WinMend Auto Shutdown
WinMend Auto Shutdown is a free tool that will shut down your Windows PC at a scheduled time. It can also place your PC in hibernation or standby mode, or log you off when it’s unattended. You can use Scheduled Tasks to do all that in Windows, but it’s a complex and time-consuming process. That’s where Auto Shutdown shines: it’s easy enough for anyone to use.
WinMend Auto Shutdown normally runs in the background; clicking the program’s system tray icon let us show the main view as well as restart or shut down our PC immediately. The program’s brightly colored interface is efficiently configured for the task, with a brief description of what it does and a current date and time display above sections labeled Task and Time. In Task, check boxes let us select Shut down, Log off, Sleep, and Hibernate commands. The Time section offered selections for Daily operation, with a spinner for hours, minutes, and seconds; Specified date and time, which adds a scrolling pop-up calendar view; and From now, which counts down in hours and minutes. We started by selecting Shut down and Daily and setting the time for a minute later. After a minute, a 30-second countdown popped up with an eye-catching flasher icon and a Cancel button; in 30 seconds and following a few more notifications, our PC shut itself down. We ran the process again, only this time we clicked Cancel, which ended the countdown and prompted us to verify the command. The other commands worked equally well. The main interface has two extra tabs, Our Products and About Us; the former listed shareware and freeware products, and the latter linked to the developer via Web and e-mail.
If you don’t like using the Windows Task Scheduler but want to schedule an automatic shutdown or other system commands, WinMend’s free tool can do the deed for you: all you have to do is tell it when and how.
License: Free
Limitations: No limitations
Infinite USB Memory
Dubai based start-up Infinitec prepares to launch the world’s first “Infinite” USB Memory (IUM), and before the name gets you excited, it’s a wireless USB device that works by allowing access to data using an ad hoc stream from your Windows-based PC.
Originally unveiled at CES in January, the IUM is set to launch on March 1. Preordering is available and is, according to CEO Ahmad Zahran, building quite a demand, “After five minutes we started to get sales. This happened at 1am … and since then we’ve got more than I expected.”
Going for a little under US$ 130, some are finding some of the features to be quite bland, (sharing between PCs and the like), but the reason I would part with my money is for the support this little gadget has with gaming consoles such as the XBOX 360 and PS3. Some other features include the capability to stream content directly to an HDTV or Blu-ray player.
If you really want to understand how it works and what you can do with it check out this video the marketing people from Infinitec prepared:
The more I think about the IUM, the more I think, “What are the security implications of such a device?”, or “You could probably send someone a gift laptop with the hard drive pre-shared using IUM and if it’s good software, the user won’t realize a thing”. But hey, it’s probably just my skeleton-riddled closet that’s doing the talking. I mean, does anyone really keep confidential data on their laptops?
Glary Utilities
This powerful application offers extensive utilities to improve your system’s performance and protect your privacy. Glary Utilities’ well-organized interface allows users to easily choose from several tools. It cleans unwanted junk files and removes invalid and broken shortcuts, freeing up valuable disk space.
Its Registry cleaner allows you to scan, remove, and back up faulty Registry entries. You also can wipe out online and Windows traces, although Internet Explorer is the only browser in which this function is supported. To improve the speed of your computer, Glary Utilities offers tools to manage start-up programs and memory optimization. Privacy-conscious users will certainly appreciate its inclusion of a government-standard file shredder to securely delete data.
One Click A Day For PC Maintenance, Keeps Any PC Problems Away. With millions of worldwide users, the first-rank & free Glary Utilities is an indispensable friend for your PC, with its 100% safe, thorough & quick cleaning and worry-free restoration. Glary Utilities is a freeware with registry and disk cleaning, privacy protection, performance accelerator and amazing multifunctional tools. It can fix dogged registry errors, wipe off clutters, optimize internet speed, safeguard confidential files and maintain maximum performance. It is designed for both novice and professionals. User-friendly interface shows clear & detailed directions.
License: Free
Limitations: No limitations
Veetle TV
Veetle is a venture-backed digital media company based in Silicon Valley. Started by a team of top-notch engineers who were former graduate students from Stanford University, Veetle provides the next generation live broadcasting platform that can deliver extremely cost-effective streams at a massive scale with unprecedented quality. This unique platform therefore enables content owners, broadcasters and websites to reach millions of concurrent viewers with the highest fidelity content possible, at little or no additional cost.
Version 0.9.17 now supports Google Chrome on Windows.
License: Free
Limitations: No limitations
Avast Free Antivirus
Avast Free 5, an A-list freeware antivirus app, provides the same steadfast protection of well-known, pricier antivirus programs. Avast is remarkable for both its effectiveness and arguably providing the most complete free antivirus on the market.
Avast Free 5, formerly known as the Home Edition, protects you with multiple guards. The antivirus, antispyware, and heuristics engines form a security core that also includes multiple real-time shields. The adjustable mail and file system shields join the pre-existing behavior, network, instant messaging, peer-to-peer, and Web shields. The behavioral shield is a common-sense feature, as security software publishers leverage their large user bases to detect threats early and warn others. Other new features include a silent-gaming mode and an “intelligent scanner” that only looks at changed files after establishing a baseline. The biggest change in Avast 5, though, is the interface. Gone is the music player default look, which was skinnable but confusing. In its place is a sleek UI that new users should find far more manageable. It’s also Aero-friendly, with Explorer-style navigation buttons in case you can’t remember where you tweaked a particular setting.
Avast’s recent independent third-party testing has been notably solid, able to hold its own against better-known programs from Symantec and Microsoft. Avast 5 Free lacks features in the paid upgrade including antispam measures, a testing sandbox, a Script shield, and a firewall. Even without those, Avast Free 5 is probably the strongest, free antivirus currently available.
CNET video review of Avast Free Antivirus
Avast Free Antivirus is based on multiple protective layers that work together to provide security. The product is designed for the average consumer who wants easy-to-use protection for basic email and web surfing. It is limited to home and non-commercial users.
New features match top detection with increased efficiency. Computer memory requirements for the new antivirus and antispyware engine have been cut in half. Scanning is 40 percent faster, saving both time and computer resources. Complete rootkit protection includes real-time detection to ward off initial installation, on-demand scanning and boot-time scans. The user friendly 5.0 has a new interface with easy-to-adjust settings, a context-sensitive help menu and graphs showing ongoing protection activities. Users can set the time and conditions for complete scans, with avast even waking up their computer from hibernation for midnight scans before putting it back to bed. Multiple shields prevent the spread of malware via email by checking incoming and outgoing emails for suspect content, identify malware by its anticipated behavior or by looking out for unusual activity and attempts at system modifications.
CNET Editor’s Note: Avast Antivirus Home Edition is free to use but requires e-mail registration before the end of the initial 60-day trial period. Following the registration you will receive by e-mail a license key valid for a period of 1 year.
What’s new in this version:
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Antivirus and anti-spyware engine
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Real time anti-rootkit protection
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Potentially unwanted program detection
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Code emulator
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Heuristic engine
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Wake-up for scan
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Scheduled scanning
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Fast application of updates
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File System Shield
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Mail Shield
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Optimized for Intel’s new Core i7 chip
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Multi-threaded scanning optimization
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Graphical user interface
License: Free
Limitations: No limitations
Microsoft Windows XP vs. Vista vs. Windows 7
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Comparing Windows: XP vs. Vista vs. 7 |
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Windows 7 |
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Interface |
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Explorer |
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Start menu |
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Taskbar |
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Devices |
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Misc. |
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Performance
Windows 7 feels faster than Windows XP and Vista, but it turns out that’s not always the case–sometimes, it’s the slowest out of the three operating systems. CNET Labs tested four 32-bit Windows operating systems: Windows 7 RTM build 7600, Windows 7 Release Candidate build 7100, Windows Vista with Service Pack 2, and Windows XP SP3, all on an Inspiron Desktop 530 Mini Tower running an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E4500 at 2.20 GHz, with a 128MB NVIDIA 8300 GS graphics card, 4GB of RAM, and two 320GB SATA 7,200rpm hard drives.
Microsoft Office Performance (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Windows Vista SP2 (64 bit)
571
Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (64 bit)
600
Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (32 bit)
684
Windows 7 RC Build 7100(32 bit)
752
Windows Vista SP2 (32 bit)
673
Windows XP SP3 (32 bit)
483
iTunes encoding (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Windows Vista SP2 (64 bit)
199
Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (64 bit)
199
Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (32 bit)
187
Windows 7 RC Build 7100(32 bit)
188
Windows Vista SP2 (32 bit)
189
Windows XP SP3 (32 bit)
187
Boot time (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Windows Vista SP2 (64 bit)
60
Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (64 bit)
50.3
Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (32 bit)
41.25
Windows 7 RC Build 7100(32 bit)
44.81
Windows Vista SP2 (32 bit)
40.16
Windows XP SP3 (32 bit)
40.03
Shutdown time (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Windows Vista SP2 (64 bit)
5.68
Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (64 bit)
5.32
Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (32 bit)
5.1
Windows 7 RC Build 7100(32 bit)
6.2
Windows Vista SP2 (32 bit)
5.69
Windows XP SP3 (32 bit)
29.9
Cinebench
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Windows Vista SP2 (64 bit)
4,813
Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (64 bit)
4,822
Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (32 bit)
4,213
Windows 7 RC Build 7100(32 bit)
4,184
Windows Vista SP2 (32 bit)
4,174
Windows XP SP3 (32 bit)
4,217
As you can see in the chart, we found that Windows 7 RTM was the fastest to shutdown, and was tied with XP for iTunes encoding. However, it was slower than XP and Vista for both booting up cold by a bit more than 1 second, and slower than either of its predecessors in its Microsoft Office performance. After having used Windows 7 beta, RC, and now the RTM for more than six months combined, it still feels faster for us when launching programs, opening the control panel, and dragging icons, files, and folders around than XP. That’s not to denigrate the value of the benchmarks, but keep in mind that the perception and reality might differ based on hardware and usage.
Support
When you try to use a file already in use, Windows 7 goes beyond Vista and XP by telling you not just that it’s being used, but where it’s being used so you can manage the situation faster. Other than that, Windows 7 offers on-board operating system support nearly identical to Windows Vista. Screen darkening, one-click action hand-holding, and a useful question mark icon on all Explorer windows maintain Vista’s improved help features, when compared with Windows XP.
In sum
Windows 7 looks like the operating system that both Microsoft and its consumers have been waiting for. By fixing most of the perceived and real problems in Vista, Microsoft has laid the groundwork for the future of where Windows will go. Windows 7 presents a stable platform that can compete comfortably with OS X, while reassuring the world that Microsoft can still turn out a strong, useful operating system.
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