TA ΑΣΗΜΕΝΙΑ ΜΟΥ

(Cynodon dactylon)

Αγριάδα|Ζιζάνιο|Cynodon dactylon

Agrimonia Eupatoria

Αγριμόνιο|Ευπατόριο|Agrimonia Eupatoria

Αγγελόχορτο|-:

Αχιλλαία|Achillea millefolium

Artemisia absinthium

Αψιθιά|Artemisia Absinthium

Καταπολεμά την επιληψία, ζαλάδες, λιποθυμίες. Αυξάνει την παραγωγή χολής. Σταματά τη διάρροια, εμετούς. Βοηθά στο αδυνάτισμα και την ανεπάρκεια ήπατος.

Ocimum basilicum

Βασιλικός|Ocimum basilicum

Valeriana Ofifcinalis|Βαλεριανά η Φαρμακευτική

Βαλεριάνα|Valeriana officinalis

Βήχιο:
Για κρυολόγημα και για το τσιγάρο.

Δάφνη:

Για τα φαγητά. Η σκόνη ξερών δαφνόφυλλων σταματάει την αιμορραγία της μύτης. Δυναμώνει τα μαλλιά και τα βάφει μαύρα, σταματά την τριχόπτωση. Ανακουφίζει τους πόνους από ρευματισμούς και αρθριτικά.

Δεντρολίβανο:
Για κολίτιδα, διάρροια, βρογχίτιδες, άσθμα και γρίπη, εντερικές διαταραχές, ρευματισμούς. Τονώνει την όρεξη.

Δυόσμος:
Για το φαγητό, τη χοληστερίνη, αϋπνίες, κράμπες, ξερόβηχα, αμυγδαλίτιδα. Για πόνους δοντιών, ρευματισμούς. Συνιστάται σε περιπτώσεις δυσπεψίας και διάρροιας, επίσης στρώνει τ στομάχι μετά από εμετό. 

Δίκταμο:
Καταπραΰνει τους πόνους του στομαχιού και των εντέρων. Σε πονοκεφάλους, πονόδοντους και σκορβούτο. Είναι διουρητικό, βοηθάει τις γυναίκες να γεννούν πιο εύκολα και γρήγορα.

Ευκάλυπτος:
Είναι χρήσιμο για τους διαβητικούς γιατί έχει υπογλυκαιμική δράση. Κατεβάζει τον πυρετό. Καταπραΰνει το βήχα, άσθμα, γρίπη, βρογχίτιδες, τις νευραλγίες και τον πονόλαιμο. Κατάλληλο για εισπνοές σε ιγμορίτιδα και βρογχικά. Όταν βράζουμε ευκάλυπτο, οι ατμοί ιονίζουν την ατμόσφαιρα του δωματίου και την κάνουν υποφερτή από το νέφος.

Ζαμπούκος:
Χρησιμοποιείται σε νευραλγίες. Για κυστίτιδα, αμυγδαλίτιδες, πονόματο, πονόδοντο, φαρυγγίτιδα και πονόλαιμο. Καθαρίζει το αίμα. 

Θυμάρι:
Είναι κατάλληλο για το άγχος, κυκλοφορικό, κατάθλιψη, ημικρανίες, νεύρα. Απαραίτητο για τους υποτασικούς, για γρίπη, κρυολογήματα, βήχα και άσθμα. Καλό για δερματοπάθειες, λευκόρροια, επουλώνει τις πληγές, σπυριά και εγκαύματα.

Θρούμπι:
Για το στομάχι, ναυτία, ξινίλα, ανοίγει την όρεξη. Βοηθά στην αϋπνία, αρθριτικά, ρευματισμούς, άσθμα, βήχα. Σταματάει τους κολικούς και τη διάρροια. Χρήσιμο σε πνευματική και σεξουαλική ατονία.

Ιβίσκος:
Για χοληστερίνη, τριγλυκερίδια, κυκλοφορικό, ζάχαρο-διαβήτη, αδυνάτισμα, πονοκέφαλο.

Κάρδαμο: 
Περιέχει βιταμίνες, ιώδιο, σίδηρο, ασβέστιο, είναι καρδιοτονωτικό, καθαρίζει το αίμα και αφαιρεί φακίδες και πανάδες.

Καλέντουλα:
Δυναμώνει την καρδιά. Κατάλληλο για το συκώτι, ουρική αρθρίτιδα, πρηξίματα και δερματικές παθήσεις. 

Λουΐζα:
Διώχνει τον πονοκέφαλο, τον πονόματο, τους πόνους των ρευματισμών. Κάνει καλό στις στομαχικές ανωμαλίες, βοηθάει στις δίαιτες αδυνατίσματος. Πολεμάει την αϋπνία που προέρχεται από νευρική κούραση. 

Λαδανιά:
Χρησιμοποιείται ως καταπραϋντικό, σπασμολυτικό για την αντιμετώπιση της αϋπνίας της διάρροιας, του πονόδοντου, για εντριβές στα κρυολογήματα και στις βρογχίτιδες, για τα άλατα και τον τέτανο.

Λεβάντα:
Για κάθε πόνο, ακόμα και της καρδιάς, για ημικρανίες, πονοκεφάλους, κακή χώνεψη και λιποθυμία. Επουλώνει πληγές, εγκαύματα, ακμή, ψώρα. Κατεβάζει την υπέρταση, λιγοστεύει την ταχυπαλμία. Χρησιμοποιείται ακόμη για το σκόρο στα ρούχα.

Μαντζουράνα: 
Καταπολεμά το άγχος, πονοκεφάλους, κρυολόγημα, αμυγδαλές, αϋπνίες. Βοηθάει τον οργανισμό να διώξει τις τοξίνες, τα πρηξίματα, δυσπεψία και πονόκοιλο.

Μαραθόσπορος:
Ανακουφίζει τα αρθριτικά, άσθμα, βήχα, τυμπανισμό, πόνους της κοιλιάς, ολιγουρία, σταματά τον εμετό. Βοηθάει στο αδυνάτισμα.

Μελισσόχορτο:
Τονωτικό για την καρδιά, τον εγκέφαλο, το πεπτικό σύστημα, τη μελαγχολία. Καταπραϋντικό σε νευρασθένειες, ζαλάδες, βουητό στα αυτιά, άσθμα, νευραλγίες των δοντιών και των αυτιών. Ανακουφίζει από τον τυμπανισμό της κοιλιάς, πόνους από τσιμπήματα σφήκας και άλλων εντόμων.

Μέντα:
Εξαιρετικά αντισηπτική, καταπολεμά δραστικά το συνάχι, βήχα, βρογχίτιδα, πονόλαιμο και τη γρίπη. Είναι χωνευτική και έχει την ιδιαιτερότητα να είναι ηρεμιστική σε μικρή δόση και αφροδισιακή σε μεγάλη δόση. Τσάι με μέντα είναι χωνευτικό και τονωτικό.

Μολόχα:
Για άσθμα, βήχα, λαρυγγίτιδα, πονόλαιμο.

Πασιφλόρα:
Είναι καταπραϋντικό για νεύρα, άγχος. Ηρεμιστικό και τονωτικό σε υπερκόπωση. Ελαττώνει ελαφρά την αρτηριακή πίεση.

Παλιούρι
Για δυσκοιλιότητα.

Πικροδιαλέτα:
Κατεβάζει το ζάχαρο και τα τριγλυκερίδια.

Πολύκομπο:
Σκοτώνει τα σκουλήκια και παράσιτα των εντέρων. Σταματάει την αιμορραγία της μύτης και αιμορροΐδων. Επουλώνει τις πληγές και έλκη. Χρησιμοποιείται για κολικούς, πέτρα στα νεφρά.

Πολυτρίχι:
Είναι τονωτικό των μαλλιών και σταματάει την τριχόπτωση και την πιτυρίδα. Ανακουφίζει σε βρογχίτιδες, καταρροή, ξερόβηχα, άσθμα και κρυολογήματα.

Ρίγανη:
Για το φαγητό, πόνους δοντιών και ρευματισμών, εντερικές διαταραχές και πόνους στην κοιλιά. Κόβει την ευκοιλιότητα.

Σπαθόχορτο:
Καταπραϋντικό σε πνευμονικές ενοχλήσεις. Για μελαγχολία, αϋπνία, έλκος στομάχου, παράσιτα των εντέρων, δυσπεψία. Για εγκαύματα, πληγές, δαγκώματα εντόμων.

Σκορπίδι:
Διαλύει τις πέτρες των νεφρών. Είναι αποχρεμπτικό, καταπραϋντικό, διουρητικό.

Σιναμικίνη:
Για τη δυσκοιλιότητα.

Ταραξάκο:
Για τη χοληστερίνη, ερεθισμούς του δέρματος, πρηξίματα, καούρες στο στομάχι, πόνο στο συκώτι, αρθρίτιδα, διαβήτη και πυρετό.

Τίλιο:
Ηρεμιστικό των νεύρων, ημικρανίες, νευραλγίες, ζαλάδες, αϋπνίες. Για βήχα, κρυολογήματα, εμετό, ρευματισμούς, αρθριτικά, δυσπεψία.

Τσάι του βουνού:
Για γρίπη και πονόλαιμο. Τονωτικό του σώματος και του εγκεφάλου, κάνει καλό στην αρτηριοσκλήρωση, πονοκέφαλο, ευκοιλιότητα και μεσογειακή αναιμία.

Τσουκνίδα:
Διαλύει το ουρικό οξύ. Πολύτιμο για τις πέτρες στη χολή. Είναι καλό για αιμορραγίες, αιματουρία, αναιμία, ατονία του σώματος, αρθριτικά, κυστίτιδα, διάρροιες. Επίσης, αυξάνει το γάλα της μητέρας που θηλάζει και σταματά τη τριχόπτωση.

Ύσωπος:
Χρησιμοποιείται για πίεση, άσθμα, δυσπεψία, για πόνους περιόδου, για γαργάρες κατά του πονόλαιμου και ως δυναμωτικό των νεύρων.

Φασκόμηλο:
Ηρεμεί τα νεύρα. Γα κατάθλιψη, φαρυγγίτιδα, βήχα, βράχνιασμα, λαιμό, υπόταση, διάρροια, αμυγδαλές, δαγκώματα εντόμων. Πολύτιμο για όσους ιδρώνουν τα χέρια τους και οι μασχάλες. Για κυκλοφορικά προβλήματα. Σταματάει το γάλα στις γυναίκες που θηλάζουν και την τριχόπτωση.

Χαμομήλι:
Ηρεμιστικό των νεύρων, ημικρανίες, νευραλγίες, ζαλάδες και αϋπνίες. Επουλώνει εγκαύματα και σπυριά. Ανακουφίζει από αναφυλαξία, φαγούρα, πονόδοντο, βήχα, κρυολογήματα, τυμπανισμό, αιμορροΐδες, κράμπες, πόνο των αυτιών και πληγές στο στόμα.

Συνηθισμένες μορφές θεραπευτικών βοτάνων

Έγχυμα (Εκχύλισμα)
Το έκχυμα είναι ένας απλός τρόπος εξαγωγής των ενεργών συστατικών των βοτάνων μέσω του ζεστού νερού. Αυτή η μέθοδος χρησιμοποιείται για να εξάγουμε τα πτητικά συστατικά των αποξηραμένων ή πράσινων εναέριων μερών των βοτάνων όπως είναι τα λουλούδια και τα φύλλα. Βάζουμε το βότανο στο νερό πριν βράσει και το αφήνουμε σκεπασμένο μ΄ ένα καπάκι για 5-10 λεπτά. Επειδή το βραστό νερό διασκορπίζει τα πολύτιμα πτητικά έλαια των βοτάνων στον ατμό μην τα αφήνετε να βράσουν.

Αφέψημα
Οι ρίζες, οι φλοιοί και τα φρούτα που είναι παχύτερα και λιγότερο διαπερατά από τα εναέρια μέρη των φαρμακευτικών φυτών, δεν απελευθερώνουν τα ενεργά τους συστατικά με την απλή έγχυση. Αυτά τα μέρη είναι απαραίτητο να σιγοβραστούν ώστε να εξαχθούν. Το σκληρό βότανο πρέπει να κοπεί σε μικρότερα κομμάτια. Προκειμένου να μην χαθούν τα πτητικά συστατικά, τοποθετούμε ενα καπάκι πάνω στο μπρίκι. Αφήνουμε να σιγοβράσει για μια ώρα περίπου, μέχρι ο όγκος του να μειωθεί κατά το ένα τρίτο. Αφού καταπέσουν και διαχωρισθεί το στερεό από το υγρό, το πίνουμε ζεστό ή κρύο.

Βάμμα
Τα περισσότερα από τα πτητικά συστατικά των φαρμακευτικών φυτών και βοτάνων είναι διαλυτά στην αλκοόλη. Με την εμβάπτιση ξηρών ή φρέσκων μερών του φυτού στην αλκοόλη, τα ενεργά συστατικά εξάγονται εύκολα σε συγκεντρώσεις που υπερβαίνουν αυτές της έγχυσης και του αφεψήματος. Τα υψηλά συμπηκνωμένα διαλύματα που θα κρατήσουν για ένα ή δύο χρόνια είναι ένας βολικός τρόπος να αποθηκεύσουμε και να χρησιμοποιήσουμε τα φαρμακευτικά συστατικά των φυτών.

Σιρόπι
Με σκοπό να συγκαλύψουμε κάποια γεύση που δεν μας αρέσει - ιδίως στα παιδιά- το έγχυμα ή το αφέψημα μπορεί να αναμειχθεί με μέλι. Τα συρόπια συνδυάζουν την κατευναστική επίδραση του μελιού με τις φαρμακευτικές ιδιότητες των εγχυμάτων ή αφεψημάτων καταλήγοντας σε επιπρόσθετα οφέλη ιδίως για την αντιμετώπιση κρυολογήματος και πονόλαιμου.
Ανακατέψτε 500ml εγχύματος ή αφεψήματος με 500γρ. μέλι. Αφού κρυώσει βάλτε το σε σκούρο μπουκάλι και κλείστε το με φελλό (επειδή γίνονται ζυμώσεις στα συρόπια και τα μπουκάλια με βιδωτό πώμα μπορεί να εκραγούν ο φελλός είναι σημαντικός).

Αιθέρια έλαια
Αιθέριο έλαιο είναι ένα υγρό απεσταγμένο (συνήθως με νερό ή ατμό) από τα φύλλα, τους μίσχους, τα λουλούδια, τους φλοιούς, τις ρίζες, ή άλλα συστατικά του φυτού. Τα αιθέρια έλαια περιέχουν το απόσταγμα των φυτών από τα οποία εξάχθηκαν. Περιέχουν υψηλό ποσοστό συγκέντρωσης της ουσίας του φυτού και έτσι χρειάζεται να χρησιμοποιούμε μικρή ποσότητα απ΄ αυτά. Τα αιθέρια έλαια δεν είναι τα ίδια με τα αρώματα. Τα αιθέρια έλαια εξάγονται από τα φυτά, ενώ τα αρώματα είναι χημικώς κατασκευασμένα ή περιέχουν χημικά συστατικά και δεν προσφέρουν τα θεραπευτικά οφέλη που προσφέρουν τα αιθέρια έλαια.
Η χημική σύνθεση και το άρωμα των αιθέριων ελαίων μάς προσφέρει πολύτιμα ψυχολογικά και ψυχικά οφέλη. Αυτά τα οφέλη επιτυγχάνονται με τις εισπνοές και με την εφαρμογή του αραιωμένου αιθέριου ελαίου στο σώμα. Τα χρησιμοποιούμε αραιωμένα (μόνο λίγες σταγόνες) σε φυτικά έλαια (αμυγδαλέλαιο, ηλιέλαιο, ελαιόλαδο, κ.α.) και κατόπιν εφαρμόζουμε αυτό το μείγμα στο δέρμα για απορρόφηση. Η βαθειά εισπνοή των αιθέριων ελαίων προσφέρει επίσης θεραπευτικά οφέλη καθώς το έλαιο εισέρχεται στους πνεύμονες και απορροφάται από το αίμα.
Τα αιθέρια έλαια ποικίλουν στην τιμή και στην ποιότητα. Αυτό επηρρεάζεται από την σπανιότητα του φυτού, την χώρα και τις συνθήκες στις οποίες το φυτό μεγαλώνει, τα ποιοτικά πρότυπα της απόσταξης και από το πόσο έλαιο εξάγεται από το φυτό.

Από serte @ Παρασκευή, 27 Ιανουαρίου 2012 10:33 πμ | Permalink | Σχόλια /table> Tags: βότανα , υγεία

CNET Editors' note: The Download Now link will download an installer file to your desktop. Remain online and double-click the installer to proceed with the actual download. 
To learn more about AVG products and to ask questions and receive answers from AVG company representatives, please visit CNET's dedicated AVG Forum.

CNET Editors' review

by: Seth Rosenblatt on August 31, 2011

The bottom line: AVG Free 2012's renewed focus on performance keeps scans zippy, but struggles with slowing down your boot time and too many false positives.

Review: 
The never-ending mantra chanted by security suite vendors sounds a lot like "faster scans, easier to use, better performance," and AVG has released a new version that it says accomplishes all three. Certainly, the scans are faster, it does install more quickly, and some tweaks to the interface have made it easier to view. Two new core security changes will make you safer, too.

Faster and lighter land in AVG Free 2012

Editors' note: Portions of this review are based on CNET's review of AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012.

Installation 
We found that the program can go from completed download to ready to use in about 5 minutes.

Last year, AVG cut down the number of installation screens from 13 to 5. This year, the process continues to be short, but savvy users will want to be wary of a few things. First, if you have a browser open when installing, AVG will not warn you before it forces it to close. Second, you are opted-in to AVG's Security Toolbar and the Secure Search default search engine change. Users who opt out of installing the toolbar but want it later will need to rerun the installer to get it.

On the polite side, AVG does not opt you in to an automatic AVG Internet Security trial. By starting from a null position, you are required to actively choose to install AVG Free or the 30-day trial of AVG Internet Security. So this year's install procedure is a bit of a crapshoot, better in some ways than last year, but unchanged in others.

Interface 
The changes to AVG's interface in the 2011 version were minor but actually improved usability quite a bit. This year, the tweaks are even less pronounced. There's not much different besides redoing the icons in the main interface so they're easier on your eyes.

AVG Free's slightly tweaked interface for 2012.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

There's a one-click Fix button for automatically repairing security breaches that appears at the top along with a yellow X when your system safety has been compromised. It disappears when your system gets a clean bill of health.

Joining the one-click Update button on the side nav is a one-click Scan Now button. There's a clean look to the nav, as well, with bigger fonts and timestamps for the most recent scan and most recent update.

AVG has placed icons for its security components in a central pane. Double-click on one to access more information and basic configuration settings for each specific tool. Advanced settings are available under Tools on the menu bar at the top of the window.

The new interface changes are small, no doubt, but they do make AVG easier to use.

Features and support 
AVG 2012 includes a couple of solid changes to make you safer. The first is a patent-pending technique for identifying one of the most obnoxious threats to ever reach your computer: the fake antivirus. If you're unfamiliar, these programs purport to be an antivirus, or a Web-based antivirus scan. Once they install on your computer, the only way to get rid of the infection is to "buy" their license. They're also related to the ransomware infections, which don't even bother with the effort to pretend to be an antivirus. AVG 2012 will block both of them.

The LinkScanner tool has been improved to watch out for more dynamic code, which is essential in the security game because threats are mutating at such a rapid rate. Meanwhile, premium users get the new AVG Accelerator option, which optimizes your Internet connection to speed up downloads and rendering. It currently works on two sites: YouTube, and you can see its impact when pausing and unpausing videos; and Download.com binary downloads. The accelerator protocol was developed internally at AVG.

AVG now includes a monitoring tool that automatically warns you when Firefox, Chrome, or Internet Explorer consumes too much memory. Called AVG Advisor and in all of the AVG suites, it opens a small pop-up and asks you if you'd like to restart your browser. There's no way to "force" it to activate, although if you open up a couple dozen tabs, wait a few minutes, and then open another dozen or so, it ought to kick in.

Changes made last year are still relevant. The software offers what it calls "smart scanning," which leverages AVG's behavioral detection network to scan known safe files once, and only rescan them if it detects changes. As with its competitors, AVG's network is made up of its user base anonymously contributing data up to the cloud. You can choose to opt out of contributing your data when you install, or from the options menu. AVG says opting out won't negatively affect your security.

The smart scanning tech also gives you a built-in system resource manager that prioritizes scans. If a scan is scheduled to begin while the computer is in use, it will automatically restrict the scan so that it runs slower but doesn't interfere with the computer's other tasks. When it detects the computer idling, it will then allocate more power to the scan. The feature comes with a slider so you can customize how sensitive it is.

The desktop gadget for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users that lets them initiate scans and updates with one click, without having to open the full interface. It also contains links to AVG's Twitter and Facebook pages, which the company uses to bolster its support for the free version.

The PC Analyzer scans your system for Registry and disk errors. It includes a disk defragmenter and a broken-shortcut cleaner, as well. Although the feature is restricted in full to paid users, if you have the free version, the PC Analyzer comes with a one-time offer to clean all errors it finds. It provides a link to download the separate PC Analyzer tool, once the scan is completed. This is an interesting twist on the idea of letting users detect but not repair errors, and it provides more functionality while not affecting the basic security of your computer. However, it's likely that some users will shy away from the extra download.

Other features are restricted to users of AVG's paid upgrades. The paid upgrade version of AVG Anti-Virus 2012 distinguishes itself by offering chat link shield, a download scan for files sent via instant message that looks at all ports, not just port 80, and telephone support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The PC Analyzer option mentioned earlier is also included, and comes without restrictions. New in 2012 to premium users is the new AVG Accelerator option, which optimizes your Internet connection to speed up downloads and rendering. It currently works on two sites: YouTube, and you can see its impact when pausing and unpausing videos; and Download.com binary downloads. The accelerator protocol was developed internally at AVG.

AVG Internet Security 2012 includes all that AVG Anti-Virus 2012 offers, and adds in a firewall and antispam protections.

Performance 
AVG claims some major performance enhancements in the 2012 versions. Specifically, the company says that it has reduced by 40 percent the size on your hard drive of the virus signature database. That database is a major component of how the program recognizes threats. AVG also stated that the number of running processes that run suite has been reduced from 16 to 11, that it uses 20 percent less memory overall than previous versions, and that it ought to impact your computer's boot time less.

CNET Labs' benchmarks found that, on the whole, it is a faster program than last year's. However, we can't directly compare this year's results to last year's because we upgraded our testing computer from Windows 7 x64 to Windows 7 x64 with Service Pack 1. We can report that AVG's boot time impact was slower than average, ranging from 2 seconds slower than the average suite from AVG Free to 18 seconds slower than average for AVG Anti-Virus. AVG Internet Security was a few seconds slower than AVG Free. This is not unusual for AVG, as it historically has a big impact on startup, but that doesn't mean we don't want to see it get faster.

Shutdown impact continued to be minimal. Security scan times were the third-fastest suite we've seen so far year, though not as good as last year's tied-for-fastest numbers. The impact of the suites on the computer while in use were very similar to last year's--in general, slightly better than average, but not stellar.

Security Program	Boot time	Shutdown time	Scan time	MS Office performance	iTunes decoding	Media multitasking	Cinebench
Unprotected system	40	6	n/a	395	120	342	17,711
Average of all tested systems (to date)	64.3	16.6	1,185	418	125	348	17,111
AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012	66.3	12	753	411	125	347	17,131
AVG Anti-Virus 2012	82.3	13.7	842	410	124	346	17,026
AVG Internet Security 2012	69.9	11.3	792	416	124	344	17,259

*All tests measured in seconds, except for Cinebench. On the Cinebench test, the higher number is better.

In our other tests, it was a bit faster than the median. It's not a big shift from last year, but it's enough to notice that it's moving in the right direction. You're looking at a much slower startup, fast scans, a minimal impact on shutdown, and a midrange hit to general system performance with AVG Free.

Third-party efficacy results haven't been published yet for AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012, but the 2011 suite marks are solid, if not spectacular. In the AV-Test.org test on Windows 7 from the first quarter of 2011, AVG Internet Security 10 (version 2011) scored 13.5 out of 18 overall, a solid midrange score. The suite had a 5.0 rating out of 6 in Protection, a 4.0 in Repair and a 4.5 in Usability.

The second quarter 2011 test, on a Windows XP computer, definitely showed improvement in some areas and regression in others. It scored 13.0 out of 18 overall, also a midrange score. The suite improved in Protection and Repair with a 5.5 rating out of 6 for the former and a 4.5 for the latter, but Usability dropped to 3.5 most likely due to false positives.

The most recent AV-Comparatives.org Whole Product test, which looks at on-demand scanning, retroactive tests, and "real-world" guards including cloud-based protections, puts AVG Internet Security 2011 toward the back of the class, out of 17 suites tested. Looking at Whole Product test results cumulatively from January 2011 to June 2011 found that AVG came in 13th, blocking 95.1 percent of threats. Much of that low score came from bad showings in March and April; by May it was back up in the 96 percent range.

It's fair to conclude that according to these third-party tests, AVG has been moderately effective, with some indications that it's been getting better in recent months. However, since AVG Internet Security and AVG Anti-Virus Free share the same engine, you're getting a strong level of protection at no cost.

Conclusion 
A word of caution: We've noted before that the average person is paying more and more attention to performance, and there are far more viable operating system options than ever before. If security is more or less similar, people will be scrutinizing system impact greatly, and adding 30 seconds or more to your boot time has the potential to drive people not just from your security suite, but from your OS, too.

All that said, AVG Anti-Virus Free continues to offer an excellent if not perfect level of security, and is well-worth a serious shot at being your go-to suite.

Read more: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2012 - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition-2012/3000-2239_4-10320142.html?tag=rb_content;main#ixzz1kdvIyjyv

Από serte @ Παρασκευή, 27 Ιανουαρίου 2012 10:33 πμ | Permalink | Σχόλια /table> Tags: antivirus , programms , software

CNET Editors' review

by: Seth Rosenblatt on February 23, 2011

The bottom line: After the last version's radical new interface that brought this security stalwart into a visual comparison with its competitors, Avast looks to the future with version 6's edgy improvements.

Review:
Avast made great strides in its previous update. Version 5 set the stage for the modern, massively popular, and free security suite with a new interface that ditched a quirky, late-'90s jukebox style for a more polished look. Easier to navigate, it also became easier to add new features.

Make no mistake; Avast 6 adds features both big and small. Some that had previously only been available to paid upgrade users are now free for all versions, and newer features have been seamlessly added to the interface experience. If you're familiar with Avast 5, upgrading to Avast 6 won't be that big of a leap.

Installation
Installing Avast is a painless process that compares well against its free competitors like AVG, although--like those competitors--it's much slower than installing paid programs like Trend Micro, Kaspersky, or Norton.

Some items of note during the installation that will come up later in the review: to completely avoid the new Windows 7 and Vista desktop gadget, or the new WebRep browser add-on, you must choose the Custom install option and uncheck those here.

Automatic installation of these features is frowned upon, although Avast does provide a clear method for uninstalling them. It's just not as simple as a check box that gets its own installation window, since you have to go through the Customize menu, which makes the auto-install sort of surreptitious.

On the plus side, installing Avast doesn't require a reboot, and using its uninstall tool we detected no remnants in the Registry or on the desktop. Avast has said that the installer has shrunk for all three versions by about 20 percent, although it's still a large download at around 57MB for the free version.

Interface
Avast 6's interface is virtually identical to the previous version's. Perhaps the most major change, aside from a slight lightening of the gray in the color scheme, is the removal of the Windows Explorer-style forward and backward buttons. We actually liked those, since they made it easy to return to a previous pane, no matter how deeply into the settings you had explored.

The only other change is the addition of the Additional Protection tab to the left nav area, which hosts the new AutoSandbox and WebRep feature controls.

For users new to Avast, the sleek user interface is a change that came at the end of 2009. The gray-and-orange color scheme stands out well on the screen, and the tab-based navigation on the left makes it easy to navigate between features. Highlighted with the familiar security colors of green for safe and red for dangerous, the Summary tab gives up-to-date info on shield status, auto-updates, virus definitions, the program version, and whether the silent/gaming mode is on. There's also an unobtrusive ad urging you to upgrade to Avast Internet Security 6.

The Summary tab contains a second submenu, Statistics. If you're curious to see how Avast's shields have been performing against threats, here's where you can get your math geek on. For each shield, it tells you how many files were scanned and when, and presents the data in a concise graph.

Avast 6 keeps its interface from Avast 5, and adds features both big and small. Some that had previously only been available to paid upgrade users are now free for all versions, and newer features have been seamlessly added to the interface experience. If you're familiar with Avast 5, upgrading to Avast 6 won't be that big of a leap.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

The scans live in the second tab, where you can choose and adjust four default scan types plus a custom scan option nestled into the bottom right corner. Real-time shields live in the third tab, and again the clean interface comes into play here as navigating what could be a mess of options and tweaks is instead dead simple. Click on a shield to reveal a real-time chart of what the program's been defending you against, with a Stop button and settings options at the top of the window. Another button at the top takes you to the advanced settings for that shield, and links at the bottom expose the shield's history as a graph and export a log file.

Below the Additional Protection tab, which we covered above, the Maintenance tab contains the virus chest and manual update buttons. On the top right of the interface live the Help Center and the Settings, from which you can get much more granular control of Avast. This includes everything from toggling the system tray icon to managing updates to password-protecting Avast access. This is also where you can "uninvolve" your anonymously submitted data from Community IQ, the Avast crowdsourced behavioral detection engine.

One last change: a green Like Avast button has been added to the bottom of the left nav that expedites your Avast-related social networking. Fortunately, it's unobtrusive.

Features and support
As mentioned, the two big new features in the free version of Avast 6 are the AutoSandbox and the WebRep add-on. The debut of the AutoSandbox makes Avast the second antivirus option to offer a sandboxing tool for free. Competitor Comodo introduced a sandboxing tool in January 2010. Avast's sandbox probably works differently, as Comodo has a pending patent on its version. And certainly, one of the most frustrating things about sandboxing technology is that there are some indications that it doesn't work perfectly.

The AutoSandbox, new in both free and paid Avast versions, automatically places suspicious programs in a virtualized state when it suspects them of being threats. As the program runs, the sandbox keeps track of file behaviors and what it reads and writes from the Registry. Permanent changes are virtualized, so when the process terminates itself, the system changes it made will evaporate.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Avast's version automatically places programs in a virtualized state when it suspects them of being threats. It walls off suspicious programs, preventing them from potentially damaging your system while allowing them to run. As the program runs, Avast's sandbox keeps track of which files are opened, created, or renamed, and what it reads and writes from the Registry. Permanent changes are virtualized, so when the process terminates itself, the system changes it made will evaporate.

The company hasn't said whether the virtualized state begins after the program already has access to your system, so it's theoretically possible that it could be compromised. There's not a single security feature in any program that hasn't been been compromised at some point, though, so "theoretically hackable" is true of all security features.

The AutoSandbox is different from Avast's paid-upgrade sandbox, and the paid upgrades to Avast Pro and Avast Internet Security include both the automatic version and the older, manually initiated version.

You can access the AutoSandbox settings from the new Additional Protection option on the left nav. It defaults to asking the user whether a program should be sandboxed, although you can set it to automatically decide. There's a whitelist option for programs that you always want to exclude from the sandbox, and you can deactivate the feature entirely.

Avast 6 also marks the debut of the program joining (or succumbing to) the browser-security add-on, with the new WebRep. Security add-ons have a long-standing word-of-mouth reputation for decreasing browser performance, although Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate's impact meter pegs Avast's plug-in at 0.07 second, well below the threshold of 0.2 second that IE uses as the default upper limit for browser performance impact.

WebRep works with IE and Firefox out of the box, and Avast says it plans to release a Chrome version soon. It supports a search result ranking and Web site reputation service that uses a combination of data from Avast's virus labs and user voting to determine a safety score for a site. User voting is a crapshoot for many security vendors, although Avast is known for its vast user base and their passionate support of the program, so the company's plans to give users incentives to vote could easily work in its favor. And make no mistake, Avast fans are truly fanatics: Avast Free has an average 4.5-star rating from Download.com readers, extremely unusual for a program with more than 15,000 votes.

It's important to note that the add-on installs to both Firefox and IE as you install Avast 6. If you don't want it, it's surprisingly easier to remove from within Avast instead of from within the browser. Currently, removing the add-on using the browser's interface will cue Avast to reinstall the add-on the next time the computer is rebooted.

Many of Avast 6's small improvements are worth noting as well. The Troubleshooting section now comes with a "restore factory settings" option, which makes it easier to wipe settings back to a familiar starting point, and comes with the option to restore only the Shields settings, leaving other changes untouched, like permanently running in silent mode. There's a new sidebar gadget for Windows 7 and Vista, and you now can set automatic actions for the boot-time scan. Available under the Scan Computer tab, the boot-time scan customizations give you far more flexibility in managing the lengthy and time-consuming boot scan.

Two features that have trickled down to the free version in Avast 6 are the Script Shield and site blocking. The Script Shield now works with Internet Explorer 8 and 9's protected mode.

Avast doesn't offer an on-demand link-scanning feature, like AVG and Norton do, although the company says that the way that Avast's Web shield behaves ought to protect you automatically from any malicious URLs by automatically preventing the URL from resolving in-browser. A page will appear letting you know that Avast has blocked the site because it is suspected to contain a threat.

If you're running Avast Pro Antivirus 6 or Avast Internet Security 6, the big new feature is the introduction of SafeZone, a virtualization feature that the company envisions people using for secure online banking. The basic difference between SafeZone and AutoSandbox is that the sandbox is designed to allow suspicious activity to run within a safe, walled-off, easily discarded environment, while SafeZone is the opposite. SafeZone creates a secure space that, ideally, prevents threats from getting in.

The AutoSandbox, new in both free and paid Avast versions, automatically places suspicious programs in a virtualized state when it suspects them of being threats. As the program runs, the sandbox keeps track of file behaviors and what it reads and writes from the Registry. Permanent changes are virtualized, so when the process terminates itself, the system changes it made will evaporate.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

SafeZone is accessible from the right-click Windows Explorer context menu, from the middle icon in the Windows 7/Vista desktop gadget, and from the Additional Protection tab in the Avast interface.

The difference between Avast Free and Avast Pro is that Pro gets the SafeZone, whereas Avast Internet Security differentiates itself by including SafeZone, antispam measures, and a firewall.

If you're new to Avast, the core features are what make it one of the best security suites around. 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 draw on their large user bases to detect threats early and warn others.

Other features include a gaming mode that can be used to permanently "silence" Avast notifications, and an "intelligent scanner" that only looks at changed files after establishing a baseline.

Program scans live in the second tab, where you can choose and adjust four default scan types plus a custom scan option. What's useful about Avast's layout here is that you can adjust all Avast-related scans from this tab. This includes Quick and Full scans, the Removable Media scan, and the Folder scan. In a polite turn, running a scan does not prevent you from exploring the rest of the program.

You can also schedule a boot-time scan and access scan logs from the scan tab. While running a scan, Avast will tell you not only how long the scan has taken and how many files have been examined, but also how much data has been tested and how fast it's being tested. As with the summary graphs, Avast exposes a lot of data here.

Performance
As far as Avast's impact on system performance goes, in a real-world test Avast completed its scans in a timely yet not blazingly fast manner. A Quick Scan took about 20 minutes, and the Full Scan took 59 minutes. RAM usage was surprisingly light, with Avast 6 only eating up about 16MB when running a scan.

As you can see in the chart below, CNET Labs benchmarked Avast 6 as having a moderate impact on system performance. It wasn't the overall best suite we tested, but the three versions of Avast did perform better than average in every category execpt one.

There were some notable areas where Avast did well. Avast had a minimal impact on startup time, with Avast Internet Security 6 adding 6.25 seconds, Avast Pro Antivirus 6 adding 5.76 seconds, and Avast Free Antivirus 6 slowing down the boot cycle by around five and a half seconds. All three posted a tiny impact on system shutdown, around 1.3 seconds slower than an unprotected computer. Scan times as well were competitive, slower than AVG, Trend Micro, and Panda, but faster than most competitors including Microsoft Security Essentials, Norton, and Ad-Aware. Also, Avast Pro Antivirus posted the best Cinebench score we recorded.

Avast's one point of weakness in the lab was its MS Office decoding test performance, where it was slightly slower than average but by no means the slowest suite tested.

*All tests measures in seconds, except for Cinebench. On the Cinebench test, the higher number is better.

You can read more on how CNET Labs benchmarks security software.

All the security features in the world do you no good if they don't keep you safe, and on that count Avast performs well in general. However, as results from independent efficacy testing groups indicate, Avast could be better.

AV-Test.org gave Avast 5, the previous version of Avast, a passing rating in its most recent test, on a Windows Vista computer from the fourth quarter of 2010. Avast 5 barely surpassed the minimum score of 12, notching 13 out of 18. It reached 3.5 out of 6 in Protection, 4.0 out of 6 in Repair, and a 5.5 out of 6 in Usability. Many other suites scored the same or higher, including F-Secure, Kaspersky, Norton, and Panda. Among its free competitors during the fourth-quarter test, Avast scored better on the key metric of Protection than Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0, but worse on Protection than Avira 10.0 (4.0 out of 6) and AVG 10.0 (4.5 out of 6).

AV-Comparatives.org, on the other hand, showed progressively better scores for Avast from August 2010 through November 2010 on its "whole product" test. However, Avast's cumulative rate of blocking threats was 96.4 percent, below AVG's cumulative 97.1 percent and Avira's 98.7 percent. Still, the positive improvements in the last two months indicate that Avast has been adapting to changes in the threatscape--never a bad thing. Overall, Avast earned an Advanced certification, along with seven others, including AVG. An Advanced+ certification was earned by four others, including Avira.

Dennis Labs' most recent evaluation of Avast occurred back in August 2010, when the lab scored Avast 5 at 93 percent and above the 87.5 percent average for that test. It was the only free antivirus application to do so. Other above-average scores were reached by G Data, Eset, Kaspersky, and Norton, which scored 100 percent on Dennis Labs' test.

Judging from these results, Avast is clearly one of the best security products around, although there's definitely room for it to improve.

Conclusion
When it comes to your security, Avast Free Antivirus 6 gets a lot right. It's got a usable, uncluttered interface, solid although not stellar benchmarks, and a set of features that keeps it at the forefront of Windows security. Using the Internet safely is no longer just about not getting phished and downloading only known-safe files, and the improvements in Avast 6 address modern security risks comprehensively.

Although we'd like to see stronger efficacy benchmarks in the future, Avast's impact on system performance is light in the most important categories of startup, shutdown, and scan speed. Avast remains one of the best free security options around and is well worth downloading.

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Publisher's Description

From AVAST Software:

Avast Free Antivirus is a full-featured product, with the same antivirus and anti-spyware scanning engine used in our premium products. Leaner and meaner version 6.0 provides even faster protection than its predecessor and offers a web-reputation browser extension as well as virtualization technology. Accurate threat updates via avast. CommunityIQ technology ensure worry-free downloading, surfing, social networking, and gaming--for over 170 million registered users (and over 130 million active users).

What's new in this version:

• Script Shield now works with Google Chrome, all versions of Firefox and Acrobat Reader
• Improvements in WebRep plugins (especially IE)
• Stability improvements in aswSP.sys and the avast! sandbox
• File system shield: improved on-close scanning
• Web Shield and Script Shield: more options in the UI
• Added in-product avast! Market
• Various other security and stability related fixes

 

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Από serte @ Παρασκευή, 27 Ιανουαρίου 2012 10:33 πμ | Permalink | Σχόλια /table> Tags: avast free , antivirus , programms , software

CNET Editors' review

by: Seth Rosenblatt on February 10, 2009

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a surprisingly effective freeware antimalware tool. It's a relatively speedy malware remover, with the quick scan taking about 8 minutes even with other high-resource programs running. The heuristics engine proved on multiple computers during empirical testing that it was capable of determining the difference between false positives and dangerous apps.

The app has some nice features rolled in, too. It supports multiple drive scanning including networked drives, context menu options including a scan-on-demand for individual files, and the FileAssassin option under the More Tools section for removing locked files. The interface is simple, but pleasant-looking and well-organized. Tabs live just below the oversized logo, with few options per tab to keep down the clutter. The installation process was fast enough, but interestingly offered up the well-kept changelog and an instant definition file update.

Do note that the real-time protection is restricted to the paid version, as is the scheduler for updates and scans. Overall, though, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a responsive malware remover that does what it should with a minimum of fuss.

Από serte @ Παρασκευή, 27 Ιανουαρίου 2012 10:33 πμ | Permalink | Σχόλια /table> Tags: programms , software

CNET Editors' review

by: Jaymar Cabebe on November 15, 2011

Advanced SystemCare Free 5 uses its powerful arsenal of optimization tools to keep your PC feeling fresh and clean. It also includes a couple of features that could help boost performance for either gaming or work purposes--your choice.

Advanced SystemCare's Quick Care option includes the ability to clean your registry, perform a rudimentary malware scan, fix and remove broken shortcuts, delete junk files, and erase browsing tracks. It works in a flash, requires almost no user input, and to make things even easier, can be configured to run on system startup.

The Deep Care option, on the other hand, takes system care to another level. It performs all of the Quick Care items to a much deeper degree, plus it adds several other scans and fixes to its checklist, including disk defragmenting, a Windows vulnerability fix, and a system optimization with several presets. Understandably, this kind of deep digging can sometimes make a user nervous. Fortunately, the program's log records all of its activities, letting you see how each affects your computer.

Scan times for the Quick Care and Deep Care options differ significantly, yet, both processes still seem blazingly fast. For instance, we completed a Deep Care scan in approximately 15 minutes, which is an impressively short time for a system-invasive program like this.

Brand-new to version 5 is the Active Boost function, which runs in the background and automatically improves PC performance by managing your system resources. We recommend enabling it, as it even keeps a log of all the active processes that it manages to speed up. Also important, Version 5 connects to the cloud in order to keep its database up to date.

As for Advanced SystemCare's user interface, we were impressed, to say the least. The main dashboard is superclean, with nifty icons and intuitive navigation. Plus, there's an unimposing smiley face always at the bottom of the screen, indicating your PC's overall health. If you click the Status button next to the smiley, you can also get more detailed info from the system performance monitor.

One part of the program we recommend new users approach with extreme caution is the Turbo Boost, which can be set to optimize for either gaming or work purposes. It sounds fun, but you must first configure the tool by telling it which core system services to disable in order to accelerate your computer's performance. Since the Turbo Boost section doesn't spell out how disabling these services might affect your computer, we highly recommend doing your research before exploring. To its credit, though, Advanced SystemCare can create rescue points, so it's not hard to undo changes if you end up making any mistakes.

One small problem we found was that some of the program's options open in new windows, while others open in the same window. Those in the same window have convenient back-navigation buttons in the upper left; those in new windows are sometimes overlaid directly on top of the previous window and make it hard to see how to return to the previous screen. Also, we were a bit turned off by the cleverly disguised ad for Roboform Password Manager during installation. It looks a bit like a terms-of-service sheet, so be sure to read carefully before your instincts kick in and you automatically click Accept.

Overall, we love Advanced SystemCare's toolset, performance, and convenience. Sure, we wish the program were more explicit about how it changes your computer, but we still think it's an awesome all-in-one system utility, and we highly recommend downloading it.

 

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Publisher's Description

From IObit:

Free registry repair and cleaner-Advanced SystemCare Free. What does it help? Slow down, freeze, crash and security threats are over. Advanced SystemCare Free is a comprehensive PC care utility that takes an one-click approach to help protect, repair and optimize your computer. Scanning and finding what other utilities miss, it can keep your PC error-free and smooth than ever. Why Advanced SystemCare Free? New PC Performance - Do you remember the feeling of a brand new PC when you first bought it? Why not try Advanced SystemCare Free, a free PC tune-up utility that focuses on the performance of your PC. Computer Crashes without Reason - Have you ever encountered your PC crashes and you even did not know why. After months or years of using your PC, there might be plenty of changes, which added burdens to your PC but never get cleaned. What Advanced SystemCare Free does is to clean the stuffs that are left over and clean craps to make your PC neat and clean. Registry Repairing and Cleaning - As an elementary part to a PC, if it does not working well, then your computer will be in big trouble. What does Advanced SystemCare Free do? It cleans the records which is unnecessary to your PC but makes the PC running slow and produces troubles. It also repair parts that are missing and make the PC complete.

What's new in this version: Version 5.1:

• Added "Privacy Sweep" support for the latest version of frequently-used software: Opera 11.6; Safari 5.1; K-Lite Codec Pack 8.00 (Full); FoxiReader 5.1; Silverlight 5.0; Xfire 1.141; Yahoo messenger 11.5; KMPlayer 3.1; Utorrent 3.1.
• Added "Performance Monitor"
• Added IObit Uninstaller v2.1
• Enhanced support for Windows 8
• Enhanced real-time optimization of ActiveBoost
• Enhanced filtering feat... See all new features

   

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Από serte @ Παρασκευή, 27 Ιανουαρίου 2012 10:32 πμ | Permalink | Σχόλια /table> Tags: free downloads , software , downloads

CNET Editors' review

by: Jaymar Cabebe on May 02, 2011

Free YouTube Downloader lets you easily download videos from YouTube and convert them to viewable video formats for your desktop, tablet, or other mobile device. It supports output to AVI, WMV, MOV, MP3, MP4, and many more formats. If you want the ability to save and view YouTube videos while offline, this is the tool to use.

Free YouTube Downloader is simple. Grab the URL of a YouTube video, paste it into Free YouTube Downloader, choose your output format and preferred video quality, then click Download. That's it. You can even save in high definition (720p or 1080p).

We would have liked to be able to name a file before downloading and saving it. But that's a minor inconvenience. Also, when installing, be sure to read carefully and uncheck items as needed. Otherwise you may find some unwanted installs, including a search toolbar and several partner shortcuts on your desktop.

Overall, Free YouTube Downloader is a highly recommended program that performs its singular function perfectly.

Από serte @ Παρασκευή, 27 Ιανουαρίου 2012 10:32 πμ | Permalink | Σχόλια /table> Tags: programms , software , downloads

Chrome 16 review

The bottom line: Competitiveness, thy name is Chrome. Google's browser is one of the fastest and most standards-compliant browsers available. It lacks some of the fine-tuning you'll find in Firefox, but from the minimalist interface to support for future-Web tech like Native Client and HTML5, the browser is a must.

Review:
Google Chrome continues to mature from a lightweight and fast browsing alternative into an innovative browser on the precipice of a potential browsing revolution with the just-released Chrome OS. The browser that people can use today, Chrome 16, offers highly competitive features, including synchronization, autofill, and standards compliance, and maintains Google's reputation for building one of the fastest browsers available.

Chrome 16 represents a major milestone for the browser, but those expecting to see dramatic changes in major-point updates will be disappointed. For a while now, Google has been pushing features over what it calls milestone numbers, which means that as soon as new features are usable in the beta version of Chrome, Google will likely push them to all users in the stable edition.

Recent updates to the browser have included support for Native Client in Chrome 14. Native Client, or NaCl, is an open-source technology that allows C and C++ code to be securely run in the browser. It basically lets software run within two protected sandboxes, which will theoretically cut down on browser-based threats dramatically. When completed, NaCl will enable Web apps to run as smoothly as programs that are hosted on your hard drive.

As implemented in Chrome 14, NaCl works only for Chrome Web Store apps, though Google plans to expand NaCl so that eventually it powers the entire browser.

Chrome 15 debuted of a redesigned New Tab page and a redone Chrome Web Store that it links to. The intuitive New Tab page allows you to create custom categories by dragging and dropping apps and bookmarks, and includes navigation arrows on the left and right edges of the page that become more visible on mouse-over. For more, check out CNET's story on how to use Chrome's new New Tab page.

Chrome 16 launches the beginning of changes to how sync works in the browser, with the introduction of multiple user account support. This means that you can now have multiple people, or at least multiple Gmail accounts, running in Chrome simultaneously. However, it's not "people-secure," meaning that although your data might be secured on Google servers, once an account is logged into Chrome, you don't have to re-enter in your account data. Anybody with access to Chrome can see your stuff.

Please note that there are at least four versions of Chrome available at the moment, and this review only addresses the "stable" branch, intended for general use. Chrome beta (Windows (download) | Mac (download)), Chrome dev (Windows (download) | Mac (download)), and Chrome Canary (Windows (download) | Mac (download)) are progressively less stable versions of the browser, and aimed at developers.

Installation 
Chrome's installation process is simple and straightforward. If you download the browser from Google's Web site, it will ask you if you'd like to anonymously submit usage statistics to the company. This can be toggled even after the browser is installed by going to the wrench-icon Preferences menu and choosing Options, then Under the Hood, and checking or unchecking Help Make Chrome Better. Depending on your processor, the installation process should take less than 2 minutes.

Interface 
Google's Chrome interface has changed remarkably little since its surprise debut in September 2008. Tabs are still on top, the location bar (aka Omnibox) dominates the minimalist design, and the browser has few visible control buttons besides Back, Forward, and a combined Stop/Reload button. Although some users may not like having the tabs on top, we find it to be aesthetically preferable because it leaves more room below for the Web site we're looking at.

One change has been to remove the secondary Page Options button and combine it with the Preferences wrench icon to create space for extension icons to the right of the location bar. As it currently stands, it could be better organized. Some controls, such as page zoom, are readily available. Others, such as the extension manager, are hidden away under a Tools submenu.

Chrome's extensions are fairly limited in how they can alter the browser's interface. Unlike Firefox, which gives add-on makers a lot of leeway in changing the browser's look, Chrome mandates that extensions appear only as icons to the right of the location bar. The benefit is that this maintains a uniform look to the browser, but it definitely limits how much the browser can be customized. Chrome doesn't support sidebars, either, although other Chromium-based browsers (such as Comodo Dragon) do offer the feature. There is an option in Chrome's about:flags, a series of experimental features, that lets you move the tabs to a sidebar.

A minor change in Chrome 11 moved settings pages to their own tab, rather than a dialog box. Chrome 12 extended that configuration to Chrome's synchronization feature. If you sign up more than one Google account in Chrome 16 or later, you'll see the profile icons in the upper left corner on the tab row.

Even with its limitations, the interface design has remained a contemporary exemplar of how to minimize the browser's screen footprint while keeping the browser easy to use and versatile.

Features and support 
Chrome 16's features are accessible from the Preferences menu via the wrench icon on the right side of the navigation bar. Version 16 offers a complete range of modern browsing conveniences. The basics are well-represented, including tabbed browsing, new window creation, and a private browsing mode that Google calls Incognito, which disables cookie tracking, history recording, extension support, and other browsing breadcrumbs.

Chrome is based on WebKit, the same open-source engine that powers Apple Safari, Google's Android mobile platform, and several other desktop and mobile Web-browsing tools. However, Chrome runs on a different JavaScript engine than its WebKit cousins, and there are other changes as well.

Along with hardware-accelerated 3D CSS in Chrome 12, we got some interesting security improvements. You can now delete Flash cookies from inside Chrome, which makes sense given that Chrome comes with Flash built in, and there's a new Safe Browsing protection against downloading malicious files. Chrome's Web app support, which debuted in December 2010, now includes the ability to launch Web apps from the location bar. This gives keyboard jockeys a bit more power to avoid mousing around, more readily apparent in Chrome OS but nevertheless good to have in the regular old Chrome browser.

Mac users now get a warning window when using Command-Q to close the browser.

Print preview, formerly a small but glaring hole in Chrome's feature list, is now present in the Windows and Linux versions. Chrome stable for Mac still doesn't have the feature, which is powered by the PDF reader that comes built into Chrome.

Chrome's tabs remain one of the best things about the browser. The tabs are detachable: "tabs" and "windows" become interchangeable here. Detached tabs can be dragged and dropped into the browser, and tabs can be rearranged at any time by clicking, holding, dragging, and releasing. Not only can tabs be isolated, but each tab exists in its own task process. This means that when one tab crashes, the other tabs do not. Though memory leaks are a major concern in Chrome when you have dozens of tabs open, we found sluggish behavior and other impediments weren't noticeable until after there were more than 30 tabs open. That's not an immutable number, though, and different computers' hardware will alter browser performance.

Some of the basics in Chrome are handled extremely intuitively. In-page searching works smoothly. Using the Ctrl-F hot key or the menu option, searching for a word or phrase will open a text entry box on the top right of the browser. Chrome searches as you type, indicating the number of positive results and highlighting them on the page.

Account syncing is another area where Chrome excels. Using your Gmail account, Chrome will sync your themes, preferences, autofill entries, extensions, and bookmarks. You can toggle each of those categories, too. It does not yet offer password syncing, although the password manager has a smart show-password option that keeps it visually separate from the site it's associated with.

Chrome also offers a lot of privacy-tweaking settings. In the Options menu, go to the Under the Hood tab. From here, you can toggle and customize most of the browser's privacy and security settings. Cookies, image management, JavaScript, plug-ins, pop-ups, location information, and notifications can be adjusted from the Content Settings button. This includes toggling specific plug-ins, such as the built-in Adobe Flash plug-in or the Chrome PDF reader (which is deactivated by default).

Like Firefox, Chrome gives broad control over search engines and search customizations. Though this doesn't sound like much, not all browsers allow you to set keyword shortcuts for searching, and some even restrict which search engine you can set as your default. Chrome comes with three defaults to choose from: Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

The Chrome extension manager, bookmark manager, and download manager all open in new tabs. They allow you to search their contents and throw in some basic management options like deletion, but in general they don't feel as robust as their counterparts in competing browsers. For example, URLs in the bookmark manager are only revealed when you mouse over a bookmark, and you must click on one to get the URL to permanently appear. That's an extra click that other browsers don't require.

Two other low-profile but well-executed features in Chrome are autoupdating and translation. Chrome automatically updates when a new version comes out. This makes it harder to revert back to an older version, but it's highly unlikely that you'll want to downgrade this build of Chrome since this is the stable build and not the beta or developer's version. The second feature, automatic translation of Web pages, is available to other browsers as a Google add-on, but because it comes from Google, it's baked directly into Chrome.

Chrome is also a leader in HTML5 implementation, which is uneven because of the continuing development of HTML5 standards. This will become more important in the coming months and years, but right now it doesn't greatly affect interactions with Web sites.

In the realm of security, besides allowing you to disable JavaScript, Chrome will automatically block Web sites that are known to promulgate phishing attacks and malware threats or be otherwise unsafe. The usefulness of this depends on Google's ability to flag Web sites as risky, though, and so it's recommended to use an add-on like the Web of Trust extension or a separate security program to block threats.

Performance 
Based on the open-source WebKit engine and Google's V8 JavaScript engine, Google Chrome debuted to much fanfare because of its rocketing rendering speeds. Three years down the line, that hasn't changed, and the stable version of Chrome remains one of the fastest stable browsers available. The less stable versions, with their more recent improvements and bug fixes, are often faster.

You can see CNET's most recent benchmark tests that included Google Chrome; while that particular version of Chrome didn't do too well, the browser has seen a lot of changes since that test and you definitely should not discount it.

Note that to effectively use hardware acceleration you must make sure that your graphics card drivers are up-to-date. Nevertheless, Chrome remains one of the fastest browsers available, and its rapid version update rate ensures that it is consistently competitive.

Conclusion 
It's hard to tell which is faster, user adoption of Chrome or its development. Certainly the two are linked, and due in no small part to Google's ability to lay claim to the "fastest browser" title, even when it may not be strictly justified. The rest of Chrome's appeal lies in its clean, minimalist look, and competitive features that justify its still-increasing market share. Chrome is a serious option for anybody who wants a browser that gets out of the way of browsing the Web.

 

GoodSync

Back up and synchronize your important files automatically.

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Publisher's Description

From Google:

 

Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the Web faster, safer, and easier. Use one box for everything--type in the address bar and get suggestions for both search and Web pages. Thumbnails of your top sites let you access your favorite pages instantly with lightning speed from any new tab. Desktop shortcuts allow you to launch your favorite Web apps straight from your desktop.

Google Chrome is in the Web Browsers category of the Browsers section.

 

What's new in this version: Chrome 16 contains some really great improvements including enhancements to Sync and the ability to create multiple profiles on a single instance of Chrome.

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Από serte @ Παρασκευή, 27 Ιανουαρίου 2012 10:31 πμ | Permalink | Σχόλια /table> Tags: browser , programms , software , downloads , free

The freeware CCleaner hasn't seen many major revisions since Piriform launched it in 2004, so when you do see a major update, you can be assured that it's going to come with impressive new tools. CCleaner 3 doesn't disappoint on that front, introducing two major new features that make it worth the upgrade.

One is a drive wiping tool that can wipe all the data from your hard drive, but can also scrub only the available free space. As with many of the tools in CCleaner, it's fairly nuanced and allows for a simple one-pass overwrite, a Department of Defense-level three-pass option, a National Security Administration-level seven-pass cleaning, and a 35-pass Gutmann-level deep scrub. The more passes you select, the slower the deletion process.

Another key improvement to CCleaner 3 has been adding more options to pre-existing features. You can now select specific Internet cookies to keep, across all your browsers, while CCleaner deletes the rest in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari. The benefit of this is to keep cookies for specific sites that you know to be safe, such as webmail, while getting rid of the rest that you don't want tracking you. Note that your browser must be closed for the cookie-deleting feature to work.

Other changes in version 3 include improvements to the internal scanning tech that powers CCleaner, and the interface received some minor tweaks to make icons more visible. If you're familiar with previous versions of the program, though, you'll be hard-pressed to find any differences between older CCleaners and the new one. Additional minor changes include a new native installer for 64-bit computers, and environment variables have been added for %SystemDirectory%, %SystemDirectory32%, and %SystemDirectory64%.

Version 3 supports more Windows programs than before, including added support for Microsoft Silverlight Isolated Storage, AVG 2011, Audacity, LogMeIn Hamachi, BitTorrent, and Windows Game Explorer. Pre-existing support has been improved for Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 9 beta, and the torrent managing client Vuze.

For users who are new to the program, in addition to browser tracks cleaning it will clean tracks from other programs, empty your recycle bin, delete temporary files, and clean your Registry, quickly scanning for invalid entries before removing them. CCleaner will also back up your Registry before you hit delete, in case it accidentally removes a crucial component. There's also a basic, somewhat rudimentary uninstaller for removing any program on your machine. What Registry entries it doesn't catch, the main Registry checker will, but it's a two-step process that dedicated uninstallers handle nicely on their own.

In empirical testing, CCleaner 3 appeared to be marginally faster than previous versions. This is probably system dependent, so users with older computers could likely see significantly faster scan and cleaning times than in previous versions.

Problems with CCleaner are minor at best, and it remains a highly-recommended, must-have weapon against system slowdowns, tracking cookies, and the multitudinous debris that can clutter your computer.

 

RealPlayer

Watch your favorite videos on your favorite devices.

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Από serte @ Παρασκευή, 27 Ιανουαρίου 2012 10:30 πμ | Permalink | Σχόλια /table> Tags: programms , software , free

CNET Editors' review

by: Seth Rosenblatt on October 04, 2011

There should be no doubt that Apple's decision to block Flash from iOS in favor of HTML5 has spurred Adobe to make sure that its media-rich content-building tool and player Flash remains competitive. Flash Player 11 brings hardware-accelerated graphics support to the platform.

According to Adobe, the new Stage3D technology in the new Flash Player brings combined 2D and 3D acceleration that is up to 1,000 times faster than the previous Flash iterations. While currently Stage3D is supported only for personal computers, it should make its way to mobile devices in future Flash releases. The advancements offered by Stage3D should bring far more complex graphics development for the player, and allow some developers to use it as a viable alternative for their projects, especially for cross-platform efforts.

In addition to accelerated graphics, Flash 11 now is natively in 64-bit code on all supported platforms, which will allow it to better integrate with browsers and plug-ins that are coded in 64-bit. This along with a slew of new enhancements for developers in terms of security improvements, media handling, and better JavaScript integration will enhance the player's use for future development. Flash also comes baked into Google Chrome, and therefore the Chrome OS that powers Google's Chromebooks.

Mac users take note: Flash requires OS X 10.6 or later running on an Intel platform since Adobe removed support for PowerPC Macs in Flash 10.

Although it's possible that HTML5 will at some point unseat Flash as the dominant code for media on the Web, that won't happen for a while yet since HTML5 standards haven't even been finalized. The Flash Player is a must if you want to experience the Web at its fullest, so users at any level of expertise should have no qualms about installing or upgrading.

 

Xilisoft Video Converter Platinum

Convert video files between various video & audio formats.

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Από serte @ Παρασκευή, 27 Ιανουαρίου 2012 10:30 πμ | Permalink | Σχόλια /table> Tags: programms , software , free

CNET Editors' review

by: Seth Rosenblatt on July 09, 2009

VLC Media Player is a long-time open-source favorite, and the latest version is also the first to be out of beta development. It's not the only option for free video playback, but it's one of the best, and the feature updates in version 1 make it well worth the upgrade.

 

iPhone Starter Kit

Essential apps for your iPhone.

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Από serte @ Παρασκευή, 27 Ιανουαρίου 2012 10:30 πμ | Permalink | Σχόλια /table> Tags: programms , software , player , free