XfireTM is a free tool that automatically keeps track of when and where gamers are playing PC games online and lets their friends join them easily. It works regardless of game type, server browser, or gaming service that a player is using.

Xfire eliminates the hassles of running multiple programs like IRC, instant messengers, or in-game friends lists to keep track of when and where a gamer's friends are playing. It supports the best and the latest online PC games including server and non server-based first person shooters, real-time strategy, and role playing games.

Download Xfire 1.94 in Softonic

Have you ever wondered how to download videos from Youtube without having to go through the pain of searching the browser's cache or using a complicated third-party app?

The answer is Free Video Zilla, a download manager that monitors the browser in the background and lets you download any video that's embedded on any website you visit. It works with all the main browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Maxthon and Netscape, and even enables you to configure a custom browser.

Free Video Zilla works in a very simple way: just browse video websites like you would normally do and the program will automatically grab all embedded videos and show them on its interface. Now you only have to click on those you want to download, making sure you do it before the waiting list times out.

This easy process has two sides to it: on the one hand the program doesn't require any complicated configuration and downloads videos really fast; on the other hand, as Free Video Zilla monitors the browser, it grabs pretty much anything embedded on the website, and this can sometimes make it a bit difficult to distinguish the video you want to download from the rest of them. Plus, videos are saved only in FLV format so you'll need an FLV player to view them.

With Free Video Zilla you won't have to worry about configuring a third-party to download online videos; simply browse your favorite online video website and the program will take care of everything!

Download Free Video Zilla 1.1.2 in Softonic

WinRemotePC for Windows is remote control/administration software. WinRemotePC offers industry leading performance and security. It allows you to quickly and easily access your server, home or office computer remotely anywhere.

With WinRemotePC, you can see the desktop of a remote machine and control it with your local mouse and keyboard, just like you would do it sitting in the front of that computer.You can also transfer files between machines, copy data via the Windows clipboard, and more.

WinRemotePC has two parts, a client and a server. The server is the program on the machine that shares its screen, and the client (or viewer) is the program that accesses and interacts with the server. It displays the screen of remote computer and transmits the keyboard presses and mouse clicks from the local computer to remote transfering data over a network.

Download WinRemotePC 2008 r.2 Lite in Softonic

Watching videos on Youtube, DailyMotion or other video sharing websites is a great pastime. However sometimes your favorite videos are removed and you lose them forever.

If you want to avoid this, the best option is using an online video downloader like TubeMaster. This easy tool works with the most popular video sharing sites such as Youtube, DailyMotion, Metacafe, MySpace and others, enabling you to download videos as you watch them. The program downloads videos in FLV, but features a built-in tool to convert them to other formats right on the spot.

TubeMaster doesn't require any installation and works great. One thing I didn't like though is the downloading process, which is a bit confusing. If you click on the "Media download and conversion" tab you'll see a list with the videos that the program has captured, but they won't be really saved to your computer unless you click on the Save button. This is obviously also a necessary step if you want to convert it to other formats. Conversion works fine, though it would have been nice to have a small progress bar instead of just a "Converting" sign that gives you no clue about how the conversion is going.

Despite some minor flaws, TubeMaster is a great tool with which you can browse, download and convert videos from the most popular video sharing sites.

Download TubeMaster 0.7.40 in Softonic

WOT is a Firefox add-on that adds a coloured ring near the home page button of your browser. This tool lets you know easily, by changing colour, if a website is trusted, safe to use and also the general reputation of that site among end users. You can add your own rating by clicking the coloured ring and give your score on trustworthiness, vendor reliability, privacy and child safety.

If you click on “View scorecard for rating details” a new web page will be opened where you can write a comment on the web site you were visiting and read what other people say about it. Usefully, the program also displays references to that web site found on other sites. Another very interesting function in this page is the ‘Whois’ one. Click this to access lots of information such as front page details, indexed data, registry data, and server data. You can even find a physical address behind a web site. There are cases in which even just having the ability to access this information makes it worth having this program installed!

The only flaw I can see is that most end users can’t really know how a web site manages their privacy. What people can know about the personal data management of a website or if it saves malware or tracking programs for marketing purposes etc. This sort of information should be provided by a pool of experts to be accurate.

If you want to discover the reputation of a web site, try WOT and get a graphic report on the reliability and accuracy of any site, plus tons of other interesting details, such as the physical address behind a website.

Download WOT 20080519 Firefox in Softonic

Pidgin (previously called Gaim) is a multi-protocol instant messaging client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. It is compatible with AIM (Oscar and TOC protocols), ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, and Zephyr networks. Pidgin users can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks simultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on AOL Instant Messenger, talking to a friend on Yahoo Messenger, and sitting in an IRC channel all at the same time. Pidgin supports many features of the various networks, such as file transfer (coming soon), away messages, typing notification, and MSN window closing notification.

It also goes beyond that and provides many unique features. A few popular features are Buddy Pounces, which give the ability to notify you, send a message, play a sound, or run a program when a specific buddy goes away, signs online, or returns from idle. Plugins, consist of text replacement, a buddy ticker, extended message notification, iconify on away, and more.

Download Pidgin 2.4.3 in Softonic

Limewire, one of the world’s most popular peer-to-peer filesharing applications, has received a lawsuit from the RIAA, who are demanding $115 million in damages, claiming the application promotes the infringement of copyright. Similar applications like Grokster and Kazaa have been forced to go legal and there is speculation as to just how long Limewire will resist until they have to buckle and pay up. The existence of the popular P2P application is not under threat, but if you haven’t given it a try yet, here’s just what makes it a standout program.

In terms of file sharing, Limewire is the cream of the crop, offering the essential peer-to- peer tools in what is probably the friendliest interface of applications in its class. Beginners will appreciate the search bar, which allows you to select the type of file you’re looking for, video, image, audio, program or file. Limewire has a “what’s new” button to check out what popular files users have recently exchanged. We also enjoyed the direct connect option. If you know the IP address of one of your friends, type it in the box and Limewire will browse that user’s files. This is a quick way of sharing files with someone else and can come in handy when working on a project and exchanging documents. The only little snag we have with direct connect is that it doesn’t let you enter the username, much simpler than looking for your friend’s IP address.

Downloading with Limewire is very intuitive. After you’ve searched and found the file you are looking for, double-click on it to start the downloading process. The speed of your download depends firstly on the quality of your connection (broadband is a minimum), if you’ve correctly opened your router’s ports and whether you’re downloading a popular file or not. We would like to point out the effort that Limewire takes to make itself accessible to beginners. Not only does a tip pop up every time you launch the application, the help option also leads you to Limewire’s support centre, FAQs and a forum to get in contact with other users.

The lawsuit carried out by the RIAA is all the more surprising because of the measures Limewire takes to keep you in the realms of legality. If you decide to download Limewire from its website, you will first have to agree you will not use it for copyright infringement. When you’re configuring the application, you can set content filters, to avoid downloading files that copyright owners do not want you to share. To avoid embarrassing situations, make sure you tick the “block adult content” box, which will filter out any pornographic files from your searches.

The best way of checking the quality of the audio or video you’re downloading is via Limewire’s mini player. It’s fairly basic and to par with the players you find in similar filesharing applications, but we appreciated the way it was integrated in the application.

If there’s one thing that we’re still expecting from the Limewire team, it’s that it finally decides to jump on the BitTorrent bandwagon. Torrents are the way forward when it comes to peer to peer file sharing because of the speed, the security and freshness of downloads. Large files like movies or complete seasons of TV series are much easier to download via BitTorrent. We were also annoyed by the “buy the PRO version” window that popped up every time we started Limewire.

For its wealth of possibilities and huge base of users, (more than 4 million simultaneously on the Gnutella network) we encourage you to give Limewire a test drive. Because of the controversial nature of the application, you should always make sure that you aren’t using Limewire for illegal activities like copyright infringement. However don’t be scared off by the legality issue. Limewire, like most P2P applications is one of the most exciting possibilities that the internet gives us. It would be a shame not to give it a try. You should also check out Frostwire, the not-for-profit project of the Limewire development team.

Download LimeWire Basic 4.18.3 in Softonic

If you've ever needed a reliable cross platform server, then you should look no further than the Apache HTTP Server which over the years has become on of the most popular open source servers on the net.

It was born out of the Apache HTTP Server Project in an effort to develop and maintain an open-source HTTP server for modern operating systems including UNIX and Windows NT. A survey by Netcraft found that more than 68% of the web sites on the Internet are using Apache which the developers claim make it more widely used than all other web servers combined so you know you're in good hands from the start.

However, be warned if you've never used or configured a server before as this is not loaded with wizards and quick start hints to get you going. Fortunately, there is extensive documentation however that takes you through the whole installation process step by step, plus there's an extensive Wiki.

When you run the installation file, you'll be prompted whether or not you want to run Apache for all users (installing Apache as a Service), or if you want it installed to run in a console window when you choose the Start Apache shortcut. You'll then be asked for your Server name, Domain name and an administrative email account. After this, Apache takes care of much of the configuration but you'll still need to know a little about where and how you want it to install files in various directories.

Apache Server is one of the most successful cross platform open source servers on the net - invest the time in learning how to configure it and you won't be disappointed.

Download Apache HTTP Server 2.2.9 in Softonic

Miranda IM is a multi protocol instant messenger client. It is designed to be resource efficient and easy to use. It uses very little memory and requires no installation. Just unzip and run! This also makes it ideal for users that want to run their messenger client from a removable storage such as a USB memory stick.

The powerful plugin system makes Miranda IM extremely flexible. Only the most basic features are built in, but there are currently more than 350 plugins available for download that allow users to extend the functionality in Miranda IM. Plugins can be installed to add support for ICQ, AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, Gadu-Gadu, Tlen, Netsend and other protocols.

Download Miranda IM 0.8.0 Test 17 in Softonic

Neither the download managers that come bundled with Firefox or IE are particularly impressive so it's a good idea to add a third party downloader or plugin.

Fresh Download claims it can "turbo charge" downloads to make them download in less than half the time they would normally. It works with both FTP and HTTP protocols and gives you a whole range of control over how downloads are completed. Included is a pause and resume feature which is very useful for broken downloads or those downloads that suddenly and annoyingly time out. The program achieves such high speeds due to it's ability to connect to multiple connections and it works across most major browsers. if you don't want to carry out downloads immediately, you can also schedule them for a later date and it can even download links that you've copied to your clipboard or dragged into the main interface from your desktop. If you're downloading zip files, it can also decompress them automatically with it's own Zip extractor although note that it's not particularly powerful or fast - you'd be better using WinZip or WinRAR.

Although you won't notice huge download speeds, you will notice an improvement and besides, this is a much easier way to manage downloads.

Download Fresh Download 8.04 in Softonic

Large files are always difficult to share online. Free file sharing sites are a pain, not everybody has an FTP server to share stuff and sharing them by email can take ages – if your email server can handle a 10MB email attachment at all.

Fortunately now there's another way to share big-sized files using email: Podmailing. Of course it doesn't work the usual way (message plus attached file) but more like as a P2P client or maybe I should say P2M client, which is the right way to name this file sharing protocol. The idea is not new (see Pando) but Podmailing has launched to add more choice to the P2M market.

The program is really easy to use. Simply click on the "New" button, select the files or folders you want to share, enter the email addresses and add a message. That's pretty much everything, although bear in mind that you must leave the program open (and your Internet connection on) in order to send the file.

The addressees of your podmail will receive a message in their inboxes with a link to download the file, which they'll be able to do very comfortably from their own web browser without the need for any third-party apps. Anyway, there's also the possibility to download the file via Podmailing or using the BitTorrent protocol (which also works with Podmailing, as this program is also a torrent client).

The main drawback I found is that you have to wait until the file is completely uploaded before starting to download it directly from the browser, so if your friend wants to share a 9GB file you'd better be patient. At least you can always start downloading it right away by using the Podmailing app or any BitTorrent client, which don't require the file to be finished uploading. Also, uploaded files are saved for 30 days on the Podmailing's servers.

Podmailing is a new client for the P2M protocol with which you can easily share large-sized files on the Internet. It may not be the fastest method but it's reliable and above all, very easy to use.

Download Podmailing 0.10.0 in Softonic

Desktop sharing is not just the expert field of tech professionals anymore. Whether you want to show how an application works or simply to explain things on someone else's PC, you'll need to find a way to share desktops easily.

TeamViewer offers a simple way of creating desktop sharing sessions with other users whether on a distant PC, local connection or over the internet. Both users will each have an ID and password with which to connect to their session.

Taking control of another PC is a great way to solve issues from a distance and demonstrate things on a desktop without actually being there physically. TeamViewer also allows file transfer and includes a chat function to communicate with your contact.

You can also record sessions and play them back afterward. These can then be used as tutorials or to go back on what you've done in previous sessions.

If you dig in the details you'll be able to choose not only whether to optimize quality or speed, but also configure the amount of access you want to give to your desktop.

The free version of TeamViewer has a number of limitations, and lacks a number of modules like the TeamViewer manager or customer module. If you want more features you'll have to be ready to pay at least €159 for higher end versions.

TeamViewer is a good program to quickly share desktops with another user. The free version will let you create secure sessions and control what you show to your contact over the internet.

Download TeamViewer 3.6.4606 in Softonic

Tor is a toolset designed for anyone who wants to improve their safety and security on the Internet. The application can help you anonymize web browsing and publishing, instant messaging, IRC, SSH, and other applications that use the TCP protocol. Tor also provides a platform on which software developers can build new applications with built-in anonymity, safety, and privacy features.

Tor hushes up your communications by bouncing them around a distributed network of servers, called onion routers. Tor's technology aims to provide Internet users with protection against "traffic analysis," a form of network surveillance that threatens personal anonymity and privacy online, confidential business activities and relationships, as well as state security.

Download Tor Alpha 0.2.0.28 RC in Softonic

Maxthon Internet Browser software is a powerful tabbed browser with a highly customizable interface. It is based on the Internet Explorer browser engine which means that what works in the IE browser will work the same in Maxthon tabbed browser but with many additional efficient features like such as Tabbed Browsing Interface, Mouse Gestures, Super Drag&Drop, Privacy Protection, AD Hunter, RSS Reader, IE Extensions Support, External Utility Bar, Skinning and much more.

Download Maxthon 2.1.2.649 in Softonic

NoNameScript is an enhancement for the IRC client mIRC that aims to satisfy both novice and experienced users.

The script basically adds a series of features to make communicating with your friends easier and more comfortable but with a focus on usability rather than useless features such as "nukers". For instance, there's a simple activity status option with both a pager and log to log your activity. Upcoming events are displayed in a balloon and you've got a customisable toolbar with e-mail checker and lag graph. It's also a solid choice for gamers since it features game support for launching games simply bu clicking on an IP address and selecting a server.

There's a theme editor to givemIRC a different look although when you've used it, you might find that it takes some time to relearn how to use the client because it moves things around so much. In addition to all this, you have a clipboard editor, blacklister, clone scanner, alarm timer, kick/ban/dcc histories and much more.

Any mIRC fan will find something to please in this script although changing the appearance may leave you with more headaches than benefits.

Download NoNameScript 4.21 in Softonic

Although P2P networking still survives as a means of downloading video, audio and software, many people are now turning to torrents as a means of getting hold of their entertainment. While BitTorrent and BitComet rule the roost in terms of on-the-fly downloads, there are a few other pretenders to the crown that are worthy of a mention. BitSprit is definitely up with the best of them, allowing you to grab hold of torrents quickly without any fuss.

The application is significantly easier to use than many of its rivals, however, BitSpirit disappoints compared with its peers when it comes to tracking active downloads. If you would like to access information on your current download then you need to access the torrent itself, rather than relying on the application to provide you with this information.

That's not to say that BitSpirit is a total failure though, and the application boasts many assets to challenge the other contenders in the market. For instance, the app uses very little PC resources, leading to quick, smooth transfers that occur without any annoying program restarts. The program is very easy to pick up and use and save for a major bug when utilising the UPNP, BitSpirit is smooth and effective.

Originally a Chinese program, the app includes some horrible menu translations, making it often difficult to select the right menu option to access your download. That said, managing file download locations and tweaking options are both really simple operations. You are furnished with plenty of flexibility for accessing your downloads, giving you a host of options for choosing the source location and destination of the file.

If you're looking for a BitTorrent client that gives you access to files quickly through a simple interface, then BitSpirit is a worthy app. However, if you want a larger selection of files with a minimal chance of file corruption or hanging then you'd be better off sticking with the more reliable uTorrent or BitComet.

Download BitSpirit 3.3.2.352 in Softonic

When you have too many bookmarks it's difficult to find the one you're looking for. Maybe if you could have a graphic preview of all those web addresses it would be easier, wouldn't it?

This is precisely what Bookmark Previews does for you: create thumbnailed previews of your bookmarks in Firefox so that they're easier to identify. This little tip makes managing bookmarks much easier, and it also gives the bookmark collection a more attractive appearance.

Using this extension is a cinch. Once installed on your browser, it'll add a few new buttons to the Bookmark Manager with which you'll be able to switch between different visualization modes: standard, thumbnail previews and thumbnail reel (a kind of Cover Flow-like list of bookmarks that you can conveniently browse with the mouse wheel.

Bookmark Previews doesn't really add any new functions to the bookmark manager in Firefox; it's more of a visual enhancement. Also, it only creates thumbnails for the bookmarks you add from now on, but not for the ones you already have – these must generated in the background when you first run the extension, and it can take a while. In any case, I couldn't manage to get all my bookmarks thumbnailed – don't know exactly why.

Bookmark Previews lets you manage your bookmarks in a more comfortable way, though sometimes it doesn't create thumbnails for all bookmarks.

Download Bookmark Previews 0.6.5 in Softonic

IPNs (Instant Private Networks) are a useful way to create your own private environments where only you and other invited users are allowed to send and receive files.

This app is great for those that need remote access to their PC, work in a secure environment, or just want to know that they're exchanging files without outside intruders interfering. Remobo creates an Instant Private Network (IPN) between users. It works very much like a chat client meaning it's easy to add and remove users and suitable for even the most novice programmers and users.

By creating an IPN, you can control your home computer and access files while at work or traveling or alternatively, privately share large files like photos & documents between computers. In addition, it allows you to play games online or between friends more securely or just simple chat more securely with friends or colleagues. Probably the best thing about Remobo is that it requires virtually no configuration - it's more a case of telling it what you want to do with it and it configures itself automatically according to your system settings and connection details.

This is an excellent IPN tool although it should not be used as a substitute for a VPN because although it's secure, it can't guarantee user privacy.

Download Remobo 0.12.1 in Softonic

Sometimes you need to be sure that your FTP transfers are not going to get hijacked or intercepted by a third party. Most FTP applications are not designed for secure transfers over SSL which is why WinSCP was developed.

For starters, be warned that WinSCP is not the easiest FTP client to use. Because of the extra security features, it can appear overwhelming at first although it does feature a graphical user interface. It also supports integration with Windows in terms of drag & dropping files, pasting in URL's and shortcuts.

The key to the program is the fact that it supports both SFTP and SCP protocols over SSH-1 and SSH-2. Of course, it also supports normal FTP protocols too. It also features full support for SSH password and Kerberos (GSS) authentication. A particularly nice little addition is the Session Saving option. If you want to save your session configuration, you can use the save button on the login dialogue. In this way, you can make huge FTP file transfers and not worry about stopping and completing it later.

This is not the most user friendly FTP client out there but it must be one of the most secure. If security is your concern, you won't be disappointed by what it offers.

Download WinSCP 4.1.4 Beta in Softonic

Sylpheed is an email client and news reader based on GTK+ GUI toolkit. It's full of features designed to help you get more from your messages and improve the speed at which you receive and process news feeds.

Although it's designed for Unix systems, it also works on Windows although the GUI is not exactly what you might expect from an e-mail client. It's very no thrills with few graphical attractions but as you would expect from a program designed for Unix platforms, it's very secure and functional. The program is also remarkably well-organized, lightweight and supports just about every e-mail protocol you'll ever need. It's also designed for those that need maximum security because it supports not only the standard SSL protocol but also GnuPG and TLSv1.

In addition, it comes with more standard functions you would expect such as a powerful filtering and search tool, junk mail control and external commander that allows you to do away with the mouse for a while. It doesn't seem to allow you to retrieve mail from other POP3 accounts though although there is an extensive forum that no doubt, allows you to do this.

A very secure and highly professional e-mail client that doesn't make it easy for beginners but will certainly please those that need high security and work across platforms.

Download Sylpheed 2.5.0 in Softonic