With threats like Conficker fresh in the public's mind, security remains a top concern for Windows users. Panda Security, publishers of Panda Internet Security and Panda Antivirus, is set to take antivirus where it hasn't been yet: into the clouds. Panda Cloud Antivirus beta bets that nearly three years of development can pay off into a better protection system for users. To that end, Panda's willing to make the client free for personal use--even after it leaves beta testing.

The program uses Panda's proprietary cloud computing technology, which they call Collective Intelligence, to detect viruses, malware, rootkits, and heuristics. It takes advantage of "millions of users," according to Panda, to identify new malware almost in real time. Panda says that Collective Intelligence can classify new malware in under six minutes, and that it handles more than 50,000 new samples per day. The Cloud Antivirus works by classifying threats into executables that must be scanned immediately, and non-executables that are checked at a lower priority--usually when the computer is idle.

In exchange for using consumer data to build the Collective Intelligence database, Panda decided to offer the Panda Cloud Antivirus for free, said Pedro Bustamante, senior research adviser at Panda Security.

The new program reportedly takes up around 50 MB on the hard drive and eats around 17 MB of RAM when in use. That compares well against the industry average that Panda provided of 60 MB, and Bustamante said that they're aiming for 12 MB of RAM when in use.

Cloud computing may make sense from a system resources point of view, but what happens to system security when the computer isn't connected to the Internet? "The model we've implemented is to break down the traditional antivirus to client and server, so when the user is not connected they keep a local cache copy of Collective Intelligence, including detections for what Collective Intelligence sees is spreading through the community," he said.

Panda Cloud Antivirus is for Windows XP and Windows Vista, with planned support for Windows 7 when it's released. Bustamante added that it will stay in beta as it's being accepted by users, although they hope it will leave beta by the end of this summer (Originally posted at The Download Blog).

So called lite applications try to bring down the storage requirements and resource usage of bloatware to increase performance by removing components and features that are not needed by the majority of users. Well known examples for lite applications are Nero Lite, Adobe Reader Lite, Skype 4 or Windows Live Messenger.

What are the benefits of this installation method? The application will noticeable startup faster and overall performance during usage is increased. You can download custom installers at the Custom Installers homepage (Tip: choose switchless for avoiding the microsoft installer crap). BTW: Never mind the bollocks.

The Pirate Bay is planning to launch a paid VPN service for users looking to cover their tracks when torrenting. The new service will be called IPREDator, named after the Swedish Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) that will go into effect in April. IPREDator is currently in private beta and is expected to go public next week for €5 per month.

IPREDator is clearly a response to the introduction of IPRED in Sweden, which will allow law enforcement and copyright holders to request the personal details of suspected infringers. The copyright holders will then be able to make direct contact with the accused users and presumably threaten them with lawsuits.

If users connect to The Pirate Bay through something like Tor or VPN, however, they're less likely to be tracked. IPREDator's website says that it won't store any traffic data, as its entire goal is to help people stay anonymous on the web. Without any data to hand over, copyright owners won't be able to find individuals to target.

This, of course, is likely to irk law enforcement even further, as it has been on The Pirate Bay's case for years. Some three years after Swedish police raided the site and confiscated its servers, a few of The Pirate Bay admins finally went on trial for copyright infringement earlier this year. The world is still awaiting the verdict (expected to arrive on April 17), though those behind The Pirate Bay maintain that what they're doing is entirely legal. In fact, Pirate Bay spokesperson Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi said during the trial that 80 percent of The Pirate Bay's torrents are for content that's legal to share online.

Still, The Pirate Bay is sensitive to the concerns of its users, especially with IPRED going into effect on April 1. The question remains, however, if any significant portion of The Pirate Bay's users will decide to fork over €5 per month solely to remain anonymous. It seems more likely that the majority either won't care, or will simply start looking for lesser-known torrent trackers to use.

Click&Clean is a freeware tool for CCleaner. With just one click you can now simply clean your entire computer and remove all the unwanted and useless junk that will clutter your system when you surf the internet. It will free up more free space on your harddisk and your computer will run noticeably faster.

To use it first you have to install CCleaner and then download and install Click&Clean. Once installed, Click&Clean will add an entry to your quick launch bar. You can stop with that if you like, but Click&Clean also provides a Cleaner button for your Firefox and Internet Explorer toolbars — you just have to add them through the customize dialogs. Once there, clicking the toilet paper icon will automatically run CCleaner’s browser cleanup tools to give your browsing session a deep clean. Click&Clean is freeware, Windows only.

Software programs usually grow with every release. Some of the remarkable products that made it from a tiny resource friendly application are Nero Burning Rom and Adobe Reader. Users who are fed up with those overweight programs usually flock to third party applications that provide a balance between resource usage and functionality. An alternatives for Adobe Reader is for example the popular pdf reader Foxit Reader.

Another possibility are so called lite versions of software suites. Both Nero Burning Rom (Nero Lite) and Adobe Reader have been modified by developers to reduce the program’s load times and storage requirements. Adobe Reader Lite has been recently updated to version 9.1 to catch up with the official Adobe Reader 9.1 release (these updates resolve the issue from Security Advisory APSA09-01 and Security Bulletin APSB09-03). Several plugins and other features that are usually not needed by the majority of users have been reduced from Adobe Reader Lite to make the software program more resource friendly. The basic functionality of working with pdf files has been retained.

The result is size decrease of more than 140 Megabytes compared to the official version of Adobe Reader 9.1 which uses 204 Megabytes of storage space after installation. Downloads are available for the English and other localized editions of Adobe Reader 9.1.

Adobe Reader 9.1 Lite speeds up the startup of Adobe Reader tremendously. It is a good alternative for users who prefer to use the original products instead of third party solutions (always uninstall older versions of Adobe Reader before you install the new one).

• Adobe Reader Lite v9.1.0.26 English @ MajorGeeks.com
• Adobe Reader Lite v9.1.0.26 Other Languages @ MediaFire.com
• Adobe Reader 9.1 Official Version (without Acrobat.com on Adobe AIR, size: 25,5 MB)

After the revolutionary Kazaa, LimeWire, and Napster movement of free peer-to-peer music downloads gave way, other less effective imitating software was developed. However, this isn’t one of them. Muziic, an online music player, enables you to search through a wide variety of songs in a music catalog that showcases all types of genres all the way from classical hits to hip-hop or R&B. You’re also able to view small clips that are associated with the song of your choice, courtesy of YouTube.

The first thing you have to do is running Muziic and wait till the server connection is established. As soon as the complete Muziic player window opens you can scroll through the list of genres on the left side. Open up a genre and view songs that have been previously uploaded by other users by simply clicking on its name. Once you’ve browsed through the list and found songs you want to listen to, just click on the plus sign next to the song and it will be instantly added to your playlist.

Now in order to play the songs in your playlist all you have to do is double click on the song and it will begin to load and play on the music player at the top left hand corner.

Muziic player also allows you to configure the quality of your songs depending on your Internet connection speed by clicking on the Settings tab and choosing between Standard and HQ Stereo (HQ Stereo requires faster speeds).

There were a few things I wasn’t too fond of. It doesn’t have the option to listen to radio stations like you can with Last.fm or Spotify. I also found no easy way to manage the playlist or quickly browse through it as well.

However, once you take all of these things into consideration and the fact that it’s a free music player you’ll see past a few of the drawbacks (since you can’t have everything) and you can begin to enjoy free music with Muziic.