Another week has slipped by and another batch of intriguing, exciting and unmissable applications has been released. With so many releases, you can’t be expected to keep on top of them all, so here are some of the highlights from the last seven days. Two of the most popular types of software are security tools and tweaking or tune-up utilities. This week there have been several important releases in both of these categories starting with Norton Bootable Recovery Tool 4.1. This bootable disc can be used to scan your mangled system for free.

This is not the only new tool that has been released by Norton, there is also Norton PC Checkup v2.0.15.87 which can be used to check for and fix problems before they get out of hand. A similar tool is available in the form of MAGIX PC Check & Tuning 2011 Free and this enables you to check for and fix problems with the registry, work with services and startup items as well as performing a variety of optimization tweaks. Also from the MAGIX stables is MAGIX PC Backup MX which can be used to backup your valuable files to a range of external media as well as giving you the option of using online storage.

VIPRE Internet Security 2012

Security is always important, but this is particularly true when online. To help keep your system protected against the threat of viruses, VIPRE Internet Security 2012 is a security tool that not only checks for viruses, block advertisements, block spam and more. If you are looking for less feature-packed protection, look no further than VIPRE Antivirus 2012 which includes just the antivirus component. Lavasoft Ad-Aware Free 9.6 is a more general purpose security tool that provide protection against a variety of malware threat, ensuring that the web sites you visit and the files you download are safe. When spending time online, you’re likely to send and receive emails, and Postbox 3.0 is an email client with a social networking twist, pulling in information from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as providing excellent support for Gmail.

If you prefer to spend your time working with offline files than browsing the web, Cyberlink Power2Go 8 Essential could be right up your street, enabling you to burn all manner of files to disc from data to music and videos. While RealNetworks is more well known for its software used to stream music and video,  Rinse 1.883 is a music library cleanup tool that integrates with iTunes to help keep music tags in order, correct spelling mistakes and downloading album art for you. Plex Media Center 0.9.5.1 (beta) is another tool that will be of interest to music lovers – as well as film fans. The Plex software can be used to stream media content over your network, opening up your music and video collection to all of your machines.

Looking to create PDF files from documents you have stored on your computer? Look no further than Nitro Pro 7 32-bit which can be used to convert almost any file into this portable format. Nitro Pro 7 64-bit is also available, with both version of the app including the option of editing PDFs. DuckLink Screen Capture 2.7 exists to make it easier to take screen grabs. The PrntScr button is available for very basic capturing, but this free tool includes a range of useful options such as grabbing lengthy pages or just a region of your desktop. OpenWith Enhanced 0.96 can be used to take control of which programs are used to open files of a particular type, making things easier than battling with the usual Windows options.

PC Tools Internet Security 2012

EASEUS Todo Backup Free 3.5 is a free tool that makes it easy to keep on top of backing up your data, and a range of similarly helpful system tools has been released by PC Tools. PC Tools Registry Mechanic 2012 v11.0.0.277 allows for quick and easy tweaking of your computer through care for the registry, while PC Tools Performance Toolkit 2 is a collection of maintenance utilities that can be used to manage everything from system memory to disk maintenance. We have already mentioned a number of security tools, and additional options can be found in the form of PC Tools Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 2012 v9.0.0.888,  PC Tools Spyware Doctor 2012 v9.0.0.888, PC Tools Internet Security 2012 v9.0.0.888 and PC Tools AntiVirus Free 2012 v9.0.0.888.

On the browser front, Google has released not only Google Chrome 16 Beta but also Google Chrome Dev 17. Rounding off this week’s  software collection is iPadian 0.1 which makes it possible to install and run iPad software on your computer regardless of whether you have one of Apple’s iOS tablets. As you can see, it’s been a busy week, and next week is sure to be the same.