Another week -- month, actually --- is behind us and a huge number of software releases to keep track of. If you feel like you may have missed out on some of the biggest releases, this roundup is here to get you back up to speed.
iolo System Mechanic Free 10.8.3.51 is a great free tool for optimizing your system, but if you’re more concerned about protecting your privacy by securely deleting files, take a look at Disk Wipe 1.5. Auslogics Disk Defrag 3.4.1.0 is a free utility to replace Windows’ defragmentation tool which now offers better stability and performance. There’s also a Pro version of the program available –Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro 4.0.1.50. Infamous system cleaner CCleaner 3.17.1689 and CCleaner Portable 3.17.1689 feature improved cookie options, better support for Chrome and a host of other fixes and enhancements.
BurnAware Free 4.8 is one of the most recent apps to be updated with support for Windows 8, while Xara Web Designer MX 8 is an advanced web design tool, but if you need something a little more powerful, take a look at Xara Web Designer MX Premium 8. As well as creating your own websites to put online, you should also be able to enjoy other people’s sites.
When you’re using the internet, security software is always important, and Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ 10 FINAL and Kaspersky PURE 2.0 Total Security can help you with this.
For anyone that takes a keen interest in their computer, AIDA64 2.30 can reveal everything you need to know about your hardware and software -- there’s also AIDA64 Business Edition 2.30 which includes a number of extra handy options. If you own an iPhone, iPad or iPod, Apple iTunes 10.6.1 (32-bit) and Apple iTunes 10.6.1 (64-bit) have been released.
This is largely a bug fixing release, and there are no new features of note. If you’re more of a fan of Android devices, BlueStacks App Player 0.6.3 (beta) is an interesting tool that makes it possible to install Android app within Windows.
The week saw a number of releases from Adobe, focused around its two big internet tools. Adobe Flash Player for Internet Explorer 11.2 (32-bit) and Adobe Flash Player for Internet Explorer 11.2 (64-bit), which is the latest version of the browser plugin for IE users. If you’re using a different browser, Adobe Flash Player for Other Browsers 11.2 (32-bit) and Adobe Flash Player for Other Browsers 11.2 (64-bit) have been released offering improved performance thanks to the software taking advantage of GPUs. Also released by the company is Adobe Air 3.2 which includes impressive performance improvements thanks to better compression support.
We’ve already looked at a few security tools, but there have been a number of releases from AVG starting with AVG Premium Security 2012 SP1 (v12.0.2126). This latest service pack adds the ad tracker blocking as well as protection against spoofed wifi networks and there’s also a service pack for the company’s famous AV tool, AVG Anti-Virus 2012 SP1 (v12.0.2126). There’s also a free version of the tool available -- AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2012 SP1 (v12.0.2126) -- and a lower cost version of the main security tool in the form of AVG Internet Security 2012 SP1 (v12.0.2126). One final update form AVG this week is AVG LinkScanner Free Edition 2012 v12.0.2126 which keeps you protected by blocking potentially dangerous web sites.
There are often weeks that seem to be dominated by web browsers, and the week past is no different. Google Chrome 18 FINAL sees a new version of Google’s browser entering the stable channel and there is also a portable version available in the form of Google Chrome Portable 18.0.1025.137 Beta. The new stable release means that there is now Google Chrome 19.0.1084.1 Dev for anyone who likes to be at the cutting edge, and Google Chrome Portable 19.0.1077.3 Dev is available if you want to pop the browser on a USB drive. The release of a new version of Chrome means that there is also a new version of speed and security optimized variantComodo Dragon 18 FINAL, while Apple Safari 5.1.5 is a more minor release.
If this does not give you enough choice for browsing the web, take a look at Opera Next 12.00 build 1351 or Opera Next 12.00 build 1251 (64-bit). Neither version offers huge difference from their predecessors, but the march of development continues -- but Opera 11.62 FINAL now provides better HTML5 support and a raft of other improvements.
There isn’t a new version of Firefox just at the moment, but Pale Moon 11.0.1 and Pale Moon x64 11.0.1 are the latest version of the Firefox 11 based browser, bringing various improvements including better HTML5 and CSS3 support.
Join us again end of the week for another app-packed roundup.
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