Best Free Software

Pcmark 10 Basic Edition 1.0

www.snipca.com/24847 What you need: Windows 7, 8.1 or 10

One-click programs don’t come much more powerful than Pcmark 10. Click Run, then go off and mow the lawn for an hour while the program puts your PC through its paces, using dozens of tests to discover your system’s strengths and weaknesses.

For example, it launches a dummy conference call to measure your PC’S video capabilities; loads mock news feeds to test web browsing; and launches its own versions of programs, including photo editor Gimp, to calculate a software start-up score.

You can opt to save a detailed log of your scores, but there’s not much else you can do with them. The program isn’t a Pc-tuner, simply a source of information, and we found it fascinating (if a little dispiriting when our PC’S mediocre results started to come in).

This is version 1.0 of Pcmark 10, the successor to Pcmark 8. Both programs work on Windows 7 as well as 8.1 and 10. Pcmark 10 claims to be twice as fast as Pcmark 8, but it still took just under an hour to complete its tests on our PC – and would have taken longer if we’d been running other programs.

Be aware that a few features – including Express and Extended versions of the test – are ‘locked’ unless you upgrade to Pcmark Advanced, which costs $29.99 (£23). Also note that the program downloads safe dummy files to your PC temporarily, as part of its testing.

To get the ZIP file containing the junk-free installer, scroll to the bottom of the page and then click Download under ‘Pcmark 10 Basic Edition’. The ZIP is a whopping 2.6GB but the installed program itself is just 495MB.

1 Pcmark 10 opens on the Home tab. Click Run to start the test. The Benchmarks tab has additional Express and Extended tests, but they’re locked in the free version. 2 After the test you’re automatically moved to the Results tab. In the circle you’ll...