The most recent Download Reviews from Incisive Media

SUMo 2.6.2.77

Lee Collins — 2009-07-14T10:31:00.000Z

Lee Collins, vnunet.com, Tuesday 14 July 2009 at 10:31:00

Keep your installed software up-to-date

Install software on your machine and you'll expect it has been through rigorous internal testing so there are few problems after installation. Not always so, particularly when the majority of software is produced by individual developers.

As software is updated regularly, issues involving erratic software performance can simply be down to the particular version of the application you may be using. Even release software can include bugs and problems in early stages, with older versions of software may not be stable on a newer operating system.

SUMo (Software Update Monitor) is designed to help keep applications up-to-date. The simple update reminders that are integral to many applications are great if you use the software regularly, but SUMo will alert you when updates are available, even if you are not using a particular program.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.39

Chris Wiles — 2009-07-14T00:00:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, vnunet.com, Tuesday 14 July 2009 at 00:00:00

Protection from malicious software

This is the software publisher's description.

Have you ever considered what makes an anti-spyware program an effective one? We at Malwarebytes have thought long and hard about that seemingly simple question.

Your computer is under constant attack from several types of malware (virus, worm, trojan, rootkit, dialer, spyware, etc) that are constantly evolving. There exists a real war between this malware and the anti-malware community. Only the most sophisticated anti-malware techniques can now keep your computer running safe, sound and secure.

Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware is a full-blown anti-malware program that has recently left our labs and can be considered the next step in the detection and removal of malware. We put together a host of new technologies that were especially designed to quickly detect, deter and destroy any malware that could reside in your computer.

Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware monitors every process and actually stops malicious processes before they even start. It uses our impressive technology that is in fact a completely novel way of heuristic scanning and it is our response to the increasingly complex malware threats. And, as we did with our Malwarebytes’ RogueRemover we also have added a threats center. You can simply check online which pests are removed the most and thus are the most prevalent.

Ashampoo Photo Commander 7.21

Lee Collins — 2009-07-14T00:00:00.000Z

Lee Collins, vnunet.com, Tuesday 14 July 2009 at 00:00:00

Organise, edit and share your photos

This is a software publisher's description.

Perfect example of a new generation of programs that are genuinely intuitive easy to use. It makes organizing your pictures and getting them to look great as simple as pressing the button on your camera. You’ll save time, have a barrel of fun and your friends and family will be really impressed.

Almost everything is done with a couple of clicks – adding picture frames, correcting your photos, making greeting cards, collages and slide shows, sharing your pictures on CDs/DVDs or your website and much more.

Ashampoo Photo Commander is a one-stop solution. You organize and view your photo collection, edit and enhance your photos and use creative editing and project tools all in a single program. And it also manages your audio.

Ashampoo Internet Accelerator 3.10

Lee Collins — 2009-07-14T00:00:00.000Z

Lee Collins, vnunet.com, Tuesday 14 July 2009 at 00:00:00

Faster web surfing made easy

This is a software publisher's description.

Many Windows settings work in harmony in order to get the best out of an available internet connection. Unfortunately, the factory design of these settings means that they are often not optimised for a particular connection type, or they are adjusted by a newly installed software product unasked. The consequences are plain to see: the computer can’t get the best out of your internet connection. As a user, this means you have to wait longer until web pages have loaded in your browser or until internet downloads are finished.

A slow internet connection costs time and gets on your nerves. For this reason, taking the time to optimise the settings is almost considered a must – particularly since an optimisation in terms of speed doesn’t come with any additional cost, neither for a hardware extension nor for the software, as the Ashampoo Internet Accelerator 2 can be used completely free of charge.

a-squared Free 4.5.0.8

Lee Collins — 2009-07-14T00:00:00.000Z

Lee Collins, vnunet.com, Tuesday 14 July 2009 at 00:00:00

Protect your system with this security tool

This is the software publisher's description.

Security must not be a privilege. Under this motto, Emsi Software provides the Malware scanner a-squared Free completely free of charge for private use. But it is not a very limited version, it is a full tool to clean your computer from Malware. Not only Spywares, as detected by classic Anti-Spyware programs, but also especially Trojans, Backdoors, Worms, Dialers, Keyloggers and a lot of other destructive pests, which makes it dangerous to surf the web.

Trojans and Backdoors provide strangers with access to your PC. Once a Backdoor is installed, an attacker can take full control of your computer. A Trojan is best described as a piece of software pretending to be something it is not - they often contain Backdoors, and usually arrive as email attachments. A Keylogger is a type of Malware that invisibly records all keyboard activity, whereas Rootkits hide on your PC and manipulate internal system operations. a-squared Free specializes in recognizing and eliminating these types of Malware.

Your personal data and information is worth a great deal of money to certain advertising companies. They have no qualms about smuggling software into your system, recording information and spying on everything you do. Adverts that change the start page of your browser also belong in the Spyware/Adware category. a-squared Free completely removes Spyware from your PC. Traces of Spyware in the Registry and Tracking Cookies are also recognized.

This is the new v4 which now contains both anti-virus and anti-spyware modules, amongst other new features.

WPanorama 9.4.1

Chris Wiles — 2009-07-13T00:00:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, vnunet.com, Monday 13 July 2009 at 00:00:00

Turn photos in to panoramic images

Most of us own a digital camera, but the majority of us use it in exactly the same manner as our old SLR cameras.

We ask our family to stand by a local structure and then take a picture of them in front of the object. We get home, put them up on our homepage, and we all see the same photos that everyone else has taken.

Our digital cameras enable us to take many photos without us requiring a new film roll after only 36 photos, so why not make better use of your camera?

WPanorama is a tool that will enable you to create a 360 degree panorama image from your digital photos. For instance, if you're standing in a middle of a room, use your digital camera to take shots of each section of the internal room and then use WPanorama to stitch these photos together to create one panoramic image.

Once you're happy with your panorama, you can choose to export as an AVI movie, which you could place on your homepage and enable friends and family to be part of your holiday experience.

Fresh UI 8.36

Chris Wiles — 2009-07-13T00:00:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, V3.co.uk, Monday 13 July 2009 at 00:00:00

Optimise and tweak Windows

There are many options in Windows that are hidden and unavailable to the average user. Unless you know what you're doing, and are prepared to manually edit your Registry (not advised!), you'll never find the majority of these options.

Tweak UI is a simple application designed to get the most from Windows. The majority of the hidden options are included, along with many of the 'hard to find' options, such as the facility to turn off internal disc burning within Windows, or the autoplay option so CDs do not autoplay when you insert them in your computer.

This tool has been around for a long time so is tried and tested and safe to install, although it requires free registration.

EssentialPIM Free 3.04

Chris Wiles — 2009-07-13T00:00:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, vnunet.com, Monday 13 July 2009 at 00:00:00

Personal information & task manager

EssentialPIM is a free and multilingual personal information manager which includes three components: a calendar, note taker and contact manager.

It has a very usable interface, with things kept simple but extremely functional. This results in a small file size, and the use of few system resources.

The Calendar comes with day, week, month and year views, reminders and repeat options. The Notes component includes all the usual formatting options (bold, italics etc) along with the ability to insert images or tables.

Finally, the Contacts element lets you store work and personal details for individuals, along with IM details, images and birthdays.

If you're an Outlook or Outlook Express user, you can import existing data directly into EssentialPIM. Data can also be exported in HTML, RT, CSV and TXT formats.

Multiple databases can be created, so you can have separate PIMs for work and home, or for each family member. For security, each database can be password-protected and encrypted.

This release of EssentialPIM and now enables you to synchronise your calendar with Windows Mobile 5.x and smartphones, two-way Google synchronisation, a sticky notes option to post your 'to do' notes to your desktop and many other improvements and fixes.

EssentialPIM Free Portable 3.04

Chris Wiles — 2009-07-13T00:00:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, vnunet.com, Monday 13 July 2009 at 00:00:00

Take your diary & contacts on the road

Back in the 80s business people carried around a huge Filofax full of information. It stored their diary, ‘to do’ list, business cards and contact information. The thicker and more well used the Filofax, the more important you were perceived to be, to other people. People still carry around a diary or contact list, but they are not normally used for note taking and are not as prominent as they used to be, in the past.

The problem these days is that our contacts have all sorts of contact detail – multiple email addresses, ever-changing mobile phone numbers and so on. It would be far easier keeping this information on a dynamic device, such as your computer, mobile phone or PDA.

EssentialPIM Portable Edition is a version of the fantastic PIM that will enable you to take your data on the road. You can store all your ‘to do’ lists, track your calendar, store important notes and keep contacts within one user-interface. It works alongside Outlook and other PIMs too, so if you use this on your desktop computer, you can still transfer and import your contact information within EssentialPIM, when you want to go on the road.

If you store EssentialPIM Portable on an external USB key, any information you save back to the application is stored on the USB key, so nothing will be left on the host desktop computer. This means you can take your USB key with you, safe in the knowledge that your personal information is kept personal.

Note that there is a Pro and Free version of EssentialPIM Portable. The download here is for the free version which is feature-limited. For instance, the free version has no Outlook import option, no multi-user access, no contact groups and more.

Opera 10 Preview for Mac build 6550

Lee Collins — 2009-07-11T15:14:00.000Z

Lee Collins, vnunet.com, Saturday 11 July 2009 at 15:14:00

Take a look at the future of this web browser

Opera is a popular browser with some of the best support for standards. Opera 10 promises even faster web surfing, built in spell checker and HTML emails.

The faster web browsing is thanks to a new rendering engine, this is the software used to create the web pages. It also claims to support web standards properly including the Acid3 test (click the link to see how your current browser fares).

Acid3 is an extreme test, a more visible effect will be the support for web fonts. Most browsers can only use the fonts installed on the computer. Web designers often give the browser a list of fonts. The font they would actually liked used, a similar but more common font and then let the browser choose its own serif or san serif font. Web fonts let the browser load the font from a website.

Auto-update is one improvement we are pleased to see as it is a simpler process than having to download a installer.

Note that this is Mac OS X version of the first public beta preview of Opera 10 and more information can be found from Opera Next, which is information about the new browser.

VirtualBox for Mac 3.0.2

Lee Collins — 2009-07-11T12:00:00.000Z

Lee Collins, vnunet.com, Saturday 11 July 2009 at 12:00:00

Host a virtual operating system

This is the software publisher's description.

Powerful x86 virtualization products for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). See "About VirtualBox" for an introduction; see "innotek" for more about our company.

Presently, VirtualBox runs on Windows, Linux, Macintosh and OpenSolaris hosts and supports a large number of guest operating systems including but not limited to Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), and OpenBSD.

VirtualBox is being actively developed with frequent releases and has an ever growing list of features, supported guest operating systems and platforms it runs on. VirtualBox is a community effort backed by a dedicated company: everyone is encouraged to contribute while innotek ensures the product always meets professional quality criteria.

On the VirtualBox site, you can find sources, binaries, documentation and other resources for VirtualBox.

Version 3.0 ships with major enhancements such as support for up to 32 CPUs per virtual guest OS, the ability to use DirectX 9 within a Windows guest, support for Windows 7 and much more.

Opera 10 Preview build 1631

Tim Smith — 2009-07-11T11:54:00.000Z

Tim Smith, Computeractive, Saturday 11 July 2009 at 11:54:00

Take a look at the future of this web browser

Opera is a popular browser with some of the best support for standards. Opera 10 promises even faster web surfing, built in spell checker and HTML emails.

Auto-update is one improvement we are pleased to see as it is a simpler process than having to download a installer.

Note that this is the first public beta preview of Opera 10 and more information can be found from Opera Next, which is information about the new browser.

Soundbase 2009.07.10

Chris Wiles — 2009-07-11T10:20:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, vnunet.com, Saturday 11 July 2009 at 10:20:00

Dedicated MP3 audio player & organiser

This is the software publisher's description.

Created to fill a gap in the large amount of free and commercial mp3 players. We do not pretend to have the ultimate mp3 or audio solution, but it will most likely fit somewhere into your mp3 playing experience. As a player, as a tag editor or as an organizer. It will always give you a quick way of doing common tasks. Give it a try!

Soundbase uses the Microsoft DirectShow architecture. DirectShow provides high-quality capture and playback of multimedia streams. It supports a wide variety of formats, including MPEG Audio Layer-3 (MP3), OGG Vorbis (OGG), Monkey Audio (APE), and FLAC sound files. It automatically detects and uses audio acceleration hardware when available, but also supports systems without acceleration hardware.

You might need to read the help section on installing more sophisticated formats (ape, flac, ogg) to enable playback for those files. The help section provides you with links to free directshow filters and will give you information on how to best install the different pack.

We also added the option to use BASS Audio audio drivers, they can be installed from inside Soundbase.

Of course there is more, you can skin soundbase, organize your music to different locations, edit tag information, search, filter, create playlists, there is a unique history display and Soundbase doesn't use any registry entries but stores all in one ini file, it is completelly anonymous, it can run from any location with limited user access rights, and much more. And we of course never stop thinking of better ways and better functionality, so stay tuned for more updates.

Mozilla Jetpack 0.3.1

Chris Wiles — 2009-07-11T10:20:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, vnunet.com, Saturday 11 July 2009 at 10:20:00

Design your own Firefox add-ons with ease

This is the software publisher's description.

The add-ons community for Firefox is arguably one of the largest, most vibrant sources for innovation on the Web today. If you want to affect people, to reach them and make a difference in their daily lives, the Firefox add-ons platform is hard to beat, with over one billion installs of Firefox add-ons to date.

However, we’ve only scratched the surface of its potential.

Today we’re announcing the launch of Jetpack, a Mozilla Labs project to explore new ways to extend & personalize the Web.

In short, Jetpack is an API for allowing you to write Firefox add-ons using the web technologies you already know.

With Jetpack, we’re building upon our experience over the last four years empowering a community of more than 8,000 developers to produce more than 12,000 add-ons to imagine and build the next generation of the add-ons platform. We want to grow our community of developers by orders of magnitude through making add-on creation much more accessible, and yet more powerful by developing it as an extensible platform for innovation itself. Many useful Jetpack Feature’s can be written in under a dozen lines of code.

Specifically, Jetpack will be an exploration in using Web technologies to enhance the browser (e.g. HTML, CSS and Javascript), with the goal of allowing anyone who can build a Web site to participate in making the Web a better place to work, communicate and play.

Most importantly, from a user perspective, Jetpack will allow new features to be added to the browser without a restart or compatibility issues, resulting in little to no disruption to the online experience.

Where Is It? 3.97.710

Chris Wiles — 2009-07-11T09:29:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, vnunet.com, Saturday 11 July 2009 at 09:29:00

Catalogue, store & manage your media

This is the software publisher's description.

Designed to help you maintain and organize a catalogue of your computer media collection, including CD-ROMs and DVDs, audio CDs, diskettes, removable drives, hard drives, network drives, remote file servers, or any other present or future storage media device Windows can access as a drive.

The primary goal for WhereIsIt is to provide access to the contents of catalogued disks, even when they are not available on the system, or even they are not your own. You can browse their contents, search for files or folders you need, use imported descriptions and thumbnails, organize data using categories and flags etc.

WhereIsIt can be used to handle any kind of data, including downloaded programs, magazine CD-ROMs, music collections like MP3s or audio CDs, graphics collections, document backups, etc. WhereIsIt can handle lots of them, too, a couple hundreds or thousands disks in a catalogue is nothing unusual, yet catalogues remain reasonably small, single-filed and easy to transfer or send to other users. You can also create more than one catalogue, and at any time open and work with as many catalogues at once as needed.

WhereIsIt is easy to use for both beginners and advanced users. It features a familiar and well thought-out, Explorer-like user interface, combined with strong searching and reporting capabilities, multi-language support, automated description and thumbnails importing through extendable plugins from more than 130 different sources, and much more.