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

Celestia is a free real-time space simulation that lets you experience our universe in three dimensions. Unlike most planetarium software, Celestia doesn't confine you to the surface of the Earth. You can travel throughout the solar system, to any of over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the galaxy.

All travel in Celestia is seamless; the exponential zoom feature lets you explore space across a huge range of scales, from galaxy clusters down to spacecraft only a few meters across. A 'point-and-goto' interface makes it simple to navigate through the universe to the object you want to visit.

Download Celestia 1.5.0 in Softonic

The combination of Babylon Pro 6 with the Concise Oxford English Dictionary and Thesaurus ensures that you gain simple and intuitive access to over 240,000 definitions and 365,000 synonyms and antonyms.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary

The Oxford Dictionary contains over 78,000 headwords providing coverage of more than 240,000 words, phrases and meanings. This dictionary offers rich vocabulary coverage including rare and historical terms, as well as scientific and technical vocabulary, with hundreds of helpful notes on grammar and usage.

The Concise Oxford Thesaurus

The Oxford Thesaurus contains over 17,000 headwords offering more than 365,000 synonyms covering everyday vocabulary as well as more unusual and specialist words, with clear labeling of informal, dialect, literary, and technical items. The most useful alternative words are given first, with the word closest in meaning to the word given in capitals.

Download Babylon Pro + Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus 6.0 in Softonic

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

Unit Converter is a freeware tool that can take care of all your unit conversions, even when offline. It has an easy-to-use interface and contains most of the units commonly encountered while solving engineering problems. With more than 400 units, you are likely to find the units you are looking for. The application's other features include the ability to add user-defined conversions. Everything is built into a single EXE file, so no uninstaller is necessary. Its small file size makes it easy to distribute to friends and coworkers.

Download Quad-Lock Unit Converter 5.3 in Softonic

Rapid Typing is a fast and useful application that allows you to improve your typing skills, both in accuracy and speed. The interface is fairly clear, although maybe you will have to disable the aquarium animation set as default in the background as it can disturb you when concentrating on your exercises. You can do that, in the option menu, ticking the animation option and if you wish, choosing a background colour, although the white one, is probably the clearer.

When you start the session, simply type the letters you see on the screen, without looking at your keyboard. Exercises are increasingly difficult and test you on specific letters each time, until you are able to remember better what’s where.

If you don’t know which is the correct finger to use to press a letter, press the Show/Hide Virtual Keyboard button, on the far bottom of the main frame. You’ll get a representation of your hands, telling you with which finger you should use to press the key.
At the end of each session the program tells you how many mistakes you made and how fast you have been, showing you a graph of your improvements.

With Rapid Typing you can improve your typing speed and accuracy when using your keyboard with increasingly more difficult exercises. Although it’s very easy to use, it lacks of an initial explanation on how to position and move your fingers, so two-finger typers might have to look for an alternative training method.

Download RapidTyping 1.9.9.6 in Softonic

If you believe that worldwide improvements also come from personal choices and that no matter how small, an action combined with many others can make a difference, read on. You can really make a difference helping worldwide medical research.

Your computer is a useful computing source and can be used during moments of inactivity to elaborate data for research projects. Once it has processed a package of data it can connect to a centre to upload the results and download new material. If millions of people were doing so, the result would be to have a super-computer calculator's power, able to carry on an enormous amount of elaboration and simulation that otherwise would take years and years. This is the principle of distributed computing.

World Community Grid uses your computer for scientific-humanitarian projects. It runs a screen saver while elaborating data to conquer cancer, to fight AIDS, to study African climate change and so on. It doesn't affect your PC's performance as it works only when you are not working but your screensaver is. This programme is founded by IBM and collaborates with BOINC, an open source platform that works similarly for certain projects.

Start using this 'intelligent' screensaver and feel part of a scientific community that studies how to fight majors human diseases with the power of distributing computing.

Download World Community Grid 5.10.45 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

Where do I come from? Who were my ancestors? Who comes before my great grandparents? Family Tree Builder has the answer to all these questions… and many more.

This comprehensive genealogy application enables you to build a complete family tree from scratch, featuring every single member of your family since the beginning of humankind – that is, if your own personal recordings reach that far in time.

Each family member has a highly detailed profile that includes all the basic data (name, date of birth, their relationship with the rest of the family) as well as other extra elements such as pictures, physical description and important facts and dates in their personal life.

Despite this huge amount of data, Family Tree Builder is really easy to use. It lets you browse the tree in several ways and also view or export it in a variety of formats. What's more, you can publish your family tree to your webpage right from the program. The program's only flaw, if any, is the compulsory registration in order to use it. But hey, it's free: what else can you ask for?

If you've decided to study your own personal history through your family ancestors, Family Tree Builder is the perfect software tool to help you out with this task.

Download Family Tree Builder 2.0.0.640 in Softonic

LenMus Phonascus automatically composes music scores so that you can exercise your music reading skills without having to repeat the same music score.

The parameters that control the composer module are set up automatically by Phonascus to suit the needs of the exercise chosen and of your level. You can also set up manually this parameters to suit your personal needs.

For example, to practise a certain rhythmic pattern on which you have difficulties or to practise reading a clef.

Download LenMus Phonascus 3.6 in Softonic

Guitar & Drum Trainer is all about helping you to be the best musician that you can be. (Soldiers included.) And if you are serious about your music, and you think there is room to improve your playing, then Guitar and Drum Trainer is for you. And if you're already blazing down the fretboard at lightspeed, then Guitar & Drum Trainer is your perfect transcription tool to help you get things down on paper.

Guitar & Drum Trainer is the ultimate musician's practice tool. We've all heard the gurus say, "gradually build speed" and we know that's true. Nobody starts off blazing like Yngwie or Vai. Speed and accuracy take practice. Guitar and Drum Trainer can help you improve the quality of your practice time and get far better results.

Download Guitar and Drum Trainer 3.3 in Softonic

The Schmap Player is a small and easy-to-use piece of freeware. Install it on your Windows PC, select from our growing range of interactive Schmap Guides and then... get Schmapping!

The Schmap Player dynamically integrates maps, photos, reviews and online content, giving you complete freedom to explore. Search the city, a neighborhood, or within a radius of your hotel - find sights of interest, restaurants to match your taste. Play, pause and fast-forward your way through one of our suggested tours, or your own custom selection of places of interest.

Take your bookmarked places or any other selection of guide content, then custom print a full-color guide, with maps, photos, reviews etc. Email a favorite place, explore with our cool map tools, click online for user reviews, web search, and driving directions.

Download Schmap Player 2.0 in Softonic

D'Accord Personal Guitarist is the most complete software for guitar players. It has exclusive features that enables students and musicians to practice and improve their playing skills in an easier way than traditional tablatures.

The easy-to-use software is multi-instrument compatible. Electric and Acoustic Guitars, 4-string instruments like Banjo and Cavaquinho, 5-string instruments like bass and also customized instrument or tunings. It has the following main features:

Song Player

Enables you to learn how to play any song, by playing the sound and showing the lyric, chords and fingering on the virtual fretboard.

The software comes with more than 100 songs and exercises for you to learn! Scales, chords and much more: Arpeggios, Tremolos, Major, Minor, Chromatic, Pentatonic, Dorian, Locrian, Lydian, Phrygian, Picado etc!

You can also open any PG3,MIDI, GP3 or GP4 file and learn how to play using the song player performance. Create and publish your own music using the Song Editor! Just get the lyric, the chords, the rhythms and put it all together in a .PG3 file!

Chord Dictionary

Enables you to learn how to play each chord. The software plays the chord sound and shows the fingering, notation or intervals.

Instrument Tuner

Enables you to tune your instrument easily and with accuracy. It´s ready for Guitar, Bass, Banjo, Ukulele and other customized string instruments.

Metronome

Is very useful for learning or playing. It can be used to play in a pre-defined measure/BPM or to detect a desired tempo.

Download D'Accord Personal Guitarist 1.2 in Softonic

NASA released World Wind six months before Google Earth, yet it failed to make as much of an impact. However, anything coming out of the prestigious American aeronautics administration is definitely worth a closer look. So what sets World Wind apart from Google Earth?

World Wind's real selling point is the quality of its satellite imagery. World Wind reveals Earth in many different perspectives thanks to the large variety of maps. Blue Marble exposes Earth in its true colors, Landsat 7 gives you high resolution imagery, and MODIS can display time relevant data such as earthquakes, fires or floods. Browse over mountains and observe the snowy peaks, the clouds, and the different colors of the rock, with incredible precision. Be aware though that the lower you go, the more detail will appear, and World Wind will take more time to process the image.

A digital globe wouldn't be complete without its own search option. Find a destination by typing its name in the search tool located on the top bar. Landmarks are particularly well catalogued. If you select the landmark finder tool from the top section, World Wind will exhibit small tags for all locations it considers of significance. Click on the tag and you will be directed to the Wikipedia page for that particular landmark, where you'll be able to read all about it. It is important to point out however that the search function in World Wind is not as good at finding cities as it is with landmarks.

Another of World Wind's assets is its usability. Zoom in over the map using the rollover button of your mouse and skim to parts of the screen with your mouse. The more you focus down on a place the more names of cities and significant locations pop up. These can clog up your screen however, so you'd be wise to configure World Wind to only show the information you need, like country borders and urban areas.

To set itself apart from Google Earth, World Wind provides two original tools. Capitalizing on its lunar explorations, the aeronautics administration lets you view the Moon in extremely high definition. Focus in on its craters, deserts and plains and search for Apollo 11's landing site. Additionally, World Wind recreates the infamous Oregon trail mapped out by American adventurers Lewis and Clark at the beginning of the 19th century, stretching out from Independece, Missouri to the Pacific state of Oregon. World Wind points to significant landmarks which should be of interest to students or history amateurs.

World Wind is as good a digital imagery program as Google Earth. While the image resolution process can be sluggish, World Wind manages to set itself apart thanks to its landmark finder and fun tools like the Moon visualizer and the Lewis & Clark trail.

Download NASA World Wind 1.3.5 in Softonic

Have you ever asked yourself where the Voyager space probes are? What does Saturn look like in Titan’s sky or, better yet, what does the rise of Jupiter look like from the surface of Europa? WinStars can help you find the answers to these questions.

WinStars uses the latest 3D technology to show the objects of our solar system in a realistic manner. Thus, it is possible to move from one planet to another, to follow a space probe on its long voyage or to observe a celestial event from a place to which you could never go.

The use of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s DE 404 planetary theories allows us to have a precise representation of the events displayed.

Download WinStars 2.076 R2 in Softonic

With this English to Spanish dictionary, you should quickly improve your language skills. Ultralingua includes the following features:

• Up to 350,000 indexed translations
• Single Click Activation
• Recognize conjugated verbs, plurals, etc.
• Extensive language reference
• Verb conjugator
• Conjugate verbs in every tense!
• Add other language modules -- even create your own entries!
• PowerSearch mode, with wildcards
• Number-to-text converter
• History feature
• Multilingual interface
• Automatic translation of blocks of text (via the Web)
• Search for examples of usage (via the Web)

Download Ultralingua Dictionary English-Spanish 6.0.6 in Softonic

This English dictionary includes complete definitions and will provide further useful details. It offers the following features:

• Up to 350,000 indexed translations
• Single Click Activation
• Recognize conjugated verbs, plurals, etc.
• Extensive language reference
• Verb conjugator
• Conjugate verbs in every tense!
• Add other language modules -- even create your own entries!
• PowerSearch mode, with wildcards
• Number-to-text converter
• History feature
• Multilingual interface
• Automatic translation of blocks of text (via the Web)
• Search for examples of usage (via the Web)

Download Ultralingua English Dictionary of Definitions 6.0.6 in Softonic

With this English to French dictionary, you should quickly improve your language skills. Ultralingua includes the following features:

• Up to 350,000 indexed translations
• Single Click Activation
• Recognize conjugated verbs, plurals, etc.
• Extensive language reference
• Verb conjugator
• Conjugate verbs in every tense!
• Add other language modules -- even create your own entries!
• PowerSearch mode, with wildcards
• Number-to-text converter
• History feature
• Multilingual interface
• Automatic translation of blocks of text (via the Web)
• Search for examples of usage (via the Web)

Download Ultralingua Dictionary English-French 6.0.6 in Softonic

With this English to German dictionary, you should quickly improve your language skills. Ultralingua includes the following features:

• Up to 350,000 indexed translations
• Single Click Activation
• Recognize conjugated verbs, plurals, etc.
• Extensive language reference
• Verb conjugator
• Conjugate verbs in every tense!
• Add other language modules -- even create your own entries!
• PowerSearch mode, with wildcards
• Number-to-text converter
• History feature
• Multilingual interface
• Automatic translation of blocks of text (via the Web)
• Search for examples of usage (via the Web)

Download Ultralingua Dictionary English-German 6.0.6 in Softonic

With this English to Portuguese dictionary, you should quickly improve your language skills. Ultralingua includes the following features:

• Up to 350,000 indexed translations
• Single Click Activation
• Recognize conjugated verbs, plurals, etc.
• Extensive language reference
• Verb conjugator
• Conjugate verbs in every tense!
• Add other language modules -- even create your own entries!
• PowerSearch mode, with wildcards
• Number-to-text converter
• History feature
• Multilingual interface
• Automatic translation of blocks of text (via the Web)
• Search for examples of usage (via the Web)

Download Ultralingua Dictionary English-Portuguese 6.0.6 in Softonic