Best Free Software

Teamviewer 12

Teamviewer was created by and for business people, and its website is still littered with management jargon. But don’t be put off. This superb free program deserves a place on everyone’s PC. It lets you share a live, secure video stream of your screen with someone anywhere in the world. You see their screen and they see yours, and you can chat and share files while you’re at it.

This means you can talk a friend through a PC problem without having to visit their house (or let them visit yours). You can invite family to view your latest photos while they’re on the other side of the world, and even give friends a tour of your new laptop.

It’s very quick and easy to set up, and secured by unique ID codes and passwords. Video is much smoother and more reliable in the new Teamviewer 12, and file sharing is 20 times faster, with transfer speeds of up to 200Mbps (megabytes per second). The new version also has a redesigned interface that’s easier to use, and lets you leave virtual ‘sticky notes’ on other PCS.

The main downside is that the best new features in Teamviewer 12 – like the option to connect to phone and tablet screens – are reserved for business users. With prices starting at £30 a month, that’s not an option for the rest of us. And we don’t like the way Teamviewer begs you to ‘Buy license’ when you close it. You don’t have to – all the basic features are free.

To get it, click ‘Download Teamviewer 12’, save and run the installer, then click ‘Personal/non-commercial use’ in the setup wizard. Follow the steps in Teamviewer’s Youtube video ( www.snipca.com/22775) to set up a connection with another computer. Once you’re connected, you’ll see the window in our screenshot below.