Articles about Software

For all of its simplicity and limitations, there are still a lot of people who -- for some reason best known to themselves -- love Microsoft Paint.

As such, when it was announced a while back that Microsoft intended to strip the utility from Windows 10 and replace it with Paint 3D -- an altogether different beast -- there was a collective wailing and gnashing of teeth. But now it seems that Paint has been given a stay of execution.

Continue reading →

Towards the end of last month, security researchers revealed details of a critical bug in that stalwart of the compression world, WinRAR. The bug is many years old and although it relates to the rarely-used ACE format and has since been patched, it has been discovered hackers are actively exploiting it since it was made public.

The 19-year-old bug in the file UNACEV2.DLL (CVE-2018-20250) allows for an attacker to execute malicious files hidden in compressed archives. Over 100 exploits have been found that take advantage of people who are yet to update to a secure version of the software... and that number is growing. McAfee reports attackers using Ariana Grande's album "Thank U, Next" as a lure to encourage victims to extract dangerous archives, but other security researchers report the use of images.

Continue reading →

Install software on your computer and you’ll be forgiven for not having the spare time to search for updates. Most applications do not have a software update facility, so unless you go checking, you’ll often never know it’s been updated.

With this in mind, and software developers running out of key ideas to add to future revisions to encourage paid upgrades, we’re seeing 'Software Updater' tools being released to the market or added to system maintenance applications. IObit recently released a standalone Software Updater tool this year which we wrote about this month.

Continue reading →

We had a shock the other day when cleaning out the office. If you’re anything like us, you tend to hold on to old drives simply because it’s hard to dispose of the data securely.

You soon realize you have old hard drives you’ve never dealt with and even obscure NAS drives collected over many years. We found old drives going back to 2000. One solution is to pay for a professional company to pick up, wipe and dispose of these used drives, but this is a costly procedure. Why not do it yourself and save a ton of cash in the process?

Continue reading →

Corel has unveiled CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019 as part of its 30th-anniversary celebrations for Windows and -- for the first time -- Mac. The brand-new Mac release is fully native, and includes all components found in the Windows version, including CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT.

Also new in the 2019 release is a brand-new Objects Docker for controlling document structure, non-destructive effects, and a new web app (CorelDRAW.app) for accessing and editing cloud-hosted Corel documents through other devices.

Continue reading →

For many workplaces -- including BetaNews -- Slack is the way workers stay in touch with each other. Jumping onto the black bandwagon, the chat and messaging tool is embracing the dark side and giving users the option to ramp up the darkness.

To enjoy a darker look to Slack, you need to be part of the beta program, and there is nothing from stopping you from signing up right now and reaping the ocular -- or just aesthetic -- benefits of the new dark mode. Dark mode is available on both iOS and Android.

Continue reading →

Opera Software has unveiled no fewer than 24 improvements since launching its mobile browser for Android and iOS. The latest build, Opera Touch 1.5.0 delivers a much-needed setting for automatically handling website cookie dialogs.

Other improvements since launch have included expanding the My Flow feature to connect mobile and desktop iterations of Opera, support for Private Browsing mode and a dark theme

Continue reading →

If you use a laptop with a small SSD, you'll want to make sure you can reclaim as much hard drive space as possible. Many of the default apps Microsoft installs with Windows 10 can take up more space than you might realise and, better still, most can be removed simply and easily.

Take the Skype app, as an example. This app is now installed by default as Microsoft is keen to encourage us to use their technology. Problem is, it takes up nearly 0.5GB of your SSD, for an app you may never consider using.

Continue reading →

Everyone seems to use a different way to communicate. Although most business users have switched to Slack, there are others who rely on Skype, WhatsApp and Messenger to send an important message. Everyone has their favourite chat client.

It's hard to keep on top the messages and there's still some business contacts who insist on using LinkedIn to ask you an important question and, unless you login using your browser, it’s very easy to overlook an urgent message.

Continue reading →

If you're a user of WinRAR -- a staple tool for decompressing files whose popularity stems from not only its support for RAR files, but also its never-ending trial period -- it's time to ensure you have the latest security patch installed.

Security experts from Check Point Research have revealed details of a serious bug that has been present in the software for at least 14 years. The archiving tool was found to have a vulnerability in one of its .dll files, which could be exploited by simply opening a compressed file, and allows an attacker to "gain full control over a victim's computer".

Continue reading →

The following is an exclusive excerpt from Project to Product: How to Survive and Thrive in the Age of Digital Disruption with the Flow Framework by Dr. Mik Kersten:

Entering the BMW Group Leipzig plant in Germany is an awe-inspiring experience. My hosts are Rene Te-Strote and Frank Schäfer. Frank is a plant manager responsible for overall vehicle integration. The enormous Central Building was designed by architect Zaha Hadid, who designed some of the most unique buildings of our time. The unapologetically sci-fi architecture invokes the feeling of walking into the future. The most prominent sight upon entering is an elevated and exposed section of the production line that towers high above eye level. Car bodies move across a suspended conveyor and then slowly disappear out of view as they glide over a sea of desks. The production line is visible to anyone who enters the building and to all the staff, and the entire building is designed around it. Every part of the building has some practical aspect related to manufacturing and value delivery. Everything embodies the maturity and scale of one of the masters of the Age of Mass Production.

Continue reading →

It’s almost impossible to do anything these days without leaving a tell-tale digital trail behind you, particularly when accessing internet-related services. Given many apps now spend a significant amount of time connected to the internet, you can’t rely on just locking down your web browser either.

This where Avira Privacy Pal 1.8.0 for Windows PCs comes in. It promises to become your privacy-focused personal assistant, offering quick and simple fixes for over 200 privacy issues.

Continue reading →

AgileBits has released 1Password 7.3 for Windows clients. 1Password offers secure form-filling and password management tools and is also available on Mac, iOS and Android.

The new Windows build unveils a new Secure Desktop mode, improvements to the Watchtower feature and numerous other improvements, including customizable keyboard shortcuts and more robust update mechanism

Continue reading →

As 2018 draws to a close, it's a time not only for looking back over what the past year has offered, but also for looking forward to the new year and what's on the horizon. There's certainly a lot to look forward to in terms of hardware in 2019, but there's also a great deal on the software front.

The developer of the popular image editing tool Paint.NET, Rick Brewster, has shared his vision of what the coming year holds for his software. The 2019 roadmap for Paint.NET is an exciting one, promising migration to .NET Core, support for brushes and pressure sensitivity, and an expanded plugin system.

Continue reading →

Giving Linux fans a little Christmas present, Linus Torvalds has announced that version 4.20 of the Linux kernel is now available.

In a post to the Linux Kernel Mailing List, Torvalds said that there was no point in delaying the release of the latest stable version of the kernel just because so many people are taking a break for the holiday season. He says that while there are no known issues with the release, the shortlog is a little longer than he would have liked. However "nothing screams 'oh, that's scary'", he insists.

Continue reading →