The Download Blog

Black Friday is almost upon us, and the steep hardware discounts mean new computers for many. To help you during these tough economic times, we've refreshed the Download.com Security Starter Kit for 2010. Although nothing can replace common-sense browsing, this collection of freeware security tools will help you protect new machines and old from pernicious threats, large and small. Longtime readers will notice that in addition to changing up our recommended antivirus program, we've fleshed out the Web browsing safety category, and made other changes as well. If you're looking for more than freeware security programs, check out the CNET Download.com Windows Starter Kit for 2010.

In this year's version, you can expect to see Avast chosen ahead of AntiVir as our most favored antivirus app. Despite its odd interface, Avast scored higher than any other freeware antivirus in a third-party test, and it doesn't skimp on protection, either, with e-mail, network, rootkit, and behavioral guards along with its top-rated virus protections.

We're still recommending Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for spyware removal, but we've also added PC Tools' standalone ThreatFire as an excellent way to strengthen behavioral detections and prevent spyware from infecting you in the first place. Recent improvements to the program have made it incredibly light on resources, and in our days of empirical testing we didn't notice it slowing down our computers at all.

New this year is the expanded in-browser security category. We've recommended five browsing tools that are available as add-ons, and we took care to make sure that they applied to as many of the major browsers as possible. However, Firefox's deep add-on toolbox makes it naturally the browser with the most diverse collection of security tools, so expect to see it heavily, although not exclusively, represented.

PC Tools' ThreatFire.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Firewalls used to be the forefront of security, but now they're just another tool you should have. Microsoft has made the native Windows 7 firewall impressively useful, but we realize that not everybody has Windows 7, and even those who do might want an alternative. This year, Online Armor joins Comodo on the list.

In Encryption, TrueCrypt remains the gold standard. The Thunderbird extension Enigmail joins it as a must-have tool for keeping your private e-mails as you intended them--away from prying eyes. In Parental Control, we've added OnlineFamily.Norton. It's not strictly desktop based, although to use it you must use its desktop hook, called Norton Safety Minder. Symantec has created what looks to be a unique and free approach that includes an emphasis on parental education and attempts to foster parent-child communication about how to use the Internet safely. We're of the opinion that anything that helps parents realize that browsing the Internet is far more than a TV with options is a good thing.

If you disagree with our security and safety choices for the Security Starter Kit, please let us know in the comments below.

Windows 7 officially will be released to the public on Thursday, and judging by our poll, most CNET readers have already decided to upgrade. For those who haven't, or for those who want a bit more information on just what you're getting with your Windows 7 Starter, Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate, take a look at the chart and explanation below.

This CNET-produced chart is based on a larger one from Wikipedia.

Windows 7 Starter is the lightweight version of the new operating system that only comes with Netbooks. It's not available for upgrade from Windows XP or Windows Vista, and it's fairly hamstrung. Sixty-four-bit isn't available, and the Backup and Restore Center won't work with network-based drives. It also lacks many of the key features that make Windows 7 appealing. Aero is disabled, as is the new theme manager.

Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player aren't included, and so it shouldn't be surprising that none of the more advanced features is baked in, either. XP Mode, which will allow Windows 7 to run XP-only programs, Remote Desktop Host, BitLocker Drive Encryption, and multitouch support are all not available in Windows 7 Starter.

So just what does Starter offer? Users can pin programs to the Taskbar, and the helpful jump lists remain active, too. Snap still functions for quickly resizing program windows, although it doesn't have its slick Aero look. The revamped Windows Search will work, and other under-the-hood improvements--such as better Wi-Fi and device management--are also fully functional. Users can use the in-place Anytime Upgrade option to buy an upgrade from Starter to Home Premium.

Windosw 7 Home Premium is the basic version that should appeal to most casual users, and retails for $119. Most of the big features that Microsoft wants you to know about are included here. Aero Peek for previewing programs and clearing the desktop, Aero Snap for resizing program windows, and the Aero skin with its translucent Taskbar and window borders are all in full effect. Aero Shake is also enabled, which is a quick way to clear the desktop by clicking and holding down on one program window and lightly shaking, hiding all the other open windows.

Theme switching and customization is activated, and the Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player will allow users to stream video directly to their desktops. Multitouch features are enabled, and Home Premium can be used to create a Home Group, which simplifies sharing music, video, and other files between computers that are all members of the same group. It's also available in 64-bit, but can only support up to 16GB of physical RAM. Home Premium can be upgraded using the Anytime Upgrade to either Professional or Ultimate.

Aero Peek is only available in Windows 7 Home Premium and above.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Although it sounds full-featured, Home Premium definitely offers less than Windows 7 Pro or Windows 7 Ultimate. Location-aware printing, presentation mode, and XP Mode are not available. Neither is BitLocker, AppLocker, the remote desktop host feature, nor Aero glass via remote. AppLocker is the new feature that allows system administrators to restrict program access from the Group Policy settings. You also can't use the Windows 7 Backup and Restore feature to work with network drives, just like Windows 7 Starter. That feature doesn't come in until the Pro version.

Windosw 7 Professional is the power user edition of the new operating system, retailing for $199.99. In addition to all the features in the Home Premium edition, Pro is designed to be flexible for dual use in the home and small business. It will support up to 192GB of physical RAM in 64-bit mode, it supports legacy Windows XP productivity programs via XP Mode, it can work with two physical processors, and it can back up your data to a networked drive. It still lacks the AppLocker and BitLocker features, it can't handle the pretty but superfluous remote Aero glass support, and it lacks the multilingual interface support pack.

Windows 7 Ultimate, retailing for $219.99, supports those features plus virtual hard-disk booting and a subsystem for Unix applications. Although it's possible to conceive of some home uses for Ultimate, the features that separate it from Windows 7 Pro set it in a class that's almost exclusively for intensive international or network use. For most office or home power users, it's not really recommended.

There are several other versions of Windows 7 available. Windows 7 Home Basic is for emerging markets such as Bangladesh, China, India, and Mexico, and places itself between the Starter edition and the Home Premium edition in terms of features. Aero is partially enabled, for example. Windows 7 Enterprise is identical to the Ultimate edition, but is only available via volume licensing. The Europe-only "E" version was going to come without Internet Explorer, but that has changed to the "N" version that lacks the media player.

If you're planning on buying Windows 7, tell us in the comments below which version you're getting.

Aiming to turn more new PC buyers into Office users, Microsoft has announced plans for several new ways to obtain the software, including an ad-supported "Starter" edition that can come loaded on new PCs.

In a blog posting Thursday, Microsoft said the starter version of Office will have limited features and include only Excel and Word. The starter version will be part of the Office 2010 family, due out next year, and will only be available on new PCs.

"Office Starter 2010 will provide new PC owners with immediate exposure to the Office 2010 experience on new PCs right out of the box," Microsoft said, adding that it can be upgraded to one of several full versions of Office with a new upgrade card to be sold at retail stores.

The product is a replacement for Microsoft Works, which was Microsoft's low-cost option for PC makers that wanted to include basic productivity software. Microsoft had also quietly tinkered with a free, ad-supported version of Works in recent years.

Office Starter, as opposed to Works, will have full file compatibility with Office as well as features like the 'Ribbon' user interface.

"It really is a replacement for Works," Microsoft corporate vice president Takeshi Numoto said in an interview on Thursday. "It is not a mere renaming of Works. It is an Office product."

Microsoft is trying several ideas to better compete with free rivals such as Google Docs. With Office 2010, Microsoft will also offer a free, ad-supported version of Office that runs in a Web browser. That product, which went into a technology preview last month, requires connection to the Internet at all times.

"It's a way for us to reach customers who may have not experienced Office before, (for them) to get a taste of it," Numoto said.

For years now, Microsoft has grappled with new ways of selling Office, which, along with Windows, is one of the company's two main profit engines. Although Office boasts half a billion users, there are lots of folks that use pirated copies of the software or don't have Office at all.

Several years back, as part of a ThinkWeek paper seen by CNET News, Microsoft workers recommend that the company scrap Works in favor of an ad-supported product, saying Microsoft only got a couple dollars of revenue per PC when Works was included.

Numoto would not go into financial details for Office Starter, but did say that it is a "royalty-bearing" product for Microsoft, as Works was. In the past, though, PC makers have had an opportunity to earn back money if customers upgrade from a trial version of Office to the full version. Numoto wouldn't detail how that might work with Office Starter.

Microsoft is also trying out a new method for those that already have a PC to try out Office 2010, once it is available. Called "Click to Run," it brings the notion of streaming to software. Instead of waiting for the whole product to download, users can click a button and start using the software as soon as some of the basics are downloaded. The rest of the product then gets downloaded over time.

Microsoft has already seen the Web increase as a means for getting its software. Numoto said that in the last fiscal year some 23 million downloads of the Office trial, nearly double the number from a year earlier.

Still, he said, downloading a big file means a long wait. "We know we could do a lot better to streamline that experience," he said.

An additional benefit of the Click to Run installation is that it is done through application virtualization. That allows the code, even though it is still being run locally, to run side-by-side with an existing version of Office. That would allow, for example, a user to run a trial version of Office 2010, without getting rid of their existing Office installation.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Now that your new Mac is set up and you have the Internet hooked up, how about some software? Out of the box, your Mac is loaded with cool apps to get you started on stuff like uploading and organizing your digital images, creating a music library, making your own movies, and surfing the Web. But it doesn't come with everything.

New Macs come with a ton of goodies already, but there are several cool apps Mac users count on every day that aren't included in the initial setup. To get you started, we've rounded up our must-have downloads for your new Mac. From Web browsers and useful utilities to fun and games, these top Mac downloads are perfect for your new computer and a great way to start exploring the world of Mac software at CNET Download.com.

Get started right here with our Mac Starter Kit.

So you've got a new BlackBerry? The good news is it comes with great features right out of the box. The better news is that there are hundreds of fun and functional third-party applications to power up your fresh hardware. In our BlackBerry Starter Kit, we've rounded up a few of the most essential ones to get you started.

Feel free to add your favorites in the comments.

You must have treated somebody well this year, because you've got a new computer to start 2009 off right. In this edition of the Download.com Windows Starter Kit, we've expanded our collection to include both the recommended free programs you've come to expect from us, and suitable alternatives if our choice doesn't make your grade.

This year's categories include Web browsers, e-mail clients, office and productivity tools, parenting, image editors, music jukeboxes, video jukeboxes and players, file compressors, chatware, torrent clients, and seven five-star, must-have utilities.

Notice the lack of security programs? Check out the Security Starter Kit for our freeware choices to help keep you safe when you surf.

The iTunes AppStore cracked open a whole universe of awesome native iPhone apps--and a few that were terrifically inane.

Here are our picks for the most useful, informative, social, and media-friendly of the bunch to get you started with your new iPhone or iPod Touch.

If you're craving more after loading up on these start-up essentials, be sure to check out our collection of the most entertaining iPhone apps of 2008 as well.

Just because everybody is talking about "change" doesn't mean that your security problems will. With a new year comes new computers, and that means it's time to refresh the Download.com Security Starter Kit.

Viruses, spyware, rootkits, hackers--a fresh machine can be susceptible to the most insidious of plots. We've devised a list of essential and free security programs to protect the honor of your computer and ensure that your sanity will last longer than your resolutions.

We round up the best free firewall, antivirus app, spyware remover, Web surfing adviser, parental controls, and encryption software for your Windows PC.

Powered by hot keys and keywords, Executor is a program launcher customizable to an impressive degree. A skinnable bar appears at the top of your screen that makes up the most trafficked aspect of the program, with an extensive and organized list of settings available from the Windows Taskbar. As soon as you type in the first few characters of the program that you're looking for into the main UI, a list of potential choices appears. The more you type, the shorter the list becomes, or you can scroll down to click the item you want.

The important thing to pay attention to in Executor is that hard-drive indexing, a key component of this kind of program, is optional. Opt out when you install the program, and all it'll be good for is firing up applications. You can always set it to index either specific folders or your entire hard drive later, but this optional indexing can be confusing as well as useful.

Much in Executor gets done with keywords. Users can choose to drag an object onto the bar to create a keyword for said file, folder, or favorite, or manually create one in the Settings menu. For example, Executor automatically opens up the native Windows Add/Remove Programs menu when you type addremove. From such superficial aspects such as the skins to how the auto-complete function behaves, Executor's customization is king. You can set it to override the Windows Run hot key, you can swap hot keys around, and you can set URLs, files, or programs to launch as Executor starts. Power users who are looking to accomplish specific program-launching tasks within a launching framework will get the most out of this app.