

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Evernote Corporation has rolled out Evernote for Mac 5.6, a major update of its cloud-based note-taking client for Mac users. Version 5.6 comes with a rebuilt -- and improved -- note editor, as well as faster sync performance.

The update also comes with the promise of more relevant searches, integration with Spotlight and has been optimized to both launch faster and reduce its energy demands.

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Tennessee software developer Bitsum has released Process Lasso 7.0 and Process Lasso 7.0 (64-bit), a landmark update of its PC optimisation tool.

Version 7.0 builds on recent releases, improving the newly added ProBalance Insights tool with the promise of improved accuracy for its embedded responsiveness meter, plus overhauling various user interface elements.

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Versatile video converter/ downloader/ editor TEncoder has expanded its range even further with the addition of a DVD ripper.

Point the program at your disc video folder (\VIDEO_TS, probably), and you’re able to choose the title, start and end chapters, audio and subtitle track you’d like to rip.

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