Articles about Software

Software has become central to our daily lives, with nearly every major company relying on it to operate. We are all increasingly dependent on fault free software for almost everything we do -- whether it’s ensuring trains run on time, accessing websites or using online banking.

Software has evolved into a form of digital public infrastructure, just as vital as physical infrastructure like roads and utilities. Yet, despite its critical role, software largely goes unmonitored and unregulated.

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Windows 11 is the OS Microsoft thinks you should have -- not the one you actually want. It's good, but it's also packed with a ton of features that you don’t need and will never use.

There are a number of great tools you can use to strip out unwanted features from the OS, making it faster and more lightweight, but they tend to be too complex or require an advanced degree of technical know-how to use properly.

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Modern enterprises are under fire from all angles. Attackers have become increasingly sophisticated and persistent in how they target enterprise data and systems. But as the threat landscape has evolved and become more complex, one tried and true method for malicious attackers stands out as a weak point for nearly every enterprise attack surface: outdated software. As much as patch management has advanced in recent years, the fact remains that most organizations struggle to deploy patches consistently and effectively, and that leaves systems exposed to cyber attacks.  

Cybercriminals have become quite adept at exploiting unpatched software, using it as an easy entry point into enterprise networks. Malicious actors have developed an incredibly sophisticated understanding of where enterprise weak points are. In fact, most criminal operators have a deeper understanding of enterprise attack surfaces than the security teams tasked with defending them. Enterprise networks often consist of hundreds of thousands of IT assets, and every single unpatched instance represents an opportunity for attackers to compromise data and operations.

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Just how many web browsers does the world need? Norwegian browser specialist Opera thinks the more the merrier. It’s just launched Opera Air Stable 116.0 for macOS and Windows, designed to improve user focus and well-being.

The new release sits alongside the browser’s other offerings, its main Opera browser, and the infinitely customizable Opera GX, aimed at the gamer community.

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The most recent big update to Windows 11 has been available for more than three months now, and if you have not yet opted to make the leap, Microsoft may be about to do it for you.

The Windows 11 2024 Update is now, in Microsoft’s words, “broadly available”. While there is a lot of focus on getting Windows 10 users to upgrade before their operating system reaches end of life, fans of older editions of Windows 11 need to be aware that forced updates could see Windows 11 24H2 installed whether you are ready or not.

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The CrowdStrike outage of July 2024 has triggered a major rethink of tech supply chains, as businesses around the world look to build IT resilience and minimize risk.

New research from Adaptavist shows that in the wake of the incident, which affected 8.5 million devices worldwide, there's a decisive shift in vendor relationships and a loss of confidence in traditional single-vendor approaches, with only 16.25 percent of respondents expressing satisfaction with their current providers.

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Auslogics has unveiled its first major release of BoostSpeed for over two years with the release of Auslogics BoostSpeed 14.0. The Windows optimization suite -- available as a free cut-down version alongside a fully featured Pro version, which you can have for just $19.95 -- gains eye-catching new features, optimizations and a major revamp of its user interface.

Existing users will notice the difference immediately on launching the new program. BoostSpeed 14.0 ditches the multi-Dashboard approach by consolidating Basic and Advanced dashboards into a single interface.

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AbstractSpoon Software has unveiled a New Year’s gift for fans of its portable Windows to-do manager with the release of ToDoList 9.0.

ToDoList, which provides a range of tools and views for managing to-do lists, is designed to be run from a USB drive allowing access from any Windows PC. It unveils two major new features with this release, along with a host of additions to existing tools.

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Citing an “unexpected change”, Microsoft has issued a warning to software developers to update their .NET Install links.

Microsoft is describing the situation as “critical”, and it comes after the bankruptcy of Edgio, a company responsible for hosting some .NET-related Content Delivery Network (CDN) instances. Developers are being told to take immediate action in order to avoid problems.

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Six-hundred-twenty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and Windows 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.

Microsoft reaffirmed its position on the TPM 2.0 requirement of its Windows 11 operating system. The company called it non-negotiable. That is bad news for Windows 10 customers whose devices do not support it.

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Berlin developer O&O Software has rolled out O&O DiskImage 20 Pro, offering Windows users imaging and file backup in a single application. While version 20 is a relatively minor release, it does at least continue O&O’s commitment to providing lifetime licenses for its products.

While rival backup products -- including Acronis and now Macrium -- have switched to a subscription-based model, forcing users to continue paying in order to not just back up their data but restore it in the event of an emergency, O&O Software is keen to highlight that O&O DiskImage 20 Pro, like every release before it, comes with a pay-once, use-forever lifetime license.

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If you've ever tried to save a file in Windows and ended up playing a game of "hide and seek" with your own folders, you're not alone. It seems Microsoft has a grand vision for where our files should live, even if it has little to do with what we actually need.

Open the "Save As" dialog, and you'll find that Windows is practically begging you to save in its favorite spots -- like OneDrive, the Documents folder, or any other “default” that Microsoft has deemed worthy of your files.

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Rick Brewster and dotPDN LLC has released Paint.NET 5.1, the first major point release in the Paint.NET 5.x series. It comes just under two years after Paint.NET 5.0 first saw the light of day.

The major highlight is support for color management -- ensuring images with embedded color profiles can now be displayed correctly in Paint.NET. The feature is effectively automatic -- when an image containing an embedded color profile is loaded into Paint.NET 5.1, it’ll display according to the embedded profile. Users can then switch to different ICC color profiles via the new Image > Color Profile… dialog.

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Remote.It has launched ScreenView for Raspberry Pi, providing remote access and control across a wide range of applications. Currently available in beta (with the full version expected in 2-3 weeks), ScreenView allows users to view and control Raspberry Pi screens from any browser interface, making it a versatile solution for developers, students, IoT vendors, and others.

ScreenView for Raspberry Pi supports real-time connectivity and remote management, allowing users to perform tasks such as screen sharing, troubleshooting, and collaboration directly through their web browser.

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Google has unceremoniously evicted Kaspersky’s apps from the Play Store. While the Russian security firm insists that the removal is temporary, it comes after the company’s software was banded from being sold in the US.

The move not only means that it is no longer possible to download Kaspersky apps from Google store, but also that existing users are unable to obtain updates. Google did announce the removals ahead of time.

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