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LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab on Tuesday announced it was rolling out a free version of its antivirus software across the globe, a product launch that comes amid mounting suspicion in the United States that the cyber firm is vulnerable to Russian government influence.

Kaspersky Free was immediately available in the United States, Canada, and several Asia Pacific countries and would launch in other regions in the coming months, Eugene Kaspersky, the company founder, wrote in a blog post. (bit.ly/2uXnsVQ)

Kaspersky said the free version was not intended to replace the paid versions of its antivirus software, describing it as offering "the bare essentials," such as email and web antivirus protection and automatic updates.

But the free software would benefit all of Kaspersky Lab's customers by improving machine learning across its products, he said.

The company has been working on Kaspersky Free for 18 months, a development phase that included pilot versions in several markets including Russia, Ukraine, China and Scandinavian countries.

Founded in 1997, Kaspersky Lab grew rapidly through the 2000s to become ow of the world's leading anti-virus software companies. (Graphic of Kaspersky's global reach tmsnrt.rs/2uWTQoV)

But the company has faced suspicion for years about its ties to Russia's Federal Security Service or FSB.

Concerns about the company have metastasized in the United States in recent years due to the deterioration in U.S.-Russia relations following Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014 and later when U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia had hacked the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Moscow denies the hacking allegations, and Kaspersky has repeatedly denied it has any untoward relationship with any government, saying the accusations against it lack evidence.

Last month FBI agents visited the homes of Kaspersky employees as part of a counterintelligence probe, and the Trump administration took steps to remove the company from a list of approved vendors who sell technology products to federal government agencies.

There is also a bill in Congress that would explicitly prohibit the Department of Defense from using Kaspersky products.

Privately held Kaspersky said its U.S. revenue, most of which comes from selling anti-virus software to consumers and small businesses, slipped from $164 million in 2014 to about $156 million in 2016.

Reporting by Dustin Volz; Editing by Cynthia Osterman

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Russia's Kaspersky Lab launches free antivirus software globally - Reuters

Artweaver puts a wealth of virtual brushes into artists' hands.

Is it time to bid farewell to Microsoft Paint, a Windows staple since all the way back in version 1.0? According to a Microsoft page listing all the features to be removed from the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, Paint is indeed going bye-bye.

Of course, this has yet to be officially confirmed by Microsoft, and there's always the possibility you'll be able to download the program separately.

If not, no worries: There are plenty of free alternatives to Paint, and most of them offer a lot more features. Let's take a look at some of the options.

If you liked doing actual painting with Microsoft Paint, you'll love Artweaver. This touchscreen-friendly Windows program serves up a wealth of realistic brushes, pens, papers and more, all designed to unlock your inner artist.

Although the free version is quite capable, you'll need to invest in Artweaver Plus (about $40, or 30/AU$50) if you need technical support or want to use the program for commercial purposes. Just doodling, though? You'll find Artweaver a fine tool.

GIMP supports layers -- a killer feature if you need them, and something Paint users never dreamed of.

The old-standby, old-favorite open-source image editor, GIMP hews much closer to Photoshop than it does to Paint, and as such the learning curve is much steeper. If you're willing to learn, this is definitely a major upgrade.

On the other hand, it's probably overkill for users just looking to draw cat pictures. Thankfully, the developers have created a handful of tutorials designed to walk you through various functions. And, hey, you can't have a conversation about free image-manipulation tools without mentioning GIMP. While I'm at it, Paint.NET is usually mentioned in the same breath; it's similarly sophisticated, similarly challenging for novices.

Do you use Paint mostly for simple image-editing? Consider switching to IrfanView, a fast and compact utility that's great for quick edits. With it you can rotate, flip and resize images; convert to grayscale, sharpen, fill backgrounds; and apply a variety of effects.

It's been my go-to app for years; I use it to tweak most of the images I share here on CNET. And it does have basic paint and text tools as well, so you can accomplish nearly everything here that you can in Paint -- and then some.

Built with illustrators and comics/manga artists in mind, Krita is an open-source paint program offering perks like a brush-stabilizer (to compensate for shaky hands), a wrap-around mode to produce seamless textures and patterns and a pop-up palette to keep useful tools close at hand.

Like a lot of the more advanced software in this roundup, Krita comes with a learning curve. Newbies will definitely want to check out the online documentation.

Krita gives budding artists and illustrators a pro-level set of tools.

Why bother downloading and installing software when you can work on the web? (Oh, right: working offline.) Assuming you're connected, check out Pixlr Editor, a browser-based image editor offering tools -- layers, filters, effects, etc. -- that rival both GIMP and Paint.NET.

Just one problem: The tools aren't labeled; you don't even get pop-up descriptors when you mouse over them. So unless you can identify, say, the smudge tool just by its icon, you may find Pixlr a little complicated.

Have you found a free Paint substitute you like better than any/all of these? Name it in the comments!

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5 free replacements for MS Paint - CNET

How not to agree to clean public toilets when you accept any online terms and conditions MercatorNet The same concerns apply when it comes to downloading free software and apps which can sometimes come bundled with other software or extensions, often referred to as Potentially Unwanted Programs. If people don't read the terms and conditions then ...

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How not to agree to clean public toilets when you accept any online terms and conditions - MercatorNet

Mumbai: Schools and colleges have now begun to adopt free open source computer software for learning instead of paying huge amounts for licensing. St Marys School at Mazgaon is the first school to have adopted Linux open source Operating System (OS). This move has overthrown the monopoly of proprietary software like Microsoft, Adobe and Acrobat. The school has saved around Rs 2,000 of every student by adopting this free OS. Both the teachers and students have been acquainted to this new software as it is quite similar to the other software that they were initially using.

This school opted for this change because it lacked the funds needed for licensing and also due to the technological advantage. Fr Jude Fernandes, principal of the school, said, My school is an aided school where we charge just Rs 600 as computer fees for an entire year from every student. I could not burden my students to pay more fees just so that I could pay the licensing charges of these software, amounting to lakhs of rupees. This idea of installing this change was initiated by a voluntary group of teachers and professionals called Linux Users Group (ILUG) of Mumbai.

A senior member of the group said, Our education institutions have been teaching us Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Adobe Photoshop. Whereas, a text document, presentation or designing is what students need to learn. And that can be learnt on any software. We can learn on freely available software instead of paying huge sums for these products. Surprisingly, questions related to these products were also asked in Maharashtra State Board examinations.The member added, Recently, the state board issued a notification, stating that schools should use open source software.

The member added, Recently, the state board issued a notification, stating that schools should use open source software. Therefore, questions in computer papers have been shifted from Microsoft word to text document and Excel sheets to spreadsheets. These open source free software do not have a license fee and are easily available with low virus risks. Fernandes added, The recruitment companies want students who are well versed with these software so I think education institutions should adopt this change for the technological benefit.

The ILUG found out in a Right to Information (RTI) query that Ruia College had spent Rs 30 lakh in three years, Khalsa College spent Rs 8 lakh in one year and the civic body spent Rs 18 lakh on these proprietary software. The ILUG which can be approached at ilugmumbai@gmail.com aims to approach more schools and colleges to adopt this change and help students.

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Its all well and good splashing out for a pre-built PC or putting together a bespoke tower yourself, but whats the point of sinking all that money into it if youre not getting the very best performance out of each component? Thats where overclocking comes in.

Once thought the pastime of acne-ridden, basement-dwelling tech nerds, overclocking has now become one of the most widely used avenues for getting your PC firing on all cylinders.

Weve included some of the best free pieces of overclocking programs available right now, from mainstream utilities that anyone can pick up and use to complicated tools that enable you to tweak even the smallest of elements in pursuit of even more gaming performance.

Intimidated by overclocking? MSI Afterburner makes it easy for even complete beginners to wring extra power from their hardware

One of the oldest overclocking tools out, but still one of the best, MSI Afterburner has become a mainstay on the PC overclock scene. So why is it still so popular?

Well, for a start its very easy to use, making it ideal for newbies and those with an intermediate level of knowledge to push your graphics to their designed limit. Also, unlike EVGA PrecisionX (mentioned below), it supports both Nvidia and AMD processors.

The current version of MSI Afterburner includes a still decent number of utilities, including GPU/shader/memory clock adjustment, the power to adjust advanced fan speed, and the ability to tweak GPU voltage control.

We also like the bespoke hardware monitor included as part of the interface, which effectively tracks the performance of your rig and shows frame rates, etc while youre playing a game.

Sure, its not the most comprehensive of packages, and certainly wont appeal to the hardcore among us, but its still a robust suite that will help transform your games if youre relatively new to the scene.

Download here: MSI Afterburner

If you have an AMD GPU, this is the only overclocking software you need

Unlike MSI Afterburner, AMD Overdrive only supports AMD's own branded GPUs, but it still manages to offer one of the most impressive ways to get your PC running at an invigorated pace. As long as your CPU is of AMD origin (including its chipset), you can start pushing those components like theyve never been tested before. Best of all, the attractive interface provides convenient access to an impressively in-depth set of tools to make this ideal for both relative newcomers and seasoned overclockers.

So what does this brilliant little free overclocking tool offer? For a start, AMD Overdrive enables you to change the clock speed of your RAM and adjust the overall speed of your fans (an incredibly useful utility, especially if youre currently having overheating issues).

The built in status monitor lets you see the state of your processor in real time as you overclock it to the hilt, and with streamlined interface (one thats markedly improved over the years), you can easily and confidently tweak the voltage or clock speeds by simply moving a slider.

Okay, theres a little more to it than that, but we like how cleanly it can distill its utilities down to simple actions.

Download here: AMD Overdrive

Free, convenient overclocking software for Nvidia graphics card owners, with support for up to 10 custom user profiles

Easily one of the most popular overclocking tools on the market today, EVGA PrecisionX has become a must for gamers looking to give their rig or gaming laptop a decent push in the hardware performance stakes.

Unfortunately, EVGA PrecisionX only works with Nvidia graphics cards (sorry, AMD users) so youll need to have something like a GeForce GTX TITAN, 900, 700 or 600 installed.

The latest version supports Microsoft DirectX 12 API, as well as enabling you to change your GPUs clock offset and its memory clock offset. As if that wasnt good enough, EVGA PrecisionX also presents you with the power to overclock your refresh rate and establish up to 10 individual overclocking setups. You can even seamlessly switch between them at will!

This being a free overclocking tool aimed at gamers who want better performance with the minimum of hassle, the freeware offers an easily navigable interface that wont drown you in too many options or utilities.

It might not be as comprehensive as some of the more advanced tools out there, but if youre looking to squeeze out better clock speeds overall, EVGA PrecisionX is an ideal addition to your machine.

Download here: EVGA PrecisionX

Two free programs that will give you an in-depth look at your hardware, helping you see where there's room for improvement

Not all free overclocking tools give you the kind of data you really need to see where you machine can be tweaked or adjusted. Thats where tools like CPU-Z and GPU-Z come in, offering an in-depth look into exactly how your PC or laptop is performing.

CPU-Z enables you to track processor name and number details, determine codenames, identify processes, packages, cache levels and more. It can test the performance of your mainboard and chipset, as well as instantly bringing up memory types, sizes, timings and module specifications (SPD). It can even offer real-time measurements of each core's internal frequency and memory frequency.

Then theres GPU-Z, which supports Nvidia, AMD, ATI and Intel GPUs (so youll definitely have a card thats compatible). The free tool displays adapter, GPU and display information, and provides all the information youll need for overclock, default clocks and 3D clock shenanigans.

Both GPU-Z and CPU-Z work brilliantly alongside all of the overclocking tools in this list, so grab them both and take a peek deep inside your PC.

Download here: CPU-Z Download here: GPU-Z

One for the experts, SetFSB lets you tinker with your PC's front side bus

Weve shown you some of the most popular tools and utilities in the world of overclocking, but what if youre a seasoned PC builder who wants to squeeze every ounce of juice your machine has to offer? Sounds like you need something in-depth and comprehensive thats been designed with overclocking pros in mind say hello to the brilliant little tool that is SetFSB.

Unlike some other overclocking tools, SetFSB is all about making adjustments to your system's front-side bus (FSB), which connects the CPU to the main memory. Its speed is measured in MHz and can vary from 60 to 400 (it can go higher if youre lucky/slightly mad), so the higher the speed, the better the performance. Think of it as plugging yourself directly into the Matrix.

One quick word of warning, though. SetFSB is not for the faint of heart and should only really be used if youre an experienced PC tinkerer and overclock pro. Youll need a strong knowledge of the limits of your motherboard and CPU before tinkering with its settings, otherwise you could end up cooking your machine due to the unbridled precision at your fingertips.

Download here: SetFSB

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The best free overclocking software 2017 - TechRadar