Software : In Depth: Best free Windows 7 downloads |
- In Depth: Best free Windows 7 downloads
- Google Opinion Rewards opens up to UK, Australia
- Apple's speech recognition pioneer scoop may be to Siri's benefit
- Vine just got private with new direct messaging feature
- Microsoft updates Internet Explorer with enterprise-friendly features
| In Depth: Best free Windows 7 downloads Posted:  Windows 7 is a great operating system, and you can make it greater still with a few well chosen downloads. From system cleaners to photo editors and password rememberers, these are a few of our favourite free Windows things. AVG Anti-Virus Free
AVG is the world's most downloaded anti-virus program, with good reason: it does an excellent job of nobbling nasties without slowing down your PC or annoying you with unnecessary alarms. The free version doesn't include everything the paid-for version does – there's no download shield for files or anti-spam for email, for example. But it does provide solid protection against viruses, spyware and other malware and warns you of potentially fraudulent web links. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CCleaner
If your PC feels sluggish or buggy, a good spring clean can help restore its vim and vigour – and when it comes to spring cleaning, few programs do it better than CCleaner. The free version works on single accounts – if you want to automatically clean multiple accounts you'll need the paid-for version – and it does an excellent job of removing unnecessary files, fixing issues in the Windows registry and sweeping your hard disk for the electronic equivalent of cobwebs and spiders. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Evernote
Evernote isn't just a program: it's a platform. It's designed to organise all kinds of information – text, web links, photos, documents and so on – and make them available on your computer, tablet and smartphone. There are also task-specific apps that enable you to use Evernote as a recipe organiser or to collaborate on documents as part of a work team. The basic program is an excellent place to store your stuff. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Firefox
There are many web browsers for Windows, but despite stiff opposition from Google Chrome, Opera and the rejuvenated Internet Explorer, Firefox is still our favourite. That's because it isn't just a web browser. Its massive collection of themes, extensions and add-ons means it's a kind of Swiss Army Knife for the internet, capable of doing pretty much anything you might want to do online. It's fast, flexible and fantastic. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gimp
GIMP, the open source image editor, has lots of features you'd expect to pay big money for, but its price tag is zero. It's not as easy as some other programs – if you're an absolute beginner to digital imaging you'll find the free paint.net easier to get to grips with – but it offers pro-level tools at a pauper-level price tag. If you need to edit images, adjust photos or create new compositions, this one is a must-download. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LastPass
 Every time a big site gets hacked, we discover that most people's passwords are pretty awful. The world's most common password is the rather easy-to-guess 123456 – with 12345678 and 'password' also in the top three. People tend to use simple passwords because remembering complex ones is very difficult, and that's where LastPass comes in. It works across browsers and devices, generating unique and very tough passwords and recalling them whenever you need them. It's a much better idea than using the name of your first pet, your car registration or your favourite football team. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Picasa
If you haven't already pledged allegiance to a rival photo sharing service, Google's Picasa makes it really easy to organise, edit and share images. It automatically compresses images you send in emails, it can be used to back up your images to prevent digital disaster, it's compatible with most digital photo and video cameras, and it includes a host of filters that you can use to make your images even more eye-popping. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Recuva
Think of Recuva as a first aid kit for your PC: you hope you'll never need to use it, but if you do you'll be awfully glad that it's there. Recuva is there for those "oh no" moments: the moment you empty the Recycle Bin, only to realise that you've just zapped an important file or photo; the moment your computer crashes, destroying hours of work; or the moment when you insert the memory card from your holidays and your computer says the card is corrupt. It can help you get access to damaged hard disks, recover deleted emails and iPod music, and it can even bring unsaved Microsoft Word documents back from the dead. It's rather like a remote control for your life, enabling you to travel back in time to the moment before something dire happened to your data. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LibreOffice
If you need Microsoft Office-style software but can't spare the cash, there are plenty of alternatives. Unfortunately some of them are online-only affairs, which isn't ideal if you can't be constantly connected. If you're looking for free office tools that you can download to your desktop, we'd recommend the excellent LibreOffice. It covers everything you might need from word processing to spreadsheets and presentations, and it can also read Office's file formats such as DOC and DOCX. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ VLC
VLC is a media player that can play pretty much anything – and it can do it without having to download a whole bunch of codec packs for audio and video. Ad-free, spyware-free and completely free, it can deal with any kind of media – even damaged video files. It can stream media directly from online sources too. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Google Opinion Rewards opens up to UK, Australia Posted:  Google has finally opened up its Google Opinion Rewards app for Aussies, Canadians and those in the UK, letting you earn Play store credit by answering surveys. The app first appeared in the US late last year, offering users Google Play store credit for every survey completed. The surveys are pretty quick with between one to three questions asked, and for every survey completed, Google Play store says you can receive up to the local equivalent of US$1, though you'll mostly encounter rewards of about 25 cents. Cheap moneyAfter downloading the app, the setup is fairly quick, with the app asking you to log in with your Google account. Then you'll need to enter your gender, age group, post code and occupation, as well as a handful of other questions before you can start earning Play credit. The app will send you a notification when a new survey becomes available, but with surveys appearing about once a week, don't expect to earn enough credit to, for example, offset your in-app purchasing habits. Still, it's a nice way of getting some Google Play credit by doing very little. The app can be downloaded in Australia, Canada and the UK from today. Via: Ausdroid |
| Apple's speech recognition pioneer scoop may be to Siri's benefit Posted:  Apple might be feeling some pressure from Cortana's big reveal at Microsoft Build as it's bought a speech recognition pioneer to help improve Siri. Apple quietly acquired Novauris Technologies, a company specializing in the automatic speech recognition field, which originally spun off from the team that developed Nuance's Dragon naturally speaking software. TechCrunch reported that the Cupertino company actually bought Novauris last year but the purchase wasn't publicly announced until now. Since last fall, the Novauris team has apparently been working to improve Siri, Apple's speech-based personal assistant. Before the acquisition, the Novauris team was already working on its own large vocabulary, automatic speech recognition technology to access information stored on mobile devices or remote servers. This same system is likely being integrated into Siri for an improved version we might see come with iOS 8 at WWDC 2014. The best virtual secretaryApple confirmed it did purchase Novauris with TechCrunch, however the iPhone maker noted, per usual, that it buys smaller technology companies from time to time but has no interest in discussing the purpose or plans behind the acquisition. What comes from Apple bulking up its team of voice recognition experts remains uncertain, but it's becoming clear that Apple's virtual assistant is lagging behind the competition. With Google Now on Android and now Cortana on Windows Phone 8.1, it's becoming clear a digital assistant needs to do more than understand a voice commands and reply with punchy one-liners. The software also needs to learn to adapt to schedules and lifestyles. Google Now cards already predict information you need ahead of time such as commuting times and spotting restaurants around the corner. Cortana, meanwhile, made its debut overshadowing Windows Phone 8.1 with its ability to plug into third-party apps – an ability Siri doesn't have.
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| Vine just got private with new direct messaging feature Posted:  Vine has pushed out a new feature that lets users send one another private, direct messages. Given that Vine is owned by Twitter, it was only a matter of time before this happened. Now users can communicate directly with their friends using short videos and text messages without needing to broadcast their karaoke night or striptease to everyone who follows them. Because sometimes, just sending someone a text isn't enough, and you need to say it with video. Tap and holdTo reply to a Vine video message you only need to tap and hold on the screen, much like recording a Vine in the first place. With the privacy conversation more heated than ever its no surprise that Vine is following the lead of services like Twitter and Instagram in setting up private messages. Interestingly, Vine users can send private videos to anyone in their Vine network or contacts list, even if the recipient doesn't use Vine. But you need to verify your phone number with Vine to send messages to users who don't follow you, and they'll be able to easily ignore those messages, as they appear in a separate inbox. And you can send a private Vine message to multiple users, but the service currently does not support group messaging, so you'll get multiple one-on-one convos instead. Vine messaging is available now in the latest version of the Vine app on iOS and Android. |
| Microsoft updates Internet Explorer with enterprise-friendly features Posted:  Microsoft has unveiled a slew of updates for Internet Explorer 11 at its Build conference in San Francisco, California. A new version of IE11 will come bundled with Windows 8.1 Update 1, available immediately on the Microsoft Developers Network and TechNet. Consumers will have to wait until April 8 to get their hands on it. It will also be made available to Windows 7 users. IE11 will also be launched on Windows Phone 8.1, bringing some desktop features for the first time to the mobile screen. These include the ability to pin sites to the Start Screen, Reading Mode for better article reading, and Voice Commands for easier browsing. The InPrivate option will also keep users' browsing history private, while a new High Savings Mode will reduce data consumption by between 60 and 80 per cent. This is achieved by only loading relevant website elements and reducing image downloads. Addressing business bluesCoupled with IE11 for Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 is the new Enterprise Mode, which provides safe updates with backwards compatibility for IE8 or below. The fragmentation of IE across the business sector has always been a significant pain, with websites developed for different versions. Enterprise Mode will therefore be a very welcome feature. It wasn't all IE11 at Build, however. Microsoft announced a new dialogue between the IE team and the community as the company begins work on IE12. It invited feedback through its @IEDevChat Twitter account. |
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