64-bit versions of Windows 7, Vista, Ubuntu 9.04 and 9.10 fight it out for the fastest boot time on identical hardware.

TechTracker is a new service from CNET that scans your computer’s hard-drive for any outdated software programs and will alert you as soon as new updates are available for download.

The TechTracker app scans your installed software and then retrieves the version information provided in the executable files that come with these applications. It then compares this data with their own database of software products to see if there’s any version mismatch.

If there’s a new version available for your software, you can download it directly from the download.com website or click the “more info” link to view user ratings and other details of that software program before downloading.

CNET’s TechTracker is available for all versions of Windows and a Mac version is in the pipeline. You may either use Facebook Connect or create a free account at CNET.com to use the TechTracker service.

With TechTracker, you can also set up an email alerts for all your software programs so you’ll get an email as soon as a new version is released by the software developers without having to wait for the software scanner to inform you.

VersionTracker is another popular service that offers similar features and the very interesting part is that both these services are owned by CNET / CBS Networks.

The difference is that TechTracker is a free product and limited to software applications only while VersionTracker will scan software as well as hardware drivers though it costs money. Going forward, I think CNET will also release a pro version of the TechTracker application that will have all the features of VersionTracker and possibly some more.

In this The Screen Savers episode, Leo Laporte shows off the ultimate gaming PC of 1998. It consisted of a full-sized tower case, ASUS motherboard, CRT monitor, and 128MB of SDRAM!

Many of us own more than one computer, but unless they are connected to a network, moving files from one machine to another is laborious. We advocate synchronisation tools such as Sugarsync or Dropbox, which enable you to synchronise your favourite and most important files across multiple machines, irrespective of operating system. Snag is, if you have a slow broadband connection, or need to move across large movie files, synchronisation is going to take way too long to migrate your files.

The other option is to backup your data to a removable drive then connect that drive to another machine and restore the content. Of course, if you have a system problem in the future, you can simply restore the content back to the host computer.

FBackup is a free backup tool from the makers of Backup4All that offers you basic backup for your Windows computer. It ships with some pre-defined templates, so you can backup your email, My Pictures, My Documents and other key folders. The tool will enable you to backup to a connected drive, removable flash drive or even across your network.

You can use ZIP compression to get the most from your storage location. You can even use it to backup your most important files, even if they are open and in use by an application. All in all, it’s a simplistic tool designed to make sure you backup your files, quickly and easily with the minimum of fuss.

[ Download FBackup ]