Soft32.com Program Reviews RSS FeedTue, 19 Mar 2024 00:04:07 +0000https://www.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.com
Keep your Windows drivers current with this must have utility.
If there's one thing that I know, its Windows PC's. The life blood of a Windows PC is its hardware drivers. When they don't work right, are out dated, or conflict with other drivers, then your whole PC can tank. Its performance can go right down the proverbial tubes.
When you have a notebook computer, you're likely confined to a specific set of drivers, as much of the equipment is not upgradable or interchangeable. You aren't going to be able to change out your graphics card or your drive controller on a notebook, for example, while doing this on a desktop computer is fairly common. Its here where apps like Driver Booster really shine.
Driver Booster is an easy-to-use hardware driver updater. It analyzes your installed drivers for outdated ones and then automatically installs the right update with just one click. It has a newly adopted online database insuring that your drivers are always the latest version. Moreover, it`s specially designed to tune drivers for peak gaming performance.
Drive Booster protects PCs from hardware failures, conflicts, and system crashes. Outdated drivers heavily affect your PC's performance and lead to system crashes. Driver Booster, designed with IOBit's most advanced driver update technology, scans and identifies outdated drivers automatically. When it finds an update, it downloads and installs it for you with just one click, saving you time and a lot of headaches.
Drive Booster is specially designed to tweak drivers for better gaming performance. It insures better PC performance by enhancing security with Restore, Uninstall & Rollback features. It protects your PC from hidden security vulnerabilities, hardware failures, conflicts, and system crashes.
App Pro’s: Updates all Windows drivers, protects your PC from driver conflicts
App Con’s: Free version has only basic features, non-standard interface
Conclusion: IOBit Driver Booster is part of Advanced System Care. The two apps kinda come bundled together; and while some may like that, I'm not a huge fan of program bundles. When I install something I only want what I've tried to install and not a bunch of other stuff that happens to come with what ever I'm trying to install. In many cases, the bundled apps are junk. While this is clearly NOT the case with any of IOBit's products, I still don’t like getting stuff I didn't expect when it comes to app installs.
Driver Booster in and of itself is a decent app. It does what it does very well; and can in many cases, save your bacon if your having driver issues. As of this writing, the app is also on sale. IOBit has it for 70% off, for a license that gets you a one year subscription for up to three PC's.
]]>Wed, 27 Oct 2021 08:41:05 +0000Wed, 27 Oct 2021 08:41:05 +0000https://driver-booster.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.comWed, 20 Oct 2021 11:54:06 +0000Wed, 20 Oct 2021 11:54:06 +0000https://converseen.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.com
Working with optical discs is still a big part of computing. Despite recent trends to go completely digital, using CD's and DVD's is still a reliable way to store, share and transport data from one computer, one person to another. This is one of the reasons why I am really thankful for apps like ISO Workshop. It’s a disc imaging utility for Windows.
ISO Workshop is specifically designed for disc image management, conversion and burning. The app has a very simple user interface and enables you to make ISO images, extract specific files and folders from disc images. You can create disc backups by copying items to an ISO or BIN image file, convert different disc image files into ISO or BIN formats. You can also burn standard and bootable ISO images as well as CUE images to blank discs.
The application is pretty cool. It supports ISO, CUE, and BIN files as well as others. It also supports CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD+R DL, and BD-R/RE disk formats; and will verify all images written to discs.
App Pro’s: Free, easy to use
App Con’s: Not as full featured as other paid apps
Conclusion: ISO Workshop is one of those applications that you really want to have in your PC's toolbox. Its easy to use, works with a number of different image formats as well as disc types. If you don't have a tool like this, this is one that you really need to take a hard look at ISO Workshop. The price is right and it does a great job of giving you the basics.]]>Thu, 14 Oct 2021 09:17:32 +0000Thu, 14 Oct 2021 09:17:32 +0000https://iso-workshop.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.com
Change is constant. If there's one thing that you can count on staying the same, it’s the fact that things change. Case in point, Soft32 reviewed Opera Browser just over a year ago. At the time, I found Opera to be a decent browser, but not quite on par with, say, Chrome or Firefox. A year can make a huge difference, and quite honestly it did with the platform independent browser, Opera.
The internet is a huge resource, and if you go poking about, you never know what you're gonna find. Opera makes that easier than ever with its Discover feature. Discover gives you top-quality news and entertainment from all around the globe. You can enjoy new content from a variety of categories and read articles from your region, in your language with just a few clicks. Its quick and easy to get the content you want.
Speaking of search, finding things with Opera is really easy. The browser has one intuitive, powerful location for searching and navigating the web. You can search using multiple providers and view the site suggestions as you type. This type of behavior should be very familiar to most web users and is a welcomed addition to Opera Browser.
If you're on a slow network, or if you just want to make your browsing experience that much faster, again, Opera has you covered. Its Off-Road mode compresses pages for faster, all-conditions browsing. It helps you stay online when your connection slows down. If you're concerned about dropping a connection, or things totally tanking, Off-Road will help your browsing experience.
One of the biggest problems I've got with all of my bookmarks and favorites is keeping them straight and of course, getting to the ones that I use the most. Opera's enhanced Speed Dial, groups your most-visited sites directly on a custom start-up page. From there, you can quickly search and access your favorite content. Once you've found something you like, keeping it just got easier. Opera's Stash feature can capture a page with one click and organizes captured pages into a simple, sophisticated list. You can quickly search what you've stashed in a resizable preview page; or search what you've saved, by keywords.
App Pro’s: Free, Stash, Off-Road browsing speed-up
App Con’s: None!
Conclusion: Opera has come a long way in just over a year. With improved search and navigation support and the ability to support off-line browsing; and the ability to make your browsing experience, faster, Opera has changed..and its changed for the better.
If you're looking for an improved browser experience, then Opera may just be the breath of fresh air you've been looking for.]]>Mon, 18 Nov 2019 15:28:58 +0000Mon, 18 Nov 2019 15:28:58 +0000https://opera-web-browser.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.comFri, 15 Nov 2019 13:16:51 +0000Fri, 15 Nov 2019 13:16:51 +0000https://joomla.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.com
version reviewed: 6.91]]>Wed, 13 Nov 2019 15:11:08 +0000Wed, 13 Nov 2019 15:11:08 +0000https://hypersnap.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.comTue, 11 Jun 2019 10:49:05 +0000Tue, 11 Jun 2019 10:49:05 +0000https://audacity.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.comMon, 10 Jun 2019 10:49:31 +0000Mon, 10 Jun 2019 10:49:31 +0000https://tor-browser.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.com
I love watching movies. In fact, I watch movies more than I watch regular, network TV here in the States. I have a real issue with mainstream television. I am not fond of the writing, I don’t like many of the plot lines, and most of it isn’t appropriate for family viewing. I have cable TV and most of the movie channels because I REALLY don’t like network TV. However, when I can’t watch my movie channels due to travel, business commute or other issues, I really like to take my video on the go and its important to have a really good Windows DVD app like CyberLink’s PowerDVD Ultra at times like those. Its one of my favorites.PowerDVD Ultra supports all media types including video, audio and photographic content. Its your all-purpose entertainment station. With it, you can enjoy media on your PC, mobile devices, home networks, from the cloud, and even via social networks. PowerDVD Ultra’s enhanced audio-visual quality, extended file format support, improved functionality, refinements to the user interface, and has an enhanced, wide range of digital media experiences.PowerDVD takes your movie experience to new places with playback enhancements and format support additions you won’t find in any other player. The app intelligently analyzes video footage and optimizes hues and vibrancy, creating a true-to-life viewing experience. TrueTheater Color recognizes skin tones in footage and applies only subtle adjustments to these areas in order to achieve improvements while retaining authentic coloring.PowerDVD's intelligent media buffering engine means that you no longer have to deal with stop and start playback, especially when you're streaming video from a NAS device. This is a huge advancement, as streaming video on your home network just got more reliable. Advanced preloading techniques let PowerDVD analyze and retrieve additional playback data so that your media playback is not interrupted, even if the connection to your storage device is degraded.App Pro’s: 20GB free cloud storage, 4K Video support, play from ISO'sApp Con’s: Expensive, non-standard interfaceConclusion: PowerDVD Ultra is one of the better DVD players on the market. Its easy to use, has advanced playback and streaming controls and, it also supports 4K video... if you can find video files that actually support the new color and resolution format. When PowerDVD detects a 4K video file and a 4K monitor, Overlay Mode is automatically engaged to optimize the rendering pipeline and reduce the graphic resource load, delivering smooth, lag-free playback. The app is also simply gorgeous to look at. However, non-standard UI's are always an issue with Windows. They're more often than not, "coats of paint," or masks, over the standard Windows UI and take resources away from the PC, generating performance issues. I didn't see that here with PowerDVD, and I tested it on an older, Windows 7 based PC.If you’ve ripped your DVD’s to ISO’s, PowerDVD now offers convenient direct playback of Blu-ray and DVD ISO files, either directly from the PC or via a network-connected drive. No additional mounting tools are required; and if your playback is interrupted, you don’t have to worry about trying to remember where you were in the movie. PowerDVD can pick it up right where you left off.This is a really cool application, and since Microsoft has done a huge amount of work to deemphasize Windows Media Player (and I'm not entirely certain why), a more modern app with support for newer HD formats and technology is clearly needed. PowerDVD is filling a huge hole, and it does a GREAT job at it, too.]]>Mon, 22 Apr 2019 07:59:44 +0000Mon, 22 Apr 2019 07:59:44 +0000https://cyberlink-powerdvd.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.comThu, 11 Apr 2019 12:53:39 +0000Thu, 11 Apr 2019 12:53:39 +0000https://kmplayer.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.com
In order to keep on functioning correctly and provide an effective service, computers, like any other type of machine, require regular maintenance. Whilst computers come with optimization and maintenance facilities as standard, utilising these can often be difficult, and require the user to have a sufficient amount of technical know-how, while also requiring the time and effort to keep abreast of current technological developments.Ashampoo WinOptimizer 10 promises to take the sting out of things by offering all manner of customisation tools for your PC or laptop in one simple application. It offers backups, restore points and task schedulers, as well as allowing users to analyse detailed information on hardware and software specifications, such as the space and health statuses of disks and drives. There are a large number of file tools, allowing the user to recover lost or deleted files, remove duplicate files or safely and securely delete files, as well as maintaining internet history and cleaning up the system registry.App Pro’s: Wide range of features, Simple UI
App Con’s: Expensive to upgrade
Conclusion: Ashampoo have long been providing essential utilities for computer maintenance, and WinOptimizer 10 continues on that trend. The User Interface is a joy to work with, and takes the hassle out of tuning up your PC. Installation was quick and easy, and the main program was up and running within a matter of minutes. As WinOptimizer continues to grow and develop as a program, so too do the list of features it has on offer, and it comes highly recommended for tweaking, tuning and optimising your machine.
While the free trial has its limitations, some people may be reluctant to fork out $39.99 for the full version, especially when there are numerous free tools and utilities online. Although for ease of use, and having a wide variety of powerful features in one simple to use application, we think it’s a solid choice when it comes to PC optimisation.]]>Tue, 15 Jan 2019 08:35:46 +0000Tue, 15 Jan 2019 08:35:46 +0000https://ashampoo-winoptimizer.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.comMon, 10 Sep 2018 11:38:01 +0000Mon, 10 Sep 2018 11:38:01 +0000https://sound-forge-pro.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.comThu, 26 Jul 2018 12:49:15 +0000Thu, 26 Jul 2018 12:49:15 +0000https://counter-strike.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.com
I've been a singer/ songwriter and musician most of my life. To say that I have the music in me is a bit of an understatement. Thanks, in no small measure, to the 128GB iPhone 7 Plus in my life, I've got my entire digital music collection with me all the time, every day, out loud. And loud it is, as I love listening to tunes while driving. It's what I do...
Finding new music, however, can be difficult at times. Yes, there are streaming tools like Pandora and Spotify, you can get access to new streaming titles, but as I've said before, I like to own my music and not just lease (read: stream) it. That's probably the biggest reason why I'm such a fan of Audials Music Rocket for Windows. It gives you access to a huge music library that you can download for free; and its available for a PC near you.
Audials Music Rocket allows you to find and download new music, fast, legally and for free. With it, you can listen to internet radio stations, podcasts and music TV broadcasts. The application offers fast downloads and will even do video to audio conversion from well-known music portals on the fly. You can save music in MP3, WMA or AAC file formats, legally and free of charge.
Audials Music Rocket will create a playlist of songs automatically once you tell it your favorite type of music, by identifying a "reference song." Its Top Songs feature then creates the playlist to match your taste in music. With its auto play mode, AMR will automatically play that music for you, too
With its Wish List feature, Audials Music Rocket can monitor thousands of radio stations and music sites automatically. Whether you're looking for singles, whole albums or an entire discography, AMR can find it and send you an alert when the station or site is updated. You can also use the app to update ID3 compatible song tags, album images and song lyrics, prior to adding them to your music collection.
App Pro’s: iTunes integration, universal player
App Con’s: Expensive in today's app market, non-standard Windows interface
Conclusion: I really have to admit that I didn't want to like AMR. I'm very picky about my music apps and as such don't venture too far from the OS or device defaults. I don't even do a lot with Pandora, Spotify, Shazam, Last.fm or Lala. However, I was really, very pleasantly surprised by Audials Music Rocket. I really like this app; and you should, too.
The app provides a number of different ways to do new music discovery. It provides a wish list function that will also update you when new items matching your likes are found. You can download all the music to your PC and sync it to your device and update your iTunes music library as well. This... this was a very pleasant surprise, and now has me doing music discovery from my Windows machines.
While the app is a little on the expensive side for a modern desktop app, its easily offset by all of the new music you're going to get and find. If this isn't part of your default Windows setup, it should be. Stop what you're doing and download the app now. You won't be disappointed.]]>Thu, 08 Mar 2018 12:25:30 +0000Thu, 08 Mar 2018 12:25:30 +0000https://audials-music.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.com
If there's one thing that I know and know well, its Windows PC's. I've been reviewing hardware and software since 1995. While that's all nice and good, despite anyone's best intentions when you work with a Windows PC – installing software, surfing the web, using different and new peripherals (and installing their drivers...) can often cause a number of different performance problems. This is why I like applications like IOBIT Advanced SystemCare 10 Pro. It’s a utility that can make your PC function like new or better than new, with just a few clicks.
IOBIT Advanced SystemCare 10 Pro can help you optimize your computer and keep it clean from issues and problems that will degrade its performance. The application has a number of different modules that can help you Speed Up, Protect, as well as Clean and Optimize your PC. It also includes a Tool Box that can help you find different IOBIT based tools to help you fix, tweak and care for your PC. It also includes an Action Center that provides you with a way to license and update other IOBIT products as well as key Windows components.
IOBIT Advanced SystemCare 10 Pro can help you speed up your PC, keep it clean and optimize your Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 7 PC. You can get rid of junk files, remove privacy information and accelerate your internet surfing speed so you can enjoy a faster and cleaner online experience. With its Startup Optimization module, IOBIT Advanced SystemCare 10 Pro can scan your startup items and help you decide which ones to keep and which ones to remove, speeding up your PC.
IOBIT Advanced SystemCare 10 Pro's Performance Monitor is one of its most popular features. In its latest incarnation, it's been expanded . Its new Resource Manager can keep track of your system components – CPU load, disk use, RAM allocations, etc., and it allows you to end tasks as well, reducing resource use, improving your PC's performance.
App Pro’s: One year subscription is only $29.99 USD, Real time protection
App Con’s: Subscription based consumer service
Conclusion: IOBIT Advanced SystemCare 10 Pro is an all in one solution that provides PC optimization, system cleansing and resource management in an all in one package designed to keep your PC running at its gest. It also has an anti-malware scanner to help keep your PC clean of viruses, worms and other types of malware. It can block malicious attacks, protects your browser home age, removes ads and alerts you when you accidentally surf to malicious web sites. It supports IE, Chrome and Firefox with all of these features.
I've noticed that my PC's performance is often negatively impacted by junk system files, a bloated browser cache and slow startup. Installing IOBIT Advanced SystemCare 10 Pro resolved all of these issues. While I've never been a huge fan of subscription based software licenses, this one definitely makes sense. You get a great deal of value for only $30 per year; and you always get the latest malware definitions, optimization techniques, constant monitoring of junk on your system. You also get the ability to capture the face of the person that steals your laptop/ PC if it turns up stolen, all without the thief knowing that his picture is being taken.
Simply put, this is a GREAT application, and it is something that everyone really needs to have on their Windows PC. ]]>Wed, 09 Aug 2017 06:38:20 +0000Wed, 09 Aug 2017 06:38:20 +0000https://advanced-systemcare-professional.soft32.comSoft32https://www.soft32.com