These tools are useful for protecting your laptop, enhancing connectivity, managing files and media, and/or customizing your Windows laptop. And most of them are free.

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Here's a roundup of all the big news coming out Apple's worldwide developers conference yesterday, showing that Apple is continuing to make improvements users will love.   Everything You Need To Know About iOS 5 iOS5, Apple’s new mobile operating system for iPhones and iPads, was announced Monday at an Apple conference for developers. It’s better in many ways. Better notifications of emails, tweets, appointments, voicemail; tabbed browsing, more camera controls and better Twitter integration.   How Twitter + iOS 5 Will Change Mobile Apps Apple, responding to Faceb

Microsoft presented a radically redesigned Windows interface: Instead of the traditional desktop with windows, the taskbar, and Start menu, the interface looks like Windows Phone 7, its smartphone operating system--complete with touch-friendly live tiles.   "What's interesting about Windows 8 is that it's another step in PCs becoming more tablet-like," says PCWorld.    

Here's a mind mapping app that gives you the ability to embed a variety of links, notes, files, and other content into your mind map. Better still, it lets you brainstorm collaboratively with your coworkers by simultaneously editing shared multimedia mind maps.   "Now two weeks old in beta, the SpiderScribe interface is basic, but it's more robust than the majority of online mind mapping apps," reports PC World.