New Free Microsoft Security Essentials Release
A new release of Microsoft’s free security solution for Windows is now available for download. The Redmond company has made available for download extremely quietly the new version of Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0 on February 17th, 2010. The latest release of MSE, formerly codenamed Morro, is currently up for grabs from the Microsoft Download Center, with no details available from the software giant as to what, if anything was changed with the antivirus.
“Microsoft Security Essentials is a free download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple. Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so you’re free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times,” Microsoft noted. Read more
iPhone OS 3.0 Officially Released
After a painfully long wait, Apple has finally released the much-hyped iPhone 3.0 Software Update, delivering improved functionality and tons of new features to iPhone and iPod touch users worldwide. Two days from now, the iPhone 3G S will also be available to the public. The device will “unlock” the complete set of new features available with iPhone OS 3.0.
“The new iPhone OS 3.0 is a major software release packed with incredible new features and innovations for iPhone customers and developers alike. It will keep us years ahead of the competition,” said Philip Schiller (Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing) back in March, when the company previewed the first developer beta of iPhone OS 3.0. Read more
Vista Service Pack 2 Try Out Available
If you don’t mind taking a teensy-weensy risk Vista Service Pack 2 Release Candidate is now available for download from Microsoft. You could be one of the first kids on the block to give it a whirl. This is more or less the finished version that will be unleashed onto the general public in a few weeks time, provided no last minute bugs are found. That’s where you, as an unpaid guinea pig come in. Just in case something does go wrong Microsoft won’t be there to help, it’s a try it at your own risk type deal, but you will get the benefit of several bug fixes an uprated Search facility and improved support for Bluetooth and Blu-Ray. Read more
Explore Your Computer
Windows has a number of diagnostic and system monitoring tools built in but this one, called System Explorer puts everything you need to know about your computer, and what’s it doing now, and in the past, into one very convenient and easy to use package. Here’s just a taster of what it can do. You can view information about running processes, startups, Explorer, IE Add-ons, uninstallers, drivers, services, connections and open files. You can check which programs and files were opened, and when, take snapshots of your Registry and later compare them if something has gone wrong to see what’s changed. It uses fewer resources than the Windows utilities and there’s even a portable version that you can run from a pen drive. Try it, get to know it and one day it could save you a lot of time and trouble if your PC throws a wobbly…
Space on the Tray
I have to say that if you feel the need to install this little application on your PC, then you probably need a larger hard disc drive. Tray DisK Free sits in the System Tray – next to the Windows clock — and it does just one thing, it displays the amount of free space left on your disc drive. If you hover your mouse over the icon there’s a more detailed analysis. Nominally it’s set for your main drive (usually C:) but it can be set to monitor any drive on your PC. The menu option lets you change how frequently the program checks the drive, and if you want to have a fiddle with some command line switches, you can change the display and text colour.
Keeping Tabs on Windows Explorer
As you know Windows Explorer (aka My Computer, Explorer etc.) lets you see what’s stored on your computer, move files around and so on, and it works reasonably well, but it could be so much better.
Over the years we’ve looked at several Explorer alternatives, but this one, called Explorer ++ is definitely one of the best. It does pretty well everything standard Windows Explorer does but its main claim to fame is a multi-tab display, so you can quickly switch between folders. There’s also a file details and thumbnail preview pane at the bottom (it has all of the usual Explorer type ‘Views’ as well), Permanent file delete, it’s highly customisable and it supports advanced operations, like file merging and splitting. Read more
Smarter Surfing
There are few things more depressing than searching for something on one of the major Search Engines only to get back tens of thousands or even millions of hits. You know the answer is in there somewhere, but where? Refining your search terms can help, but here’s something else to try. Install SurfCanyon on your Firefox browser and the next time you search for something, click the little SurfCanyon bull’s-eye icon next to the top hit and check out its recommendations. Obviously it can’t work miracles but after trying it for a couple of weeks I have to say it’s quite impressive and more often than not its suggested results get you to where you want to go a lot quicker then trudging through pages of hits.
