Google's satellite imagery software has truly changed the way we look at the globe. The application lets you zoom in on any part of the world and for some places, observe from a few meters away.

Google Earth not only displaces satellite images but it also includes terrains and sometimes 3D reconstruction of buildings. You can look for directions and businesses, just like in Google Maps and pinpoint areas or draw on maps straight in Google Earth.

Google Earth includes a very wide, and constantly increasing library of layers, which you can add to the map to enrich your experience. You'll find all sorts of information, from historical landscapes to national parks, regions where you can find endangered species or tourist spots. Google Earth will also showcase more news related information such as forest fires or tsunamis.

If stars is what you are into, turn to the Space mode and navigate among the constellations.

Moving around in Google Earth is incredibly intuitive thanks to the multiple navigation tools. Some areas will show less information than others, and Google Earth is known to use up a substantial amount of bandwidth, but it remains a fascinating piece of software

Google Earth is as of yet an unequalled application. Browse around the world, zoom into streets or go up and gaze at the stars. Millions of possibilities.

Download Google Earth 4.3 Beta in Softonic

Finding suitable software to help you out with learning a musical instrument can sometimes prove to be more difficult than just sitting down and teaching yourself. An inproportionate number of programs scrape the surface and don’t provide the flexibility, depth or support that you need to be able to go beyond being a novice. Thankfully, in Guitar Pro you will find a complete tool that will take you from tuning the guitar, through learning the scales and as far as composing your own sheet music.

The main interface is a daunting array of buttons on both the top and bottom of the window. On further inspection it becomes clear that the majority are involved with composing and each one refers to a very specific element. With this in mind, there are actually very few that you need to be familiar with to get going and as your guitar skills progress, so too will your familiarity with the software.

Some of the gizmos included in the software can actually come in useful and let you do everything from one place. The digital guitar tuner and the metronome are extremely handy to have and save you the bother of going out to buy them or of searching through your cluttered room for either. Once prepared, you can get started on the individual note library that lets you visualize the fingering as well as listen to how they should sound. Moving on, you can practice the large variety of scales that each come with a plethora of variations.

Getting the basics down is all well and good, but when it comes to composing or playing sheet music, Guitar Pro has it licked. Using the virtual keyboard or guitar, although tedious, will yield results when you want to compose something of your own, but for optimum results you can hook up your own MIDI device (such as a keyboard) and get cracking on tracks that are as simple or complex as you want. The extra dimension of a separate MIDI device lets you get ideas down much quicker while also giving you the ability to experiment with variations of a piece.

It’s difficult to point out faults with Guitar Pro, but having mentioned the cluttered interface, it could do with a facelift in the form of tabs or something similar that would better categorize and clean up the buttons scattered around the screen. The help file covers each topic without going into excruciating detail and if you’re after some extra resources, you’ll find tablatures, lessons and exercises on the Guitar Pro web site.

A good one-stop solution for beginners and experts alike, Guitar Pro succeeds in delivering the variety and depth required to taking the next step to rock-stardom!

Download Guitar Pro 5.2 in Softonic

Google Earth Pro is the professional version of Google Earth. It's downloaded upon registration on its website and adds some extra features to the free version. Do these additional functions make a difference? Let's dig a bit deeper.

Making use of a vast satellite imagery database –actually the same as the free version, Google Earth Pro displays locations from all over the world, enabling you to zoom in from the image of the whole planet to the streets of any capital city. As a Pro version user, you're supposed to enjoy a faster performance, but we couldn't really notice any difference.

Another interesting feature included in the Pro version is the ability to record videos with your movements around the world, which you can use to illustrate trips or even give directions. You can choose different resolutions, but record only in WMV format.

Technical support assistance, Premium print and a GID data importer are other additional capabilities of this Pro version. However, taking into account that both versions share the same image database, which in the end is Google Earth's biggest value, you may as well use the free version.

Download Google Earth Pro 4.3 in Softonic

Those of us who feel more attracted by books may have enough with the Windows Calculator, but mathematics people definitely need something more. Here's where Derive 6 comes in handy by presenting you with a wide variety of mathematical tools ready to perform almost any kind of maths operation.

The program displays a blank interface where you insert numbers, expressions, symbols and everything you need to create your calculations. The data is entered through a command line and added in consecutive lines on the program's interface. Besides using your keyboard, you can also use the program's buttons to enter certain symbols which may be harder to find on your keyboard configuration. You can then let Derive solve the problem and also get it printed on paper for further study.

All the operators and commands are conveniently categorized into a menu which, together with a comprehensive help system, make the program very complete and easy to use – that is, if you have some basic maths knowledge. Otherwise, you may as well stick to the Windows Calculator!

Download Derive 6.1 in Softonic

If you write many articles, you probably know what a pain it is to have to regularly skim through a heavy dictionary to find the word you’re looking for. Luckily there’s a whole batch of lexicon applications that’ll send it back to the shelf (or in the trash can) forever. WordWeb is the perfect example of this type of dictionary and thesaurus combo in a hands-on interface.

What you’re looking for in a dictionary application is something you can open in a click, paste your word, and immediately get the results. You get that in Wordweb via system tray integration, and a Ctrl+Alt+W hot key combination. On install WordWeb will ask you the English locale you will use, such as Australian, Canadian American or New Zealander. The program keeps a history of your searches and you can quickly access them via the side arrows. You can refine your search by selecting word category like nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs and decide to show pronunciation, usage and offensive or vulgar words. WordWeb isn’t associated to any world famous reliable dictionary like Webster’s ,preferring its very own online source, comprising of more than 240,000 words and updated regularly, according to the developer.

The heart of WordWeb resides in the results tabs, although the difference between them all wasn’t obvious from the start. After a bit of testing we found that the “nearest” tab showed you the preceding and following words in the dictionary, “see also” was a suggestion of related words and “similar” presented a word that resembled your search but had a slightly different meaning. “Types” goes down to the meaning of the word, for example solid “types” will be plastic, crystal or block. The “type of” tab is another variation. “Types of” solid will be substance, state or form. These tools will be particularly helpful if you feel limited by your vocabulary and are looking to diversify your choice of words in the document you are writing.

WordWeb is a reliable dictionary and thesaurus with a simple, hands-on approach. It is an ideal partner to fight off writer’s block and improve your vocabulary. The online dictionary is a rich source and WordWeb should help you out of any mind jam whenever you’re writing an article.

Download WordWeb 5.00 in Softonic

With more power and speed than ever before, Finale offers endless possibilities for composing, arranging, hearing and printing your music. The original, groundbreaking notation software introduces new features that nurture and fuel creativity. Finale 2007 includes revolutionary tools for teaching students how to create, evaluate and shape ideas into songs, arrangements and compositions.

The largest publishers, including Hal Leonard engrave with Finale. Prestigious schools like Juilliard and Berklee College of Music teach with Finale. World-class arts organizations such as the Metropolitan Opera and Jazz at Lincoln Center rely on Finale.

Download Finale 2007 in Softonic

This song-based learning software complements guitar tablature by providing additional, detailed instructions that guitar tab alone is unable to provide. Guitar Guru teaches guitarists of all skill levels how to play songs from a variety of genres.

Tools and features:

• Virtual fret board displays proper fingerings in real-time
• Detailed instructions for all guitar parts in a song
• Adjustable playback/learning tempo
• MIDI or CD-Synched Audio
• Customizable display with additional guitar skins
• Step-Through Playback Function
• Delayed start option: Give yourself time to grab your guitar
• Bass guitar support
• Select MIDI playback instrument to match your preferred sound
• Choose colored dots, numbers or dots and numbers to represent fingerings
• Adjust tempo up to 300% without changing pitch (MIDI only)
• Mute Button: The volume reset has been changed to an on/off toggle

Download Guitar Guru 2.1.4.1 in Softonic

Millions of researchers, scholarly writers, students, and librarians use EndNote (patent pending) to search online bibliographic databases, organize their references, images and PDFs in any language, and create bibliographies and figure lists instantly. Instead of spending hours typing bibliographies, or using index cards to organize their references, they do it the easy way—by using EndNote! EndNote for Windows and Macintosh is a valuable all-in-one tool that integrates the following tasks into one program:

• Search bibliographic databases on the Internet
• Organize references, images and PDFs
• Construct your paper with built-in manuscript templates
• Watch the bibliography and figure list appear as you write!

Download EndNote 9.0.2 in Softonic

Have you ever wondered what life is like on the other side of the world, just on a normal day like today? Stop wondering: now you can see it.

Satellite Live is an impressive mapping application with which you can view satellite imagery from any location on the planet, traveling from one place to another with just a mouse click and zooming in and out at your will. In a way it works very much like the popular Google Earth but with a slight difference: Satellite Live offers live, real-time images.

The program uses former military technology that has now been released to civilians. Software developers have quickly taken advantage of it, producing a striking piece of software like you'll never have seen before.

You're able to watch people actually walking down the street, parking their cars, buying groceries from the market stall or going for a walk in the park. Obviously the program only shows images from public and open areas so forget about peeking into somebody's bathroom to witness private stuff. Nevertheless, Satellite Live features an extraordinary zoom level with which you won't miss a single thing.

The program includes also a locating feature (which finds any place on Earth in a matter of seconds), an embedded screen capturing tool and navigational buttons to move around maps. However, there's no support for extra information layers yet.

Bear in mind that the level of detail may vary from one place to another, which means that populated areas such as New York, Los Angeles, London or Tokyo have more image quality than the Nevada desert or the Amazon jungle. In any case, Satellite Live is still an incredible application that opens a window to the world from your own computer.

Satellite Live lets you witness what's going on in any location on the planet, in real time. Though the level of detail may vary, it's still an impressive app with which to learn how life is in other parts of the world.

Download April Fools Satellite Live 1.0 in Softonic

Islamasoft Solutions is proud to present the Hadith Software English translated hadith (plug-in) databases all bundled together in one easy to use application. The software is equipped with an explorer type user interface for ease of use.

It has the ability to export hadiths books/chapters to a text editor (e.g. Notepad), bookmarks, advanced search engine (super fast), active marker 'highlight text' display, and allows hadiths to be sent to anyone via email + more... This is an excellent resource for both muslims and non-muslims who are interested in learning more about Islam.

Download The Hadith Software 1.0 in Softonic

This astromony software lets you see the sky from anywhere on Earth, any solar system body, or any location up to 20,000 light-years away. View 1,000,000 stars along with 110 deep-space objects such as galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae.

Navigate through space for otherworldly views of eclipses and other rare cosmic events. Click Go There and travel to the planet, moon, or star of your choice. You can even e-mail your latest night sky discoveries to others with QuickTime movies.

Download Starry Night Digital Download 5.0 in Softonic

On the whole, Lingoes is an interesting application which combines a comprehensive dictionary with a translator service (while looking and feeling mysteriously similar to its competitor, Babylon). There are also some useful tools like the periodic table, an abbreviation chart and an irregular verbs one, plus an international time zone converter, a dialing codes directory, a weights & measures converter and to end a currency converter.

Theoretically the most useful tool is that by pressing CTRL+ right click on whatever word you have on your screen, a pop-up window should appear with the definition of that word, a search tool for a deeper definition and also an audio file with the correct pronunciation. The disappointing aspect of this feature is that it doesn't work with a lot of words (unfortunately, I have to say, the majority), even if they appear in the list of definitions that Lingoes has in its database. I think this is a major bug as it invalidates massively the application's main utility which would be to have an always-available dictionary without having to change window.

The program leans on Google for the translation function which I find to be weak as many words are not translated correctly or not even found.

Because of strange performance issues, Lingoes is not worth using if you're just looking for an on-the-fly dictionary or translator. Some of its other features are really useful, though.

Download Lingoes 2.2.0 Beta in Softonic

I play the guitar a little bit and so I was glad to discover this program. The problem with my manual electronic tuner is that it's always running out of battery power so half the time I'm playing completely out of tune. However, Free Guitar Tuner totally eliminates this problem by running directly through my PC.

The principle is very simple. You've got six strings and to pluck each one you just click the mouse on them. There are three main settings - acoustic, electric and synthesized guitar. Just keep clicking the string until the tone on the program sounds exactly like the tone on your guitar. The disadvantage however is that, if you're tone deaf like me, it's hard to ascertain when you've got it right. If only the program could "hear" the guitar through the microphone, and show you how close it was to being in tune like a normal tuner, it would score much more highly.

Nevertheless, for a simple and elegant looking tuner, you need look no further.

Download Free Guitar Tuner 1.50 in Softonic

Chances are that not very many people have heard of Stellarium although it is very similar to one of the most popular pieces of software available today – Google Earth. While Google’s software allows you to focus on the earth from a starting point in outer space, Stellarium reverses your perspective and places you at any point on the earth’s surface, staring up and out into deep space.

An interesting feature is that as time passes, the virtual star system will evolve, with the sun setting and the various constellations becoming more prominent in the dark night sky. You have a selection of visual effects that you can switch on or off such as the atmosphere, or trace lines for the star systems. Impressive stuff for a few minutes, but once you’ve got the general gist of what the software entails, you’ll quickly tire of zooming out to distant stars and watching as they slowly move across the screen.

While Google Earth brings you detailed photos of our planet’s surface, Stellarium can only achieve a much lower resolution representation of the solar system’s planets, without mentioning the fact that stars are limited to simple white dots zipping through the sky. With over 120,000 stars accurately plotted out in this virtual planetarium, it’s obvious that a lot of work has gone in to its creation. However, that excruciating level of detail is likely only to appeal to the real die-hard star gazers.

The idea behind Stellarium is a good one in theory, but when it comes down to it most people will see it as little more than a smart, interactive screensaver. That said, if you have an affinity for astronomy, would like to learn the constellations, or simply enjoy watching beautiful sunsets, then this is for you.

Download Stellarium 0.9.0 in Softonic

MultiTranse is a program that employs free online resources to translate to/from English, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Japanese and Norwegian (only English-Norwegian is available). The program can translate specific words, phrases, sentences or even small texts, up to 6000 symbols at a time.

The program is 100% Unicode compatible, automatically determines font, encodes Unicode text into any ANSI format and the other way around. If the font is not found in the user's computer, the program offers an option to download it from the Microsoft's official website.

MultiTranse comes with a multilingual user interface that is very simple and easy to use. First, you insert text, either by typing it, copying from the clipboard or opening a file. Then, press the button that identifies the language of the original. The next step is to choose the language the word, phrase, sentence or text needs to be translated to. Press the button to start translation.

Download MultiTranse 4.8.1 in Softonic

Scratch broadens the range of what you can design and create on the computer, making it easier to express your creativity. With Scratch, you can create characters that dance, sing and interact with one another, create images that whirl, spin, and animate in response to movements of the mouse, or integrate images with sound effects and music clips.

Scratch is a perfect tool for kids to learn the basics of computer programming, providing them with a tool that helps them explore their creative side by designing interactive birthday cards, short animated videoclips or interactive reports for school.

At the core of Scratch is a graphical programming language that lets you control the actions and interactions among different media. Coding in Scratch is much easier than in traditional programming languages: to create a script, you simply snap together graphical blocks, much like LEGO bricks or puzzle pieces.

Once you’ve created a Scratch project, you can share it on the Scratch website, the same way you might share videos on YouTube or photos on Flickr. Or you can embed your Scratch project in any other webpage – for example, embedding an interactive Scratch animation on your MySpace or Facebook homepage.

Download Scratch 1.2 in Softonic

With Arm Map Explorer you can:

• Study physical and economic geography
• Explore the Earth surface using dynamic interactive maps
• View maps with a coordinate grid
• View state capitals, large cities, international airports, world landmarks
• Print and save map images

Arm Map Explorer recreates all the functionalities of Google Maps on your desktop and adds extras. Map Explorer lets you locate and view any place on the planet using dynamic interactive maps. These maps are draggable, meaning no need to click and wait for graphics to reload each time you want to view adjacent parts of a map. Viewing locations on maps in Map Explorer resembles the way you use a regular street map.

In addition to the features offered by Google Maps, Map Explorer allows you to view a map with a coordinate grid on it, get precise coordinates of any location on the map and move to a location based on specified coordinates. With the help of the object tree, you can instantly locate and view capitals of states, large cities, world landmarks, monuments, international airports and other locations. You can save a map as a file or print it to use on a trip. Map Explorer can help you study geography, both physical and economic. The program will display a satellite view of any location that you can zoom in and out and pan in any direction.

Download Arm Map Explorer 1.0 in Softonic

If you've always wanted your own orchestra in your bedroom but can't play a single instrument then this is the program for you.

This program is a hell of a lot of fun if you're a music lover. The samples feature full recordings, lasting from 1 to 8 bars, playing along in perfect sync with the other Band-in-a-Box tracks. They sound like a real drummer, because they are genuine recordings of a real drummer - not just MIDI tracks. And adding a real instrument to the mix makes all of the Band-in-a-Box parts sound more authentic. There's a huge library of RealDrums styles and a superb "Chords from MP3" feature (Audio Chord Wizard) which automatically figures out the chords from any MP3, WAV or WMA audio file, and displays them in Band-in-a-Box - great for learning songs on your instrument. There's also a new soundtrack feature allows you to generate new royalty-free music of a specified length of time for use in home or corporate videos, soundtracks, etc. The "Reharmonist" feature figures out a chord progression for any melody which allows you to create a new chord progression or enhance an existing one. Other great features include save your creations as an MP3 and batch MP3/WAV/WMA generation. The only problem I had was exploring all the features which seem to go on an on. Once you've tried this though, you'll be hooked. The latest version features even more realistic instrument sounds such as even better acoustic guitars and saxophones. It also features a new "multistyler" which bascially allows you to create compositions with far more depth. Note that this demo version is fully functional except that the Save features, Notation, Soloist/Melodist, and accessory plugins have been disabled.

This is a music program with incredible range and features although it does take some getting to grips with so prepare to immerse yourself.

Download Band-in-a-Box 2007 in Softonic

TuxGuitar is a full featured music composition tool that can be really helpful to musicians, whether they use their computer to compose music or not.

The program looks really complex at first sight – at least for a music newbie like me – so I have the feeling it may overwhelm more novice users. But the amount of available tools, along with an extensive help section and documentation really encourages you to give it a go.

TuxGuitar features a nicely designed interface with clear, simple lines that turns your music composition tasks into a lighter work. Besides composing right on the tablature, you can also have a virtual guitar fretboard or piano keyboard to make composition even easier. What's more, the program lets you play the songs you just composed, using one of the many instruments included in it.

In spite of a confusing first impression, TuxGuitar well deserves a chance from all music composers: it's nicely designed and features many interesting tools.

Download TuxGuitar 1.0 RC3 in Softonic

Synthesia is the new title of a game previously known as Piano Hero… until Activision told its developer it was not a good idea.

Naming anecdotes aside, the game is described as a fun method to learn to play the piano but honestly, I have to disagree on that. Synthesia is by no means an easy method to learn the piano: I have some very basic piano notions myself and I found it extremely difficult. It could be because I was using a standard computer keyboard to test the game, and not a real music keyboard as recommended by the developer.

On the upside, I especially liked the default song selection the program includes to get you started (they're all popular theme songs from very well-known videogames). Also, note that you can use just about any MID file with Synthesia, which turns it into pretty much a never-ending musical entertainment.

With Synthesia you can practice your piano skills on the computer, but forget about learning how to play it: you'll need some prior basic knowledge.

Download Synthesia 0.6.3 in Softonic