Articles about Software

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 →

Boot into your brand new PC and you find you’re welcomed by rather a vanilla operating system, perhaps with a few key default apps installed by the manufacturer.

Although it’s initially interesting to start with a blank canvas, you soon realize not only do you have your most important applications installed but the settings and preferences all need to be setup again from scratch.

Continue reading →

As businesses embrace digital transformation, things like the growth of distributed workforces and remote work are impacting both the day-to-day responsibilities and long-term plans of IT managers.

Software and cloud managed services company Unify Square has commissioned a survey from Osterman Research to sample the views of IT managers who oversee unified communications (UC) and workstream collaboration (WSC) environments.

Continue reading →

It’s time to embrace block-based editing. WordPress 5.0 has been unveiled, debuting a brand-new block-based editor designed to simplify the construction of web pages. The new release also unveils a new default theme, Twenty Nineteen.

The new editor is basically the sole highlight for version 5.0, but those who don’t want to embrace it will be reassured by news that the Classic Editor will live on as a plugin, fully supported until 2021.

Continue reading →

There are some firms you look at with a kind of wary admiration primarily because they were a marketing pioneer of their time. Or that’s what we thought.

Uniblue is one of these companies and, you should believe this is no understatement, it used to be major software developer, with adverts in every location, as little as eight years ago. Before it all went horribly wrong. Now Uniblue has closed the company for good with no prior warning whatsoever.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has already had a stab at a cut-down version of its famous operating system in the form of Windows RT and Windows 10 S... and it seems that the company is looking to have a third try. References have been spotted in the code of Windows 10 to "PRODUCT_LITE" -- apparently a reference to a new version of its OS called either Windows Lite, or just Lite.

While Microsoft has not confirmed anything or made any official announcements, there are numerous references to Lite in recent Insider builds of Windows, as well as in the SDK for the OS. With help from well-placed insiders, it has been possible to piece together some information about Windows Lite.

Continue reading →

After listening to years of security advice, many of us now use different passwords to access various websites. Problem is, how do you store and synchronize this data across your devices? You can’t remember every unique password.

The secret is a password manager which enables you to store a central 'master password' (which you can remember) and then gain access to this securely stored data on any supported device. Problem is, can you trust a centralized password manager after previous security issues?

Continue reading →

German software developer Ashampoo GmbH has released Ashampoo Uninstaller 8.0, a major new version of its program clean-up tool for Windows.

The new release adds several notable new features: the ability to drag and drop programs to remove them, support for the Opera web browser and a new File Wiper module for thorough file cleaning.

Continue reading →

Microsoft's update procedure for Windows 10 has been a little, er, wobbly of late. The Windows 10 October 2018 Update proved so problematic that it had to pulled, and even the re-released version is far from perfect.

Now it seems the cancer is spreading to Office. Having released a series of updates for Office 2010, 2013 and 2016 as part of this month's Patch Tuesday, Microsoft has now pulled two of them and advised sysadmins to uninstall the updates if they have already been installed.

Continue reading →

Incomedia has released major new versions of its wizard-driven web-building tool with the launch of WebSite X5 Evolution 17.0. Website X5 Evolution is accompanied by both higher (Professional) and lower (Start) packages.

Version 17.0 is the third major update of 2018, and integrates CSS Grid Layout into a brand new version of its internal page-creation engine. This, Incomedia promises, will mean more speed, flexibility, precision and compatibility for the end user’s web pages.

Continue reading →