Articles about Software

Almost four years after the last major release, German developer Ashampoo has unveiled Photo Optimizer 7 for PCs running Windows 7 or later. The commercial tool offers a variety of quick and easy fixes, including various one-click optimizations tools.

Highlights include a complete user interface redesign -- including new dark theme look to accompany the growing number of apps sporting the eye-friendly look, "greatly improved" optimization tools and various other tweaks and improvements.

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Protecting your personal information has made big headlines in 2018, and will continue to do so as hackers continue to outwit even the biggest firms. This is what makes our new software giveaway so essential: a year’s license for Sticky Password Premium.

Sticky Password is a suite of products for mobile and desktop that allow you to store your online passwords, form fills and credit card information securely -- our giveaway will give you access to all its Premium features across all supported devices, including Windows, Mac, iOS and Android.

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Everybody needs a backup -- with ransomware added to the list of threats to your data, now is the perfect time to take full advantage of our first BetaNews full software giveaway: O&O DiskImage 11 Professional, worth $49.95, this Thursday (June 7).

What makes O&O DiskImage 11 special is that it enables you to back up both individual files and folders as well as take a full drive image, so you can protect key data alongside your fail-safe drive image covering your entire Windows installation -- all from one application.
The program is simple to use -- the main user interface is a series of tabs allowing you to jump between different parts of the program, while a start screen makes it easy to get started with taking a drive image or choosing which folders to back up.

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In his weekly message to the Linux community on Sunday, Linus Torvalds announced the release of Linux 4.17. The release comes a couple of months after the first release candidate, and in his message Torvalds also talks about version 5.0 of the Linux kernel.

Having previously said that Linux kernel v5.0 "should be meaningless", he said that this next major numerical milestone will come around "in the not too distance future". For now, though, it's version 4.17 -- or Merciless Moray, if you prefer -- that's of interest.

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WinStep Software Technologies has updated its flagship products, WinStep Nexus Dock and WinStep Extreme, to version 18.5. Despite the point release, WinStep is billing this as a "massive release".

Docks are now accessible through NextSTART while the Media Player’s internal command gains enhanced features for unobtrusive music playback. There are also numerous improvements and features added to the Nexus Dock component.

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Telegram CEO Pavel Durov says that Apple has stopped approving updates for its mobile app on a worldwide basis.

He says that it coincides with Russia implementing a block on Telegram, and it means there have been no updates rolling out to users anywhere in the world for a month and a half. Apple has said nothing about the apparent update block, and the lack of transparency has forced Durov to go public.

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Kaspersky has released major new versions of its security suites with the launch of Kaspersky Internet Security 2019 and Kaspersky Total Security 2019 for Windows PCs.

The suite -- which is also available (but not yet updated) on the Mac -- concentrates on improving and refining existing components, with highlights including support for removing troublesome applications and browser extensions.

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How do you store your passwords? You’ll be surprised. Some people use the same memorable pass for most websites, but if this is compromised it offers the fraudster access to every site where you used the single login.

Other people simply write down their passwords. To be fair, if you can trust the people in your household, there’s no problem with this, but how do you access your website logins on the road? Do you take your notepad with you, containing every single login and, no doubt, your bank password?

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The Electron framework -- the basis of popular apps including Skype, Slack, Signal and WordPress -- has been found to contain a security flaw that leaves it vulnerable to attack.

The GitHub-created tool has a vulnerability that allows hackers to execute arbitrary code on remote systems. CVE-2018-1000136 affects Electron 1.7.13 and older as well as Electron 1.8.4 and 2.0.0-beta.3, and the problem exists because of the interaction between Electron and Node.js.

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After around six months in beta -- and two years in the making -- the team behind the TunnelBear VPN tool has officially launched its password manager, RememBear.

Vying for attention in an already somewhat crowded marketplace, RememBear takes a leaf out of TunnelBear's book, and concentrates on offering functionality that's simple to use. There's also the same quirky use of animations throughout, but this should not distract from the fact that this is a powerful and secure place to store passwords.

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Following the release of Linux kernel 4.16, Linus Torvalds has said that the next kernel will be version 5.0. Or maybe it won't, because version numbers are meaningless.

The announcement -- of sorts -- came in Torvalds' message over the weekend about the first release candidate for version 4.17. He warns that it is not "shaping up to be a particularly big release" and questions whether it even matters what version number is slapped on the final release.

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Popular cross-platform, open-source video transcoder Handbrake 1.1.0 has been released, and despite the version number increment is actually a major update. Handbrake allows users to convert video from a wide variety of formats -- including DVD and Blu-ray -- into MP4 or MKV files with support for a wide range of codecs, including x264, x265, VP8/9 and both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4.

Handbrake 1.1.0 provides a major update to its user interface to provide a more logical and easy to follow workflow. It also adds new presets, filters and improves 4K and x265 support.

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Cast your mind back several years and you'll remember Windows 3.0 and earlier. This was when Microsoft started to bring home computing to the masses, and for anyone raised on modern Windows, the lack of Start menu, taskbar and other components makes the operating system seem antiquated and unusable.

But use it we did! Back then, there was no File Explorer, but File Manager instead -- and it's something that people sometimes feel nostalgic about. A couple of days ago, Microsoft open sourced the File Manager code, and a Windows 10 version has been released.

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AgileBits has released beta versions of its upcoming 1Password 7.0 Beta for Mac and 1Password 7.0 Beta for Windows clients. 1Password offers secure form-filling and password management tools and is also available on iOS and Android.

The beta showcases several major new features, with Windows gaining a handy new sidebar view to ape the Mac version, which sees its own sidebar improved along with a host of other new additions and feature improvements.

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Just over a week ago, Linus Torvalds said that the release of Linux 4.16 could take place on Sunday April 1. Ignoring the fact that April Fool's day is a terrible day to do just about anything, he made good on his promise.

As predicted, there was no RC8 of the kernel, and Torvalds notes that the final release is very similar to RC7. In a post to the Linux Kernel Mailing List, he also said that the merge window for 4.17 is open, but for now, the focus is on 4.16.

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