iTunes is a widely used audio player, but it wasn't always like that. Up until recently, it was the audio players such as Nullsoft's Winamp that dominated headlines. This was back in the days when you either grabbed audio from our own CDs or obtained tracks off the Internet from, well, less legitimate sources. No copy or DRM protection was required or utilised and people simply needed to play their audio.

You don't need to purchase from the iTunes Store to use iTunes. At a basic level, it can be used to store your audio tracks (from whatever source) and, with the release of iTunes 7, you can now obtain your artwork from the iTune Store, without making a purchase. This means that artwork for audio grabbed from your CDs can be stored and shown, without requiring you to scan in the original art. The latest iTunes 7.01 contains a few bug fixes found within the recent release of 7.0.

Winamp 5.3 is a minor upgrade, but is a long-term favourite of a lot of users.  There are quite a few enhancements within the latest release, improved media player syncing support and much more. If you've never used Winamp, it's worth downloading for yourself.

After we've used our computer for a while, we forget what we've installed, uninstalled or the apps that we've got running on our system. These apps often launch when we start a PC and it's difficult to know why your computer is taking so long to boot. The 'Startup' folder in your Start Menu doesn't always give you an indication of the apps the launch when you boot your PC.

There are a few tools available that will enable you to view the software that start with your computer. Autoruns is an advanced startup manager which enables you to quickly view the software that starts with your computer and either remove or disable these apps. Startup Delayer is a slightly different tool which can prioritise the apps that launch on your computer. If you find that your system has to wait for a tool to start before you can finish booting in to Windows, it might be worth configuring this app so it's a low priority.

Effectively these tools are removing details from your Registry. If you have applications that attempt to start which aren't installed on your machine, you could use a registry enhancer such as Registry Mechanic 5, our current free download, or the free Eusing Registry Cleaner to remove redundant Registry items.

Generally speaking, when software reaches 'release candidate' stage it's feature-complete and, bar any show stopping bugs and small fixes, it's close to final release. Many of us are keen Firefox 1.5x users and are keen to get hold of the release version of the forthcoming 2.0.

Mozilla have released Firefox 2.0 as a public release candidate and is now available to download. Although it's still not recommended you use this version as your primary web browser, it's at a stage where it's good enough for general public consumption. Download it and let us know what you think of the new release.

Opera 9.02 has recently been released and is a worthwhile alternative to Internet Explorer. Give Opera 9.02 a whirl and if you've never used Opera, you might be rather surprised.

Mozilla Firefox contains a basic but functional download manager. It enabes you to right click on a download link and retry or cancel the download progress. However, you can't do too much more than this. There are loads of external download managers out there, but there are two that integrate in to Firefox as an extension.

DownThemAll is an extension that will enable you to mass-download a range of files, mainly from the download links on a web page. For instance, if you're wanting to download a load of home videos stored on a friends site, simply select the page and DownThemAll will locate the links and will download the files. You can leave your computer and do something more interesting, whilst they are all downloading.

FlashGot is more of a traditional download manager that enables you to download individual files and includes acceleration technology so that you can grab your downloads much quicker. FlashGot is also a Firefox extension. Give them a go and, as they are extensions, they can be remove rather easily.

Mac OS X enables you to quickly locate files on your Mac by entering the filename (or part of the name) in an application called Spotlight. What Spotlight does is run a low-level application on your system that constantly catalogues the files you add and remove to your computer. When you need to find a particular digital photo, simply enter the name and your system already knows where it is located. Instant result.

Windows on the other hand has to search through your entire computer - from scratch - if you want to find a particular file. This takes ages. Luckily there are a number of third-party applications that enable you to search, instantly. Google Desktop is one solution, but isn't the best available. Copernic Desktop Search 2.0 was released recently and that gives you the option of an instant search, but also a new function where you can quickly enter the name of your file through an application within your System Tray.

Be aware that Copernic Desktop Search and Google Desktop need to spend time processing the files and data on your computer, to build their initial database. Anyway, let us know which one you prefer or the alternatives available.

If you're like the majority of users, you'll often install and uninstall software on your computer. It's a natural process as we all want the best software and we make our own decisions on the software we want installed on our machine.

However, the use of software leaves traces, configuration files, temporary data and other information, on your computer. Start surfing the web with multiple web browsers and you'll find that they store their history, downloads and cookie information in places which are always very accessible. Ashampoo WinOptimizer Platinum 2 - our full commercial download, worth around £25 - will enable you to cleanse and optimise your system, by locating and removing many of these old, redundant and temporary files.

It goes much further, too. You can use the Registry software to enhance your Registry, the built-in tools to optimise your copy of Windows and much more. This is a free commercial download and will be available until 21st of October 2006. Grab your software from the download page.

There have been some major new releases this week but I'm more excited about the new version of ACDSee rather than Vista RC1, Office 2007 refresh or the other big releases. ACDSee is a fantastic image viewer that enables you to quickly view photos and images, without spending time waiting for an app to load before you can view an image.

However, over the last couple of years ACDSee has moved to counteract the competition and turned the fantastic image viewer in to a fully-fledged photo manager. That's resulted in mixed opinions regarding the product - it's attempting to do what everyone else is doing. Now with the latest ACDSee v9, you still have all the benefits of an advanced photo manager, but if you simply want to view and preview images - and view them quickly - one of the key new features is the QuickView mode.

There's competition though. Check out the latest version of Picasa. If you want a decent media manager, try iView Media Pro. If you want an advanced photo editor, give the new version of Paint Shop Pro XI a try.

Although it's still in beta (the final version will be released as part of the forthcoming Leopard operating system, in 2007), Apple have released a new version of Boot Camp, now up to 1.1.1. Boot Camp enables Intel Mac users to create a bootable Windows partition that resides alongside your existing Mac OS X partition. You can then choose to boot in to either Windows XP or Mac OS X.

The latest 1.1.1 revision of Boot Camp supports the latest Core 2 Duo Intel-based Mac Pro and iMacs. Other improvements include the support for installing Windowx XP on any internal hard drive. If you have a Mac Pro, you could install a separate drive that contained Windows XP.

Remember you need Windows XP with Service Pack 2 to use Boot Camp. If you have this and want to use Windows on your Intel-Mac, download Boot Camp 1.1.1 from the Apple website.

It seems like we spend more time discussing security software than most other applications. Well, that's simply due to the fact that there are now more security applications and commercial developers, and many new releases. Back in 2000, we only ever heard about Internet software. In 2002 we only ever heard about new photo management software. Now it's security-related apps. We're obsessed we keeping secure, to the point where the obsession is almost encouraging virus developers to beat the new technology. It's like a cat and mouse game.

Anyway, luckily for us the two big guns have released 2007 editions of their security software. Symantec have announced Norton AntiVirus 2007, whilst McAfee AntiVirus 2007 is also available. Both offer protection against the latest virus, spyware, Trojans and malware attack. Norton sports a brand new and much-improved interface.

Download Norton AntiVirus 2007 or McAfee Internet Security 2007. Don't forget that Panda Platinum 2007, Kaspersky Internet Security 6 and BitDefender Security Suite 10 are also available. There are also free antivirus apps such as the popular AOL Active Shield, AVG AntiVirus 7 and Avast Home 4.7. Phew. Let us know which security suite you prefer!

When we buy a new PC or install Windows on to a fresh hard drive, our system flies. You can give your old system a major boost simply by re-installing Windows on a new fast hard drive. After installing and uninstalling software on your computer, remnants remain within your Registry. After time, this redundant information slows down your computer s ability to search through your Registry, meaning your system takes longer to boot and generally seems sluggish.

However, there's a better way of improving and speeding up your system - use Registry cleansing software to search through your Registry for redundant entries, remove and cleanse. We've got the full commercial version of Registry Mechanic 5.0 for you to download, free of charge. Remember, you'll also need to get your serial code - full instructions on the download page. It's completely wizard-driven and easy to use, although we recommend backing up your Registry before you start to cleanse.

Download your full copy of Registry Mechanic 5.0, get your serial code, then let us know what you think of the software.

The launch of Windows Vista seems to be really dragging, but here we are with the general public preview of the Release Candidate. A release candidate is generally regarded as 'feature complete', so only expect bug fixes and minor changes between this an the final release. Indeed, the release candidate implies that the release is on target for an early 2007 launch.

Better still, we're also able to download a Technical Refresh version of Office 2007 beta 2, which some visual improvements, based on feedback from the May launch of beta 2. Still not a release candidate, but still worth downloading if you're a Office 2007 beta 2 user. Yes, that's right, you need beta 2 installed to install this Technical Refresh update - as it's just an update.

Head over to the Microsoft Vista Release Candidate download or the Microsoft Office 2007 beta 2 Technical Refresh update. If you still need beta 2 (before you install the technical refresh update), that can be downloaded from the Microsoft website.

If only Microsoft were as productive as the Mozilla Foundation when it comes to developing their web browser. Another day and another minor update to both Mozilla Firefox 1.5 (this release is 1.5.0.7) and Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5 (1.5.0.7). Note that these are only minor fixes and contain security updates and little more. Don't expect new features - they're expected to appear in the forthcoming Firefox 2.0 release, due in October.

If you're a current Firefox or Thunderbird 1.5 user, you'll probably find that, sooner rather than later, your browser and email client will automatically download and update with the new revision. However, you can download and install manually or, if you're a new user, you'll need to download the new version.

Download Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.7 and/or Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5.0.7. Note that these are the British versions of each download.

It's common knowledge that the PC you specify or order via a magazine might not end up as the PC you receive. If you've specified a graphics card upgrade, how do you know if you've received your upgrade? Your PC might be sealed for warranty reasons, which means you can't take it apart.

It's not all bad news though. Often a PC is upgraded between your order and receipt. Some PC manufacturers build your PC on demand, so you might find that your system hard drive has been upgraded from a 250GB to a 300GB, despite what it states on your invoice.

There's an easy way of finding out what's in your PC: simply run a full system audit, using software such as Belarc Advisor or SiSoft Sandra, which has been around for ages. Another alternative is the popular SIW, Fresh Diagnose or for the system professional, Everest Ultimate Edition. The bonus is that these apps will not only audit your machine, they'll also tell you if everything is working correctly.

Skype and other VoIP applications are great for chatting over the Internet. With Apple enabling Windows access to iSight (whether it is built-in within your MacBook or external, via the old iSight camera) through Bootcamp, it makes a video chat via Skype a much more realistic prospect.

However, what happens when you're working within Mac OS X, using Skype and a friend wants a video chat? The current Mac release of Skype 1.5 cannot chat with a PC, using video. This is all about to change with the forthcoming release of Skype 2.0 for the Mac. It also supports picture-in-picture, so you can see both yourself and the remote user, on your desktop.

At this stage, it's still in beta, but worth downloading if you're a Mac Skype fan. Grab it here.

Humans are creatures of routine. We like to have the same configuration between our home and work computers, including storing the same bookmarks, email, contacts and other information. When we browse the web using Firefox on our work computer, constantly adding new bookmarks, we want to access the same bookmarks when we get home. You could manually email the new bookmarks to your home email address. Alternatively, you could install a tool to automate the process.

Apple's .Mac service enables you to synchronise the same information across your Macs. You can share bookmarks, contacts and more. However, this service only applies to Macs. Google's Browser Sync for Firefox will enable you setup a Google account and use this to automatically synchronise your Firefox bookmarks across different computers, whatever the operating system. Definitely worth downloading.

There are tools to store and make your passwords portable. RoboForm2Go will store all your important data on an external USB drive which you can use between computers. Bookmark Base and SyncBookmarks will synchronise your bookmarks between browsers and computers.

The latest version of iTunes got me thinking. It's fantastic that Apple are now enabling us to grab artwork for our imported CDs, but any serious music collector will have hundreds of old LPs and even tapes, which they're keen to get on to their computer. Indeed, any DJ will let you know that they can't live without their turntable, simply due to old remixes that only shipped on vinyl.

The answer is to keep your vinyl and tapes for archive purposes and use an audio grabber to extract the music and to store on your computer. You'll probably end up with one big WAV file, so you'll then need some audio software to cut up the tracks, clean up and then export to MP3 or another format for your portable music player.

Our two favourites are LP Recorder 8 and LP Ripper 8, which will cut, edit and save your tracks. There are many other options available, such as EasyRecorder which will record audio to your computer. You could then use a post-processing tool such as REAPER to filter and add effects to your tracks.

It's been a long while since Apple released new iPods, but last night we saw a brand new Nano, a small improvement to the 'video' iPod and a completely re-designed Shuffle. Oh, and they previewed a fantastic new HD-orientated media centre, which is half the size of a Mac Mini.

To drive the new hardware, they also released new versions of QuickTime 7.1.3 and iTunes 7, which is a major update. If you're in the States, you'll now be able to download full movies, and anyone can now search for artwork through the iTunes Store, for their imported audio CDs. Saves you from having to scan in the front cover of your CD. iTunes 7 also has an improved interface, enabling you to browse your CDs via their front cover and much more.

You'll need to download if you want to get the best out of the new and improved iTunes Store. It's also a worthwhile upgrade for both Mac and PC users. Head here to grab the download and let us know what you think.

Since July 2006 we've been offering at least one full commercial application from our Downloads section, each week. So far so good. However, I recently noticed that once the full commercial applications drop off our latest arrivals chart, it's fairly difficult to work out which of the older apps are full commercial downloads. Also, some of the offers expire very soon.

Directory Opus 6.2 is a super 5-star rated Windows explorer replacement. This download offer expires 15th of September, so is definitely worth downloading very soon as it won't be repeated. There's eXpert PDF 3 which is a commercial PDF tool and a full download offer that is due to be taken offline 19th of September. Floorplan 3D v8 will enable you to design your own extension and the download offer expires 3rd of October. Ashampoo Burning Studio 2005 is your CD/DVD media suite and that full download offer will be taken offline on 15th of October. Lastly Serif DrawPlus 5 is a vector drawing package which has recently gone online.

Look out for a big full free commercial download later this week by checking the Latest Arrivals section.

Why is it that most Windows applications seem to fight each other to take control over your system filetypes? A filetype is the information that Windows uses when deciding which application to use to view/play the file. For instance, install Photoshop and you've got a JPG on your desktop that you want to view quickly and, you're right, it will open in Photoshop.

Don't these developers realise that sometimes we simply want to preview our photos or images, quickly. We want a system that enables us to double-click an image and it will load instaneously within our image-viewer. Of course, you can change your filetype structure by right-clicking on a file, choosing 'Open With' and selecting the program you want to open that file.

If you want a basic image viewer to view your photos and images, give FuturixImager a try. FastStone Image Viewer 2.6 is another alternative, whilst the superb Directory Opus ships with a built-in image viewer and ACDSee 8 is an excellent commercial choice. Either way, let us know your choice and alternatives, if you have an alternative.

How many times have you worked on a project, important work, your finances or spent ages categorising your photo collection, for the work to be lost due to a system crash or application instability? Worse, in the future you may find that you go to turn on your machine and you've suffered from hard drive failure and not backed up any of your data.

The answer is drive backup software that will enable you to backup either a system drive or partition. Using incremental backup, you can backup your entire drive and then choose to backup work or files you've amended since your last backup. This could be done at the end of every working day or week. Of course, if you ever need to salvage your files, you can always restore the files back to your system.

Paragon have recently released Drive Backup 8 and their key rival, Acronis, recently released True Image 9 Home Edition. If you're not looking for free drive backup software, there aren't too many titles around, but HDClone Free Edition 3.1 might be worth a try. Let us know which software you use to backup your drive.

There aren't that many proper drawing applications available on the market. Well, not many than are available to the consumer at an affordable price. Xara X springs to mind, perhaps ConceptDraw, but another alternative is Serif DrawPlus 5 and we've got the full commercial version for you to download, worth £53.

Serif DrawPlus is a complete vector drawing application that enables designers or those with little drawing experience to create an image for business or home use. A vector drawing application is ideal for a company that wishes to design or manipulate its own logo as you can drop in lines, objects and fonts to make up the image.

Anyway, it's a free download so you've got nothing to lose. Be quick as the full download offer will be taken offline after the 13th of October. Remember you'll also need to grab a serial code, too, to turn your download in to a full app. Click here to download Serif DrawPlus 5 and let us know what you think.

Hard drives are getting so large these days, it's getting more difficult to manage and organise our data. When we buy a new drive, it generally ships pre-formatted, so you can simply replace an existing drive and you're ready to go. However, the drive is formatted with one large partition, which you might want to arrange in to smaller drives.

Partitioning software will enable you create a multi-partitioned drive or, if you want to change existing partitions, merge or even delete as required. Professional partitioning software doesn't ship within Windows, so you'll need to turn to third-party alternatives and there aren't too many around.

Paragon have very recently released Partition Manager 8, whilst V-COM have announced Partition Commander 10 (no trial version available). If you're looking for freeware, there are a couple of choices in Partition Logic 0.63 or the Ultimate Boot CD. Check them out and let us know which tool you prefer.

Parallels recently released their Desktop for Mac virtual technology that enables an Intel Mac user to host Windows within a separate window on top of Mac OS X. Due to support for Intel's virtualisation technology, Windows is more than usable. It's fast. Better still, with the use of a virtual desktop manager, such as VirtueDesktops, you can open your virtual Windows on one screen and Mac OS X on another and quickly switch between the two desktops.

Now they've gone one stage further and added support for the new professional-level Mac Pro and experimental support for Windows Vista. This means you can test Windows Vista on your Mac, through virtual technology, without the need to upgrade or wipe your existing system. Simply host Vista in it's own window on top of OS X.

The Update Release Candidate for existing Parallels Desktop for Mac is available for both existing Parallels users and new users, through a 15-day trial. For more information, check the Update Release Candidate website.

We're big fans of OpenOffice, the free Microsoft Office compatible Office suite. Whilst we wait for the forthcoming OpenOffice 2.04 for Windows (download Release Candidate 1), the guys behind NeoOffice have been busy producing a proper Mac OS X Aqua native port of OpenOffice 2.03 for the Mac.

Previous releases for the Mac have been developed around the Unix-based X11 system, which results in a non-native obscure user interface. It has never been particularly popular with Mac users. Better still, this Mac version of OpenOffice supports the Mac-native clipboard, Spotlight, fonts and printing system.

Although still in beta (beta 3 to be exact), it's definitely worth a look if you're a Mac user seeking a freeware office suite. For further information, and to download NeoOffice for OS X, head to the NeoOffice website.

Have you ever re-installed Windows on an old PC? If so, you'll find that Windows flies. At first, you think that you might have upgraded your hardware, but soon you realise that the fresh installation consists of a near-blank Registry and optimised hard drive. After time, when you've installed and uninstalled software from your computer, remnants will remain within your Registry. This ends up slowing your computer as it takes longer to scan your Registry for the correct and legitimate information.

Instead of going through the long-winded procedure of backing up your important info, re-installing Windows and then re-installing all your important apps, why don't you use a Registry manager to optimise, cleanse and remove invalid keys?

Registry Mechanic 5 is one of the more popular choices, although Registry First Aid 5.02 will also perform the same procedure, as will Abexo Registry Cleaner 4.1. If you're seeking freeware, Eusing Free Registry Cleaner 1.1 is worth a look but, remember to backup your Registry before you cleanse, by using a tool such as ERUNT. If you want to monitor your Registry 'realtime', check the highly-rated free RegMon 7. Let us know how you get on.

It seems like reality that Windows Vista may be released on time (early 2007), with the release of Release Candidate 1 to their Customer Preview Program (CPP) users. These are users who registered with Microsoft back in June, when beta 2 was made publicly available. You'll most likely find that RC1 is made available to the public shortly or, if you can find a CPP member, they might help you obtain your serial code.

The best news is that Windows Vista is usable, with many of the bugs found in beta 2 squashed and some impressive speed improvements. That's not all, Microsoft state that ¨we’ve made some UI adjustments, added more device drivers, and enhanced performance. We’re not done yet, however - quality will continue to improve¨. All good news.

For more information about the Microsoft Windows Vista RC1, visit the Personal Computer World homepage, for a brief overview. If you're an existing Microsoft CPP user, head to the download page and grab the ISO along with your serial code. As always, let us have your feedback on the Release Candidate.

Although it's pretty easy to download music tracks through services such as iTunes or Napster, many of us prefer to purchase CDs to update our existing collection. Forthcoming movie download stores won't erase the market for DVDs - it might make them a little cheaper though.

However, many of us can't actually remember the DVDs we have in our collection. How many of you have been at your local HMV, browsing and buying DVDs from their mega-sale, only to get home and find you already owned the DVD?

MediaMan is a fantastic media manager that enables you to catalogue your audio CDs, movie DVDs, books and games. Once you've added a product to your collection, MediaMan extracts information from Amazon, so you can download a visual overview of each product in your collection. head to the download page for more information and, remember, let us have your feedback.

Digital photography is still a growth area and stands out from nearly every other computer-based activity, apart from digital music creation. It's a subject area which can be judged by the popularity and availability of digital photography magazines.

Which means there are always new digital photo and image managers, tools that will enable you to share photos with your friends and family, tools that enable professional image improvement and other applications that enable you to create an online photo album.

Corel - famous for their photo editing tools - have recently released Snapfire, a basic photo sharing application. Kodak EasyShare is another popular image management and sharing tools, along with Picasa. Microsoft Max is still in early development, whilst Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition and StudioLine Photo Basic are both worth a look. ACDSee 9 is due soon, so keep an eye on VNU Downloads for the release.

We install a hardware and, sometimes, a software-based firewall. We use anti-spyware tools to protect our computer and we've set up our own computer account for each member of the family, so we can store our own web browser favourites, work documents and iTunes playlists.

What happens when we step away from our computer, simply forget to switch it off, or put it in standby mode and it comes out of standby, accidentally? Folder and file encryption tools enable you to set up an encrypted and secure folder or vault on your computer and store your files and important data. Only you know the password, so you can be assured that only you can access this data (as long as you've set up your vault so you have to login after coming out of standby).

If you want to set up your own encrypted vault, the free CryptoExpert 2006 would be a wise choice. An alternative would be TrueCrypt 4 or the more simplistic Folder Lock 5.3.9. If you need professional-level encryption, try CryptoExpert Professional 2006.

We have experience providing files for download over the Internet and notice that few people use a download manager when they download their files. Most people use the built-in, but rather basic, download manager within Firefox or Opera. Indeed, Internet Explorer 6 doesn't even have a download management tool. It's simply a case of click on a download link on a website, download. If the download fails, partly completes or is corrupt, you need to find the original link and download again.

Yes, you could argue with fast broadband you don't need a download manager. However, downloading large files and max'ing out your connection can slow your web browsing and even your computer. A download manager enables you to speed up downloads, schedule downloads, resume downloads that have failed to complete and re-download previous downloads if you need them again in the future.

There are a number of options. StarDownloader 1.45 and Free Download Manager 2.1 are popular free choices, Internet Download Manager 5 has recently been updated, whilst GetRight 6 is worth consideration. FlashGot 0.5 is a popular download extension for Firefox. Check them out and let us have your opinion.

One of the advantages of buying a boxed product is that it ships with all sorts of extras, primarily as it ships on a DVD. When you buy Microsoft Office or Corel WordPerfect Suite from retail, you'll be supplied with hundreds of professional fonts, clipart and other extras.

OpenOffice is a free Microsoft Office compatible suite, consisting of a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program and illustration tool. With the recent release of OpenOffice 2, alongside a user-interface overhaul, most users will find they can move across from their current office suite to the free software.

With the Premium edition download, the standard OpenOffice v2 is bundled with clip art, fonts and, most importantly, a number of additional templates. If you're an existing OpenOffice user, you might find downloading the Premium edition beneficial. Visit the download page for more information.

Only a few short years ago we seemed obsessed with home DIY. Well, obsessed isn't the right word, TV makeover shows probably made us more fanatical about making improvements to our home, in order to raise the value. We were told (and are still being told) that a spring clean, lick of new paint and a few new cushions may add a few thousands to the value of our home.

However, many of us want to go much further and add an extension, loft conversion, revamp our kitchen or design our own conservatory. The snag is how do we get the ideas from our head to our architect so they interpret those ideas successfully?

Floorplan 3D v8 is an easy-to-use home DIY tool that enables you to design your own extension or makeover then present the results to your architect. It's much easier for them to interpret ideas from your design than from your notes. We've got the full commercial version of Floorplan 3D v8, worth £28, for you to download. So grab the download before we take the offer offline in October!

Back in the late 90s web development wasn't through the use of pre-designed templates, the use of a content management solution to 'enable' employees to produce web content, nor did you use a WYSIWYG web editor. Conclusion? Far fewer web developers and even fewer enthusiasts who want to dabble in a little web DIY.

The use of a content management is like a chicken and egg solution. Your web developers can put up pages, quickly, in the knowledge they can't do anything that will take down your server. However, by not delving in to the code that makes up a web page, they're not learning new skills and are losing others.

Empower yourself or your employees by enabling them to us a web-coding tool such as Aptana or Twistpad. Both designed to edit the raw code that makes up a web page. There are other, more established development apps, such as the recently updated UltraEdit. Either way, grab the fantastic cross-platform Aptana and let us know what you think.

There's so much security software available these days, many download sites - including our own - can't keep up updating their pages with all new releases. You would have thought that software developers were doing nothing but produce new security software. Indeed, has anyone noticed that just about the only software-based advertising these days, is security related, both within printed and online magazines? Worrying that we're having to rely on security software so much in order to keep our PCs secure.

Some users think to be absolutely secure, they need to install security software from multiple developers. They believe that one security tool might find a virus that another may miss. However, multiple security apps often conflict with each other causing additional problems.

A complete Internet security suite is another choice, offering everything you'll need to secure your PC. Recent releases include Panda Internet Security 2007, BitDefender Internet Security 2007, Kaspersky Internet Security 6 with releases due from McAfee and Norton, shortly. Check them out and let us know which suite you prefer.

Most of us would head to Amazon, WHSmith or another online store if we wanted to purchase a book. Book fans however would never choose a book without browsing the contents and doing a bit of research on the author. Now you can get the best of both worlds through the new Google Book Search.

You can search through books available through the Google Book Search based on either the book name or contents. For instance, if you're seeking a book on Macromedia Dreamweaver, you'll find that you're presented with a number of books relating to Dreamweaver. Some are available with a full preview, many have a very limited preview (limited to a small number of pages), whilst others have no preview at all. Google do, conveniently, show a list of online book stores that are stocking your choice of book.

To access the entire Google Book Search facility, you'll need a Google account. It's also worth noting that the service is still in beta. For more information, check out the search tool.

We see the constant adverts promoting the use of broadband to stream video and TV across the Internet. Yeah, this is fantastic if everyone agrees on a codec, but with QuickTime, Real, Windows Media Player and DivX all enabling us to encode our streaming video, we have to hope the end user a) has the player and codec to decode the streaming video and b) knows how to get the right codec.

This issue is clouded even further when you take in to account video that was encoded in the late 90s. In those days many of uses an Intel codec which has long-since been discontinued. Factor in the recent use of protection to prevent unauthorised copying of audio and video, and you'll soon realise that you may need a range of video players to play back streaming TV from the web.

One option is the fantastic K-Lite Codec Pack. This is a collection of all the video and audio codecs you should require for playing back audio and video from the Internet. The pack is constantly updated, so you'll be assured that the developers are always on the look out for new codecs to add to the collection.

Microsoft seem to have their fingers in many different areas. For instance, their free Windows Defender is their attempt at releasing an anti-spyware suite. However, this wasn't originally developed by Microsoft, it was purchased and re-branded as a Microsoft product. It works well, it's free, so we can't complain.

They've now gone one stage further and are offering a complete all-in-one PC protection and maintenance suite which contains Windows Defender, AntiVirus application, a Firewall, tool that will give your computer a performance tune-up and tools that enable you to backup and restore your important files and data.

Although the software resides on your computer, you need to go through a long-winded online procedure - using only Internet Explorer (groan) - to download the application. You can download a 90-day trial immediately and there's also a free online scan. For more information, check the Windows OneCare website.

The world has gone mad, officially. For years Mac OS users had to put up with the slow (and reliable) Connectix Virtual PC, followed by Microsoft's Virtual PC. Both were emulators that enable a Mac user to run Windows apps within a window, albeit very slowly. To be fair, too slowly. We craved for a solution that enabled us to run Windows more effectively and productively.

Since the move to the Intel platform, we've seen Parallels Desktop, Apple Bootcamp and a public preview of VMWare's forthcoming virtual technology for the Mac. Parallels Desktop is still virtual technology, but is both fast and more than usable. Bootcamp runs at system speed, but you need to run Windows separately from Mac OS X.

Codeweavers have just announced CrossOver Mac which enables you run a small number of Windows apps from within Mac OS X. They open as a Mac application. For instance, if you need to use Mac OS X, but miss Microsoft Outlook, you can now run Outlook within OS X! Check it out and add your comments.