Software

With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) due to come into force next month, 84 percent of respondents to a new study say that digital accessibility is a priority for their company.

The EAA aims to make technology products and services easier to use for people with disabilities. The study, from quality and testing specialist Applause, shows 94 percent of organizations are preparing for the EAA by the June 28, 2025 deadline.

A new survey of 200 chief information security officers (CISOs) from across diverse industries and regions finds that 49 percent of CISOs say buyers now factor application security (AppSec) into their purchasing decisions.

The study from Checkmarx shows 24 percent say that application security is 'always' a factor in those decisions. This trend is most pronounced in Europe, where 58 percent of respondents report that security is always a factor, compared to 33 percent in the Asia Pacific region and only eight percent in North America.

Open-source system-cleaning tool BleachBit 5.0 has been released for Windows and Linux users. The tool, which is used to clean up drive space and shred sensitive data, provides a way for users to remove unwanted and unused data from their machines.

Version 5.0 comes with the promise of new and improved cleaners alongside numerous other updates and security fixes.

Artificial intelligence has found its way into many areas, not least software development. But using this technology isn't without problems around security, code quality and more.

We talked to Vibor Cipan, senior manager -- developer relations, community and success at AI coding agent Zencoder to find out more about the challenges of AI development and how to address them.

Although 63 percent of organizations claim their architecture is integrated throughout development (from design to deployment and beyond), a new study shows more than half (56 percent) have documentation that doesn't match the architecture in production.

The research from vFunction shows the impact of this architecture disconnect has potentially resulted in project delays (53 percent), security or compliance challenges (50 percent), scalability limitations (46 percent), and reduced engineering team productivity (28 percent).

Canadian developer FastStone Software has released Faststone Image Viewer 8.0, a major new release of its powerful -- and free for personal and non-commercial use -- image toolkit for Windows PCs.

Despite the name, FastStone Image Viewer is more than just a simple tool for viewing images. Users can view multiple files courtesy of its two-pane File Explorer interface, with the ability to view a folder full of images as a slideshow, complete with access to detailed file properties (including EXIF data).

Berlin-based O&O Software GmbH has unveiled a major new release -- and edition -- of its backup software for Windows. O&O DiskImage 21 Premium is a new entry into the DiskImage family, aimed firmly at home users.

The application, which can back up everything from individual files to entire drives, is relaunched with a brand new interface as well as several new features. As with previous releases, the app is sold with a lifetime license as opposed to a time-limited subscription.

Software engineering organizations often grapple with challenges that hinder their output -- including productivity blind spots, duplicate work, deadlines that don't stand a chance, burnout, and other hidden costs that eat up time and energy.

And while metrics can signal a problem, they don't always uncover the root cause or -- more importantly -- how to fix it. To explore this, we spoke to Joe Levy, CEO of Uplevel, an engineering optimization system helping developers independently measure the ROI of AI adoption.

If you’re in dire need of quickly transferring a file between devices -- whether desktop to desktop, mobile to mobile or desktop to/from mobile -- then you’ll know the usual routine often involves transferring through an intermediary like a cloud or network folder or resorting to emailing or messaging yourself with the file as an attachment. Fiddly, time-consuming and often frustrating.

Apple’s AirDrop makes it easy to transfer files between Apple devices simply by bringing them into the same network, and now Flying Carpet 9.0 offers similar functionality across all major mobile and desktop platforms.

A new report from Grafana Labs looks at the maturity and evolution of the observability landscape, from the complex challenges teams are facing to the tools and tactics they're implementing to overcome them.

The study, based on 1,255 responses, shows 75 percent of respondents are now using open source licensing for observability into software performance, with 70 percent reporting that their organizations use both Prometheus and OpenTelemetry in some capacity. Half of all organizations have increased their investments in both technologies for the second year in a row.

Windows 10 and Windows 11 are functional but a bit unexciting, with limited customization options. If you’ve ever wished you could make Windows look and work better, the good news is that Seelen UI has you covered.

This free tool reimagines what a Windows desktop can be, giving users the power to break free from Microsoft’s frustrating limitations -- and it’s just been updated to offer even more features and improvements.

Looking for a way to protect your PC from the dreaded specter of data loss or system corruption? The most effective strategy involves backing up both data and your Windows system, and the best free tool for the job is Hasleo Backup Suite 5.2 Free.

Windows’ own backup tools aren’t really fit for purpose, while our previous backup tool of choice -- Macrium Reflect -- dropped its free tier a few years ago. That was forgivable, but we draw the line at switching to a subscription model. Thankfully, Hasleo Backup Suite offers a comprehensive -- and completely free -- alternative.

Are you frustrated by Mozilla’s recent leanings towards putting revenue ahead of privacy? Fans of Firefox who are looking to take their privacy to the next level (and beyond any potential compromises Mozilla might make going forward) should take a look at LibreWolf, available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

LibreWolf is a direct fork from the latest version of Firefox with a raft of additional privacy measures added to make your browsing experience even more private.

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.

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.