Category Archives: software

5 software development trends in 2023

Software development trends have always changed rapidly, but the current pandemic has accelerated the process. What seems like an acceptable software development practice today may no longer be so in the near future. The rapid digitization that started in 2020 will continue in 2023. We are seeing more investment in automating repetitive processes, providing a multi-channel customer experience; greater attention to privacy and greater adoption of new technologies in all sectors.

When creating a digital solution, entrepreneurs need to be well informed of where the software industry is headed and strategize accordingly. Here are the top software development trends in 2022 that entrepreneurs should keep in mind when planning a new product.

Rapid growth of the IT sector

Although the IT sector was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused project delays and investment reductions, it managed to maintain its strong position compared to other sectors. All companies are gradually becoming software businesses. As digital transformation accelerates, software will dramatically transform what companies do, how they do it, and what services they provide to their customers. As a result, software development is becoming a game changer for many organizations, if not a strategic imperative.

According to data from the consulting firm Bain & Company, technology has driven global economic growth. “Born tech” companies, which include technology as a central component of their identity, are the ones that have grown the most. Since 2015, these companies have generated 52% of global market value growth. Companies with a technology focus that augments more traditional methods accounted for another 20% of market value growth.

Opportunities for low-code development

Another growing trend in software development is low-code development . Low-code platforms are becoming more and more popular as the demand for building applications quickly and easily grows. Essentially anyone with basic programming knowledge can now try to create their own applications. Low-code solutions are popular because they allow developers to speed up the development process.

In addition to low-code development, no-code development (no code at all9) has become a popular option because the demand for software developers exceeds the available supply. However, no-code development is not a reliable solution to long term because software built this way is not robust enough to handle the changing requirements of your business. However, as the world continues to fight the pandemic and there is a great need for software developers, you can expect no-code development to play a big role in 2023.

Demand for outsourcing will continue to grow

By 2022, the global software industry is expected to reach $536.24 billion, with the overseas software development services market growing by 11.72%. Many companies are finding that they lack the resources to keep up with the ever-changing needs of the industry. Due to the difficulties in finding talented IT specialists in the local market, companies turn to bespoke software development companies to source highly-skilled IT specialists from outside their area (either nearshore or offshore).

Outsourced teams can perform a variety of tasks, including programming, testing, and product management, and are proficient in a variety of programming languages. Delegating software development to professionals in IT companies is on the rise and will become even more popular in 2022. The growing demand for IT outsourcing can be explained by the need for companies to adopt innovations quickly and cost-effectively. In addition to meeting those needs, outsourcing helps companies access the most qualified specialists, while continuing to focus on their core competencies. With management tools constantly improving, it’s becoming easier to establish efficient workflow and productive relationships between internal and outsourced employees.

The new era of cloud computing

Cloud migration is not a new software trend, it has been around for a long time. Regardless of size and purpose, more and more organizations are turning to cloud computing, and this trend isn’t going away anytime soon. According to Statista, the global market for public cloud computing is estimated to exceed $482 billion next year. Cloud migration has a wide range of applications. Machine learning and artificial intelligence, data analytics, web and mobile app migration, and other uses are covered.

Most of the companies choose to place their applications and systems in the cloud due to its greater ease of maintenance and storage. It has also become a great facilitator of remote work. Companies manage to create work environments with the help of cloud services and tools and establish effective team collaboration. SaaS, IaaS and PaaS solutions are increasingly in demand, as they are easier to adopt and deploy, and help reduce costs, which is especially important in post-crisis times.

The rise of eCommerce software

While most businesses were facing difficult economic times in 2021, the eCommerce market was in full swing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses switched to online sales and delivery services as it was the only way to shop safely during the lockdown.

However, the field of e-commerce will continue to develop after the pandemic. Statista states that companies will follow the trend and that by 2023 the e-commerce market is expected to grow up to 22%, compared to 14.1% in 2019. E-commerce apps have proven to be a huge customer experience enhancement and a major boost to business process automation during the pandemic. Companies will continue to implement digital e-commerce solutions, making them more attractive to customers.

Continued growth of artificial intelligence and machine learning

These disruptive technologies have the potential to change every industry by helping organizations meet their business goals, make critical decisions, and deliver innovative products and services.

Here are some examples:

Health : helps doctors make diagnoses and prescribe treatments
Logistics: vehicle management, driver behavior analysis
Education: automated and fair grading
E-commerce: better customer service thanks to chatbots
Smart home: energy consumption analysis
Intelligent automotive: autonomous vehicles and route optimization
Others: acceleration and smoothing of processes, more accurate predictions

AI and ML allow a wide range of tasks typically performed by humans to be delegated to computers, which can solve those tasks faster and more efficiently, and eliminate errors.

By 2027, the AI and ML sector is expected to grow by 33%. According to estimates, by 2022 companies will have implemented at least 35 AI initiatives in their operations.

The Best Antivirus Software for 2023

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There are hundreds of antivirus programs on the market and all claim to offer the best protection at the best price. However, I’ve tested the top antivirus software on the market, and only a few of them are knowledgeable enough, safe enough, and effective enough to make it one of the best antiviruses of 2023. Today, most antivirus products not only offer an anti-virus engine they also include additional features that provide extra protection, such as a network firewall, anti-phishing, virtual private network (VPN) , password manager , parental controls , and dedicated security options available for mobile devices.

However, many anti-virus products do not exactly work as promised they have poor detection capabilities when it comes to malware, they do not reliably block malicious websites, and the extra functions are poorly designed and practically useless (even if they charge extra for them). So, how do we know which antivirus software product offers the best security, the best malware protection, and the best value for money? I compared the top antivirus programs on the market and ranked them based on security, functionality, speed and value for money.

Norton 360

A Norton 360 its protection is unbeatable against viruses and malware. We’re talking about a well-built and well-maintained Internet security software package that fully ensures that all your data is safe and protected from theft and works well with all operating systems. This product is the best choice for home users who are looking for a complete, intuitive solution with the best possible cybersecurity protection features, all for an inexpensive annual subscription.

Norton’s antivirus software uses a unique antivirus engine that uses heuristics-based analysis and machine learning. Thanks to this, the program is able to detect, find and remove even the latest and most serious malicious code so it produced a 100% protection rate in all my independent tests, and always performed better in detecting and removing threats than pre-integrated anti-viruses (e.g. compared to Windows Defender). My favorite extra is the dark web monitoring tool (by far the best such dark web tool I’ve ever tested). The software constantly scans the dark web for a wide variety of personal information, including bank card details, insurance documents, home addresses, phone numbers, game avatar names and other data. In fact, the program immediately alerts you if any stolen data is detected.

Bitdefender Total Security

A Bitdefender has a highly advanced antivirus engine the company uses a huge malware database, while taking advantage of machine learning and artificial intelligence, in order to make the program work more efficiently in detecting and countering malicious code than almost any other competing product on the market protection. In my tests, Bitdefender found and removed every single malicious threat on my computer. Moreover, since the search engine works on a cloud basis, all searches are run in the Bitdefender cloud on the company’s server, so it puts less strain on our computer’s system. Bitdefender had virtually minimal system load on both my Windows and Mac laptops, even during intensive full system scans.

Like Norton and Bitdefender, it also includes advanced settings for users who know they can customize their virus protection to suit their needs. We can configure custom virus scan settings on your computer for different tasks such as checking scripts, network shares, boot sectors and even new/modified files. Bitdefender is even more known for having one of the most functional and customizable anti-malware search engines thanks to its advanced configuration options.

McAfee Total Protection

A McAfee Total Protection it has almost every internet security feature a reader could ever need such as malware and phishing protection, a password management menu, VPN, and identity theft monitoring and insurance. Moreover, the design of the functions is intuitive, simple to use and reliable.

Thanks to its excellent anti-virus functionality, Total Protection is already considered a great software product the program boasted a perfect 100% detection rate when running my test series, where it found all malicious code samples. McAfee detects, blocks, and removes both simple and advanced threats, including viruses, trojans, spyware, keyloggers, and rootkits.

McAfee’s anti-phishing protection is excellent and has prevented me from loading known phishing or malicious sites. The program identified the vast majority of dangerous sites, far surpassing browsers, e.g. knowledge of the integrated protection functions offered by Chrome and Firefox, as well as the web protection packages included with most competing antiviruses.

TotalAV

TotalAV includes an excellent antivirus, some really cool extras, all within a very intuitive dashboard making it a particularly good choice for novice users who don’t want to bother with complicated menus and settings. However, TotalAV also provides plenty of customization options that advanced users will enjoy. TotalAV’s antivirus engine is fast, reliable, and boasts a near-perfect detection rate when it comes to malware. The search engine found 99% of malicious code in my tests, from viruses and trojans to ransomware. It just missed a few tricky files (which Norton and Bitdefender successfully detected).

We also get a full range of extra internet security features. I especially liked the performance optimization option that TotalAV offers this feature freed up more space on my computer than most competing software in my tests. I also liked TotalAV’s VPN it’s secure, works with popular streaming sites, and provides pretty fast speeds on all servers.

Intego

The Integothe best macOS antivirus on the market. Most antivirus brands focus exclusively on protecting Windows PCs even competitors like Norton and Bitdefender offer far fewer features in their macOS programs than in their Windows versions but Intego has designed all of its Mac antivirus packages exclusively to to provide quality Internet security and optimization tools for macOS taking full advantage of Apple’s built-in security features, including:

Real-time protection against malicious code.
Mac system optimization and system cleaning tools.
Advanced Mac backup options.
Network security functionality.
Parental control tools.

Intego’s antivirus engine produced perfect detection rates and found malicious code (both macOS and PC malware) in my tests . And the searches run quickly — the software reviewed more than 800,000 files in 2 hours. I also really liked that subsequent scans only take a few minutes afterwards, thanks to Intego’s file caching solution that ignores files that have already been scanned

Adaware Antivirus features, security Review 2023

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Adaware Total Security is at the top of the company’s line of Internet security and antivirus products . Its list of additional features is impressive and includes everything from file shredding to advanced network monitoring and download protection.

Security

Adaware has received top scores from several independent testing labs, and its high ratings seem justified. I’ve put together a folder full of known viruses, malware, and adware samples and successfully identified them during quick and full scans. It was immediately obvious that this is a very comprehensive program . In addition to three scan modes, users can adjust the scan speed to manage the impact on system performance . I was doing pretty processor-intensive work during the review process, so I set the performance setting to Low and even while running a virtual machine, the performance impact of the full scan was negligible. There is also the ability to set file and folder exclusions . What I liked about this was that the settings held for each type of scan, including Full .

In addition to virus scanning, adaware real-time protection uses behavior monitoring to block suspicious unknown malware. Although both real-time and web protection require additional components to be installed (and a system reboot each time), I highly recommend it. I threw an assortment of phishing URLs into the browser and it flagged each one. This feature does not require the installation of any additional browser extensions.

Characteristics

Adaware Total Security’s features do not disappoint. The list is long, but these features stood out.

Network Protection: Network Protection adds a twist to the way antivirus programs often handle port protection and firewalls. Total Security shows you a list of network adapters on your system’s hardware and allows you to assign a profile to each one . Users can also configure application rules that dictate how programs interact with the Internet. There’s also a handy button to control port scanning, which is set to on by default. Hackers scan open system ports for vulnerabilities, so I was glad to see this protection turned on automatically.

Parental Controls: Adaware Total Security also includes parental controls. The system provides age-based templates so you don’t have to manually set categories for each user. Some of the default options I found a bit amusing (retirement home options are automatically banned for young adults in the 18-21 age range!). So it’s worth tweaking to make sure they’re appropriate for your users or creating your own templates. I didn’t see the ability to block access by time period, day, or hour, which would have been a useful addition.

Email Protection: Adaware includes an email protection tool that integrates with popular desktop email applications. One of the features that stood out to me was the ability to create and manage a safe senders list . This allows users to avoid scanning emails from trusted senders, thus avoiding unnecessary scanning.

Easy to use

After purchasing the product, the download process was relatively easy. However, the download of the initial definitions (about 200MB) was quite slow and Adaware’s servers weren’t the fastest. I also had to put the system through two reboots to install the real-time and web protection components. These components are essential and I would have liked to see them installed from the start. On top of that, the user interface is very well designed and easy to navigate . Features are grouped into areas that can be undocked from the sidebar with the click of a button, and most settings can be turned on and off by moving a simple slider.

Medium

Adaware provides a large number of support options both online and within the program itself. There is a downloadable PDF software manual , FAQ section, Community Forum , and ticketing system, but no live chat or phone support. Despite this, the “contact support” form could be completed from within the product and includes the option to send the scan logs. My support ticket had a response in less than three hours, which isn’t the fastest, but still a very acceptable response time.

Prices

Adaware Total Security can be purchased in bulk directly through the website and is priced on a sliding scale, as more device licenses are purchased, the price per device decreases. The price for even a single device is a very good value , and if you’re buying this for a larger setup, it becomes even more of a bargain. All major credit cards are accepted and there is a 30 day full refund satisfaction guarantee.

Bitdefender Review and features 2023

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If you have ever searched for a good antivirus for any of your digital devices either Windows, Android, MacOS, or Android, chances are that you have already heard a lot of positive and negative comments about Bitdefender Antivirus. But do you know how good Bitdefender Total Security is when compared to its competitors in 2023?

We are going to find it out here in just a few minutes. But before we move forward, let’s look at what criterions we will be measuring and evaluating the performance of Bitdefender Total Security.

What makes the Best Antivirus in 2023?

Pricing

The most important and valid point in evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of an Antivirus is pricing. Good thing is Bitdefender Total Security offers various plans depending on the number of devices as well as for number of years.

Talking about its plans:

Bitdefender offers a 30 days free trial.

Yearly plan for 5 Devices costs $44.99.

Yearly plan for 10 Devices costs $99.99.

2-Year Plan for 5 Devices costs $149.99 (Makes no sense).

2-Year Plan for 10 Devices costs $169.99.

There are also 3-Year plans which you can check out here. If you are looking for a yearly plan, which will be the choice for most people, the best plan would be $44.99 for 5 Devices. It provides the most value for money. Let’s compare the plans of Bitdefender with some of its competitors for a better picture.

Malware Protection

Malware protection being the primary purpose for any antivirus software, it is important to have an outstanding malware protection. Though the antivirus system is not the only parameter to judge the performance, it certainly cannot be overlooked. To be the best Antivirus suite in the market, it should have second-to-none malware-protection.

Malware protection offered by Bitdefender doesn’t disappoint. In my 7-days usage of Bitdefender Total Protection, I tested it against most of the test malware websites, and it managed to detect and eliminate threats every single time. To add to my judgement, I have brought some facts with me. There are many independent third-party labs that evaluate the performance of an antivirus software on different parameters. One such lab is AV-Test lab.

AV-Test lab conducted an evaluation in August 2020 where it tested Bitdefender Total Protection against a huge number of malwares. Though the test was conducted on Bitdefender Internet Security, we can use the results for Bitdefender Total Security reliably because both the software have similar malware protection. In the test given above, AV-Test lab tested the Bitdefender with around 14,000 samples of malware and Bitdefender antivirus, outstandingly, was able to detect and eliminate each one of them. Bitdefender antivirus scored 100% in the test conducted by AV-Test. But these scores too don’t tell the full story. We have to compare the results with the results of other antiviruses too.

Effect on System Performance:

Antivirus suites these days can be heavy on your system’s CPU and RAM because of the sheer number of functionalities these suites offer. Antivirus Software isn’t just about malware-protection anymore. They often offer a whole load of other functions too. Not all devices are equipped enough to cope up with these Antivirus suites and hence, suffer a lag in performance.

In order to judge the overall functionality and effectiveness of an antivirus, it is crucial to comprehend their impact on the system performance. In my 7 days usage of Bitdefender Antivirus, I felt that the Bitdefender Antivirus impacted my device’s performance the least. When I say the least, I mean in comparison to other antiviruses like Norton, McAfee, and Kaspersky. However, in the evaluations conducted by AV-Test lab, results don’t back my opinion. Results show that Bitdefender is no better than its competitors. Instead, it is even worse when we talk about surfing the internet.

Bitdefender VPN:

In short, Bitdefender VPN is far better than its competitors like McAfee. As we discussed while reviewing McAfee Total Protection, its VPN didn’t provide the enough protection and speed that was expected from a premium antivirus Solution. However, the case isn’t the same with Bitdefender VPN. Bitdefender VPN is one of the most effective VPN that comes bundled with any antivirus software in the market. Bitdefender VPN provides the required safety and protection from various cyber-threats.

However, it too suffers from a drawback. The Bitdefender VPN only provides 200MB/day data security with Bitdefender Total Security. It is a big blow on its online privacy front. Most of the competitors of Bitdefender VPN offer unlimited bandwidth.

Safe Online Banking:

In the safe online banking feature, Bitdefender Antivirus attempts to protect the vital financial information like bank account details and credit card numbers of the user. Now you can also program it to autofill credit card information wherever you find suitable.

Parental Control:

Bitdefender Total Security suite offers a parental control tool. Parental control consists of functionality to block the inadequate content on your child’s phone remotely and limit their device usage. It helps provide parents a genuine control over their child’s activity without hindering the personal life of their children.

Bitdefender Photon:

Bitdefender Photon helps the software to hinder the system performance the least by adapting to it. It adapts to your usage so as to change the features such as scanning time, etc. according to your usage so that you’d have a unhindered workflow.

Network Threat Protection:

Bitdefender Total Security helps stop the online attacks directed towards the user’s data and privacy. It helps block sophisticated malware and brute force attacks.

Anti-Phishing:

Phishing scams can be a serious blow to your online privacy and finances. Phishing scams involve creating a legitimate looking website that would interest a user to put his/her account information either in order to buy something or donate something. In both the cases, transactions are made fraudulently deducting more money than the user agreed to. Anti-phishing features can be a blessing if you’re a new user or your teen kids like to make little purchases online.

Complete Real-time protection

Bitdefender Total Security provides real time protection to deal with the malware and ransomware attacks in real-time and not when the harm is done. It, in real time, scans the files and software to ignore any harm that can be caused by a malicious file.

So these are few of the tools offered by Bitdefender Total protection. When we compare these tools with that of other antiviruses such as McAfee and Norton, it totally shines. McAfee, the closest competitor, is at par with Bitdefender. However, if you are looking for an Antivirus with robust online privacy protection, you may want to go with Bitdefender. However, if you are more into accessing global content, you may want to stick with McAfee. In both the cases, Bitdefender doesn’t lag behind the McAfee antivirus in any way.

Verdict:

Bitdefender Antivirus is a marvelous tool to protect all your devices, Android, Windows, iOS, and MacOS. On the pricing front, Bitdefender loses to McAfee Antivirus with a good difference of 5 devices. However, it may not matter to a person with a small family. On the Malware protection front, Bitdefender comes out to be at par with all the best antiviruses available in the market. Hence, it is the best antivirus for malware protection.

On the tools front, Bitdefender is absolutely the best antivirus available in the market. Though the Bitdefender VPN with limited data puts it in a bad place, it is really a matter of choice for someone to opt. On the System impact front, with my personal opinion, Bitdefender Total Security has the least impact on systems performance. Keeping all this in mind, I would say yes, the Bitdefender Total Security is the best antivirus software available in the market. So, this was our Bitdefender Review. We hope we were able to help you decide whether you would want Bitdefender Total Security in your phone or not. Do let’s know what you think about Bitdefender Antivirus, we love hearing from you.

Basic software for windows 10 2023

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Unpacking a brand new computer from its box, removing the protective plastics, and starting the machine for the first time is for many a source of pleasure, almost childish.
But after configuring your Microsoft account to finally arrive on the Windows desktop, comes the slightly less pleasant moment: that of searching, downloading and installing all the essential software you use on a daily basis.

So that you don’t have to rack your brains anymore, you will find below a non-exhaustive list of essential applications for normal use of a PC. From the web browser to the password manager, through cleaning and maintenance tools, or even office suites, here is all the free software to download and install before you start using your PC.

Surf the Web

Although Windows 10 and Windows 11 natively embed Edge , Microsoft’s web browser, chances are you’ve already gotten used to a third-party browser. If Edge was once one of the worst performing browsers, things have changed a lot. Microsoft has indeed reviewed its copy and developed a new version based on the open source Chromium project, which has radically boosted its performance and introduced a large number of new functions to make the competition blush. Despite this, changing dairies does not happen overnight. If you don’t feel ready to change your habits yet, you can use Edge (at least once), to downloadGoogle Chrome or Mozilla Firefox .

The first, Chrome , developed by Google and which is also based on Chromium, has the advantage of perfectly integrating the entire Google ecosystem. By connecting your account there, you will be able to synchronize all your data, your passwords, your tabs, your bookmarks, and much more, on all the versions of Chrome that you use on your different devices. Those who do not look favorably on Google and its tools known to be sinkholes for personal data can turn to Firefox , the open source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation . You can synchronize all your data there (passwords with Lockwise, favorites, etc.), subscribe to certain paid services (including Firefox VPN), but above all browse the Web without risking compromising your personal data.

Manage passwords

Leaving the management of his identifiers and passwords to his web browser is not always the best idea. To protect your sensitive data, it is better to use a third-party password manager, entirely dedicated to this task. Among the existing applications, KeePass , a free and open source password manager , is a tool officially certified by ANSSI, the National Agency for the Security of Computer Systems.
Its strong point? It offers you to store your own password database locally on your computer.

Another option available, and just as effective, is Bitwarden . This manager, again open source , is completely free and is extremely easy to set up to secure your passwords on all your devices . Because, Bitwarden allows you to store them in the cloud , allowing you to synchronize them to find them on all your devices. The software has applications on all platforms: desktop computers, browser extensions, and mobile applications. An excellent point to quickly secure your passwords without difficulty.

Protect, clean and maintain your PC

Let’s be clear, installing and using third-party antivirus software doesn’t make much sense these days. Microsoft Defender, the antivirus that Microsoft has integrated natively into Windows, is more than enough to counter the threat of malware. However, you can complete it with two other tools. The first, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware , whose free version is more than enough, will allow you to strengthen the antivirus analysis of your machine by tracking down and isolating the most recalcitrant malware. Be careful however, during the installation, remember to click on Skip this when the utility offers to install the Malwarebytes Browser Guard browser extension, if you do not want it.

The second, Adwcleaner , is a software known and renowned for its effectiveness in detecting and eradicating adware, malware, toolbars and other hijackers. Very easy to use, it also requires no installation and can be run immediately after being downloaded.

Monitor PC performance

Keeping an eye on your PC’s performance and limiting CPU overheating can save you serious trouble. Real Temp records in real time the temperatures of the different cores that make up your CPU and warns you in the event of abnormally high values. SpeedFan acts directly on the speed of your computer’s fans. Onboard temperature sensors alert you when the CPU is overheating, letting you manually manage the intensity of the ventilation. Intel Power Gadget monitors all components of machines equipped with an Intel Core processor. You keep a constant eye on the general state of the CPU, the power consumption or the frequency of use of the processor.

Work

Need a reliable alternative to Office? Opt without hesitation for LibreOffice , a complete free office suite that integrates several software, including an essential word processor, a spreadsheet compatible with Excel spreadsheets, a PowerPoint-type presentation tool, a database module equivalent to Access , a Publisher-like drawing tool and math equation editor. If you have a Microsoft account, you can find some tools from the Office suite online. In addition to the Outlook email service, Office Online lets you use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for free from any browser. You access your work from anywhere since the files created are saved in your OneDrive space.

Retouch photos

Cropping an image, removing red eyes, improving the brightness of an underexposed shot, here are some fairly simple changes to make, provided you have the right tools. Reliable and accessible to all, PhotoFiltre and Paint.NET integrate all the brushes, filters, effects necessary to improve failed shots.

Advanced users turn instead to GIMP , a powerful graphic design and image editing software. In addition to the traditional editing modules, the open source program embeds many tools that are generally emblematic of professional solutions such as Photoshop. You can thus carry out the simplest retouching as well as the most elaborate photomontages.

Compress and decompress files

Reduce file size or extract documents: this is the mission of 7-Zip . This data compression and decompression utility is open source and allows you to manipulate file archives in the most popular formats such as ZIP or RAR. Another possible choice to manage your compressed files, Bandizip . This ripping tool supports most common formats, recovers cut archives and supports drag and drop.

If the two previous utilities did not convince you, PeaZip should be able to meet your expectations. The program supports the extraction of more than 150 rare or popular formats, supports split compressed files and manages encrypted archives.

Save your documents online

It’s hard to miss Dropbox , one of the leaders in online file backup. The service offers 2GB of storage space for free to sync folders stored on your PC. An ideal solution to find your lost data in the event of a crash of your hard drive.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2023 review

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Photoshop Elements 2023 provides all the organizing and fixing tools that the average photographer requires, plus it gives you in-app guidance on how to develop new creative image-adjusting skills. It may not be an essential upgrade if you already own Elements 2022 though the new Moving Elements command does create eye-catching social media content that should generate some extra likes on your Twitter or Instagram feeds. The full version of Photoshop Adobe Photoshop CC is like a capital city, in that it would take a lifetime to explore every street. Photoshop Elements 2023 is more like a village. It takes much less time to explore and it even has a guide to its key areas.

Unlike the monthly subscription required for the full Photoshop CC, Photoshop Elements 2023 is available for a one-off purchase and you can upgrade the app to future versions for a discount price. Photoshop Elements 2023 is designed to help photographers create eye-catching images with minimum time and effort. It focuses on overcoming common photo problems such as revealing missing tonal detail or removing unwanted objects. Thanks to machine learning features such as Adobe Sensei AI it also enables you to give your images a creative makeover without requiring years of experience using the full version of Photoshop.

Interface

Unlike the black and dark grey panels of the best photo editing software including the full version of Photoshop CC, Photoshop Elements 2023 still sports the light grey workspace that it has worn for many years, giving it a dated look. The large icons and buttons belong in an app aimed at children rather than adults, but this could be reassuring for newcomers to photo editing and manipulation. The lack of a workspace design change may also encourage regular Photoshop Elements users to update to the latest version as they won’t need to spend time adapting to a new look or layout.

As with previous incarnations, the Photoshop Elements 2023 workspace is divided into three sections – Quick, Guided and Expert. The Quick workspace features an Adjustments panel that lets you fix Exposure, Color and Sharpen problems in seconds by clicking on preview thumbnails. You can then fine-tune the adjustments with a slider. The Guided Edit workspace helps newcomers to perform a range of practical or creative edits by taking them step-by-step through a range of creative techniques such as how to animate parts of a photo using the new Moving Elements command – more on that in the Features section below.

Once you’ve created a composite image using a Guided Edit you have the option of fine-tuning it in the Expert editing mode which gives you access to extra features such as layers and masks.

Key Features

In this section, we’ll concentrate here on the new additions to Photoshop Elements 2023 toolset so you can decide whether it’s worth a purchase (or upgrade) over Elements 2022. Guided Edits have always been one of Photoshop Element’s strong points and the latest version features a welcome new addition called Peek-Through Overlay. This enables you to enhance a photo by adding assets such as Autumnal leaves to the foreground of the image. You can blur these foreground objects to create a shallow depth of field that helps focus the eye on the main object.

The new Moving Elements menu command isn’t available in the Guided Edit workspace but it does provide step-by-step instructions on how to select part of a photo (such as the steam from a vintage engine) and animate it. This enables you to create a .gif or .mp4 movie that features steam billowing from the funnel of the train (see our accompanying video). You could also create a .gif that features moving clouds or flowing water in a few clicks. Moving Elements is the most ‘showy’ of Photoshop Elements 2023’s new features.

Existing Guided Edits such as Perfect Landscape have been upgraded, so you now have 36 skies to add to a shot instead of the 12 that shipped with Photoshop Elements 2022. It’s now even easier to replace a landscape’s bland sky with a stunning sunset (or you can even add an elusive Aurora Borealis to your landscapes in a few clicks.) You can also use the Perfect Landscape Guided Edit’s brush-based tools to fine-tune where the new sky joins your landscape’s horizon without needing to access and edit a layer mask directly in the Expert workspace.

When it comes to sharing your favorite shots you can take advantage of an update to the Photo Collage menu. You can now combine a series of shots in more creative ways thanks to a new series of contemporary templates. You can browse various square, vertical, horizontal and panoramic collage templates to suit a variety of social media or print destinations

Quality of results

Photoshop Elements 2023 can also work with high-quality RAW files including digital negative (.dng) files created by devices such as the iPhone 14 pro. These files open in a separate plug-in workspace – Camera Raw 14.4.0 which you can download from the Help menu’s Updates section. This powerful digital darkroom places the most useful photo-fixing tools close to hand, enabling you to selectively boost weaker colors and lighten under-exposed shadows for example.

It also displays a handy histogram graph that enables you to understand (and correct) your shot’s exposure. As you’d expect, Element’s Camera Raw editor lacks some of the more advanced tools found in the full version of Photoshop, such as the ability to make selective adjustments using gradient and brush-based tools for example. However, it will still enable you to produce high-quality results compared to editing compressed .jpeg files in the Quick, Guided or Expert workspaces. If you’re editing on the best iMac or MacBook then you’ll notice speed and performance improvements as Photoshop Elements supports the M1 chip. You can download a trial version of Photoshop Elements 2023 which gives you 30 days of full access to the app, enabling you to put it through its photo-fixing paces.