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If you're lucky enough to receive a new desktop PC or laptop for Christmas, or have treated yourself to one in the sales, you'll need to ensure it's equipped with a full set of essential software. This can be a costly process

It doesn't have to be that way though. Today, you can kit your new PC out with a full suite of essential software without paying a penny. You don't have to sacrifice quality, either these programs are all packed with features comparable with their paid-for counterparts.

Why you can trust TechRadar Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Windows 10 comes with its own security software in the form of Windows Defender. Its a capable program, but not without a few limitations. Perhaps the most important of these is its sheer popularity; if nobody opts for a third-party program and Defender gains a monopoly on the antivirus market, it will become the number one target for criminals, putting millions of people at increased risk. Its also lighter on features than many other free antivirus suites, including our preferred option BitDefender Antivirus Free Edition (opens in new tab).

This excellent free security suite gives all-round protection from online threats, including viruses, ransomware, and spyware. Its detection rates are excellent (as verified in independent tests), and its hands-off approach means you can simply install it, then leave it to get on with protecting your PC without any further input. It's a superb security package, and our choice for protecting our own machines.

Its not fun or exciting, but a regular backup routine is a good habit to get into with your new PC. Its drives are (hopefully) a long way from failing, but you never know when you might accidentally overwrite something crucial, fall victim to a virus or ransomware attack, have your device stolen, or knock it on the floor in a whisky-fuelled post-Christmas accident.

The only defence against such misfortune is a good backup routine, and EaseUS Todo Backup Free (opens in new tab) is a brilliant free program that makes a potentially dreary chore incredibly straightforward.

It lets you back up your entire system or a selection of your most important files, and its clever scheduling makes sure backups happen at times that wont inconvenience you.

EaseUS ToDo Backup Free even includes compensatory measures if a backup is missed for any reason (if your PC is switched off, for example), and can shut it down automatically once its finished. Get into good habits and install this superb free backup software on your new PC immediately.

After several years playing second fiddle to Google Chrome, Mozilla got its groove back with a total overhaul of its browser: Firefox Quantum. For you, that means vastly improved speeds and an interface thats been redesigned to feel slicker and nippier than its rivals.

Mozilla has also redesigned the way Firefox extensions work, curtailing their ability to alter the browsers base code. This means youre less likely to run into trouble with potentially malicious extensions, or poorly written ones that make the browser slow or unstable.

Firefoxs combination of speed, security and stability make it our top choice for your new PC. To make it your default in Windows 10, download and install it, then type Choose a default web browser into the search box and select it from the drop-down list.

Your new PC will probably come with a trial of Microsoft Office 365, but unless youve been gifted a license too, youll need a new office suite once the demo period ends.

The open source options LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice are great, but for your shiny new PC we recommend WPS Office Free (opens in new tab). Its smart, slick, and features everything you need for working with text documents, spreadsheets and presentations. If youve ever used a modern version of Office then therell be no learning curve whatsoever; the ribbon-based interface will be instantly familiar.

WPS Office Free's developer, Kingsoft Office Software, has thrown in some excellent PDF tools as well, plus 1GB free cloud storage for backing up and sharing your work.

Youll see the occasional ad for the premium version of the suite, WPS Office, but theyre unobtrusive and never get between you and your work.

If you're looking for a free alternative to Adobe Photoshop then GIMP (the GNU Image Manipulation Program) is the tool for you.

For anyone else with a new PC or laptop, we recommend Photo Pos Pro (opens in new tab). It offers a choice of interfaces (Novice and Pro), both of which are smart, well designed and easy to navigate. The Novice option is designed with accessibility in mind, focusing on practical filters that will give your photos a boost with a single click.

The Pro interface is a much more sophisticated affair that has more in common with paid-for photo editing software. Theres support for layers and masks for advanced editing tasks, you can adjust curves and levels manually, theres an excellent selection of brushes and a healing tool, and you van even edit in batches and create scripts to save time.

The only drawback of Photo Pos Pro is that you can only export at a maximum resolution of 1,024 x 2,014 pixels. This is fine for sharing pictures online, but if you want to print your work youll need to either upgrade to Photo Pos Pro Premium (opens in new tab) (currently discounted to US$29.90, 24.54, AU$42.77) or check out an alternative like GIMP or Paint.NET.

Youve just unboxed a shiny new PC or laptop, and transferred across all your most important files. Data recovery is probably the last thing on your mind, but its all too easy to accidentally delete one of those essential files when youre getting everything organized, or make a simple but costly mistake with the Recycle Bin later on.

Once youve deleted something, you need to act quickly to recover it before the hard drive space it occupied is overwritten by new data. Installing a file recovery tool after the data is already lost could do exactly that, so you need to have a recovery app installed at all times so you can act swiftly if the worst happens.

Piriform Recuva (opens in new tab) offers both quick and deep scans, giving you the best chance of finding and restoring your lost files. Everything it finds will be labelled using a traffic light system so you know the chances of it being fully restorable. Grab it now and be prepared; itll barely make a dent in your new PCs storage, and it could be a real life-saver.

The most important feature of a media player is its ability to tackle any video or audio file you can throw at it, without the need to waste time downloading codecs and add-ons. In this respect, VLC Media Player (opens in new tab) is unbeatable. Just open a file, and you can almost guarantee VLC will be able to play it instantly no messing around.

Its not just a simple player though far from it. Although its brilliant from the moment you install it, VLC is also hugely customizable, letting you configure pretty much every aspect of how your media looks and sounds, whether youre playing some music while working on a laptop or enjoying a 4K movie on a connected TV.

VLC is compatible with any operating system, so its also brilliant if youve been the lucky recipient of a macOS, iOS or Android device recently.

Windows no longer comes with a video editor built in, but how are you going to get the videos from your phone ready to upload to Facebook or YouTube without one? Its a pretty major omission, but one that can be remedied by grabbing a copy of Shotcut (opens in new tab).

Its not the most powerful free video editor around (that would be the superb Lightworks), but its what Windows Movie Maker could have become if it hadnt died an untimely death. The first time you fire it up, click the Playlist and Timeline buttons, and itll immediately start to feel familiar. Import your video clips, audio files and photos, drag them into place on the timeline, and youre ready to start editing. Theres a great choice of filters (both audio and video), and everyhing is clearly explained.

Shotcut is a completely free open source project, but its better designed than some paid-for video editing tools. A great addition to your new PC or laptop.

- Still looking for more free software? See the best free VPN options

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The best free software for your new PC or laptop | TechRadar

English rock band

Free were an English rock band formed in London in 1968 by Paul Rodgers (lead vocals), Paul Kossoff (guitar), Andy Fraser (bass, piano) and Simon Kirke (drums, percussion). They are known for their hit songs "All Right Now" and "Wishing Well".[1] Although renowned for their live shows and non-stop touring, their studio albums did not sell very well until their third, Fire and Water (1970), which featured the massive hit "All Right Now". The song helped secure them a place at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, where they played to an audience of 600,000 people.[2] In the early 1970s they became one of the best-selling British blues rock[3][4][5] groups; by the time they disbanded, they had sold more than 20 million records worldwide and had played more than 700 arena and festival concerts. "All Right Now" remains a staple of R&B and rock, and has been entered in ASCAP's "One Million" airplay singles club.[6][7]

Free disbanded in 1973; lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to help found and front the more successful rock supergroup Bad Company, which also featured his Free bandmate Simon Kirke on drums.[8] Guitarist Paul Kossoff formed Back Street Crawler in 1973, but died from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 25 in 1976.[9] Bassist Andy Fraser formed Sharks.[10]

Rolling Stone has referred to the band as "British hard rock pioneers".[11] The magazine ranked Rodgers No.55 in its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time",[12] and Paul Kossoff at Number 51 in its "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[11] Free were signed to Island Records in the UK and A&M Records in North America.

Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke first became friends in the R&B band Black Cat Bones, but they wanted to move on. Kossoff saw vocalist Paul Rodgers singing with the band Brown Sugar while visiting the Fickle Pickle, an R&B club in London's Finsbury Park.[13] He was immediately impressed and asked if he could jam with Rodgers onstage. Along with Kirke, they began the search for a fourth member. Alexis Korner recommended Andy Fraser to the band, who had already been playing with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Korner also provided the name "Free" to the newly formed band.

The group played their first gig on 19 April 1968 at the Nag's Head pub, which was at the junction of York Road and Plough Road in Battersea, London. All members were relatively young.[14] Bass player Andy Fraser was 15 years old, lead guitarist Paul Kossoff was 17, and both lead singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke were 18. By November of that year they had recorded their first album, titled Tons of Sobs, for Island Records, although it was not released until the following year. The album documents their first six months together and contains studio renditions of much of their early live set. To promote their forthcoming debut album they also opened some gigs at the end of 1968 for the Who, who played a short theatre tour with Arthur Brown. The group's second studio album, Free, was recorded and released in 1969 on Island Records.[13]

Unlike their previous albums, Tons of Sobs and Free, their album Fire and Water, released in 1970, was a huge success largely due to its hit single "All Right Now", which reached No.2 on the UK singles chart and No.4 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[13] The album reached No.2 in the UK charts and No.17 on the U.S charts, making it the most successful Free album. "All Right Now" became a No.1 hit in over 20 territories and was recognised by ASCAP in 1990 for garnering 1,000,000 plus radio plays in the US by late 1989. In 2000 an award was given to Paul Rodgers by the British Music Industry when "All Right Now" passed 2,000,000 radio plays in the UK.[15]

In July 1970 the band, despite their name, were the only advertised band to decline to perform for free for the ailing Phun City festival - according to promoter Mick Farren they "heard the deal and fucked off without even getting out of the car."[16] Kirke's replacement in Black Cat's Bones, Phil Lenoir, played the festival as drummer for Shagrat.[17][18]

Highway was their fourth studio album, recorded extremely quickly in September 1970. Highway performed poorly in the charts, reaching No.41 in the UK and No.190 in the US.[19]

The band disbanded in 1971 because of differences between Fraser and Rodgers, who felt he was not being listened to.[20] This led to the release of the live album called Free Live! In early 1972 the band set aside their differences and reformed in an effort to save Kossoff from his growing drug addiction,[21] and released Free at Last in June of the same year.[9]

Fraser left the band in mid-1972, frustrated by Kossoff's unreliability at being able to perform at shows or even at showing up. The remaining members recruited Japanese bass player Tetsu Yamauchi and keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick, who had worked with Kossoff and Kirke during Free's initial split, recording Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu and Rabbit[22] and recorded what would be Free's final album, Heartbreaker. Kossoff was replaced by ex-Osibisa guitarist Wendell Richardson for a USA tour in 1973, but shortly thereafter Free disbanded for good. Rodgers and Kirke went on to form Bad Company,[23] Fraser formed Sharks[24] and later the Andy Fraser Band, and Kossoff formed Back Street Crawler.[25]

With Kossoff in better health again in late 1975, he was delighted that ex-colleagues Rodgers and Kirke asked him to join them on stage for two nights. A British tour was set to begin on 25 April 1976 with Back Street Crawler headlining with Bad Company in support of Back Street Crawler's second album, but again Kossoff's drug addictions contributed to a drastic decline in the guitarist's health.[21] On a flight from Los Angeles to New York City on 19 March 1976, Kossoff died from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 25.[26]

After parting with Bad Company in 1982, Rodgers went on to explore the heavy blues stylings of Free again in his solo career during the 1980s and 1990s, and in the bands The Firm and The Law.[23] Subsequently, he teamed up as vocalist with two of the three remaining members of Queen (Brian May and Roger Taylor). In September 2008, Queen + Paul Rodgers released their first studio album The Cosmos Rocks. Rodgers also performed Free and Bad Company songs whilst on tour with Queen, in addition to the traditional Queen songs and new cuts from their most recently released album.

Rodgers and Kirke toured again with Bad Company from 2012 to 2016.[27] Andy Fraser died on 16 March 2015.[28] In 2017, Paul Rodgers embarked on a Free Spirit UK Tour in May 2017 to celebrate the music of Free by performing songs strictly from the Free catalogue.[29] In 2019 Bad Company reformed to tour in support of the first leg on Lynyrd Skynyrd's Last Of The Street Survivors Tour.

Original members

Later members

Timeline

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Free (band) - Wikipedia

Many online fax services offer free faxing, but you have to be mindful of the limitations. FaxZero, for example, offers free Internet faxing but with a limit of up to three faxes per day. Another alternative is GotFreeFax. While its fitting for sending local faxes, offshore and international faxing isnt supported. There is also a limit of three pages per fax and only two free online faxes per day.

While looking for services that offer free online faxing may seem like a challenge, there are other ways to send faxes online for free. A perfect example of this would be iFax. With our free fax online service, you can send up tofive pages per month at zero cost, with no credit card needed. The plan is available across our apps regardless if youre on Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android.

When you sign up for a free iFax account, you can send free faxes to any local or international fax number using only your cell phone or computer. Your account is free forever. Plus, you can always upgrade to a Basic or Plus plan should you need to send and receive more than five fax pages.

You can also try iFax Professional for free for seven days. You may cancel the subscription at least 24 hours before the trial period is over.

With iFax, you have a quick and easy way to send regulatory-compliant faxes without watermarks, ads, or cover page logos.

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Free Fax Service: Send and Receive Faxes Online for Free

As flight-free travel gains momentum, European train journeys are experiencing a renaissance.

Changing the way you travel is one the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint. According to Eurostar, flying from London to Paris emits 14 times more CO2 than travelling by train.

Luckily, countries across the EU are investing in railways that provide better - and faster - connections than ever before.

From budget-savvy night trains to cross-country tracks, here are all the latest European railway routes.

Austrian national rail firm BB has been trailblazing Europes sleeper train revival with NightJet since 2016. In late 2021, it launched a new route between Vienna and Paris via Salzburg and Munich.

The journey takes 14 hours and runs three times a week in both directions, with prices from around 30 for a seat to 120 and up for a private compartment.

In summer 2023, Nightjet will launch new-gen trains that rival first-class flights in comfort. Expect wireless charging stations, free wifi, bicycle and snow sports equipment storage and private compartments with their own showers and toilets.

Nightjet's new 2023 timetable saw its Vienna/Munich service to Milan extended to Genoa and La Spezia in Italy. From here, passengers can take trains to Monaco, Nice and Cinque Terre.

The long-teased European Sleeper, a Belgian-Dutch social cooperative, will launch its first route - from Brussels to Berlin via Amsterdam - on 25 May 2023.

With only one change, passengers will be able to travel on to Paris, London, Prague and Warsaw. From 2024, the plan is to extend the service to Dresden and Prague.

Prague to Zurich with D

In December 2022, the Czech Republics national rail operator esk drhy (D)launched a new sleeper service linking Prague to Zurich, with stops at Frankfurt and Basel along the way.

The overnight journey, a revival of a service that closed down in 2017,will take slightly less than 14 hours. Travellers will have a number of different fare options, from six-bed couchettes to deluxe sleeper compartments with en-suite toilets and showers.

Tickets for a berth in a six-bed couchette start from 49.90.

France and Germany have announceda new TGV train route between Paris and Berlin that is due to start running in 2024.

Currently, a trip between the two capital cities requires travellers to change at a separate station such as Cologne or Frankfurt.The new high-speed link would allow passengers to make the journey in around seven hours.

In December 2022,FS Italiane Group - the owner ofItaly's national state-owned railway Trenitalia - announced plans for a newhigh-speed Frecciarossa train connection between Paris and Madrid.

The new train will link Paris and Barcelona, where the existing high-speed service already runs to the Spanish capital. It is projected to launch in late 2024, with hints that further services could connectMadrid with Italy via France.

Swedish railway company Snlltget has rerouted its Berlin to Malm train service through Hamburg and Denmark, while extending it to Stockholm. The full journey takes just under 17 hours with prices for the direct service from around 50.

Nightjet's new 2023 timetable saw its Vienna/Munich service to Milan extended to Genoa and La Spezia in Italy. From here, onward travel to Monaco, Nice and Cinque Terre is possible.

In its new 2023 timetable, NightJet extended its sleeper train service from Munich to Venice, Ljubljana and Zagreb to start in Stuttgart, Germany.

Seasonally, the route will also run to the coastal Croatian city of Rijeka, with a total journey time of around 15 hours.

The Nightjet to Venice travels via Munich, Salzburg and Treviso, while the service to the Croatian and Slovenian capitals is run by Croatian Railways H and Slovenian Railways S under BB's EuroNight.

In late 2021, Italian high-speed rail company NTV Italo launched a Genoa service linking the previously poorly connected port city in Italys northwest to the south of the country.

The journey from Genoa to Naples takes just under seven hours and costs from around 80 return.

Also in late 2021, Frecciarossa - the high-speed arm of Italian national train operator Trenitalia - launched a swanky new train between Milan and Paris.

Faster and more luxurious than previous services on this route, the train takes just under seven hours. Tickets are as cheap as 29 - though splash out on an executive fare to travel in a comfy armchair.

Portugal has approved plans for a high-speed rail line between Lisbon, Porto and Vigo. It will be part of the wider Iberian high-speed rail network uniting the country andconnecting it with Spain.

Currently it takes almost three hours to travel by train between Porto and Lisbon. The new rail link will slash the journey time to just 1 hour 15 minutes. Ultimately, the new line will connect the Portuguese cities with Vigo in Spain.

Snow sport lovers are bracing for a new overnight train launching between Amsterdam and some of Austrias biggest ski resorts.

TUIs Ski Express will depart from Amsterdam every Friday night between 23 December and 31 March.After leaving the Dutch capital at 5:30pm, the service will stop at Utrecht, then continue directly to Austria.

Austrian-led night train pioneer NightJet launched a route between Amsterdam and Zurich in late 2021. It leaves at 8.30pm and arrives at 8.05am.

Sleeping options range from couchettes (from around 60) to sleeper cabins (from around 120).

In November 2022, SNCF-owned Ouigo launched a new high-speed route between Madrid and Valencia. It will soon also run to Alicante. Tickets will initially be priced at 9 one-way with one suitcase, but will cost around 30 after the launch period.

In 2023, Ouigo plans to extend its service to reach Cordoba, Seville, Malaga and the Costa del Sol.

Travelling between Spains capital and its top tourist city got faster and cheaper in November 2022 with this new high-speed rail service from Iryo.

Iryo -a consortium between Spanish airline Air Nostrum and Italian train company Trenitalia - runs 16 return trains daily between Barcelona and Madrid, taking as little as 2.5 hours each way and costing just 18.

Launched in December 2021, the Hungarian Railways train from Ljubljana, Slovenia to Budapest, Hungaryruns through Graz in Austria for a scenic ride. The journey takes 7.5 hours and trains depart at 5:05am and 9:35am, starting as low as 16 each way.

Launched in September 2022, the Stockholm Central to Hamburg-Altona night trainis powered by renewable energy. It departs daily at 5.30pm and arrives at 6.30am, passing through Copenhagen along the way.

The cheapest option is a seat in a carriage (from 25). A bed in a shared compartment starts at 45, while a private compartment for two people with a sink starts at 165.Private compartments for one-to-three people come with their own shower, toilet and breakfast starting from around 205. Pet-friendly train compartments are also available.

Combined with existing Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn services, the service can also be used to travel from London to Stockholm in less than 24 hours.

In a 2020 press conference, Nightjet announced it will launch a new night train between Zurich and Rome in winter 2022. It remains to be seen whether the plans will go ahead as scheduled. Currently, the operators only Rome routes include Vienna, Salzburg, Villach and Munich.

Eurotunnel execs have hinted at plans for a London to Bordeaux route, which they aim to launch within the next five years. They hope the new infrastructure will encourage private jet users to visit the Cte d'Azur more sustainably.

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Rail revival: The best new European train journeys to take in 2023

The Indianapolis Colts are in the midst of a busy head coach search that has seen the number of candidates rise to more than a dozen. The new head coach will have to hit the ground running with free agency and the draft fast approaching.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) took the task of linking a free-agent defender to every team, and for the Colts, they pegged edge rusher Melvin Ingram of the Miami Dolphins as a key target.

"The Colts will likely focus their offseason efforts on acquiring a starting quarterback and addressing the left tackle position, so a veteran edge rusher to pair with a young group would be a smart move just as it was for the Dolphins in 2022," wrote PFF's Brad Spielberger.

"Former first-round pick Kwity Paye and 2021 second-round pick Dayo Odeyingbo have both improved over their first two seasons, and a consummate professional in Ingram can help them take the next step."

What goes unsaid by Spielberger is the signing of Ingram would likely be the end of Yannick Ngakoue's tenure with the Colts.

"Ingram has earned 75.0-plus pass-rush grades in four consecutive seasons, putting to rest any notion that hes slowing down as he gets older, though you do want to deploy him in more of a rotational capacity around 500 snaps on the season going forward," wrote Spielberger.

"Over the past two seasons, Ingrams 15.9% pass rush win rate and 12.0% pressure rate are both top 50 marks at the position, and his 79.3 run defense grade ranks 10th. Hes prone to the occasional missed tackle, but letting him focus primarily on pinning his ears back on passing downs is the perfect way to get the most out of him down the homestretch of his great career."

While Spielberger makes the case for him as a pass rusher, Ngakoue had 9.5 sacks last year for the Colts and has had eight or more sacks every year of his career.

Meanwhile Ngakoue has fallen woefully short in his run defense. He had a 43.7 grade from PFF in run defense last season compared to Ingram's 65.9 last year.

Using Ingram in a rotation in his 12th season in the NFL would be wise, but his ability to set the edge and defend the run is the bigger need for the Colts.

Ingram signed a one-year $4-million contract with the Dolphins last season. A similar deal for the Colts in 2023 would be well worth the investment. A deal of that size wouldn't necessarily mean the end of Ngakoue.

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PFF Links Dolphins Edge to Colts - Sports Illustrated Indianapolis ...