WHAT YOU CAN DO
• Remove hidden PC junk using Microsoft’s new clean-up tool
• Back up files and drives without paying for premium options
• Try Thunderbird’s new Android app
• Legally download thousands of classic books for free
• Download high-quality films to watch over the next year
• Save old radio shows to your PC or phone to play offline
• Download free music from YouTube
AFTER A STRESSFUL 2022, during which almost everything became more expensive, most of us will be watching our finances carefully this year. When the cost of basic items, such as fuel, food, and household bills, keeps going up, spending even a few dollars on a program, mobile app, or book can seem an extravagant and unnecessary luxury, even though in the past you may have splashed out without a second thought.
There's always been plenty of free software around, but with developers increasingly limiting useful options to paid-for versions or scrapping their free programs altogether even this is becoming more scarce.
However, it's not all doom and gloom, and there is still lots of great stuff you can get for free, provided you know where to look. Here, we recommend the best software and apps you should download, both to replace popular tools that will disappear soon and to try exciting new features before everyone else. We also reveal where to find other fantastic freebies, including ebooks, audiobooks, films, games, and much more.
All of our recommendations will have special relevance and usefulness in 2023, and will hopefully make the next year cheaper and easier than the last.
FIVE NEW FREE PROGRAMS YOU MUST DOWNLOAD
1. Microsoft PC Manager
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Denne historien er fra March 2023-utgaven av Maximum PC.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
NZXT C1500 Platinum
Top-tier performance and efficiency
Nvidia DLSS vs AMD FSR
Which AI upscaling technique has the edge?
World of Goo 2
Goo-d enough for two
BenQ X300G 4K Short Throw Projector
Priced high, yet punchy
Hyte Thicc Q60
Almost more mobile phone than CPU cooler
Remove stalkerware from your PC
ACCORDING TO KASPERSKY’S LATEST ‘State of Stalkerware’ report, over 40 percent of those surveyed worldwide said they’d experienced stalking or suspected that they were being stalked.
BUILD AN IT SUPPORT HUB
Discover how to use RustDesk to provide remote assistance and control your own devices remotely with Nick Peers
AMD's turn to drop the ball?
WITH INTEL'S RAPTOR LAKE CPUs falling over, the company firing around 15,000 employees, and cancelling its 2024 innovation event, AMD must have been enjoying the view - until its new Ryzen 9000 desktop CPUs rolled out. So, is AMD's CPU a minor stumble or game-changing fumble?
Intel issues fix for Raptor Lake degradation
EARLIER THIS YEAR, I wrote about difficulties I was having with a Core 19-13900K processor (see MPC230 Tech Talk). Little did we realize that we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg. While most complaints have involved the unlocked Core i9 Raptor Lake CPUs, it appears the instability problems build up and potentially impact many Raptor Lake-13th and 14th Gen Core CPUs, with Intel identifying 22 different desktop parts.
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X
The new Zen 5 CPUs are here—time to benchmark!