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Microsoft Security Essentials, the free Microsoft antivirus software for Windows Vista and Windows 7, has always been a firm "better than nothing" option. That may have finally changed, if the latest evaluation from AV-TEST is any indication.

Credit: Microsoft

The German lab's latest twice-yearly Windows 7 results are in, and while Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) still isn't the best way to secure your computer, it's within spitting distance of the top spot. (Usual contenders such as Bitdefender, Kaspersky Lab, Norton and Trend Micro took top honors, but you probably could have guessed that.)

AV-TEST conducts regular evaluations of antivirus software on a variety of operating systems. Up until now, the company's results have been deservedly unkind to MSE (and to its Windows 8.1/10 sibling, Windows Defender), dinging it for poor antivirus protection, even though the free Microsoft program's usability and system impact are often pretty good.

In the latest round of tests, however, MSE scored a very respectable 16.5 out of a possible 18: five in Performance, 5.5 in Protection and a perfect 6 in Usability. The program blocked at least 99.3 percent of widespread threats, and an impressive 100 percent of zero-day vulnerabilities, in two rounds of evaluations conducted in January and February.

MORE: Best Antivirus Software and Apps

Still, if you're looking for the absolute best protection that money can buy, you'll have to go with Bitdefender Internet Security, Kaspersky Internet Security, Norton Security or Trend Micro Internet Security, all of which got perfect scores of 18. F-Secure Safe and Quick Heal Total Security were right behind them, with 17.5 each. All six programs earned AV-TEST's "Top Product" honors. (All Windows antivirus packages from those vendors should offer the same level of protection.)

At the other end of the spectrum, Microworld eScan Internet Security Suite, Intel McAfee Internet Security Suite and Comodo Internet Security Premium scored 15, 14.5 and 13 points respectively. Each one earned a good-enough-for-government-work 4 out of 6 in Security, but fell down on the Performance and Usability Sections.

The home screen of Microsoft Security Essentials. Credit: Microsoft

Aside from Microsoft, all the other programs tested fell between 16.5 and 14.5: AhnLab V3 Internet Security, Avast Free Antivirus, AVG Internet Security, Avira Antivirus Pro, BullGuard Internet Security, ESET Internet Security, G Data InternetSecurity, K7 Computing Total Security and ThreatTrack VIPRE Internet Security Pro. If you have any of these programs, you probably don't need to worry much about your system's security.

In fact, even if you have the three lowest-ranking programs, you're probably still protected pretty well. Every program scored at least a 10 across the board, which earns it an AV-TEST Certification and (at least tentative) recommendation. However, MSE, which can be downloaded for Windows 7 and Windows Vista here, did better than each in the malware-protection sector.

Whichever program you choose, just be sure you protect your system somehow. No matter how careful you are online, its unlikely that you can avoid every single misleading link, phishing scheme, malicious popup and hidden malvertisement that comes your way, and an AV suite is much cheaper than losing all your files.

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Free Microsoft Antivirus Software Finally Does Good Job - Tom's Guide

Why use text-to-speech?

There are lots of reasons to use text-to-speech (TTS) software. It can be enormously helpful for anyone who's visually impaired, or has a condition like dyslexia that makes reading on screens tricky. Text-to-speech can also help overcome language barriers for people who read a language but don't speak it, or are in the process of learning.

TTS is also ideal if you want to listen to a document while doing something else, if you find it easier to retain information you've heard, or if you want to sense-check something you've written.

In years gone by, TTS software was rather expensive, but these days there are excellent available free of charge. Of course, there are still plenty that you can pay for, but in many cases you should be able to get by with a program that doesnt cost you a penny.

Here are the best free tools for reading text aloud either individual paragraphs or whole documents.

Balabolka can read your documents in six voices, then save the audio with handy bookmarks

There are a couple of ways to use Balabolka: you can either copy and paste text into the program, or you can open a number of supported file formats (including DOC, PDF, and HTML) in the program directly. In terms of output you can use SAPI 4 complete with eight different voices to choose from, SAPI 5 with two, or the Microsoft Speech Platform if you download and install the necessary files.

Whichever route you go down, you can adjust the speech, pitch and volume of playback to create custom voice. In addition to reading aloud text, the program can also save narrations as audio files in a range of formats including .mp3 and .wav. For lengthy documents you can create bookmarks to make it easy to jump back to a specific location and there are excellent tools on hand to help you to customize the pronunciation of words to your liking. Balabolka is best free TTS software around.

Download here: Balabolka

A Microsoft Word extension that brings customizable TTS to your favorite word processor

Developed by the University of Edinburgh, WordTalk is a toolbar add-on for Word that brings customizable text-to-speech to Microsoft's word processor. It works with all versions of Word right up to the 2016 edition, and is accessible via the toolbar or ribbon depending on which version you're using.

The toolbar itself is certainly not the most attractive you'll ever see, appearing to have been designed by a child. Nor are all of the buttons' functions very clear, but thankfully there is a help file on hand to help.

There's no getting away from the fact that WordTalk is fairly basic, but it does support SAPI 4 and 5 voices, and these can be tweaked to your liking. The ability to just read aloud individual words, sentences or paragraphs is a particularly nice touch. You also have the option of saving narrations, and there are a number of keyboard shortcuts that allow for quick and easy access to frequently used options.

Download here: WordTalk

Novel text-to-speech software with built-in OCR and its own dedicated web browser

Natural Reader can be used in a couple of ways. The first option is to load documents into its library and have them read aloud from there. This is a neat way to manage multiple files, and the number of supported file types is impressive, including ebook formats. There's also OCR, which enables you to load up a photo or scan of text, and have it read to you.

The second option takes the form of a floating toolbar. In this mode, you can highlight text in any application and use the toolbar controls to start and customize text-to-speech this means you can very easily use the feature in your web browser, word processor and a range of other programs. There's also a built-in browser to convert web content to speech more easily.

Download here: Natural Reader

Despite its basic looks, Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader has more to offer than you might first think. You can open numerous file formats directly in the program, or just copy and paste text.

Alternatively, as long as you have the program running and the relevant option enables, Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader can read aloud any text you copy to the clipboard great if you want to convert web sites to speech as well as dialog boxes that pop up Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader can also convert text files to WAV format.

Unfortunately the selection of voices is limited, and the only settings you can customize are volume and speed unless you burrow deep into settings to fiddle with pronunciations. Additional voices are available for a US$25 fee (about 20, AU$30), which seems rather steep.

Download here: Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader

Panopreter Basic lives up to its name, delivering text-to-speech conversion without frills. The list of supported file types is a little disappointing (no DOCX, for instance), as is the level of voice customization. Aside from choosing a language, volume and speed, there's nothing to adjust. When you compare this to the range of personalisation that can be achieved in other text-to-speech program, it's a little disappointing.

You do have the option of converting text to WAV format so you can listen to it when on the move, but it's a shame to find that MP3 isn't supported. The dual-pane layout of the program isn't particularly pleasant to work with either; it feels like there is a lot of space wasted unless you happen to be both listening to text-to-speech conversion there and then, and also converting to audio file. It gets the job done, but there are better tools out there.

Download here: Panopreter Basic

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The best free text-to-speech software 2017 - TechRadar

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F4F Free Full Software

Whether youre a veteran musician or a wannabe songwriter, theres never been a better time to pursue your ever-growing/burgeoning love of making music. Be it YouTube tutorials, Twitch-based jams, or sampling apps on your smartphone, technology has taken the studio and condensed it into our pockets.

Thing is, access to the very best music editing software doesnt have to come with the price tag youre already imagining. These days theres a veritable ocean of free software out there just waiting to turn your musical musings into chart-topping bangers. Here are the best five options, just for you.

A feature-packed workstation for making music from scratch, or editing samples and tracks

It's long outgrown its Linux roots (its title is now an archaic acronym for Linux MultiMedia Studio), but LMMS remains one of the most popular free music editing suites on PC and beyond. And when we say suite, we really mean it. Its one of the most comprehensive audio workstations weve ever tested, and one that doesnt cut corners the features and utilities either.

Not only can it be used to edit and manipulate existing samples and tracks, it can be utilised to create songs entirely from scratch. Within its scores of menus, submenus and sliders youll find a whole host of trackers, sequencers and synthesizers to muck about with.

Its also one of the simplest setups weve ever used, with four separate elements: an FX Mixer for controlling the volume on each track of your song, a song editor for creating your musical masterpiece, a controller rack for specific audio tweaks, and a beat/bassline editor for building those all important drum tracks.

LMMS even supports an impressive number of popular plugins across multiple platforms, including SoundFont (SF2) files, Virtual Studio Technology (VST), Linux Audio Developer's Simple Plugin API (LADSPA) and Linux Audio Developer's Simple Plugin API (LADSPA).

Download here: LMMS

Designed with professional musicians and DJs in mind, but accessible enough for newcomers

Much like LMMS, VirtualDJ is one of the oldest open source music workstations out there, and there's a good reason why it's secured such a prolonged tenure: its one of the best ways to start making music for free right now.

Originally designed back in 2003 for mobile and club DJs to write and edit tracks and playlists in a live setting, VDJ is all about giving you the access to its in-depth features without making you feel like youre sifting through a swamp of indiscernible knobs and sliders.

You can use it with a variety of setups, so if youre an experienced DJ or musician you can connect it up to your MIDI controller or DJ mixer of choice and immediately get tweaking and hitting notes to your hearts content. Alternatively, if hardware isnt an option, you can simply load up a CDJ plugin and start using existing tracks to pull and loop samples.

The latest version, VirtualDJ 8, is easily the strongest iteration yet, offering the ability to record, edit and mixes digital audio from a wide range of sources. That now includes video as well.

Oh, and did we mention it's free for home use? Bargain.

Download here: VirtualDJ

In development since 1993, Rosegarden is a brilliant music-making tool powerful and easy to use

Remember how we mentioned LMMS and Virtual DJ are some of the longest running music editing series ever? Well, they may be long in a variety of teeth, but theyre practically newborn compared to the elder statesman that is Rosegarden. The original version of the software was launched way back in 1993, and over those years the popular audio suite has evolved multiple times to ensure its still one of the most robust workstations you dont have to buy.

Like most old school audio suites, Rosegarden was first built on Linux before being unleashed on PC, and comes with enough features and utilities to rival even the most up-to-date version of Cubase. For a start, its one of the simplest tools you can get for creating and editing your own tracks and includes its own score-writer and MIDI sequencer for all your EDM needs.

Rosegarden works with most MIDI controllers and MIDI devices so there are plenty of ways to create and record audio from scratch, as well as supporting a raft of DSSI synths and audio plugins. Add to that the ability to export in a ton of file types (and a variety of languages included as standard) and Rosegarden remains one impressive suite of free music-making wonders.

Download here: Rosegarden

Audacity is much more than a tool for editing podcasts it's also ideal for musicians of all levels

While its become synonymous with non-music releases in the last decade (thanks mainly to its close association with rise of podcasting), Audacity remains a brilliantly accessible digital audio workstation thats perfect for songwriters of all skill and experience levels.

So what do you get in this free music-making suite? For a start, you can rip tracks direct from CD, import them in a variety of formats (WAV, AIF and MP3 are all included, naturally), and that all-important multitrack mixing comes as standard.

The current version of Audacity supports an impressively large array of digital effects and plugins, so you can start manipulating everything from beats and basslines to melodies and samples. Audacity will keep you embedded in its digital suite thanks to one of the simplest and most intuitive graphical interfaces on the scene (thanks mostly to the brilliant wxWidgets software library).

TLDR: youll be hard-pressed to find an audio workstation as malleable and rewarding as this for free anywhere else.

Download here: Audacity

A free drum machine that's become a firm favorite in the online music-making community

Sometimes you just need to find the right beat. You could be trying to find the best track to for your hip hop lyrics, or laying down the foundation for the best drum and bass song ever made whatever your need, its clear you need a digital drum machine with all the trimmings. Thats where Hydrogen comes in, a free Windows app thats become one of the go-to drum machines in the music-making community.

Created by Italian programmer Alessandro Comix Cominu in 2016, Hydrogen might be a relative newcomer on the beat building scene but its nonetheless a great place to start learning from scratch (or innovate on the skills you already have). Hydrogen is all about marrying the deep complexity of most other drum machine suites with a setup thats just as accessible for relative newcomers.

This pattern-based sequencer offers a treasure trove of beats and utilities including humanization utilities, multi-layer instrumentation, the ability to play more than one pattern at once, and much more. In short, youll struggle to find more options in an accessible format without parting with some serious moolah. Its available for Windows, Linux and OS X, though the PC version is still in open beta.

Download here: Hydrogen

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The best free music-making software 2017 - TechRadar

Create your own modular system, for free.

If youve ever wanted to get into modular synthesis but dont have the cash to start your own system, a new piece of free software could be the answer.

Automatonism is a new modular synthesizer madein the Pure Data programming language by PhD studentJohan Eriksson. It has a basic interface, but sportsan impressive67 built-in modules that can be patched together to create wild sounds and sequences.

The interface looks a little overwhelming, butEriksson has designed it to be as easy to understand as possible. It doesnt need any prior knowledge of Pure Data to work, and mimics the signal flow of the popular Eurorack format.It also allows you to build and modify your own modules if you want to go deeper.

To make things easier for beginners,Erickson has created a series of synth recipes with presets to get you started and accompanying tutorial videos. They detail a simple subtractive synth, a west coast system and one explaining how to use a clock module to make rhythms.

Automatonism isnt the only modular synth available in software, but unlike NIs Reaktor 6,Ericksons system is completely free and totally open source. It needsPure Data to be installed to run, but thats also free to download.

If you want to know what kind of music can be made with Automatonism, Erickson has a seven track album available at Bandcamp. Find theAutomatonismsoftware and a guide to installing and using it here.

Read next: Cloudlab 200t is a free Buchla-inspired modular system for Reaktor

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Automatonism gives you an awesome free modular synth in software - FACT