Windows Tips and Tricks

The term “beta” for software, like so many other words, is being misused. An opinion piece at Computerworld discusses how the term no longer means what it once did:

Once upon a time the term “beta” meant that the software was very close to release, but the developers were still seeking feedback. Betas were typically only distributed to a limited audience of a few customers who understood the risks inherent in using software that might break, and who would report bugs. Those bugs would then be fixed and the final version released for sale.

Today, betas are instantly available to everyone worldwide; there are rarely limits. They are used to attract free publicity, or to drive user demand through “invite only”-style launches. And a beta is not a one-time event. The software changes frequently; new features are added constantly. If problems occur the answer is often not to fix them, but to state that “the product is only in beta”. But people use the product as if it were final. At best, the service might not work exactly as advertised. At worst, your data could be lost, destroyed or leaked.

A lot of people have digital cameras of one sort or the other and a lot of pictures get taken. From what I’ve seen, quite a few of them could use some editing. Fortunately, there are some very useful free programs that are easy to use and have most features that an ordinary amateur photographer would need. Unless you are a more advanced enthusiast, there’s no point in paying for something like Adobe Photoshop Elements when free programs like Paint.NET are available. This program has just been updated and can be downloaded at http://www.getpaint.net/. Here’s some description:

Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.

It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple image and photo editor tool. It has been compared to other digital photo editing software packages such as Adobe® Photoshop®, Corel® Paint Shop Pro®, Microsoft Photo Editor, and The GIMP.

I previously mentioned the free program Revo as being a better way to uninstall things from Windows. The How-To Geek has put up a detailed explanation of how to use Revo. The program isn’t hard to use and you could have figured it out yourself but it’s helpful to be able to see how a program works before you actually try it.

Many home PC owners use the free anti-virus program AVG from Grisoft. A new version is now available. Among other things, the interface is improved. The software has also been extended to include anti-spyware. The new version is AVG 8.0 and can be downloaded here.

Addendum: I should point out that installing AVG 8.0 does not remove older versions of AVG. Uninstall any older versions of AVG (or any other anti-virus program) before installing AVG 8.0.

At Windows Secrets, Scott Dunn has gone through various lists of highly rated freeware and come up with nine that appear most frequently. Among them are the anti-virus program Avira AntiVir, the firewall from Comodo, and the system cleaner CCleaner.

One problem with the Windows operating system is the way that programs are allowed to put files and Registry entries all over the place. When you uninstall a program the standard way, a lot of this scattered stuff is left behind. One way to have cleaner uninstallations is to use the free software Revo. Both Lifehacker and, more recently, Steve Bass have recommended it. I also have been using it and it seems a worthwhile program. You can download it here. As always, however, make a System Restore point before you uninstall (or install) anything.

Beware of something called “XP Antivirus Protection”. It is a fake anti-virus program that will install spyware on your system. More details at The Blade.

Once more you should update your Adobe Flash player. Almost everybody has at least an add-on for Internet Explorer so that probably includes you. Details are at a post by Ryan Naraine. The Adobe link for the update is here.

Want to try Microsoft Office free for 60 days? This link explains how.

As I’ve said before, I think Office is overkill for most home PC users. But, if you have an older version of Office and want to see if upgrading to 2007 is worthwhile, this is a way to find out.

If you use the popular telecommunications software from Skype, you need to patch it with the update available here.