Articles about Software

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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This Saturday's World Backup Day is set to raise awareness of the importance of backing up important documents.

Backup solution specialist CloudBerry is marking the day by offering a 50 percent discount until April 2nd on its CloudBerry Backup program for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

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Prolific software developer Nir Sofer has created 10 more new tools, but they aren’t currently linked to on his site, or anywhere else.

They are somewhere on the NirSoft site, but finding them won’t be easy. Do you have what it takes?

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The rise of IoT devices is pushing more systems towards an edge computing model in order to handle the data created more effectively.

While several open source projects exist to help solve pieces of the edge puzzle, no single project currently meets the need for a complete edge infrastructure solution.

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Google has released Google Web Designer 3.0 Beta, its HTML5 content-producing tool for Windows, Mac and Linux. Although targeted primarily at advertisers, the tool can be adapted for other content too, and also supports JavaScript, CSS and XML.

Version 3.0 introduces several new features. First, users are now able to change the ad environment via the File > Ad environment menu. When supported, users can switch between DoubleClick, AdMob, AdWords and Non-Google Ad easily.

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Unless you're a fan of using a computer that looks and feels the same as everyone else, you probably want to spend some time tweaking Windows so it works the way you want it to. Broadly speaking, tweaks fall into three categories -- those that change appearance, those that boost performance, and those that change the way things work.

Windows 10 does -- through Settings and the Control Panel -- afford you a decent degree of control over how the operating system looks and works, but if you want to get serious about things you have two options: head into the registry, or turn to a dedicated tweaking and customization tool. Now there are endless apps to help make life easier, so here's a roundup of the best Windows 10 tweaking and customization tools.

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For some people, Firefox Sync is a great way to synchronize browser settings, add-ons, bookmarks and so on between computers. For others it's a privacy nightmare and a massive annoyance.

Starting with Firefox 60, Mozilla is making it possible to not only disable the feature, but also hide it. This might seem like a minor change, but for anyone irritated by the mere presence of Firefox sync, it's something that should have happened sooner.

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Starting with Redstone 4, Microsoft will give developers a new option for their UWP apps in Windows 10 -- support for multiple instances of an app. This is a feature that lots of Windows 10 users have been asking for, so it will be welcomed with open arms.

As of Windows 10 version 1803, multiple-instance support for UWP apps will be available to developers on an opt-in basis. Microsoft has published a detailed blog post that explains how the function can be used.

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We all back up our data, right? That's what everyone does! But of course, that's far from true. Most people don't get much further than thinking about putting a backup plan in place, promising themselves it's something they'll sort out one day -- and, all of a sudden, it's too late.

Deleting files by accident is easily done. If you're tinkering with partitions, it's also scarily easy to wipe out the wrong one! These are just two of the ways in which you can lose files, and if you don’t have a backup to hand, you're going to need help from a data recovery tool. Here we look at five of the best free options to help bring your files back from the dead.

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In the world of media playing software, VLC is a perennial favorite -- and with good reason. This open source tool is one of the most feature-packed players out there, and it has just received a huge and long-awaited upgrade with the release of VLC 3.0 'Vetinari'.

Many software releases are described as being major or significant, but VLC 3.0 really is a huge release -- it's a truly massive update from its predecessor. Available for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, Chromebooks and Windows Phone, just about everyone can take advantage of the power of this incredible player.

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There’s so much negative press about 'mature' security software from the likes of Kaspersky, maybe it’s time to consider an alternative? And it’s not limited to Kaspersky. Brands such as Norton have been questioned recently by allowing Russian authorities to examine source code for potential backdoors.

In our experience, people avoid change and often only seek an alternative when their system (somewhat ironically) is compromised. Little do people know that they are actually fewer daily threats than they realize, unless you spend the day downloading dodgy software or looking at rogue websites, your everyday computing experience will be trouble-free.

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Java established itself as one of the leading programming languages shortly after its debut, over two decades ago. According to the TIOBE Index for January 2018, it is actually the programming language that most people are interested in. For newcomers, it is among the top picks, no doubt due to the sheer number of jobs available.

The TIOBE Index, which provides a glimpse into our interest in programming languages based on searches on Google, Bing, Wikipedia and YouTube, among other major resources, puts Java at the top of the pack with a 14.21 percent rating. It holds a comfortable lead over its main rivals, though at least one of them is starting to gain ground again -- C.

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Christmas must be just around the corner -- IObit has unveiled Advanced SystemCare Ultimate 11, a major new release of its flagship system security and optimization product for Windows. It arrives around 12 months to the day after version 10 was released.

Version 11 unveils a new Anti-Ransomware engine, one-click security audit and major improvements to core features like Performance Monitor, Disk Optimization and IObit Undelete. Some of these features made their bow in IObit Advanced SystemCare Free 11, which was released back in October.

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