free software

Malwarebytes Antimalware Free 1.61 is a supplemental free product that can help bolster your existing security software. The makers of Malwarebytes Antimalware pitch it as a tool for detecting and removing brand-new "zero-day" malware, and it uses a number of different technologies to accomplish this task.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition was PCWorld's top pick in April 2012's Free Antivirus You Can Trust. It performed well in virtually all of the tests we ran.

If you're like plenty of people these days, you have more than just one computer--and I don't mean just a traditional desktop or laptop PC, but also a smartphone or a tablet. A smartphone is little more than a computer wrapped around a cell phone; and a tablet, of course, is merely a computer in a convenient portable package.

Wine gets better with age. Men get more distinguished looking (or so my wife tells me). Even some cars seem to improve as time passes (I'm looking at you, 1965 Mustang). But there's nothing glamorous about old software apps, which just get less and less useful the older they get--right?

Free antivirus programs such as Microsoft's Security Essentials (MSE) have now supplanted more complex paid software as the antimalware defense of choice for millions of consumers, figures from certification company OPSWAT have suggested.

Simpler Web viewing: Remember when the Web was adless and clutter-free? A browser add-on called Readability takes you back to those times by stripping any page down to its main article. No ads. Minimal navigation menus. Almost no clutter. It's great for creating printer-friendly pages, and for distraction-free reading.

Simple security: In last year's roundup of best free stuff, the beta version of Microsoft Security Essentials 2 impressed us. Since then, Microsoft has officially released the utility to the public, and our admiration has only grown. With its combined antivirus, antispyware, and firewall protection, Security Essentials provides a solid layer of protection against the most common threats without hobbling your PC or nagging you with annoying update reminders.

Instant organization: Instead of clicking around in Windows Ex­­plorer to find where Windows hid your newly downloaded MP3 file, try DropIt. This open-source utility lets you set up folder associations for specific file types. Just drop files on the big target icon on your desktop, and DropIt will automatically whisk them away to their appropriate (and easy-to-find) destinations.

The Free Software Foundation gave its annual awards to an Internet privacy project and the creator of a free alternative to Adobe Flash.

Google's Chrome Web Store might only have been up and running for a few weeks, but it already hosts a stock of high-quality add-in apps.

Try and say "Paragon Backup & Recovery 2010 Free Advanced Edition" five times quickly. I dare you. On second thought, I dare you to remember it for five seconds. Okay, I'm kidding... mostly. Despite the long-winded moniker, BR2010FAE (pronounced by yours truly as Bur-Two-Ten-Fay, or Bur-Fay for short since I already know what year it is) is a very competent imaging/backup program with a number of useful features not commonly found in freebies. In fact, it's a bit hard to believe that they give this thing away.