Software
Sumatra, a very fast PDF reader
For various reasons, including security, I prefer not to use Adobe Reader for opening PDF files. I have been using Foxit but the open source application called Sumatra is getting good reviews. I mentioned Sumatra before but it has a new release. Lifehacker as well as gHacks like Sumatra. It has a small footprint [...]
Free Microsoft programs
Microsoft may charge a lot for Windows but it also has quite a lot of free software. At TechRadar Aditya Chandrasekhar has put together a list of 24 applications from Microsoft that he thinks are the best. (Actually, not all the applications on the list are from Microsoft.)
To take a look at what’s available from [...]
Freeware lists
There are a lot of lists of freeware on the Internet but many are not all that useful (or reliable). I’ve mentioned TechSupportAlert numerous times and it’s hard to beat the lists compiled and evaluated there. “Gizmo” Richards and his staff put in a lot of effort to come up with choices for the best [...]
Paint.NET updated
I have mentioned the excellent free photo and image editing software Paint.NET before. It has now been updated to version 3.5. A review at MaximumPC says:
Looking for an alternative to Photoshop and GIMP? You’re in luck – there’s a new version of Paint.NET available, and it’s a pretty significant upgrade over previous versions.
Version 3.5 sports [...]
Can’t anybody play this here game?
I was reminded of the above famous quote by Casey Stengel about the hapless New York Mets baseball team he was managing when I saw this post at InformationWeek, 9 In 10 Web Apps Have Serious Flaws. Can’t anybody out there write safe applications?
Firefox is five years old
A perfect example of how fast technology moves is the fact that it is only five years since the Firefox browser came on the scene. Firefox 1.0 was released on November 9, 2004. I am so used to having Firefox that it seems much longer ago that I first used Firefox. Our thanks and congratulations [...]
Firefox update coming
Another Firefox update, version 3.55, is coming sometime today. If you have enabled automatic notification of updates, you should receive a notification soon. Otherwise, open the “Help” menu in Firefox and click “Check for Updates”. As of this writing (11:15 EST) the update is not yet available at Mozilla but gHacks is providing a [...]
Can whitelisting help combat the malware epidemic?
Malware on the Internet is a bad situation and any good news on that front is welcome. So it is encouraging to see that security expert Roger Grimes says that whitelisting may be an effective defense. Writing at InfoWorld, Grimes reviews five whitelisting applications and says that whitelisting may be the new best defense against [...]
List of best products of 2009
I don’t always agree with the selections but PC World has compiled a list of what the editors consider the best products of 2009. It is described:
PC World looked at many outstanding hardware, software, sites, and services this year, evaluating each one on its design, functionality, performance, and impact. Here is the cream of the [...]
Keeping software patched
One of the biggest security problems with a PC is keeping current with all the software patches. Ordinary home PC users simply cannot keep up with the never-ending flow of updates without help. You can use Microsoft update for Windows, Office, and other Microsoft products but what about all that other software that we all [...]
Outstanding free security list
“Gizmo” Richards has long been a source for excellent advice on free security software. His TechSupportAlert site has a new list of the best security software of all types, almost all of it free. The only problem with the list is that it is so comprehensive that it may be a little overwhelming. For those [...]