Test-Driving NANO Antivirus, a New Antivirus From Russia

It's been a while since i did a full evaluation of any new antivirus software on the market, but i managed to dig out some time to test NANO Antivirus recently. I already heard about NANO Antivirus quite a couple of months ago, but didn't have the time to fully test it. For your information, this NANO antivirus is a legitimate Russian-based antivirus currently in beta-testing stage and SHOULD NOT be confused with nanoav, a rogue antivirus currently still in the wild.

NANO Antivirus, according to the official website, is founded on 2009 with about 20 or more professional programmers, virus analyst, tester, and admin staffs. They plan to offer NANO Antivirus as a freeware with the aims of providing reliable real-time protection for users. The official website also allows users to create an account. They even have a twitter account!

Here are the specifications of my test of NANO Antivirus:

Antivirus release version: 0.6.0.18 Beta (released 19 March 2010)
Test Machine: Windows Virtual PC 2007 (with 700MB of RAM allocated)
Operating System: Windows XP Service Pack 2 (with all security patches and updates)
Environment: No antivirus installed on Virtual Machine, Antivirus protection on Windows 7 (Host Machine) suspended. Virtual Machine runs on a Shared Networking rule.

Installation:

Installation of NANO Antivirus runs smoothly, although at one point it sort of held up time as it was trying to unpack its database. Overall, except for the unpacking part, everything is smooth and with minimal interaction. Like Avira Antivir Free, NANO Antivirus does not require a restart to go into full protection mode after installation, which is a BIG plus.

The User Interface:

 NANO Antivirus has a pretty attractive GUI with white, green and dark-brown color scheme: and that's the default GUI; users can have the option of using the even more simpler GUI, dubbed 'Basic' by NANO Antivirus. Like a lot of standard antivirus nowadays, NANO Antivirus have an animated sidebar panel on the left, a simple logo on the upper left corner and a tabbed interface at the center. 

There are a lot of features integrated into NANO Antivirus. Users can easily change any protection settings, edit the Quarantine area, password-protect security settings, configure proxy-server connection, view event logs and many scan paths. All the features are working as well.

How's its detection rate?

Is NANO Antivirus able to protect users? I have a collection of malwares compressed in WinRAR which consists of a dozen of Trojan Downloaders, Droppers, Backdoors, Sniffers, Botnets, Worms, Virus, Hoax Tool and even some Rootkits and DoS. Which makes up for 121 malware samples. I transfered all these malwares into the virtual Windows XP at the same time and NANO Antivirus stopped me...well, it proceeds to check these transfered malwares one at a time, which does make me tired, really. 

At the end of the transfer, NANO Antivirus detected about 97 of the malwares, as 24 malware samples made their way into the Virtual Machine. I did a system scan in the virtual machine, and NANO Antivirus identified five out of the remaining 24 samples. The conclusion is that: NANO Antivirus have approximately 84% detection rate, both real-time and on-demand scan combined. Out of the 19 samples that NANO Antivirus failed to identify, a majority of them are Exploits and DDoS while a few of them are Rootkits, Trojan Downloaders and Packed Trojans. Interestingly, it detected and eliminated ALL virus, worms, P2P Trojans and Backdoors.  

How's its performance?

NANO Antivirus itself does not seem like a drag, since it works pretty smoothly on the Virtual Machine. But when i run a scan and open up the Task Manager, this is what i got:

NANO Antivirus uses nearly half the CPU cycle available and more than 140,000K of RAM, which is an insane amount. I turned off the scan and examine the Task Manager again; this time, CPU cycle falls down to 0 cycles, but the RAM usage still peaks at around 130,000K, which is not impressive at all...even if i don't feel any lags with the antivirus or the Virtual machine...Later when i visited their support forum, i learned that the developers are still working on a solution to the RAM problem. Good luck (?)

How about responsiveness of Windows Explorer and browsing speed? I toured around the system files folders and browsed a few webpages inside the Virtual Machine, and everything is smooth and fine. 

The conclusion:

NANO Antivirus is pretty hungry on RAM during idle and scanning, but its own performance is pretty fast and its overall impact on PC speed is minimal.

Overall, i believe that this is one of the better free antivirus i've found on the market for quite some time, although it is still under beta development. At the present time, they'll need to work on perfecting their detection rate and finding a solution to reduce the amount of RAM required, but once they are complete and released with good advertising and promotions, I think they can well be challenging the antivirus market, just like how Microsoft Security Essentials had done.


Visit my Beta Tests page for download links to the latest NANO Antivirus Beta.

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Lavasoft Ad-Aware Plus - 24h Promo (Save £19)

This promo will be on Internet from midday GMT, Friday 26th of March 2010 through to midday GMT, Saturday 27th of March 2010. So, prepare yourself and do not forget to Get your license free.

we're giving you the chance to download the full current version of Lavasoft's Ad-Aware Plus v8.2, along with a years worth of updates. This commercial anti-spyware and anti-virus tool would normally cost $26.95, but it's yours, for free. Just make sure you re-visit the V3 Downloads between Friday and Saturday to download.

Download Link:  

http://www.v3.co.uk/downloads/

Promo Link:                

http://www.downloadjunkie.co.uk/2010/03/exclusive-lavas.html

• Complete Malware Protection, Including Anti-Virus and
  Anti-Spyware
• Ad-Watch Live! Advanced Real-time Protection
• NEW!Genotype Detection Technology
• NEW!Behavior-Based Heuristics Detection
• NEW!Advanced Level Rootkit Removal System
• NEW!The Neutralizer Malware Removal Tool
• Minimal Strain on System Resources
• NEW!Download Guard for Internet Explorer
• NEW!E-mail Scanner
• Customizable Profile Scans
• Pin-Point Scanning
• Automatic Pulse Updates & Free Technical Support
• Full Integration with Windows Security Center

[Source]

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The New Avira Antivir v10: New Look, New Performance & Still Free!!!

Avira is popular in the antivirus industry thanks in no small part to its lightweight performance, high detection rate and free-for-use version, dubbed 'Personal Edition' in the market. After months of beta testing for the Avira Premium Security Suite v10, it is finally released - and a remarkable release too.


The new Avira antivirus spots a slicker and enhanced interface, new set of features, optimized performance and it is still free. I downloaded a copy of it and evaluated it immediately even though i have Avast! installed on my PC (though it is not advisable, i realized that the latest version of both Avira and Avast! worked pretty well together!).

New GUI, New Feel:

Avira's previous interface looks simple but dull-looking compared to other free antivirus like Avast!, Rising and Microsoft Security Essentials. One improvement user will immediately spot on this latest release is its overall looks. Avira have designed a new desktop icon that reflects on Windows 7's Superbar too; it tweaked its interface a little to give it a slicker look and added interactive & glossy, colored icons to its main GUI.

New Set of Features:


Avira PE added a few interesting detection categories in its protection module which can be noticed on Avira's Protection Settings Panel and also during the installation setup. With such new features, you can expect Avira to do an even more thorough protection of your machine - even if it is free.

The above screenshot says it all: Avira has added three extra protection categories to the free version of Avira Antivir which includes backdoor clients, double-extension files and programs with domain violation characteristics. From the new category's looks, it seems like Avira is starting to pay importance to eliminating the sources of malwares: which are those supposedly legitimate programs that in fact, can allow malwares to sneak into a user's computer. If we assume that it also means real-time exploit protection, then Avira is really becoming more powerful as it was in detection.

New Performance:


Avira's complete scan used to be quite slow, especially during the first-ever go; it has become a thing of the past though. My PC has both Windows Vista and Windows 7 installed in different partitions on which previous scans with the older Avira would take at least half-an-hour or more, depending on the idle state of the PC. I did a complete scan of both partitions and the new Avira took only around twenty minutes or so, which is impressive.

The new Avira is possibly also good at rooting out rogue orphan files which refuses to go away. My complete scan found no virus, but instead detected one orphan file which i recognized as a remnant of a failed F-Secure Utilities Pack beta uninstallation. Avira alleged it was a system file which contains unwanted behaviors and since i don't need the file anyway, i let Avira clean it.


It Is Still Free:

Like Avast! and AVG often stressed, users can depend on free antivirus for protection and Avira also supports the statement. Avira PE v10 is still free for use, and will automatically prompt for free license update once the expiration occurs. Even though it is annoying that Avira simply refuse to remove the advertisement that often popped up after a database update, it caused little problems as i can manually remove it or with specifically-designed Avira ad-remover.


If you haven't try your hands on Avira Antivir Personal Edition yet, this is the day to do so. For experienced users, it is advisable to upgrade to this latest release: it is worth the effort - and what more can i say when it is now even better and still free to all?


Download Avira Antivir PE now.


To remove the Avira ads, you can do it manually (instructions for all contemporary versions of Windows included) OR download and run this removal tool.

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Ninite and FreeApp Automatically Take Care Of Your Important Installations While You're Slacking...Literally!

A true PC technician's busiest encounter would be to reformat/reinstall a user's Windows when their old Windows failed due to corrupted system files, severe virus infections or maybe they just want to get thing freshen up. We are talking about a full reinstallation of the Windows partition, reinstallation of the software that have been formatted away and the updating of Windows with multiple security patches; that full process could take a really long time, especially the updating and software-installation part. Surely we wouldn't want to spend more time searching for and download all the latest inportant software manually?


Fortunately, there are solutions to this problem, and freeware program Ninite is one of them. Well, in case you are searching for a free alternative to Ninite, then FreeApp will suit you just fine too!
 

Any simple search of Ninite on the internet will bring up many results, so i will discuss about FreeApp in this post. Like Ninite, FreeApp lets users choose the programs they like, prompt FreeApp for a single installer, and when the installer is done downloading, users can just run the installer and take a break away from his or her PC as the installation works away...without user interaction at all!

If you take careful notice, you'll realized that both Ninite and FreeApp offers an almost similar range of software, but then there are difference in the two of them; . Firstly, Ninite have an additional category that focused on developer-friendly software which common users will have no need for. Ninite also have a no-nonsense way of going about downloading and installing the software. However, FreeApp gave a wider range of control to users, giving user the option to choose the installation path they want (for example, if users install software in D drive). FreeApp will also automatically skip installed software and proceed to install those that have not yet been installed, whereas Ninite, seemingly blind towards installed software, will continue to install on top of existing software, which does seem a bit weird...

In short, both tools are great utilities that will shorten your effort of having to find and download the latest software for installation. 


Try Ninite here. (Note that you can give suggestions on which software can be added to Ninite's existing list)


Try FreeApp here (Note that FreeApp is still in beta stage and more features and software choice might be added in the future)

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Get Free Paragon NTFS For Mac OS X 6.5 (Save $40)

This is a quick and short article for Mac users. PeterB sent me a message few minutes ago and informed me that Paragon is giving away its NTFS For Mac OS X 6.5. This is bit old version and they are going to release v8 in near future. NTFS For Mac OS X 7 is already for sale.

Thank you PeterB for informing me. Because of weekend, I was not in a mode to write anything but ... I did.

• Completely and instantly access all Windows files and folders with your Mac®.
• Easy, safe installation and usage on Mac® or Windows.
• Unhampered data exchange between PC and Mac®.
• Share Windows files as a Mac® user via external disk drives.
• Get access to Windows video files on your Mac® to cut and post-produce them.
• Get access to .doc- and .pdf-files on your Mac®.
• Make any version of NTFS a native file system for Mac® OS X - no restrictions, full support!
• “NTFS for MAC OS X 6.5” It provides all the functionality of 7th version except for MAC- Browser (Utility to work with HFS-formatted volumes under Windows). Enjoy this must have tool as long as you need. 

Mac Users: a question for you from PeterB

if someone has a Mac (i don't) please tell what the registration page is?

I, too, do not have Mac.

Paragon Twitter is http://twitter.com/ParagonFree

Open the following web address into your browser and download Paragon NTFS For Mac OS X 6.5.

http://www.paragon-software.com/free/giveaway.html

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ICare Data Recovery Special Edition For Free Till 25-03-2010

This is the first time I heard that there is a data recovery software named ICare Data Recovery. Today, first time I heard about it. I have no idea how it works and what algorithm it uses. So, can not have any opinion. 

What I will do is just copy what they said on their website.

The last date of ICare Data Recovery SE is March 25, 2010. If you need it, you should get it before the time ends. This might not be the latest version.

iCare Data Recovery Software is dedicated in most frequently data loss like formatted hard drive, MBR (Mast Boot Record) corrupted, bad boot sector, drive inaccessible, partition unreadable, partition deleted, software operation failure like Partition Magic caused data loss, Ghost failure, virus attacked, etc.

Supported Storage: hard disk drive, memory card, USB drive, pen drive, external hard drive etc.

• Never lose photos and files again
  This data recovery software is an award-winning Windows recovery software, works when other utilities have failed.
• Rescues lost/delete photos and files
  iCare recovery software helps you to recover digital photo, audio and video files even when they are lost, deleted or the memory card, removable media is formatted.
• Support recover files
  IDE / ATA / SATA / SCSI hard disk drives, SD Cards, CF Cards, XD Cards, Memory Sticks, external Zip drives, FireWire and USB hard drives.
• Support RAW files
  This software has highly advanced algorithms ever designed to support file recovery from RAW file system when your drive is read 0 byte while you have tons of files in it or usually known as RAW drive.
• Very Easy to use
  With ICare Data Recovery Special Edition, you can recover your photo, RAW photos, music, video and audio files with only a few clicks.
• Designed to work with Windows 2000, XP and Vista.

Get Free:

Open the following web address into your browser and download ICare Data Recovery Special Edition.

http://wikisend.com/download/449172/icare-data-recovery-special.exe

Use the following license code to register the program. There are not spaces or hashes in the code.

2K1XB2X964MPHOCJ8M1RYIJF0OVHFOFH

You can read tutorial here:

http://www.icare-recovery.com/drs-features-tutorial.html

Home page is here:

[MegaLab]

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DesktopOK Allows You To Customize Icons' Layouts Without Hassle!

Anyone know about Desktop Icon Toy? To put it simply, it is a desktop icon manager capable of arranging your desktop icon layout, inject some animation in it and edit the icon's text, such as making it disappear completely or using a different color scheme. All is well for this software...except for the pitiful fact that it is not a freeware...

GUI of DesktopOK. Try out the 'Punch the Icons' feature: It is pretty cool!

DesktopOK is the perfect alternative to Desktop Icon Toy...and it's free, by the way! It is developed oy by the same author, Nenad Hrg who also developed Q-Dir, a lightweight files & folders manager. As with all stuffs developed by Nenad, DesktopOK is light as feather, is portable (no installations required), have a small file size and offers an exciting list of features; some of which Desktop Icon Toy also have.

What makes DesktopOK different from Desktop Icon Toy, though, is that it can run in the background and take "snapshots" of your desktop icons according to a user-defined schedule, for example every few hour or so or even before shutdown occurs. Incredibly, it can also be configured to take these snapshots only if it detects a change on the icon layout. DesktopOK is compatible with all modern OS (by that i mean from Windows 95 all the way up until Windows 7!) and is available for 32-bit as well as natively for 64bit systems.

Here are a simple list of features for DesktopOK:

•   Save your favorite icon locations for each screen resolution. 
•   Each user can then have his own arrangement.
•   Minimises to tray area for easy access.
•   Launch at Windows startup.
•   Autosave
•   Portable

So if you're a desktop customization geek and would like to mess with your icons' layout, do give DesktopOK a try. I'm not saying that Desktop Icon Toy is not good, but when you have DesktopOK which is portable, compatible with all OS and is absolutely FREE, who would even bother looking at Desktop Icon Toy in the first place? (LOLX)

Download DesktopOK HERE or the unicode version HERE. Note that in Windows XP & 2000, the unicode version is always better and more stable.

Visit Nenad Hrg's official website for more info

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Get iolo Personal Firewall For Free until December 31, 2010

I once given iolo Personal Firewall a go, and the result of that experience is negative. Not only did iolo Personal Firewall left some ports open wide to potential intrusion, but it can be expensive for a firewall that did not perform any better than Window's own built-in firewall. The only credit i can say about iolo Personal Firewall is that it has a nice interface, is pretty educational for beginners and that it is highly compatible with existing antivirus...well at least it would prove to be useful for users who wanted to learn something about firewall protection!

Apparently iolo realized how the built-in firewall on Windows 7 offers better protection than their own firewall, so they ended their product support for iolo Personal Firewall since December 1 2009, meaning that users using Personal Firewall can no longer go to iolo tech support for assistance if they ran into any trouble. The good thing though, is that iolo decided to give away iolo Personal Firewall for free up until December 31 2010, before officially pulling out availability of their firewall starting January 1 2011. It well means that as of today, users can download a copy of iolo Personal Firewall for free with some nine months grace period remaining.

Here are some of the features of iolo Personal Firewall:

• Proprietary IntelliDefense™ eliminates frustrating prompts using automatic program classification technology
• Always-on protection that runs transparently in the background
• Hassle-free setup protects your PC from the moment of installation
• Stealth mode makes your PC invisible to hackers
• Does not interfere with full-screen games or other software
• Intuitive interface makes protecting your PC easy
• Extremely efficient technology does not slow your system down

iolo Personal Firewall works on all 32-bit versions of Windows 2000, XP and Vista with Internet Explorer 6 (SP2 included) installed. As mentioned earlier, if you are a Windows 7 user, you don't really have to bother downloading and installing this firewall since Windows 7's own firewall performs better. However, for users who are sticking with the older OS, they can give it a try.

Here's how to get iolo Personal Firewall (valid until December 31 2010):

1. Visit this page and click the continue button.

2. You will turn up in the iolo Technologies Shopping Cart page, where it clearly listed that iolo Personal Firewall requires no money for download. Click the 'Secure Checkout' button.

3. Fill in your information. It can be anything you like but make sure that the e-mail address is valid. Click the 'Review Order' button.

4. Confirm your order and click 'Submit Order'. A mail would be sent to your e-mail account detailing instructions to download together with activating your copy of iolo Personal Firewall.

Enjoy your download (That was of course, if anyone wanted to use this firewall in the first place...)!!!

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Zemana AntiLogger v1.9.2.185 Free For One Year (Softpedia OEM Offer Save $34)

Hi Friends, since many days I an inactive. I have started a new project almost 3 weeks ago and I am still working on it. It will be a good news for readers. You can guess or ...

Almost every user of Windows OS is using at  least one security software e.g. F-Secure IS, BitDefender IS, Norton IS, Kaspersky IS, etc. These are the security software which claim to provide you complete security. If we think in respect of AntiVirus and Firewall, they are right but if we add other sort of Malwares, we need more specialized security software. For Logger type of threats, Zemana AntiLogger is the best choice.

Now you have the chance to Get Free Zemana AntiLogger. This is a Softpedia offer and I do not know how long it will last. This is a public offer. You better be in hurry to get it. It is highly recommended security software along with AntiVirus, AntiFirewall, AntiSpyware and LAlarm.

I Googled to find any other AntiLogger but first 10 pages have Zemana intro and links. I did not try more.

SSL Logger protection:  (WORLD FIRST!)  128-bit encryption reliably secures data during online shopping and high-value financial transactions. Unfortunately, a new generation of spyware grabs your data just before it becomes safely encrypted!Zemana AntiLogger's unique proactive protection prevents your personal information from being stolen while you are conducting online banking transactions or e-commerce using an encrypted 128-bit SSL (Secure Socket Layer).

Webcam Logger protection: (WORLD FIRST!) Is Big Brother watching you? Hackers and spyware can seize control of your webcam, even when it's switched off! Needless to say, Zemana AntiLogger prevents this. 

Key Logger protection:  Keyloggers record whatever you type by monitoring the keyboard. This renders most security useless, but not Zemana AntiLogger!

Clipboard Logger protection: Copying, cutting and pasting sends potentially sensitive data to your Windows clipboard where malware can get at it. Fortunately, Zemana AntiLogger deals with all attempts at malicious monitoring, including memory capture.

Screen Logger protection: Just as you can take a screen capture, screenlogger malware snaps the screen at your most vulnerable moments, e.g., when you are plugging in sensitive data such as bank account information with VirtualKeyboard. Zemana Anti-Screen Logger spots this suspicious activity in ways that go beyond the standard, signature-based anti-logging algorithms

System Defense: Malware likes to get at your registry, your physical memory (RAM), and other sensitive areas so it can inject malicious code and seize control of your PC. Zemana AntiLogger guards against all this, securing the very heart of your machine.

Get Free n Registration:

Simply open the following web address into your browser, download the latest Zemana AntiLogger and install it.

http://www.zemana.com/softpedia/

(web address copy n paste)

Restart your system. After restart, Zemana AntiLogger will ask you to Activate your copy of Zemana. You need to connect to Internet, press button Agree and Activate Now and let it get activation.

After activation, it will give you exact 365 days of subscription.

I was already using Zemana AntiLogger. The only reason to install Softpedia version on my personal laptop is its version is latest. I was using v1.9.2.172. I tried to update it. I received message that I were using the latest release. I can see it clearly that Softpedia offer of Zemana release is different and latest. I installed it. Strange!!!

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Chrome v4 vs Opera v10.50: Both Very Fast, But Who's Really Better?

Released a couple of weeks ago for Windows and Mac users, the Opera 10.50 web browser seeks to regain the undisputed title of “Speedking” when it comes to web browsing pleasure. With a host of innovative functions introduced to keep the most inquisitive web geek fascinated, Opera hopes to increase their market share of users. We matched it up in a series of tests against Chrome 4.0.249.89 (stable release) which we considered to be the best yardstick for speed, and this is what we found. 
 
Using V8 Benchmark Suite (admittedly a Google program), Chrome fared better overall (see image) but there were certain areas where Opera 10.50 was outstanding. The DOM selection speed test went to Opera as did the page load speed using the Opera Turbo function (although the picture quality is initially poor). Chrome was a bit heavier on RAM usage, but Opera was extremely reluctant to release it when we asked it to close.
 

Chrome looks good, acts smoothly and has speeded up its automatic translation bar. It has caught up with Opera when it comes to internet privacy (look for the little detective icon) and the new tab features are incredibly user friendly.

The Carakan Javascript engine and the speed dial thumbnails on the Opera browser are slick additions to an already powerful browser, but the biggest “eyebrow raiser” is the file sharing facility offered by Opera Unite. In these days of cloud technology this feature is against the run of the mill. Some individual users will find it a huge advantage whereas others will find it an encumbrance. 

In conclusion – Chrome wins narrowly in our opinion. Each user will have their own likes and dislikes of the respective browsers, but we cannot see an end to the growth in market share which Chrome is currently enjoying.



This article is contributed by Melissa Tamura and review, edited and published by James. Melissa Tamura blogs about topics such as this example for the Zen College Life Blog. She would like to hear from you @ melissatamura@gmail.com

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The Future Is In The Clouds: Microsoft Launches Cloud Services Website

In my opinion as a future Business Information System graduate, the first launch of Cloud Services back during the PDC conference in 2008 sounds like a breakthrough, though i can say i do not know how serious Microsoft is towards this 'new technology' development. It is now 2010 and well...Microsoft is going all-out on Cloud Computing...with the upcoming release of Microsoft Office 2010 on May and June 2010 and the launch of a new Cloud Services website.

  
Why do i say that Office 2010 is the beginning of the cloud era? Well, some of the applications in Office 2010 is developed with cloud computing in mind...for example, Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Office Communications Online.The website also have a Silverlight-powered video where Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talks about how he thinks cloud is the future path for Microsoft's development and how cloud provides an opportunities for Microsoft to improve and stay ahead of technology rivals such as Google. Better toggle off the video though, if you're sick of Ballmer's speech (LOL). Well if you notice carefully enough, you'll notice that cloud-based services from Microsoft is slowly taking shape as of today; see below image for reference:

 
Microsoft's Cloud Service is powered by a service platform known as the Azure Services Platform. Within the Azure Service Platform, a cloud operating system called Windows Azure will be the acting medium for applications's operation such as Office Live, SharePoint Services etc. 

Visit the new Cloud Services website and see for yourself: Microsoft officially lists six software categories as the firsts to be hosted in the cloud, though i'm convinced with the progress of services infrastructures and developments, more services will be added to the current list in the future:

1. Windows

Development of Windows Azure, Microsoft's first ever cloud-based OS, is first mentioned in the 2008 PDC Conference by Ray Ozzie. Windows Azure supports cloud computing in a sense that it serves as a platform for in-the-cloud applications to run together as a bundle of internet services which is accessible from the on-premises environment and the Internet itself. 

Meanwhile, Windows Live ID (your Hotmail/Live ID which incorporates your username and password) will be sort of like your online identification card on which Microsoft requires to provide services to you. This indirectly means that your Windows Live ID is starting from today, something which importance is as high as your IC and your Passport.


2. SQL (Structured Query Language) Servers

SQL databases used to be created & managed with the help of physically-hosted ERP software or Database Management System (DBMS) such as SAP, Oracles and at the simplest, Microsoft Office Access. Since Windows Azure provides the ability to host SQL database online, database managers now don't have to create, setup, manage or patch their database anymore.


3. Exchange

Microsoft Exchange is the predominant mail client of Microsoft way back during the popularities of Windows 95 and 98 until it was replaced by Microsoft Office Outlook.Meanwhile, Microsoft Exchange Server survives and thrives until now, where it is often used by enterprise as infrastructure providers in Windows Server 2003 & 2008. With cloud computing, Exchange is now brought to the cloud and run as an in-the-cloud services.


4. SharePoint


Microsoft SharePoint also goes to the cloud now, giving business employees the power to share information and data online from anywhere, at anytime and not forsaking the idea of being able to collaborate with each other as usual. Going to the cloud means that SharePoint is now more secure and more centralized in terms of management.


5. Office

Office Live Meeting, Office Communications Online and Office Web Apps also goes into the cloud. Starting with the latest Microsoft Office 2010, users can now host real-time conference online, real-time communications with text, voice and videos, plus the ability to now access and edit your Office-based documents (eg, your Word, Excel and Access) anywhere.


6. Dynamics CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

Previous CRM management means that information managers have to keep track of customer information & relations with the aids of either separate or integrated applications, meaning that costs will be high and CRM systems are constantly bugged with planning, implementation and adoption issues. With Microsoft Dynamics CRM now in the cloud, CRM can be centrally managed through an integrated system online, saving business organizations the troubles of having to develop, implement and manage the CRM systems themselves. The only concern left is getting clients to adopt to them!


Microsoft also clearly states that the new cloud services provided will be useful for technical professionals business professionals and government and educational sectors. For technical professionals, they can now utilize all the provided applications to enhance, create new and manage their current information systems when they are trying to develop an IT infrastructure that meets business needs. All they need to focus now is on producing quality codes and defining business needs. For business professionals and government & education, they've been provided with a complete set of online applications to manage their business information online; without the need to even change or implement new services anymore!


Sources suggest that a huge majority of Microsoft employees are now working on cloud development, and we are talking about a majority of the 93000 employees at Microsoft, which is a ridiculously huge number. Honestly, if Microsoft are really so dedicated that they could reduce attention on developing host-based software like Windows 8, then they must really be serious about things. Bring on the cloud, then!

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Get Netgate Spy Emergency 2009 Free For 180-Days!

 This is a rare promotion from a rarely-known anti-malware program; Netgate Spy Emergency is actually a decent antimalware which i used to blog about. In fact, i rate this antimalware program as better than some popular malware removers like Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy in terms of detection and removal. Now, you can try your hands on Spy Emergency 2009 free for 180 days, which gives you about half a year's worth of protection!

The promotion is available only for Polish but no problem; you can enjoy the promotion as well. The 180 days free license unlock some of the advanced features of Spy Emergency for use; normally after the 30 days trial period, Spy Emergency will disable some advanced features, though users can still receive updates and scan for and remove malwares. 

Here are some of the features of Spy Emergency 2009:

• Protection against latest spyware, adware, trojans, viruses, spam and other internet infections
• Resident shield protection
• Ability to quarantine and restore items that have been removed
• Automatic update of infection database
• Intuitive and clear user interface for malware removal
• Multi language and skin support
• Technical support... 

More information can be found at their official Spy Emergency website.

Here's how to get a 180 days free license:


1. Visit this promotion page and fill in the details; 'Nazwisko' is your name and 'E-mail' is your mail. 


2. Click the 'Kup' button to submit your details.

3. The promotion page will bring you to a page where it says 'Rejestracja OK', meaning that your registration has succeeded.

4. Now open your mail account. You will see that Netgate has sent you a 180-days free license key along with your name which is required for activation.


5. Download and install Spy Emergency 2009, choose your favorite skin and let it update.

6. Now go to the 'Buy' tab on the left sidebar, and click on 'Enter Serial'. Enter your name, order email and the license key provided in your mail.

There you go. You now have a genuine copy of Spy Emergency 2009 free for 180-days!

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AnyBizSoft PDF to Word Converter 2.5.3 (Save $30)

I was avoiding to write about getting free AnyBizSoft PDF to Word Converter 2.5.3 because it has already been shared on many web sites. The most popular site is Softpedia.com where it was announced first. The reason to share is I received message from Daniel through contact form and he asked me to share this news so that someone, who did not know already, can get it free. Thank you Daniel for motivating me.

In fact this is not a latest version. But it is still a good choice if you do not have any PDF to Word converter. I have not tested it. They say:

User-friendly interface, easy to use:
· One operating interface
· All the settings can be done in the operating window

Supported formats:
· Support importing Adobe PDF 1.0 - 1.7 formats (.pdf)
· Support exporting MS Word 2003 and 2007 formats (.doc, .docx)
· Support converting encrypted PDF to Word documents and password-protected PDF files

Importing PDF files:
· Support importing multiple files as many as 10 PDF files
· Support dragging and dropping PDF files into the program

Conversion:
· Batch conversion - PDF to Word Converter can convert multiple PDF files to Word documents in a task
· Partial conversion - Users can select any pages from the PDF file to convert
· Shortcut conversion - Right-click on a PDF file and convert it into a Word document without launching the program.
· Management of the imported files - Users can freely decide the priority of the imported PDF files for conversion and remove the wrong imported ones.
· Fast conversion - The converting process is very fast. There is a process bar indicating the processing of every single file conversion.

Good preservation:
· PDF to Word Converter can preserve the original layout of text, columns, tables, graphics and even hyperlinks of PDF files to Word documents. There's no need to retype or reformat the converted documents.

Viewing files:
· Imported PDF files can be viewed with the pre-installed PDF reader before conversion.
· Users can choose to view the converted files or open the destination folders after conversion.

Get Free:

Open the following web-page into your browser and fill a short form asking your name and email and press Big Orange Button Send Me Keycode.

http://www.anypdftools.com/pdf-to-word-get-keycode.html

(web address copy n paste)

Check your eMail inbox. You will have an eMail from AnyBizSoft in less than 2 seconds. You will receive Keycode, User name and download link into your eMail. User name is in fact your registered eMail address. Use these info to register your copy of AnyBizSoft PDF to Word Converter.

You can also find download link on the form page and I am giving it below, too:

http://download.anypdftools.com/anybizsoft-pdf-to-word_free.exe

(link copy n paste)

Main promo page is here:

http://www.anypdftools.com/pdf-to-word.html

(web address copy n paste)

Enjoy it.

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