software

Real Network's 'legal' DVD ripping software has already prompted legal action from the movie industry. And to confuse matters, Real has somehow filed what's effectively a pre-emptive countersuit. As we reported recently , Real claimed its new ... product, RealDVD, did not breach copyright laws because it allowed users to copy an entire disc, including the copy protection system which most ripping software removes. The Motion Picture Association of America has now launched a lawsuit to coincide with the software's official release, accusing the firm of breaching copyright laws. In an unusual legal ... (view more)

RealNetworks, the company behind the RealPlayer software, has produced a DVD-ripping package which it claims does not break copyright laws. Unlike most ripping software, much of which has faced distribution problems after legal threats, RealDVD ... copies the entire contents of discs including the copy protection itself. It appears the contents will be copied in a specific format which can only be played back through the RealDVD software rather than, for example, Windows Media Player. The copied files will also be set-up in such a way that they only play on the original hard drive and can't be ... (view more)

Finally, software tools for those that have difficulty remembering things. Both IBM and Microsoft are currently testing software designed to improve individual memory. Let's face it, people today are overwhelmed with information and data -- so much ... so that they can't process it or retrieve it when needed. The new software will help with that by combining pictures, sounds, dates, times, locations, and text that is recorded through some type of everyday mobile electronic device (like a smart cell phone) and indexed for later retrieval. (Source: computerworld.com ) The IBM version of the ... (view more)

Today's fresh software picks were provided courtesy of Bob Helmer at Shell Extension City. Please note that the below software descriptions are provided solely from the developer and are absent from any guarantee or warranty. You are encouraged to ... review the Shell Extension Software Policy for more details. Ultimate List Of Free Windows Software From Microsoft Fabulous! Microsoft has over 150 FREE Windows and Office Programs available for download -- finding them all is extremely difficult -- until now. http://bhandler.spaces.live.com Clip Guru ClipGuru is for the Windows user who prefers ... (view more)

Today's fresh software picks were provided courtesy of Bob Helmer at Shell Extension City. Please note that the below software descriptions are provided solely from the developer and are absent from any guarantee or warranty. You are encouraged to ... review the Shell Extension Software Policy for more details. Wifi Client WiFi Security can be hard to figure out. There are many options, many settings, and a lot of techno-babble that makes it difficult for non-technical users to understand. The LucidLink WiFi Client eliminates all of the clutter and only presents what you need to connect to the ... (view more)

Microsoft is funding one of the biggest open-source organisations to the tune of $100,000. But it's not an out-and-out backing of the open-source concept. The software giant is giving the cash to the Apache Foundation, a non-profit group designed to ... co-ordinate several projects including the Apache web server, software that physically handles requests for web pages and the files involved. Apache's web server arguably made the World Wide Web what it is today. At one point, the majority of sites used it and even today it's still the most popular with a 49% market share. Major sites such as ... (view more)

Businesses' internal networks are becoming increasingly less secure, a new study shows. A scan of 100,000 corporate PCs and servers found that every single organisation was facing some form of security threat. The industries studied included ... healthcare, insurance, finance and manufacturing, with Promises Inc warning that the risk might extend outside the networks and out into the public domain among customers and clients. Security firm Promises Inc carried out the study between January and June this year. The research found even the most secure networks had at least three threats: the two ... (view more)

Since retiring Windows XP on June 30 of this year, Microsoft has been making a push to repair the reputation of Windows Vista while attempting to gain more support from small businesses. Eighteen months after Vista shipped, Microsoft finally ... confessed to what everyone already knew: Vista has problems. More accurately, as noted by Information Week, Microsoft is admitting that Vista had problems shortly after its release, but claims they've been fixed, so it's safe to switch to Vista now. It's not quite that simple though. A couple days ago Microsoft announced the launch of the Windows Vista ... (view more)

Adobe is taking on the likes of Microsoft and Google by making it easier to use its software online, meaning colleagues in different locations can create and work on documents together much more easily. The move coincides with the launch of Adobe ... Acrobat 9, the latest edition of their PDF software. That's a format that allows users to share documents (which can include images as well as text) without having to both use the same software. It's often used to reproduce hard-copy documents such as magazine pages. The biggest development with Acrobat 9 is that users can now include animations and ... (view more)

Officials in India, Brazil and South Africa have all filed official protests against an international decision backing Microsoft's controversial 'open' document format. Office Open XML (OOXML) is Microsoft's own invented format where documents (such ... as those created in word processors or spreadsheets) are designed to work on all computers regardless of what software is being used. The problem is that there's already an open format named OpenDocument which was created by an independent organisation. Critics say it's redundant to have a second open format -- by definition there only needs to be ... (view more)