uTorrent has quickly become a favorite among torrent users worldwide thanks to an innovative interface, minute CPU usage and extensive download details.

The program is undoubtedly one of the most reliable torrent clients on the market, thanks to an ultra quick installation process and a minimal use of PC resources. You can have a good number of torrents downloading and still be able to use your PC without suffering any lags.

The interface is simple to use and is divided into the list of torrents and extensive details like peer data, download and upload speeds, file pieces and blocks, or a graph of your current speeds. In an attempt to help you structure all your torrents, the application allows you to set labels to your individual downloads. You can also view the torrents according to whether they are downloading, completed, active or inactive. If you download a good deal of torrents at a time this is a good way of keeping track of the progress of them all. Furthermore, you can easily set up the web interface for uTorrent, which allows you to check your torrents from any PC connected to the internet. All you need is to have one PC taking care of the downloads and set up access to the interface of your uTorrent session.

uTorrent makes it easy for you to look for new downloads without opening up your browser. You can search the main torrent sites by typing the name of the file you are looking for in the box on the top right corner of the interface. uTorrent also includes an RSS downloader to receive feeds of your favourite torrent sites. This little feature is great to check out all new torrents in one click.

The first time you launch uTorrent it lets you check your connection settings online and verify whether your ports are functioning properly. The preferences menu is also replete with tweaking possibilities. You can customize queuing, scheduling and downloading. Setting the location of downloaded files is the only bit that could confuse users as uTorrent makes a difference between new downloads and completed downloads.

You might have guessed it, here at Softonic we have a soft spot for uTorrent. Not only does the mini torrent client use up very little memory, it also comes with loads of information and customization features to make your downloading experience as simple and automated as possible. If you’re tired of the bandwidth hogging Azureus or bored of the basic Bittorrent client, check out uTorrent.

Download uTorrent (µTorrent) 1.8.1 in Softonic

Some years ago ICQ was one of the most popular IM applications among Internet users. But when Microsoft launched MSN Messenger, many of these users forgot about their original IM client and joined a network that was growing very quickly. In the meantime, ICQ continued to be upgraded until finally reaching version 6, which sets a new milestone in the history of this classic piece of software.

To begin with, the installation process is fast and easy, the only downside being the fact that you must set ICQ Search as your web browser's default search engine, as there's no way of getting around this option.

This new ICQ boasts a fresh-looking interface which has been completely redesigned. Also, you can customize it with skins, although you'll have to download them because there's not a single skin included in the program. It does include, however, a very complete personal profile which you can fill in with all your information, including name, location, interests, spoken languages and a personal avatar that ICQ oddly refers to as "devil".

Generally speaking, ICQ 6 offers all the functions that we find in other IM applications, namely instant written messages, voice calls and video calls. All of these are complemented with a very nice set of animated smilies and the so called "Tzers" which are the equivalent to Messenger's "Winks". Chat sessions can be grouped together under the same window, which prevents your taskbar getting cluttered. ICQ allows you to start text conversations right from the contact list using the Quick message feature. There's also the option to send SMS messages to your contacts, but this is not available in all countries yet.

This new version promises to give you complete control over configuration settings. However, we must admit that we had some trouble in finding them, until we happened to click on the "Main" button on the interface. The configuration options are quite complete indeed, allowing you to change every single detail regarding sounds, notifications, privacy and security, message history, appearance and the program's general behaviour.

In all, ICQ seems to have developed a new version with a fresh redesign only to measure up to its main competitors but without really offering any new functions. Again, choosing ICQ (or any other IM app) ends up being just a question of which IM your friends use.

Download ICQ 6.0.0.7015 in Softonic

Being one of the most widely used IM applications, MSN Messenger has always had a large base of users keen on developing plugins with which they could personalize their favorite chat client. Amateur programmers released plugins to discover who had erased you from their contact list, to start more than one MSN session, to log conversations... until MSN Plus! was launched.

MSN Plus! soon became the most popular MSN plug-in, collecting together all the extra options users could ask for into one program. Even now Plus! is still an excellent pack of tools which heavy Messenger users consider as essential and which certainly improves your IM experience. During all these years it has been able to adapt to every new Messenger version, including the name change and the new interface design. In fact, Plus! is now seamlessly integrated into Live Messenger: it launches with the program and the only way you can tell it's there it by two tiny buttons on the main interface.

When Plus was launched, its main feature was the ability to record "chat logs", that is, create text files with all your conversations. However, as this has been already included in the IM app itself, Plus! has had to widen its range of extra functions. These tools can be divided into two groups: those dedicated to chatting improvement and those devoted to contact management. As for the first group, you'll enjoy tabbed chat windows, support for custom text format (bold, italics, font, color) and the so-called quick messages, personal keyboard shortcuts you can assign to sentences or expressions used on a regular basis. The second group of tools allows you to create custom status messages, have your favourite contacts right on the Windows desktop (as an icon) and gather all kinds of stats about contacts, like the last time they logged on or whether they have recently changed their nickname, which I personally find kind of excessive, but hey, to each his own.

Besides all this, Live Messenger Plus still offers its popular chat log tool, which is said to be more powerful and flexible than the default function featured in Windows Messenger Live. Actually, it looks much better thanks to the use of HTML, the ability to record emoticons and winks and the possibility to customize its appearance with CSS formatting.

The list of improvements Plus brings to Windows Live Messenger doesn't end here. You can, for example, hide the application in the system tray under an almost invisible icon (in case you're chatting at work, something we completely disapprove of) or password protect access to the program, amongst others. The good thing though is that you can create your own extra functions, that is, if you know how to code scripts. Plus already features a nice bunch of them, allowing you to display the name of the song you're listening to, send screenshots, use sticky notes and other nice extras.

All in all, Live Messenger Plus is probably the only plug-in you'll ever need, especially if you like customizing every single detail of your Messenger.

Download Messenger Plus! Live 4.70.334 in Softonic

DreaMule is a nicely designed file sharing program which follows the format of eMule, the famous P2P application. The structure of the two applications is basically the same: the way you search and download files and also how you prioritize them. The plus of DreaMule is an easier searching tool and a more pleasant, user friendly interface, together with a hidden, vital enhancement which puts many people off file sharing programs.

DreaMule resolves the issue of having a ‘low ID’, which is the Achilles' heel of all eMule users and causes very slow downloads or very long waiting lists before a download can start. Usually this happens when users use a firewall or a protected router. They are still able to upload and download files but need the help of servers to be reached by other clients. Their IP/ports are not exchanged between other peers, limiting their possibilities for finding sources. You will have to decide for yourself whether this major issue is definitely solved or not, meanwhile I can say the programs had no problem in finding and connecting immediately to many sources to download copyright-free materials.

It’s an open source, ad-free application which improves eMule’s main features making file sharing friendlier and faster. It’s your turn now to give the last word.

Download DreaMule 3.2 in Softonic

eMule stands out from most of its rival P2P clients in the fact that it is open source. The great thing about this is that you’re free of pesky spyware and adware, leaving you free to get on with your downloading in peace. What’s more, eMule doesn’t rely on one central server like many older clients. By using a multitude of different servers, eMule's network is virtually impossible to shut down, and proves very robust and secure.

A simple user interface goes a long way to making eMule a cinch to use. This doesn’t mean it lacks depth though, and its features are some of the most advanced we’ve seen in a P2P client. For instance, eMule lets you view all manner of information on machines you’re downloading from, call up charts outlining downloading stats and check download status through an advanced progress bar.

The fact that eMule uses a large network of servers means the search results are abundant, but there’s one major annoyance with the client – it’s very slow at downloading files. This is largely because of the way it handles download priority, which takes into account the number of servers you’re connected to, the connection speed, and size of the file. eMule also relies heavily on a ‘credit scoring’ system, whereby people who use the service a lot are rewarded with faster downloads. While some may champion this as being in the true spirit of file sharing, the system makes it awfully frustrating for users new to eMule who are penalized with ultra slow downloads.

Having said this, it’s not difficult to see why eMule has become the most popular P2P app, and if you’re prepared to break the law and download music over a network it makes for the perfect accomplice. If you love downloading, you'll love eMule.

Download eMule 0.49b Beta 1 in Softonic

Long gone are the days when you’d have to save up for weeks to make a long distance or international phone call. Thanks to Voice over IP technology and the widespread availability of broadband it’s now possible to talk free of charge to anyone in the world.

Skype has made the technology accessible to all through it’s simple and fun-to-use chat-style interface. The program is gaining in popularity, meaning the community of users you can chat to for free is expanding. This update certainly contains some decent additions to the previous version, most notably its webcam facilities. This means you can now watch your buddies as you chat to them and let them see you if you want.

You can use the program to chat with other Skype users anywhere in the world for free either via telephone or the built-in chat feature. However, some overly optimistic users may be disappointed to learn that you still need to pay for credits to make calls to landlines and mobiles with Skype, through the SkypeOut function. Luckily, this is a very painless process, and Skype has recently added a plethora of different ways to pay.

The program is perhaps even easier to use than ever, with streamlined new tools such as the ability to add a contact from the main Skype window and contact grouping for arranging your friends, family and colleagues into categories. You can even import contacts from Outlook, and find out if any of these use Skype. The changes to the interface and its icons may confuse existing users for a while, but once you get used to it, the new GUI is arguably more intuitive than ever.

As we’ve come to expect there’s plenty you can do other than just having a two-way conversation with a friend, including inviting other users into a conference, setting up chatrooms, exchanging files, and viewing the history of your contacts. You can even set up customized voicemail to record messages while you’re away from base.

We're also excited by the new public chats function. You'll get to join in many different groups and talk about a specific subject. You can even create your own chat for others to join in, like an Italian language class or a talk on the consequences of the Iraq war.

As more people clamber aboard the Skype bandwagon, the network will become a much more convenient way for people to chat with each other. The client now provides the perfect platform on which to join the communication revolution. Let the Skyping commence…

Download Skype 3.8.0.139 in Softonic

eMule Plus is a spin-off of the highly successful eMule project and mainly aims to improve both its interface and efficiency. Based on the eDonkey 2000 P2P network, the developer slogan for the project is, “The eye candy eMule client, feel the boogie.” So we got down with the boogie to see if it lives up to the hype.

As far as the eye candy goes, the main interface is almost identical to the original eMule so don’t expect any big surprises there. The main changes involve the way the program handles downloads. In a nutshell this means one thing – your downloads should be more stable. The way it verifies files as well means that you should also end-up with fewer corrupt or false files. In terms of speed, we noticed very little difference between eMule and eMule Plus although the latter is supposed to be a little bit slower. This is because it aims to increase the number of other seeds available to avoid the problem in eMule where people seek the fastest download and then switch-off. The result is that although you may not experience quite the same download speeds, you should get a more consistent download which could mean you eventually download the file quicker.

Whether eMule Plus is more stable is still unclear. Over prolonged use, users report differing experiences although this will also depend on what other programs you are running alongside it. As with the original program, you are more likely to experience instability issues if you have multiple downloads of big files left running over an extended period of time.

eMule Plus seems to have pretty much all the benefits of eMule – except that it doesn't seem to be updated as often as the original. However, if you’ve experienced persistent problems with the original eMule, then eMule Plus is definitely worth a go. You should certainly experience more stable downloads if nothing else.

Download eMule Plus 1.2d in Softonic

It's been almost a year since the guys at the eMule project released a new version of it's hugely popular file sharing client but finally it's here although don't get too excited.

There are no major changes to the look and feel of eMule in this new version but they have included a a handy "ISP obfuscation" option which aims to prevent your ISP blocking eMule traffic which is an increasingly common occurrence. When you install for the first time, it takes you through the connection setup wizard as normal with the exception that this time, it asks you if you want to activate the obfuscation option which you might as well - you've got nothing to lose even if it doesn't work for your ISP. In addition to this, the team have made some other major Kad protocol improvements such as better NAT handling, direct callbacks, flood protections, etc.

There have also been several changes made to the message system to get rid of spammers and stay in touch with friends with dynamic IPs. As regards the look, there have been some minor changes such as it now stores searches between eMule sessions, there's a searchfilter for shared files and easier access to the comment filter. In addition, there are the usual small bug fixes and changes.

If you've noticed your eMule downloads have significantly slowed down over the past year, then this new beta version, with ISP obfuscation, may be the answer. It's still the best P2P file sharing network out there by miles too.

Download eMule 0.49a Beta 1 in Softonic

Trillian is an exciting and innovative Messenger application ideal for those who are connected to multiple IM networks and like to customize their programs.

The installation process is a bit lengthy, but once set up, Trillian loads quickly. A set-up wizard guides you through the installation process, like choosing your picture, typing an alias and selecting the different networks you will connect to. One of the most versatile IM clients out there, Trillian allows you to connect to Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, ICQ, AIM and mIRC. To manage your status on each different network you have little round icons at the bottom of the messenger. You can set different states of availability for different accounts. Your IM chats are made secure so you don’t have to worry about anybody eavesdropping on your conversations.

Like most IM clients out there, Trillian serves up videoconferencing, but it uses the QuickTime player to handle your videos. If you and your buddies have webcams, it’s a good way of communicating with each other. The time travel function allows you to replay parts of your webcam chats. Trillian separates contact lists according to the different IM networks you are connected to. You can also choose to create different identities for each of your IM services.

The program has server-less IM to connect with other people in your office or home and send quick messages. The “Instant Lookup” feature is really handy and something we hope to see more of in all IM clients. Right-click on any word in your chats to look up for its definition on the web or Wikipedia.

Trillian is part of the VoIP revolution and lets you make international calls to other VoIP services like AIM, MSN and Yahoo but you won’t be able to make PC-to-phone calls. You can send away messages and SMS to your friends and join a chat room in a click. The “global reconnect” function is useful to reload your connection settings on all of your networks. The “contact message history” function is extremely useful to catch up on what you said to your buddies.

One of the big strengths of Trillian is the wealth of customization tools on hand. You can personalize the interface, change the emoticons and even add new sound packs. With the “Biography” section you can even edit AIM profiles in html. We weren’t too impressed with the default selection of skins and other plug-ins and were furthermore disappointed to learn that you have go to the Trillian site to download new ones. However, there’s a large selection of extra customization tools available online and they’re sorted by popularity for easy browsing.

Versatility and customization are Trillian’s defining aspects. Packed with recent innovations such as videoconferencing and VoIP, and original add-ons like “Instant Lookup” or “global reconnect”, Trillian is a great choice for those of you who want to nest all your IM services into one solid application.

Download Trillian 3.1.9.0 in Softonic

Remote Administrator (Radmin) is a secure, remote-control software that enables you to work on a remote computer in real time as if you were sitting in front of it.

This program is the ideal remote-control and remote-access solution. The remote computer screen appears in a separate window on your screen. You can remotely access the same computer from multiple places and use advanced file transferring, remote shutdown, and Telnet. Radmin uses strong 128-bit data encryption for all data streams.

It supports an OS-integrated NT security system with NTLMv2 support. Remote Administrator can be used for help-desk and network-management needs in small, medium, and large corporate networks.

Additional features:

• Smart protection from password guessing and DOS attacks
• IP filtering, and other security features
• optimized for high and low-bandwidth connections

Download Radmin 3.1 in Softonic

Do you use Live Messenger? If so, there are probably loads of things that you'd like to change about it. Now you can, thanks to Mess Patch. This very simple extra lets you modify as much as 77 various settings.

Grouped in three catagories: General Options, start window and conversation window; you will find all kinds of adjustments such as enabling Messenger 'poligamy' or deactivating extensions of blocked files, or even installing new games!

Whats more, if you don't fancy going through every option one by one, you can try any of the six pre-defined combinations that come with Mess Patch.

Download Mess Patch for Windows Live Messenger 8.5.1235.517 G5 in Softonic

Beyond Remote gives you the ability to manage, control and troubleshoot your entire network from one interface, even Terminal Server or XP Remote Desktop connections.

Beyond Remote allows you to initiate your remote control sessions with its Wake on LAN feature, a must have for after-hours or unattended remote maintenance.

Try Beyond Remote for free and see how you can manage your network more easily than you ever imagined.

Download Beyond Remote 2.2.5.320 in Softonic

Beyond Remote allows you to view remote computers live, transfer files, chat, transfer the clipboard to and from the remote computer, and power on the remote computer (Wake-On-LAN). Beyond Remote also fully supports Microsoft Terminal Server and Windows XP Remote Desktop for a complete well-rounded remote control package.

Download Beyond Remote Client and Server 2.2.3.310 in Softonic

If you have ever tried to use Windows XP's built-in connection manager, you know what a hassle it can be to quickly check your mail or browse the web on the go. You need to browse through a list of access points, find one that you can connect to, manually try to connect to it, confirm the connection and then wait.

Easy WiFi Radar automates all of this. It's main goal is to let you get your mail or surf the web without having to go through all of the connection trouble, and without having to pull your creditcard.

The ideal WiFi-tool for frequent travellers and mobile professionals, Easy WiFi Radar will connect to open hotspots automatically and shows you exactly what it is doing in a cool animated radar screen. Access points are represented as green, yellow or red dots. It plays a sound and opens your webbrowser as soons as it succesfully finds a free connection.

Download Easy WIFI Radar 1.0.3 in Softonic

AccessDiver is software which can detect security failures on your web pages. Its various tools can verify the robustness of your accounts and directories accurately. You will then be able to know if you, your customers and your users can safely use your web site. It contains fast security which uses up to 100 bots to do its analysis and detects directory failures by comparing hundreds of known problems to your site.

AccessDiver is a good way to make sure that you limit security failures on your web page, avoiding the associated problems.

Download AccessDiver 4.281 in Softonic

Yahoo! Messenger is a free service that allows you to see when friends come online and send them instant messages. It also can alert you to new e-mail in your Yahoo Mail or Yahoo Personals account, or when you have upcoming events recorded in Yahoo Calendar. Yahoo Messenger offers firewall support, a standby mode that minimizes the program until an Internet connection is made, the ability to save and print your conversations, and a tabbed interface that provides quick access to your favorite stocks, news, and sports scores.

Other Yahoo! Messenger features include the ability to create a chat room automatically, stock price alerts, the ability to send messages to friends (even if they're not online when you are), a Quick Compact mode that hides the Yahoo! Messenger tools to maximize your viewing area, Messenger Themes, and voice chat, which allows you to talk for free to anybody else on the Internet. Using a Webcam, you can see who you're chatting with or view the Webcam of any Yahoo member who has granted you access.

Photo Sharing

When you need to share photos right away, Yahoo! Messenger with Voice is the ticket. Right in your IM window, you can share from 1 to 300 photos at a time. You can also see the photos your friend is looking at.

Yahoo! Games

Challenge your friends to classic Yahoo! Games in the IM window. When you're in an IM conversation with someone, click the Games button to access the Games menu. If your friend accepts your challenge, your game will open up right next to your conversation.

Yahoo! Search

Yahoo! Messenger makes it easy to search for information - either with friends, or on your own - right from the IM window. LiveWords is just one of the ways you can use Yahoo! Search with Yahoo! Messenger.

LiveWords is a handy way to take any word, phrase, or topic in your IM conversation, and use it as a springboard to search the web.

Just use your mouse to highlight the word or words in your message, and the LiveWords magnifying glass icon automatically appears. Then mouse over (but don't click) the icon, and a new window opens - complete with search results and relevant, up-to-the-minute links to quench your thirst for knowledge.

File Transfer

When you need to get someone that important file fast, Yahoo! Messenger is the way to go. You can drag-and-drop up to 10 files (10 megabytes each) right into the IM window. This is a great way to send documents, spreadsheets, presentations, or any other files you want, and know when they have been received.

Emoticons

These little characters are a great way to spice up IM conversations and show people how you really feel. Select them from the emoticon menu or type the keyboard shortcuts into a text message. Try them all!

Make Calls From Your PC

Making free, worldwide PC-to-PC calls is easy. You and the person you call both need Yahoo! Messenger with Voice, plus a microphone and speakers (or headset.) The sound quality is so good, you won’t be able to tell the difference between calling on Yahoo! Messenger with Voice and calling on a regular phone.

Phone-to-PC Calls

Get dialed-in to all the convenience of having your own phone number so no matter where you are, as long as you're connected to the web, when someone calls that number it rings to your computer. It's great for home and work, plus for when you're traveling. Just choose a phone number in an area code that works for you (it doesn't have to be where you live or work - you can pick any available area code). Then with the latest version of Yahoo! Messenger with Voice on your PC, when people call your number -- it will ring to your computer.

Cool Indian Audibles

Make friends laugh! Send them cool Indian audibles that talk your lingo.

Download Yahoo! Messenger India 8 Beta in Softonic

Tab Mix Plus completely enhances Firefox's tab browsing capabilities. It includes such features as duplicating tabs, controlling tab focus, tab clicking options, undo closed tabs and windows, plus much more. It also includes a full-featured session manager with crash recovery that can save and restore combinations of opened tabs and windows.

Features:

• Undo close tab
• Duplicate tabs
• Open selected links in tabs
• Drag and drop reordering of tabs
• Display unread tabs in red

Download Tab Mix Plus Extension 0.3.7 in Softonic

For a while now, computer users have been waking up to the real threats that exist while browsing the web. Every day, more turn their back on the established vulnerabilities of Internet Explorer and opt for the hottest open source project on the net, Mozilla’s Firefox. But there are plenty of alternatives that offer great features, and one of those is Avant Browser.

Based on Internet Explorer, Avant will import all your favorites automatically and also keep your settings intact. As such it makes a good alternative to the popular Firefox browser, which shuns all things IE, and may seem slightly too foreign from the conventions that many users have built up while using Microsoft’s browser. Although Avant Browser is based on the Internet Explorer engine, it doesn’t fall victim to the same security vulnerabilities (although no-one is claiming that it’s invulnerable), and while it’s at it, adds some great tools designed to enhance your browsing experience.

The Flash blocker is an effective way to keep memory usage of the browser to a minimum or to simply cut out those over-elaborate ads that invade and take over many web sites. To appeal to a wider audience, there are quick links that let you quickly translate pages to a wide selection of languages, or you can customize the look of the browser using the many skins that are included by default. Of course, no modern browser could claim to be complete without tabbed browsing and Avant really delivers the goods with a system that allows you to even reload tabs after you’ve closed them.

In fact, this browser has some of the best extras that we’ve seen to date, in particular the system whereby tabs can be resized like normal program windows letting you display multiple site windows side-by-side, within one browser window. There‘s also a useful toolbar item that displays tags describing the page that you’re on. Click on a tag and you open a list of site that result from a search using that tag or keyword; brilliant! And the piece de résistance is an automatic session saver that lets you open up all the sites you were browsing when you last closed the program.

Avant Browser is relatively unknown as a mainstream browser and as such is not restricted from experimenting and taking the best ideas from the big hitters, as well as adding its own nuggets to the mix. What you get is a very impressive selection of tools in a browser that will even run your Microsoft update without objections. Definitely worth consideration if you are thinking of changing browser.

Download Avant Browser 11.7.15 in Softonic

Shareaza started out life as the legendary Gnutella network but today is one of the most realistic competitors to eMule.

Shareaza is a completely free peer to peer (P2P) file sharing system. The program features Multi-Network Support which basically means it can connect up to 4 separate Peer-to-Peer networks at the same time meaning more hits and faster downloads.

You can download and upload from the EDonkey2000, Gnutella, BitTorrent and Gnutella2 (G2) networks. The latest release features something called "Collections" too. Collections basically group previews of album covers, descriptions, and song lists all in one complete package. It's designed to help you discover similar music to that you already like although in reality, it's not that useful. The interface is very simple to use - very much like eMule. All the search results are displayed clearly including file type, size and estimated download time. You can also choose to filter searches by file type such as picture, video or software.

Shareaza is one of the best P2P networks out there although it still pales in comparison to eMule in terms of results and download speeds.

Download Shareaza 2.4.0 in Softonic

LiveStation is a peer-to-peer application that lets you watch watch television online. At the moment the selection of channels is limited to international news stations like BBC World, EuroNews and Al Jazeera along with two radio services: BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4.

The positive aspect of this software is that, being based on peer-to-peer technology, it virtually eliminates buffering time, meaning you won’t have to wait to watch the channels. The video experience is much more enjoyable than what you can get from a traditional streaming service because the data comes from many sources at the same time, reducing congestion problems. Every PC connected is both client and server.

Livestation requires Microsoft Silverlight to run, but don’t worry because during the installation it asks you whether you want to download it automatically.

The interface is simple but cool with smooth fade effects and once the channel is selected, the very high quality stream starts immediately. Unfortunately there is no pause button, nor any functionality for recording programs at certain times. That said, the application is still at a 'technical trial' stage so there is still room for these kinds of improvements.

If you have a fast internet connection you can always be updated on what’s happening around the world by watching the most famous international news channels with the light and usable LiveStation.

Download Livestation 2.1 in Softonic