Adobe PhotoShop Description

If you use images to communicate or gather and analyze information, then download a FREE trial of the new Adobe Photoshop CS3 software and experience the power first-hand. Whether you're simply retouching or optimizing an image or building complex composites or animations, you'll have the power and precision you need for superior results. New features include simplified file handling with Adobe Bridge, revolutionary Vanishing Point, Multiple Layer Control, Smart Objects, Multi-image Raw Processing, Image Warp, Advanced Noise Reduction, 32-bit High Dynamic Range Support, Customizable Workspaces and Menus, Spot Healing Brush, One-click Red-eye correction. Make your vision a reality. Learn more about Adobe Photoshop CS3 and try it now for free.

Partition Magic Description

Partition Magic allows you to create, resize and merge partitions on your hard drive without destroying data. Partition Magic helps organize and protect your data, run multiple operating systems, convert file system types and fix partition table errors.Features:· Organize and protect the information on a hard drive · Easy, step-by-step wizards help with performing partitioning tasks · Preview the effects of partitioning a hard drive before implementing anything · Safely manage multiple operating systems · Partition hard drives as large as 80 GB · Access and partition external USB drives · Undelete a deleted partition from rescue disks · Remotely copy, move, delete, and create partitions across a TCP/IP connection · Create and run scripts to automate common partitioning tasks · Shred partitions to ensure the security of corporate data on retiring hard disks · Convert from one file system or partition type to another without losing data · Supports FAT, FAT32, NTFS, and Linux ext2/Swap file systems · Support for Windows XP

Internet Download Manager

Internet Download Manager is an application designed for increasing download speeds by up to 5 times, and for resuming, scheduling, and organizing downloads. Downloads can be grouped into categories as it includes an adaptive download accelerator for MP3 audio files, and MPEG video content processing; the scheduler allows starting a download at a certain hour and can be executed recursively on every weekday. Extra options include: hang up the modem when done, exit Internet Download Manager when done, or shut down computer when done. The program will resume unfinished downloads due to network problems, or unexpected power outages. It integrates into any application that uses FTP, or HTTP protocols. Pluses: The program features a full-fledged site grabber that downloads files that are specified with filters, for example, all pictures from a Web site, different parts of web sites, or complete web sites for offline browsing. Drawbacks / flaws: In conclusion: Stable, fast and easy to use, is a good performer overall, with reasonable acceleration and a solid selection of features.

Nero 7 Premium Reloaded

Nero 7 is an all-in-one CD/DVD recording application suite and more. The installation process is designed to fit everyone's needs, whether you are a beginner, by choosing a typical installation, or you are an advanced user, by just selecting the components you need or a full install. The last installation step activates Nero Scout and allows you to select Nero to be associated with image, video, and audio files in order to ease access to Nero Home Media Manager. Nero Scout has integrated a brand new component called Nero Search, which provides quick searching capabilities on your computer or on the Internet. Once the package is installed, you can choose to run your applications independently from Nero Home or from Nero StartSmart control center. The Nero 7 package contains Nero StartSmart, Burning ROM, Nero Express, Nero Vision, Nero BackItUp, Nero Cover Designer, Nero Wave Editor, Nero SoundTrax, Nero ShowTime, Nero MediaHome, Nero Recode, Nero PhotoSnap, Nero PhotoSnap Viewer, Nero ImageDrive, Nero BurnRights, Nero ProductSetup, Nero CD-DVD Speed, Nero DriveSpeed, and Nero InfoTool. Nero Home is a multimedia manager that allows you to record or playback all types of media images, movies, and music. Similar to Windows Media Center, Nero Home is tool, which manages your entire multimedia collection and features, advanced playback capabilities, as well as capturing video from any source like TV cards, graphic cards, camcorder, VCR, or webcams (composite/S-video). Nero StartSmart is the main Nero suite launcher, which contains shortcuts to all Nero applications and services. You can select any task and Nero StartSmart will automatically start the appropriate application in order to perform your desired operations. Nero Burning ROM is the key feature of the Nero suite. Well known for its CD/DVD burning capabilities, now Nero Burning ROM also features support for Blu-ray disk data recording. Nero Express is actually a simplified version of Nero burning ROM, since it has been redesigned to increase speed, efficiency, ease of use, and to keep the performance standards of Nero Burning ROM. Nero Vision allows you to capture video from external sources and create DVD-Video, VCD, SVCD, and miniDVDs. Among its options, we may mention the capability of creating animated menus for DVD-Video: 3D menu scenes, translations between menus and video clips. Nero BackItUp helps you keep your files and folders secure from damage because of system crashes, power failure, etc. In case you want to backup entire partitions, the backup process will take a little longer than other backup applications, such as Acronis True Image. It took 17 min, 40 sec. to backup a 35Gb hard drive which had 7.23 Gb occupied. Nero Cover Designer allows you to customize your disk cases. You can choose to create your own disk covers or you can use one of the dozens of templates available. Nero Wave Editor provides you with recording and editing tools for AIF, MP2, WMA, MP4, WAVE, and NWF audio file formats. You can record sound from multiple sources, like CD, Line In, Microphone, etc. Nero SoundTrax is a professional audio mixing utility. It supports 7.1 channel surround real time editing and mixing. It transfers to your PC old tapes, CDs, and even vinyl records. Nero ShowTime is a fully featured multimedia player. You can play all types of video and audio files, including DVDs with subtitles and frame capture capabilities. With Nero Recode you can recode non-copy protected movies (DVD-9 to DVD-5) to a CDR/RW, DVD+/-R or a single DVD+R DL disc in DVD-Video format (DVD-9 to DVD-9). It includes MP4 support for iPod encoding. You can import a DVD, select video and audio quality, get subtitles, or even recode it to 8cm DVD (1,4 Gb), DVD5 (4,7 Gb) or custom size video. Video files can be previewed in the internal viewer. Nero PhotoSnap is not a very impressive image-editing tool. It can open a large array of image files and it features many effects such as image sharpening, color balance, lens distortions, rotate, redeye removal, etc. On the other hand, you cannot draw, add text, insert shapes, or convert images. Nero ImageDrive is a virtual drive mounter, which supports integration into Windows Explorer as well as up to two virtual drives. The interface is very well designed and it provides quick access to all Nero features like data, audio, or video CD burning. Converting audio CDs to audio files, encoding audio files with a large variety of extensions, copying CDs, backing up files, restoring back-ups, burning images, or erasing CDs are very accessible as well. You can also change the way Nero looks by choosing a skin of your liking. All usual file formats are supported. There is also an extremely useful selection of favorite applications you can choose from, such as making data DVD's, making mp3 or WMA DVDs, copying DVDs, backing up files, restoring back-ups, and burning images. The tools provided allow you to check drive speed, set burning rights for different users, and obtain system information. Pluses: CD/DVD overburning, some nice utility tools such as system information, test CD/DVD drives for transfer rates, DAE quality, access/seek times, CPU usage, burst rates, etc., as well as controlling the cover, drive speed, and CD/DVD label manager. Nero 7 also supports burning of short Lead Outs. Thus, one can save up to 80 seconds when burning a CD/DVD, and has only 12 Mb of free storage location. A great feature of Nero is InCD. An application which allows you to read discs written in MRW format on systems that do not support MRW as well as discs written in a UDF format that are not natively supported by your operating system. InCD is a drag-and-drop writing utility, which provides DVD-RAM, Blu-ray support, and DVD-RW quick format. Drawbacks / flaws: Nero BackItUp lacks incremental and differential backup options, as well as the fact that it cannot create a full backup of the primary partition because the file system is in use. In conclusion: Burning CD/DVD-Video, Photo, Data, Audio, or BackUp files, as well as mounting images. All utilities integrated in an extremely comprehensive and reliable package. A few minor flaws, but overall it's an excellent program!

Macromedia Flash MX Description

Already a powerful tool for creating rich Internet content, Flash has evolved into a robust environment for developing online advertising, electronic learning courses, user interfaces for enterprise applications, and multimedia content. In addition to animation and vector graphics tools, Flash now includes video support for MPEG, digital video, MOV, and AVI formats. You can edit, manipulate, and animate video objects or use scripting to make your videos interactive. You'll also find new graphic design capabilities such as Bezier curves, transformation tools, and pixel-level snap control. In addition, Flash's ActionScript environment has undergone significant improvement. ActionScript Editor is now customizable, allowing you to configure text display properties (font, size, and color), syntax coloring, and toolbox panel content. Code formatting, code hinting, and an ActionScript debugger can aid in developing dynamic, data-driven Internet applications. You can even integrate your Flash applications with any application server that uses URL-encoded or XML data.

Windows Media Player 9 Codecs Pack Description

The Windows Media 9 Series Codec Install Package is used to install the latest Windows Media codecs. This package can be used as an alternative to automatically downloading Windows Media Codecs, or to correct problems experienced with previously-downloaded codecs.

Windows XP Service Pack 2 Description

Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP-2) provides an enhanced security infrastructure that defends against viruses, worms and hackers, along with increased manageability and control for IT professionals and an improved experience for users.

Internet Explorer Description

· Dynamic security protection through a simplified architecture that defends against malware, and new dynamic ways to protect against personal data theft from fraudulent Web sites (a practice known as “phishing”).· Improved design to make everyday tasks easier and faster, with better navigation through tabbed browsing; inline search right from the toolbar; shrink-to-fit Web page printing; and a streamlined, redesigned user interface (currently in its early stages in Beta 1). · New tools to take you directly to the information you want through support for Web feeds (RSS) that includes automatic discovery of web feeds (RSS) on Web pages, basic Web Feed (RSS) reading capabilities, and basic support for saving Web feeds (RSS) as a new kind of favorite.· Platform enhancements for developers to improve compatibility and manageability, including improved support for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) as well as transparent PNG support.

Internet Explorer

The long expected final version of Internet Explorer 7 is here. After the beta versions, Microsoft Corp. have released on the market a truly competitive Web browser. With enhanced security features designed to provide a high degree of security during any Web surfing experience, a newly implemented 'Windows Customer Service Experience Improvement Program' and many more useful features, Internet Explorer 7 appears to be a very good alternative to Mozilla Firefox or Opera. Let's have a look at the user interface: tabbed design, customizable toolbar, 'Favorites Center' containing history and RSS feeds, 'Windows Live' search engine included by default. All the open tabs can be displayed in thumbnail mode (Quick Tabs), the search engine section can be customized by adding or removing search providers and setting your favorite search engine as default. The help section has been improved: you can take a quick tour of IE7's features, send feedback and get online support. The tools in IE7 provide a safer browsing or online shopping: the pop-up blocker filters help you allow or block all pop-ups or pop-ups from selected Websites. You can also build a list of exceptions. The phishing filter improves your online security level: phishing filter settings can be manually changed, you can report phishing Websites or check a Website. Now you can manually manage IE7 add-ons and ActiveX controls by enabling and removing them. As for cryptographic protection, SSL 2.0 and 3.0 and TLS 1.o protocols are used by IE7 in order to provide authentication and communications privacy over the Internet. Among other features, I must mention the 'Auto-complete' feature, accessibility options, customizable security level for browsing, content advisor, multilanguage support. Pluses: Enhanced security features, support for Google and Yahoo! toolbars, quick browsing experience, session restore feature, import/export wizard (this feature allows you to import and export Favorites, RSS feeds or Cookies to other applications or files which can be saved on your computer). A nice thing I noticed, after I installed this new version of Internet Explorer, was that it can be set to use ClearType fonts. This kind of font improves the readability of text on LCD displays. I also saw that my Yahoo! Messenger windows were also using ClearType after the installation of Internet Explorer 7. Drawbacks / flaws: A download manager with pause/resume functions is still missing. Since all current browsers are trying to comply with the W3C standards I had to test the browser with the well known Acid2 test. Unfortunately, IE 7 failed. In conclusion: The final release of IE 7 can be now compared to other competitive browsers on the market.

WinMPG Video Convert892 Description

WinMPG Video Convert is a complete solution for video file conversion.It supports convert AVI to Mpeg1, AVI to Mpeg2, AVI to DVD, AVI to VCD, AVI to SVCD. And also RMVB to MPEG-1,MPEG-2,VCD,DVD,SVCD,AVI . Andall media file to DivX, RMVB, WMV. And all to AVI. WinMPG Video Convert supports almost all media file format, include AVI, Mpeg-1, Mpeg-2, Mpeg-4, VCD, SVCD, DVD, DivX, ASF, WMV, RMVB, RM, QuickTime MOV MP4,and Flash SWF.
System Requirements Pentium III CPU 128 MB RAMWhat's new- Fix some bug in combine; - Fix the error in converting some special files; - Fix the bug in selecting file;- Fix other bugs.

Flash Map One Description

FlashMapOne provides a most effective interactive map solutions for your project. Use FlashMapOne, you can create animated, interactive and data-driven Flash Maps for your dynamic web applications. That is a collection of vector maps are driven by XML, can easily be integrated with any scripting language (ASP.NET, ASP, PHP, JSP, CF etc.) also and other presentations project. FlashMapOne suitable for use in websites, interactive map applications.

Image Resize Guide Description

Allows you to make context-sensitive changes to the image size and aspect ratio by removing "unnecessary" portions yet keeping the "important" features intact. Removes objects from photos without visible traces. The best results are achieved against a background of snow, water, or greenery. Important areas can be specially marked. Includes stepwise animated demo samples. Offers these tools: Resize; Crop; Smart Remove; Smart Resize; Smart Path.

ZC DVD to iPhone Converter Description

ZC DVD to iPhone Converter is fast and easy-to-use copy DVD to iPhone converter software to help you convert DVD to iPhone MP4, iPhone H264, iPhone playable apple quicktime mov, copy DVD to iPhone with high quality. The iPhone DVD converter also supports converting DVD to iPhone audio mp3, m4a, wav, mp2. It is the best solution on how to copy DVD video and audio onto iPhone. Enjoy DVD movie and music on the go at anywhere anytime.

Advanced MP3 Catalog Pro Description

Advanced MP3 Catalog is designed for anyone collecting music. It performs high-speed mp3 files scanning and creates catalogs within seconds. You have convenient access to your music with Groups Tab, grouping it by albums, artist, years or any other criteria. The search system will search your files, using the file name, ID3 tags or your own comments. Generate and print reports and CD covers, export your catalog, search for duplicates and more!

Advanced MP3 Catalog Pro

Advanced MP3 Catalog can create music catalogs. It can scan your PC for any mp3 files and creates catalogs grouped by tabs, albums, artist, years or any other criteria. You can search any mp3 file from your catalog based on the ID3 tags or your own comments. The software has the ability to find any duplicates, generate reports and CD covers. It even has control buttons for Winamp so you can listen to your favorite tracks. Pluses: Easy to use; good search engine; duplicates option; the generating function for CD covers. Drawbacks / flaws: In conclusion: Very useful for any music collector.

Link Commander Description

Link Commander is a unique fully-automated, bookmarks manager that allows you to surf the web more easily! Sort bookmarks basing on an extensive set of criteria, set individual link verification options, share your bookmarks with others and synchronize bookmarks between two computers! Download a FREE trial version now and experience true comfort!

Link Commander

'Link Commander' can organize your bookmark collection. It uses folders to organize your bookmarks efficiently. Each folder contains links that can be edited or deleted. You can add new links by dragging them over a special floating window, which is always displayed on top. This window is called "Drop trap", and it can be disabled or re-sized. This application enables you to find bookmarks easily. Besides organizing your bookmarks into separate folders and collections, link commander also has an advanced search feature. You can specify different search criteria, you can also search in a specific collection, or you can have the search detect whole words or be case sensitive. The results of a search are displayed as a list that contains information about each bookmark's name, address (URL), and folder. Each bookmark can be clicked, opening the website in your favorite browser. You can verify all your links by using the URL verification feature. The bookmarks that are detected as valid have a green circle on their left side. If the webpage represented by a bookmark was moved or is no longer available, Link Commander displays a red circle next to that bookmark. The program offers you the option to delete all the broken links automatically. When running the program for the first time, it asks you whether you want to import all your current bookmarks. Mozilla, Opera, Netscape, and Internet Explorer bookmarks can all be imported with just a few clicks. The first step of the import wizard asks you to select a name for your bookmark collection. It's nice to split your bookmarks into different collections, because you can export and transfer them easily to another computer. Pluses: Link Commander has some advanced features, like duplicate bookmark detection, bookmark synchronization, and a clipboard monitor. When I navigate the Internet, I copy many links to my Windows Clipboard. Link Navigator was able to capture all these links, and allowed me to bookmark them later individually. Drawbacks / flaws: In conclusion: Link Commander is a handy application for managing bookmarks. It allows you to organize and categorize large bookmark collections, offering several useful features that make your job easier.

MSN Messenger Publisher's Description

MSN Messenger lets you see when your friends are online and exchange instant messages with them.Hear the laughter and see the smiles with new Video Conversation, only from MSN Messenger. It's almost as good as being there! Or have a quick chat with text messages - you can even send text messages to mobile phones.*MSN Messenger has never been so personal! New features like Nudges and animated Winks help you get someone's attention or emphasize your point. You can create custom backgrounds, show unique display photos and personal names along with a message like "working from home". We've also added Dynamic Display Pictures that will change emotions based on the emoticons you send. There's no harm in having a little fun, is there?Enhance your MSN Messenger conversation using MSN Search. Conduct a Search query directly from your conversation window no need to launch a separate Search window. Whenever you need it, Search is just a click away.MSN helps you stay in control. You have the option to sign-into MSN Messenger and appear offline until you change your online status. In addition, it's up to you to invite or accept an invitation to add users to your contact list. That way, people outside your list cannot communicate with you without your approval.

MSN Messenger

Important notice: If you are searching for Windows Live Messenger please download it by clicking -here-. One of the best known instant messengers worldwide, Microsoft's MSN Messenger comes with a complete set of options such as direct links to your e-mail Inbox, MSN home page, and address book. MSN Messenger includes video and voice conversation options as well as animated winks, shared search, photo swap between you and your friends or a personal music message which displays the track you are listening to while communicating with friends. There is also a range of funny online games that can be played by two or more peers. Some exciting features of MSN Messenger are the Whiteboard, Remote Assistance and Application Sharing. These features, only available with MSN Messenger give chatters the opportunity to share data or be part in a remote assistance session with partial or complete control of the target workstation. In version 7.5 you can record a short voice message (up to 15 seconds) that can be played by your peer; you can add an animated graphic as your conversation backgrounds. There are currently two built-in backgrounds available for you to use, one is swimming fish and the other is ticking clocks. You can also share your animated backgrounds if you enable the "Share background" option. Dynamic Display Pictures will change emotions based on the emoticons you send. Pluses: Friendly and easy to use interface and a lot of communication features along with a lot of improvements which make chatting more fun. Drawbacks / flaws: Cannot send messages to friends while they are offline, less options for the integrated voice and video communication channels than in Yahoo Messenger. Recommended for those users who aren't necessarily chatting addicted. In conclusion: Both fun and useful. Download, install, sit back, and enjoy.

AVG 8.0 Free the best so far...

i been using different anti virus for a while, searching for the right one for my pc. until avg 8.0 free edition came, it solve my pc prblems.AVG 8.0 Free has the ff componentResident Shield is very active in scanning every file in details, but takes a lot of memoryRapid UpdatesForum supportVery nice GUI compared to competetitor AVAST, AVIRA and PC ToolsAnti-Virus and Anti spyware w/ link scanner (which is very useful, its like mc affe site advisor)Email ScannerCONS: TAKES A LOT OF MEMORY SPECIALLY THE RESIDENT SHIELDOverall its a complete package for a free anti virusits better to hav this on your machine together with Windows Defender. you will feel very protective.CompetitorsAvira - lacking of anti spyware, ang mail scanner(but takes very low system resources)Avast - lacking of schedule scanning(but also great)PC Tools - lacking of anti spyware(but very fast in scanning and takes very low system resources.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition Description

Download AVG Anti-Virus Fre ...

Soft32.com Windows Security Antivirus
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8Well-known free antivirus protection software

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Overall rating: 91%User rating: - 16 votesUser reviews: 2 - read all Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor
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Downloads:
Total: 131 124 Last Week: 1 008
Publisher:
AVG Technologies CZ (2 other programs)
OS Support:
Windows Vista/2000/XP/2003
License:
Freeware
Date added:
11/24/2006
Last Update:
08/22/2008
Size:
45.6 MB

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Editor's Review - AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
5out of 5Excellent
FeaturesStabilityUsabilityInterface
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is the basic solution from Grisoft Labs designed to protect your computer against viral threats. With its simple interface, Explorer context menu integration and powerful scan engine, this program can be used to secure your computer against viruses. However, since this is the free version, you won't get support, anti-spam protection, firewall or anti-spy protection. AVG installation components include a 'Resident Shield' which provides on-access scanning of files and an 'Email scanner' which will either detect your default email client or it can be manually configured (for advanced users). Automatic scans can be scheduled to be run repeatedly at intervals of your choice. You can choose between low priority (slow, but with less memory usage) and high priority (faster, but using more memory resources) automated scans. Manual scans allow you to scan separately files, folders, shell extensions, system areas. Un-repaired files can be stored in the 'Virus vault' until they will be cured or deleted. After testing the program using the EICAR (European Expert Group for IT Security) test files, I noticed that AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition has passed the test regarding files downloaded using both HTTP and HTTPS protocols. Some of the malicious files have been detected by its on-access scanner, 'Resident Shield' , while others were detected after a regular system scan. The interface is nicely designed and it makes the program very easy to use. Configuring its settings is easy even for computer rookies. While running in the background, the system resources usage is low, so it wont affect the speed of you computer. Pluses: Drawbacks / flaws: In conclusion: Combined with other free solutions such as a firewall or an anti-spy provided by the same producer, this application might prove to be a part of a complete security solution for you. version reviewed: 7.5.524a1289
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AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition Publisher's Description
AVG Free Edition is the well-known antivirus protection tool. AVG Free is available free of charge to home users for the life of the product. Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy to use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements). Highlights include automatic update functionality, the AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run, free virus database updates for the lifetime of the product; and AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files. Version 7.5 includes improved virus detection based on better heuristics and NTFS data stream scanning, smaller installation and update files, and an improved user interface. The newest version is also compatible with Windows Vista.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is the basic solution from Grisoft Labs designed to protect your computer against viral threats. With its simple interface, Explorer context menu integration and powerful scan engine, this program can be used to secure your computer against viruses. However, since this is the free version, you won't get support, anti-spam protection, firewall or anti-spy protection. AVG installation components include a 'Resident Shield' which provides on-access scanning of files and an 'Email scanner' which will either detect your default email client or it can be manually configured (for advanced users). Automatic scans can be scheduled to be run repeatedly at intervals of your choice. You can choose between low priority (slow, but with less memory usage) and high priority (faster, but using more memory resources) automated scans. Manual scans allow you to scan separately files, folders, shell extensions, system areas. Un-repaired files can be stored in the 'Virus vault' until they will be cured or deleted. After testing the program using the EICAR (European Expert Group for IT Security) test files, I noticed that AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition has passed the test regarding files downloaded using both HTTP and HTTPS protocols. Some of the malicious files have been detected by its on-access scanner, 'Resident Shield' , while others were detected after a regular system scan. The interface is nicely designed and it makes the program very easy to use. Configuring its settings is easy even for computer rookies. While running in the background, the system resources usage is low, so it wont affect the speed of you computer. Pluses: Drawbacks / flaws: In conclusion: Combined with other free solutions such as a firewall or an anti-spy provided by the same producer, this application might prove to be a part of a complete security solution for you.

USB Virus Scan

USB Virus Scan provides 100% usb antivirus protection for removable media. When an USB device is inserted into your computer, it will automatically scan it, block and remove usb virus and trojan. Also it will detect and remove autorun virus such as autorun.inf virus in your computer. USB Virus Scan is the best antivirus software to permanently protect offline computer against any USB viruses without signature updates.

What's new

anti-spyware, anti-rootkit, new strong-self protection features added, plus: new scanner progress, Aavmker4.sys vulnerability fixed, improved boot time scanner

avast! 4 Home Edition Description

avast! 4 Home Edition is a free antivirus, anti-spyware and anti-rootkit solution for non-commercial home use. It scans for all forms of malware. avast! antivirus has obtained multiple VB100% award in Virus Bulletin reviews, with no fails for over two years. avast! scans: On Demand - with Skinnable Simple Interface, during Boot Time and On Access. It protects E-mail, HTTP, NNTP, ICQ, mIRC, Kazaa etc. True low bandwidth incremental updates.

avast! 4 Home Edition

Avast! Home Edition is a free antivirus software designed to protect your computer from any viral threats. You can use it for up to 60 day without registering it. Afterwards, you will be prompted to register for free in order to get a license key valid for 14 moths. The program can be run along other antivirus or software, but issues can occur regarding compatibility matters. For example, the WebShield module encountered compatibility problems with the ZoneAlarm's privacy blocking feature. However, the producers are working on fixing this problem together with the ZoneLabs team. They also offer a solution for overriding problems such as these. Anyway, it is best if you only use a single antivirus/firewall software at the time, as various errors may occur rendering security software unusable, and thus increasing the risk factor. The program consists of three modules: the Avast! Virus Recovery Database Generator, The Avast! On-Access Scanner, and the Virus Scanner. The On-Access Scanner provides protection for your emails, local network activity, Outlook/Exchange and Internet activity. The virus scanner allows you to perform in-depth scans of your system using the program's interface or the explorer context menu. The 'resident protection' will run as a background service and will scan all accessed executable files, documents or emails. The interface has a nice and intuitive design which makes the program very easy to use. However the complete configuration of all the settings regarding all the features, took me a little longer. The most important thing was the actual protection it provided, so I tested it using EICAR (European Expert Group for IT Security) test files. The On-Access protection failed the EICAR test when I downloaded the test files using HTTP and HTTPS protocols. However the virus scanner passed the EICAR test by successfully removing the 'malware' test files. Pluses: Drawbacks / flaws: In conclusion: Considering the fact that it's a free antivirus solution, Avast! lives up to the standards of a competitive antivirus program.

What's new

Many enhancements including: new Advanced Heuristics, improved email filter, powerful scheduling and profiling support, central log management

NOD32 (NT/2K/XP/Vista) Description

The NOD32 Antivirus System provides balanced state-of-the-art protection against threats endangering your PC, running on various platforms from Microsoft Windows 95 / 98 / ME / NT / 2000 / XP through a number of UNIX operating systems to major mail servers. Viruses, worms, and other malware are kept out of striking distance from your valuable data. Advanced detection methods implemented in the software provide protection against a great proportion of the worms and viruses that are still awaiting creation.

NOD32 (NT/2K/XP/Vista)

The Australian Nod32 antivirus is an integrated security suite created to safeguard your machine from viruses, worms, trojans and other harmful programs. Components include: AMON - File system monitor, DMON - MS Office document monitor, MS Outlook email monitor, IMON - Internet monitor and manual scanner. The ThreatSense.Net Early Warning System protects you from adware, spyware and other risk applications.ThreatSense scanning options include, besides virus definitions, heuristic and advanced heuristic scans for improved security. Configuring all these components is not quite a walk in the park for a beginner, but advanced users might find them interesting an useful. The IMON module includes POP3 protocol email checking as well as HTTP checking. A compatibility setup helps you adjust the compatibility level of HTTP clients and servers. Pluses: You can create individual user profiles and set custom protection levels and protect the profiles with passwords. During the installation process I ignored the warning saying that i should uninstall any other antivirus program, so, although I had already installed Panda Titanium and Zone Alarm, I installed Nod32 without uninstalling the former antivirus programs and I detected no conflicts between the three. The system used: Intel P4 3GHz, 1GB DDRAM, 128 MB ATI Radeon 9250 running Windows XP SP2. Drawbacks / flaws: However, Nod32 seems to be a little bit expensive compared to other antivirus software such as Norton Antivirus or Panda Antivirus. In conclusion: A good security solution which goes easy on your resources and provides quality protection.

New Capabilities

- On-the-fly scanning of emails & Internet traffic - Proactive defense against new malicious programs - Optimized antivirus scanning - Protection from rootkits - Instant database updates - Simplicity and ease of use

Kaspersky Anti-Virus Description

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0 combines reactive antivirus detection with the latest proactive technologies to provide your computer with solid and dependable protection against malicious programs. Beginners in particular will be pleasantly surprised to find a product that is simple to install and set up, while more advanced users will find a highly adaptable product that can be easily tailored to suit their individual requirements.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus

When I think about antivirus software, some names always come up in my mind, like Norton, McAfee, Bit Defender, Panda, NOD32, or Kaspersky. All these pieces of software are powerful and each have something unique. Kaspersky was the slowest and most difficult to setup in my opinion. I used version 5 for a while, but I wasn't convinced about its capabilities. The interface was not so intuitive and it was a real resources hog. The current version (6.0) was a surprise, because I didn't expect to install it this easy. I had to restart the system only two times. I was impressed of how it looks. The interface is very simple and looks much like Norton Antivirus's interface. The design is well integrated in the Microsoft Windows style. Kaspersky is now much more colorful than the previous version. It displays popup windows, that show you important information about your system. Of course, the first step was to scan my entire system. I could choose whether the software asks what to do with the infected files, each time it finds a threat. Kaspersky Antivirus was able to detect a couple of adware and trojans that were previously blocked by Bit Defender, but never cleaned. The main parts of the program are the file, mail, and web antivirus. Each of these provide active scanning, meaning that your system is always protected. A nice feature of the program is called proactive defense. It combines reactive antivirus detection with proactive technologies for a better protection against malicious programs, dangerous behaviours, hidden processes, Microsoft Office dangerous macros, etc. The interface is intuitive because of the expandable areas in the main window and the play/pause/stop commands. Therefore beginners might be astonished by the simplicity of the product, while advanced users would appreciate the flexibility of the program. This software should suit the requirements of both types of users. The definition updates, along with the whole user interface, are similar to Symantec Live Update, making you aware of the size of the current updates, remaining time, download progress, etc. KAV also comes with spyware protection, which is pretty good. It is integrated in the web antivirus. Version 6 seems to be much faster than version 5. Scanning takes up less processing time, allowing you to use your computer efficiently. The overall memory usage is also much lower. Pluses: The proactive defense, the Microsoft Office guard, the spyware protection, and the simple interface make Kaspersky a worthy competitor on the antivirus market. I would also like to mention the performance improvement in the current version.

Norton AntiVirus

Norton AntiVirus 2009 provides fast, continuous protection against viruses, spyware, worms, bots, and other software threats. It protects your system without slowing you down. Rapid pulse updates and an innovative new architecture dramatically improve performance and help to ensure that you are protected from new threats.

WinRAR Publisher's Description

WinRAR is a 32-bit Windows version of RAR Archiver, the powerful archiver and archive manager. WinRAR supports decompression of ZIP archives created using Zip64 format extension. Zip64 was introduced to remove original ZIP format limitations on archived file size. WinRAR's main features are very strong general and multimedia compression, processing of non-RAR archives, long filename support, programmable self-extracting archives (SFX), damaged archive repair, authenticity verification, embedded file comments, and encryption. This beta version of WinRAR includes an integrated GUI skinning engine. New options in "Advanced" part of extraction dialog:a) "Delete archive" options allow to delete extracted archives; b) "Check authenticity information" option controls processing of authenticity information in RAR archives. -Now it is possible to change WinRAR's look by installing interface themes.Theme files are RAR archives, just open them in WinRAR to install. You can manage installed themes using "Options/Themes" menu.-Added support of multivolume (multipart) CAB archives.Wait if other WinRAR copies are active" option in "Advanced" parts of archiving and extraction dialogs.If enabled, it waits while other WinRAR copies are creating, modifying or unpacking an archive and starts the operation only when other WinRAR tasks are complete. If you are going to perform several archiving or decompressing tasks, such queued execution can help to reduce the amount of disk seeks and improve overall performance.Security changes:a) WinRAR shell does not allow to run *.pif files. Archived PIF files is one of typical ways for computer viruses to distribute;b) WinRAR shell does not allow to run files having 5 or more continuous spaces in the name. For example, "calc.txt .exe". Viruses frequently add such spaces to confuse users and hide the real extension. WinRAR shell removes these continuous spaces except first and last also when displaying names of such files in the file list.In Windows XP WinRAR highlights the sorted column in the file list using the different color, like it is done in Windows Explorer.

WinRAR

WinRAR archiver is a powerful tool which allows you to create, manage, and control archive files. It supports RAR and ZIP 2.0 archives, special algorithms optimized for text, audio, graphics, 32-bit and 64-bit Intel executables compression. You can now handle archives directly from Windows Explorer due to the shell integration including drag-and-drop facility and cascaded context menus. WinRAR features wizards for beginners and command line interface for advanced users. It can handle non RAR archives (7-Zip, ACE, ARJ, BZ2, CAB, GZ, ISO, JAR, LZH, TAR, UUE, Z, GZip) management, solid archiving which can raise compression ratio by 10% - 50% over more common methods, particularly when packing a large number of small, similar files. Using WinRAR you can create multivolume archives, self-extracting archives (also multivolume) using the default or optional SFX modules. You can use a lot of service functions, such as encryption, archive comments, error logging, etc. The program has an inbuilt viewer for viewing the content of text files within archives. You can create compression profiles in order to optimize your activity. It has a very friendly user interface, so that the menus are customizable and offer access to important archive commands like extract, test, comment, protect, and lock, but also other important tools such as scan, convert, or benchmark and hardware test. Pluses: There are several versions of RAR, for a number of operating environments: Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, DOS, OS/2, MacOS X. You can test, lock and repair/recover physically damaged archives or volumes allowing to reconstruct missing parts of multivolume archives. You can also take advantage of miscellaneous options such as Background archiving, turn PC off when done, compression estimation. Among the new features we may mention: new buttons (options) such as: "Define volume sizes...", "Rename automatically", "Multithreading" option added to "Benchmark and hardware test" command, new command lines, increased compression speed (5 -15%) for some data types. The publisher states that they fixed some bugs in the multithreaded text compression algorithm. The speed versus the rate of compression came out as medium compared to WinAce and WinZip: a directory containing multimedia and text files in total size of 104 Mb compressed at a normal rate by WinRAR resulted in a 64 Mb in 51 seconds compared to 76,2 Mb in 17 seconds for WinZip and 64,2 Mb in 1 minute and 11 seconds for WinAce.

Yahoo! Messenger

Yahoo! Messenger is a fully featured online communication tool. Its setup integrates the Yahoo! Toolbar which provides anti-spy, pop-up blocker, and quick access to other Yahoo! services (mail, photos, search, etc). With Yahoo! Messenger you can send instant messages, call computers, call a phone number, send a mobile message, or sign in to Yahoo! Mail. You can edit your current status or change your picture. It's also possible to create your own avatar, which is displayed next to your name in your friends' contact list. Sharing your webcam or seeing other people who enable their webcam is easy. If you don't want anyone to see when you are online you should log on using the "Invisible" status. Nobody, except the people you select, would notice you are around. Messages are sent to your friends regardless of their online/offline status. Depending on your network configuration, you should also be able to use this instant messenger for sending files. During instant messages you have the possibility to customize fonts, send emoticons and audibles, and select IMVironments. Everything is provided for you to have a great time while chatting with your friends. The Inside Yahoo! window provides quick links to news, finance, personals, movies, horoscopes, etc. You also get notifications of new emails and voice messages in this window. If you don't like this feature, you can turn it off from the program's preferences. In version 8, the "Content Tabs" in the "Preferences" window has been removed. Now "Yahoo! Plug-ins" are available. So far you can install about 15 plug-ins like Music LAUNCHcast, Answers, 360, eBay, iTunes, Amazon.com, Finance, Calendar, Weather, and others. It's easy to stay up to date with new music, movies, sports results, and other stuff that may be of interest to you. Pluses: On first run, Yahoo! Messenger will look in your Yahoo! Address Book and Microsoft Outlook for new contacts or for people who are using Messenger but are not in your list of contacts. This is done in order to complete your contact list. The good news is that you can now add any Windows Live Messenger user to your contact list. After installing Yahoo! Messenger, simply click on the link "IM with Windows Live (MSN) Messenger", follow the instructions, and you'll be able to chat with Windows Live Messenger users. Several extra plugins and features are provided. LAUNCHcast radio comes with lots of online radio stations to choose from. You can select a favourite radio station as "My Station". Yahoo! Games enables you to play Chess, Pool, Backgammon, Word Racer, or other games with your friends, while at the same time talking to them. Yahoo 360 blogging community is a way to keep connected with friends and family using blogs, pictures, and more. All menu buttons and the skins are customizable, subject to change according to your preferences. The default skin in this version is Maverick Blue. If want to change this skin, you should access the "Change skin" submenu of the "Messenger" menu. Drawbacks / flaws: In some network environments you may discover that you are not able to send or receive files. In conclusion: One of the best online communication tools. I have used Yahoo! Messenger for a long time and I almost always was satisfied with it. Download now and explore its full potential!

The small software firm

The type of business I'm interested in is the small software firm, probably just one or two developers. It's the type of business that developed my two most influential applications, VisiCalc and Dan Bricklin's Demo Program. I believe that such firms are an important source of innovation for the world, and should be encouraged. I also know that there are many people who like working in such an arrangement, without being part of a larger organization, and it would be a shame for that not to be available to them as a reasonable form of livelihood.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, when I last ran Software Garden, a common business model was to write some software, protect it through copyright (so that only the author could distribute it) and as a tradesecret (distributing only executables so as to protect the source code), and sell it through the mail or stores as a "shrink-wrapped" product. Any competition probably did the same thing.
For some simple software, there was the "shareware" model, where the software could be copied freely, but if you liked it you were supposed to send in some money to "register" your copy. This has proven to be a viable business model. Enough people did send in money to fund a variety of companies. There were variations on this theme, but in general it also only involved executable programs. You couldn't modify them nor learn from them by reading the source, etc.

Thinking about software licensing for a small ISV and the issue of open source

After about 8 years of working in a many-person software company, eventually ending up in a large web hosting company, I'm back to running a small (basically one person) software company. Much has changed in the years since I last developed software this way. Before releasing any software, I decided to try to understand some of those changes and see how that affects how I can go about making money.
This essay is written from the perspective of wanting to have a financially successful software small business. (By financially successful, I mean that it can provide a nice income for the employees and owner, not that it must produce great wealth.) This essay is not written from the perspective of what is best for society, the users, the individual programmer, big businesses, etc. While I have feelings in those areas, I think it is important to examine things, at least for this essay, from the perspective I've chosen. There are lots of other places to read about what is best from other perspectives.

Product Description

Have you ever delivered software that satisfied all of the project specifications, but failed to meet any of the customers' expectations? Without formal, verifiable requirements--and a system for managing them--the result is often a gap between what developers think they're supposed to build and what customers think they're going to get. Too often, lessons about software requirements engineering processes are formal or academic, and not of value to real-world, professional development teams. In MORE ABOUT SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS: THORNY ISSUES AND PRACTICAL ADVICE, the author of Software Requirements, Second Edition, describes even more practical techniques for gathering and managing the software requirements that help you meet project specifications and customer expectations. A leading speaker and consultant in the field of requirements engineering, Karl Wiegers takes questions raised by other professional software developers and analysts as a basis for the practical solutions and best practices offered in this guide. Succinct and immediately useful, this book is a must-have for developers and analysts.

What Is A Professional Programmer?

So what does it mean to be a professional programmer? What does it mean to be a professional anything? Some definitions simply say to be a professional is "to make money from a skill," but true professionals also have a set of qualities often described as "professionalism." In my opinion, these qualities are...

Five and Counting: Developer. Past, Present, and Future

Editor Dan Read belatedly reminisces about the recent passage of the five year anniversary of developer.*, considers where we are today, and speculates on the future.

Test Smarter, Not Harder

When we’re testing any software, we are faced with the tradeoff of cost and benefit of testing. With complex software, the costs of testing can grow faster than the benefits of testing. If we apply techniques like the ones in this article, we can dramatically reduce the cost of testing our software. This is what we mean when we say test smarter, not harder.

Book Publishing in a Time of Transformation

ome people have asked us, "You've started a book publishing company? Huh? Why would you do that? I thought all the publishers are going out of business." These articles do a great job of describing why we think there is a future for new publishers to succeed by embracing the change happening right now.

Lessons Learned Automating Excel from NET

Recently I had occasion to write a moderately complex component that used "automation" (using the old fashioned COM term) to communicate with the Microsoft Office Excel application installed on the same computer. In this post I share several tips and tricks that may help you in your Excel automation adventures.

Career Paths for Programmers

The key to maintaining a good employment outlook in IT, it seems, is to move out of programming and up into more business-oriented IT positions such as systems analyst, business analyst, project manager, or systems architect. However, a computer programmer can't just decide to become a systems analyst or project manager overnight.

Acer eMachine D525 Notebook

Intel Celeron M900 (2.2GHz / 1MB L2 Cache / 800MHz FSB) / Mobile Intel®Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M (UMA) / 14.1` WXGA Crystal Bright /1GB DDR 2 / 160GB SATA HDD / DVD Super multi / No Modem / Giga LAN /802.11bg Wireless LAN / 6 cell 2.2 / 0.3DV Crystal Eye Camera / Multi-in-onecard reader / Linux / English Arabic Keyboard / only 2.4 kg in weight

Acer Aspire 7720-3A2G25Mi Notebook

Intel Core 2 Duo 5450 (1.66GHz / 2MB Cache / 667FSB) / 17` WXGA CrystalBright / 2x1GB DDR 2 / 250GB SATA HDD / 56k Modem / Wired LAN /802.11bg Wireless LAN / Bluetooth / 5 in 1 Card Reader / 0.3DV Crystal EyeCamera / 6 Cell battery / Genuine Microsoft Vista Home Premium.

Dell Vostro 1310 Notebook

Dell Vostro 1310, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5870 (2.0GHz, 2MB Cache, 800MHz FSB), , 2GB (2X1024) DDR2 667 MHz SDRAM Memory, 250GB SATA Hard Drive, Power DVD Software, 13.3` WXGA TFT Display , External USB Modem, Palmrest with finger print reader, Gigabit NIC, Dell Wireless 1395g (802.11g) Mini Card, 8 in 1 Media Card Reader, Integrated 1.3 mega pixel webcam with digital Microphone, Dell Blue tooth 360 Module, 6-Cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, No Carrying Case, No OS, With 03 Years Warranty

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