Windows: Security is probably one of our main concerns as computer users. This is why we all should take it seriously and use the necessary security apps to protect our system and personal data. AVG 8 is an excellent choice to avoid virus infections and stay safe while browsing the web. This last version features a totally revamped interface and a new anti-spyware tool.

Mac: Do you find you’re having a hard time remembering login info for all your domains? DomainBrain is a smart little app that lets you store all your precious information and easily protect it with a password. You can organize entries in nested folders and view all your information in one go. DomainBrain should ensure you never forget login info again.

Pocket PC: If you can’t afford to hire a personal assistant to take care of your daily schedule then simply install Pocket Informant on your PPC to do the job for you. The application offers a more powerful alternative to the built-in Calendar/Contacts/Tasks applications, to help you better organize your time. What’s more, the program syncs with Outlook, ActiveSync and other sync solutions.

It was only a matter of time before Google announced the launch their own security product and Google Web Security for Enterprise is their rather long winded but comprehensive security solution aimed at large networks and businesses. The suite, which scans in real-time, stops web-borne spyware and viruses before they infiltrate networks and compromise or disable computers.

However it also enables network administrators to control how employees use the Internet so they can create, enforce, and monitor a web policy to “protect you from the legal liabilities of inappropriate content, reduce bandwidth congestion, and improve employee productivity”. You’ll also notice that this is one Google product that isn’t plastered with Google branding however as the software giant has chosen to brand it under the name of developers Postini who have provided much of the infrastructure.

It even protects employees on the move whether they are working at home, in a hotel room or Wi-Fi spot. It enhances the privacy of such employees by automatically encrypting all web traffic when the user connects to a public network and eliminates the need to backhaul traffic over corporate VPN’s. Of course, as you would expect from a Google product too, it’s very easy to use even for novice network administrators.

Looks like bad news for employees surfing those prohibited sites at work then although Google’s classification system for what it considers gambling, dating and news related sites etc may allow for a few exceptions to squeeze through. And this will surely become one of the major targets for hackers and trojans if it becomes widely implemented although probably, no serious enterprise would rely on a Google product to protect their network.

Face it: coming up with a new password every time you sign up for something is not that easy anymore. You’ve run out of new ideas and have developed a dangerous tendency to use the same password everywhere. But before you compromise your online security, follow our advice and install one of these password generators. They can all help you to create new passwords based on the options you select and make them easy to remember as well.

• Webmaster Password Generator - create passwords with customizable words
• Phonetic Password Generator - generate easy to pronounce passwords
• Password Pond - generate passwords based on your own word lists
• Extreme Password Generator Pro - create safe passwords that are easy to remember
• lameGen - a simple tool to quickly generate passwords
• Flyingbit Password Generator - Create multiple customizable passwords with one click

Windows: The popular anti-spyware tool Ad-Aware has finally reached the open beta stage. The new Ad-Aware 2008 Beta features improved performance and stability, a better resource management and noticeably faster scans and updates. Download the open Beta and get a trial serial number to test a fully functioning Pro version for free during 42 days.

Mac: The big news today is Microsoft’s release of Messenger for Mac 7. The updated chat client now allows you to give nicknames to your contacts and offers Bonjour support to find connected users on your network. Corporate users are the better served though as they get detailed presence information and, most important audio and video support.

Symbian: Are you a fan of board games? Then make sure you check out Astraware Boardgames on your mobile phone. The pack includes classics such as Backgammon, Chess, Ludo, Checkers and Reversi. Each of the eight games comes with customizable rules and a range of difficulty level, so the fun keeps going for quite some time.

Open Source software is great when it comes to productivity applications. That’s because many different programmers can see the source code of an application and write plug-ins or suggest improvements to make the application more efficient and improve the users’ final experience. When talking about security though, do you really want hackers to see how your firewall or antivirus software works? Isn’t it a complete contradiction?

Clearly it’s not for some developers, as they believe in the efficiency that open source necessarily has. The advantage of having different programmers who can spot errors or weakness in the code is the great advantage of Open Source, even when it comes to security. As soon as a mistake or bug is spotted, it can be reported and fixed by the main developers who are taking care of the official distribution. It’s the principle of peer review; Open Source software undergoes a process of continuous improvement and frequent updates which leads to a more reliable product. The point Open Source supporters make is that knowing how something works doesn’t necessarily allow you to know how to crack it. Even if we know how a safe works, we will never be able to open it if it’s well designed.

If you want to give Open Source software security programs a try here’s a list of the most famous:

• Clamav
• Moonav
• Killtrojan
• Openantivirus

There are also other free solutions for your PC protection. Here’s the best free software selected for you:
Read the rest of this entry »

Windows: Though Windows is relatively easy to customize, there are still a few options that remain hidden under unknown menus. TweakNow WinSecret unveils them all in an attractive, well organized interface where you’ll be able to tweak all sorts of special Windows settings concerning appearance, security and behavior.

Mac: The Sudoku fad may have been replaced by all the brain training games popping up everywhere, but Sudoku is still pretty popular, and remains a very enjoyable logic game. SudokuAdept is great for beginners as it features loads of settings to help you finish off your sudoku and adjustable difficulty levels, great to help you progress.

Mobile: Looking to travel during the weekend? GPS Tuner offers high precision measurements to show you detailed maps. The application works very well whether you are on the road, out on a boat, hiking in the mountains or even flying. GPS Tuner also makes it very easy to manage, modify, import and export your waypoints.

Disaster can hit your computer anytime, so you’d better be ready. This applies also to bookmarks; it’s always a good idea to have a backup copy of your bookmark collection just in case something happens. But what if you suddenly lose them and didn’t take the time to backup your bookmarks in time? Well, if you use Firefox there’s an emergency solution we just learned from OnSoftware Spain.

First of all, you need to make hidden files and folders visible in the Folder options menu. Open any Explorer window, click on Tools > Folder options, select the View tab and enable the “Show hidden files and folders” option.

Now here’s the trick: Firefox saves automatic backup copies of your bookmarks on a daily basis, without having to configure it or install any third-party extension. So simply launch Firefox, open the Bookmarks Manager, select File > Import and browse to the location where Firefox saves those copies, which is:

C:\Documents and Settings\your user name\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxx.default\bookmarkbackups

You’ll have a few versions to choose from. Just select the one that suits you best and you’re done. All your bookmarks will be safely back!

A recent announcement from Dell and a BBC report, outline that sales of Linux based computer have experienced a year of constant growth. Linux is rebounding, at least for non Wal-Mart customers, among end-users for several reasons. Let’s take a look at some of these.

Both end-users and organizations are largely unhappy with the latest version of Windows OS, Windows Vista, which has been perceived more as a theme-pack for Windows XP than as a new operating system. It has been said to be slower, to require more resources and to have still lots of bugs. Bill Gates has announced in fact that a new edition of Window, version 7, will be released in one year time.

On top of this, many computer producers, from ASUS to Dell, decided to offer the option to buy PC and notebook with Ubuntu pre-installed - a user friendly Linux distribution. This allows them to lower the final price, offering cheaper but competitive products. The reason behind a general lower price is not only because Linux is free and almost all its programs are as well. This operating system tends to require fewer resources so that the hardware used doesn’t necessarily have to be the latest, cutting edge kit.

On top of these two main factors, the security side also plays a big role in favor of Linux. The threat of virus spread via P2P and other Internet technologies is greatly reduced, as not only are there far fewer viruses and Trojans designed to attack Linux, the kernel (or core) or the operating system is inherently more stable than that of Windows.

Last but not least, the availability of software like Wine and Cedega, allows users to emulate the Windows environment in order to run games and programs they couldn’t otherwise run. Consider it just as an option for specific programs you can’t find a Linux version of or for games. To be clearer, it will be much faster to use Linux OpenOffice rather then using Windows MS Office with Wine on Linux. But for specific apps, like phone managers, 3D games etc, Wine or Cedega are better.

Ad-Aware is one of the most popular anti-spyware tools worldwide, with millions of downloads along its history of development. It comes in three different tastes (Plus, Pro and Enterprise, all paid-for licenses), as well as a free, slightly crippled version for home users. And now all of them are going under a beta testing stage in preparations for their next big release: Ad-Aware 2008.

After their succeed with the previous beta program (more than 335,000 users applied to be beta testers) Lavasoft has decided to release the first public version of Ad-Aware 2008 also as a testing beta, counting on the users’ feedback to give its big shot the final shape before starting to ship it. After signing up as beta user and receiving a confirmation email, you can download the program. Your beta tester username and password also give you access to a special area in the Lavasoft website where you can submit any bugs you find, keep track of them and also suggest any idea you may have about how to improve the program’s functionality and performance.

Ad-Aware 2008 doesn’t change much in itself – at least not in appearance. The program still keeps the same interface from the previous version which, in my opinion, could improve a lot with some small tweaks (those crystal buttons and reflections are a bit out of date now).

According to Lavasoft, this new version has improved its performance and stability and now takes up much less resources. Though I probably didn’t test the program long enough (anti-spyware tools are fully tested when used over a long period of time) I can clearly tell the program is now faster in system scans and lighter on PC resources. Other important improvements include full support for 64-bit systems and Windows Vista, an enhanced rootkit removal system and integrated antivirus protection, though sadly this last feature will only be available for Plus and Pro versions.

So if you want to give Ad-Aware 2008 beta a go, sign up as beta tester and get your copy. Note that being a beta, the program may still be a bit buggy and you shouldn’t use it as your only security app for spyware protection.

Microsoft have announced via Microsoft Technet that they have released Service Pack 3 and users can expect updates at the end of this month.

Chris Keroack, Release Manager of Windows XP Service Pack 3 said in the announcement:

Today we are happy to announce that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) has released to manufacturing (RTM). Windows XP SP3 bits are now working their way through our manufacturing channels to be available to OEM and Enterprise customers. We are also in the final stages of preparing for release to the web (i.e. you!) on April 29th, via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center. Online documentation for Windows XP SP3, such as Microsoft Knowledge Base articles and the Microsoft TechNet Windows XP TechCenter, will be updated then. For customers who use Windows XP at home, Windows XP SP3 Automatic Update distribution for users at home will begin in early summer.

Service Pack 3 will include some important updates including Microsoft’s updated Management Console 3.0, which appears in Windows Server 2008 and Vista, and an update to Wifi protected access. There will also be a “health checking” component added that’s already used by Windows Server 2008 which can check to make sure that certain upgrades and security features are in place for XP-based clients before they are allowed to log onto a network.

Did you just delete a file by mistake? I know how it feels… Don’t worry: you can now fix it with Glary Undelete. This easy application scans your hard drive (or any other drive, including removable ones) and displays a list of deleted files along with their degree of recoverability. If you’re lucky enough, you’ll have your accidentally deleted files back in no time.

SIDPLAY is the ultimate music player for any Commodore 64 fan. The application will allow you to download and listen to thousands of sounds from the classic console. These can be synced regularly and, thanks to the iTunes liked interface, they remain really well organized. You can even create your own smart playlists and export to your iPod.

Why reserve your DVD collection for the house, when it’s possible to take it out and about with you on your mobile? Xilisoft DVD to Pocket PC Ripper allows you to quickly rip DVDs into a Pocket-PC-compatible format. With a variety of custom settings like adjustable bitrate, video size etc., you could convert DVD to Pocket PC supported WMV and WMA easily and fast with excellent quality

Mac users tend to overlook security simply on the basis that Macs never get attacked. True there are much less viruses around affecting Macs, but that’s partly due to the fact that there are simply less Macs around as there are PCs. You shouldn’t keep your guard down though, because Macs are not attack-proof. ArsTechnica have written a little guide on tightening up security on your Mac. While some of the points they make might be too technical to some users, some of them are easy to handle for anybody and ensure that your Mac is safe and sound. Let’s look at what basic users should make sure they have cornered.

Locking your screen: From the General tab in the Security preference pane, check ‘Require a password to wake this Mac up from sleep or screensaver’ that way you can leave your Mac on and not worry about anybody peeking at it while you are not there. Make sure you require a password to unlock the System Preferences pane to prevent unwanted changes in your settings from anyone.

Firewall: This one’s easy to take care of and absolutely essential. Select the Firewall tab in the Security preference pane and make sure to select ‘Allow only essential services’. That way only applications that you really need, like your browser or IM will be able to send outgoing connections. If you are really picky choose ‘Set access for specific services and applications’ and individually pick the programs you want to give permissions to. A little bit more tedious but guarantees no surprises.

Even if you have configured your firewall you might want to monitor connections into and out of your Mac. Ars Technica recommend using Little Snitch, a thought I definitely back. The application lists up all the programs generating traffic on your Mac and the different connections they create. Found a dodgy connection? One click of your mouse and it’s blocked.

Also, make sure to read up on Nick’s post about Mac antivirus software. As said before there are not that many viruses attacking Macs, but some do exist. My suggestion is to have an antivirus set up and perform regular checks as a precaution.

If you are looking to protect your files from anyone else who might use your computer, there are different possibilities you can choose from. An easy option is to use the embedded function present in many software applications. Every Office application for example, from Word to Access, includes the possibility to password protect a document by simply writing a password in the Tools > Options > Security menu item. If the application you are using doesn’t have this feature, you can always put it in a password-protected archive file (.ZIP or .RAR, for example), using your favourite compression program. However, if you use that file frequently it surely is not the most convenient solution. If this is the case you can consider using a specific program:

Free Hide Folder - is a powerful free tool to protect and hide sensitive folders on your computer. The invisible files can only be opened through the application’s file manager.

AxCrypt - is an excellent free encryption utility that enables users to encrypt all files within a folder and not allow those files to be viewed without a passphrase.

WinCry - is a freeware utility that enables your files to be encrypted and it offers secure deletion, as well as other helpful methods of protecting your files.

If what you are looking for is a secure place to write your secrets, have a look at myDiary, where you can write down your daily thoughts and lock them up, just like one of those old-fashioned secret diaries.

If you usually work with two computers (home and office, desktop and laptop), FEBE is a great way to have Firefox perfectly synchronized between them. This extension lets you create backup copies of all data in the browser, including bookmarks, extensions, themes, cookies and more. It also supports scheduled backup copies and user-selected backup profiles.

If you’re in the hunt for a new FTP client, and you’ve just upgraded your Mac to Leopard, then I recommend you try out Flow. This newly released application makes use of Leopard technology like QuickLook and offers a really simple way to transfer files. The droplet feature makes uploading as simple as drag-and-drop. Programmers will also like having a built-in editor right in the application.

The Windows Mobile operating system is good, but it isn’t great. If you want to get more from mobile, then get hold of Spb Phone Suite, which adds a whole host of extra features to the OS. These goodies include profiles, call filtering, missed call notification, reject and reply with SMS, photo speed dial and a wireless manager. Once installed you’ll wonder how you managed without them!

I recently upgraded my computer and therefore had to go through the pain of installing the whole operating system and all my favorite applications from scratch. Luckily they’re not that many and some of them make the process of moving to a new PC a lot easier these days.

I’m talking particularly about Firefox, which features an embedded tool to backup bookmarks and import them back to your newly installed Firefox anywhere else. To use it, just go to Bookmarks > Organize Bookmarks and once you’re in the Bookmark Manager, go to File > Export. Firefox will save all your bookmarks as an HTML file which you can import later in exactly the same place.

Also, for those of you who make use of the Firefox built-in password manager, you may also want to backup your passwords. While Firefox doesn’t feature an special embedded tool for that like it does for bookmarks, you can use this handy extension. Password Exporter lets you backup all saved passwords to a CSV or XML file and import them in another computer.

Finally, if you’d like to make a copy of your whole user profile in Firefox, I definitely recommend using MozBackup. This excellent tool will backup your whole profile including bookmarks, browsing history, cookies, passwords and cache. I used it to move all my data from the old PC to the new one and it worked perfectly well.