Find out how fast your broadband connection really is – and how to get the most from it – with these essential tools.

Use the power of servers scattered all over the world to your advantage.

A handy application that simulates a real VoIP call to diagnose your broadband problems.

A latency monitor that can generate handy graphs about your broadband connection.

Optimize your broadband connection with this handy freeware application, even if you use Vista.

This recommended broadband tool earns our respect and takes labs honours.

Forget the bloat of unwieldy office suites: if you just want to edit documents, there’s a host of lightweight alternatives

A useful code editor that offers a small, but powerful set of features.

Google's free document editor is serviceable but lacks all the tools we wanted.

Drag and drop functionality that allows audio to be recorded direct to page.

One of the best lightweight document editors available

The best of the bunch we reviewed, this is a document editor worth checking out.

Protect your personal data with these essential downloads that offer spyware protection, data encryption and more

We take mail filtering for granted today, but it was big news back in 1991. Pegasus was the first to do it and, 12 years later, its long history ensures lots of development time and a strong community of helpful users. The latest release is a major upgrade, and filtering is still at the forefront.

Can 'crimes' committed online, such as theft or murder, get you in trouble with the police? Davey Winder investigates.

Whether you’re buying or selling, there are some great tools that help you make the most of online auctions.

If you find yourself at the economy end of the Vista ladder, third-party downloads can give you some Ultimate power

The Vista version lacks many of the features of the XP suite, while slowing down the PC noticeably in usage

Protect your PC from itself and yourself

Without support for differential backups and with a light feature set, Norton Ghost feels cheap, nasty and dated.