With RealWorld Icon Editor you can create your own images or 3D graphics for Icons. RealWorld Icon Editor features an advanced image to icon conversion tool with batch mode support.

Using 3D editor saves time and most importantly, gives all your icons a uniform look and feel. When generating an icon from a 3D model, you get lighting, occlusion, and perspective transformations for free. You can change them at any time and generate an updated icon in a few seconds.

Download RealWorld Icon Editor 2008.1 (XP/2003/Vista) in Softonic

If you’ve had enough bad experiences upgrading your Microsoft products, you’re too poor to upgrade to Vista or you just refuse on principle, you can always customise Windows XP to make it look like Vista. The Windows Vista customisation pack gives you all the flashy features of Vista without having to shell-out a few hundred dollars for the original. It’s certainly proved a hit with Softonic users so far who have made this pack one of the site’s most popular downloads.

The pack includes a booty of Vista features including transparency of the windows, 3D Vista style icons, mouse cursors, boot screen, login screen, and a whole host of Vista themes to name a few. After installing the pack, you’ll be asked to restart, when you’ll find that your system has been through an impressive transformation although the fact that Windows Vista isn’t actually that radically different from XP, shouldn’t be held against this pack.

Amongst the major differences you will notice are some jazzy changes to your systems icons, skins and toolbars as well as new enhancements to your desktop such as a dock bar or if you prefer, a totally different system tray clock. Transfer file progress dialogs are transformed with swanky new 3D graphics and the sounds scheme has been beefed up to blow you out of your chair. Microsoft certainly spent lots of time designing these features. It was recently reported that they spent a year and a half just coming up with the start-up music alone.

Other changes include Windows Media Player which also receives a facelift although nothing worth getting excited about. The colours have been changed to a metallic-blue and the drop down menus have been replaced by an invisible menu which pops up when the mouse is waved over it. However, this feature actually becomes increasingly annoying with regular use and is best deactivated.

Whilst initially impressive, after a while these changes can cause problems. Users have reported that the new schemes not only slows down their PC’s but also cause it to crash randomly. It can also be a pain whenever there’s a problem with your PC. Since you are running a somewhat modified version of XP, normal troubleshooting guides may not work. You’ll subsequently have to uninstall the pack to make sure that it isn’t causing the problem. Fortunately however, the pack comes with an uninstaller that makes reverting back to XP simple although in time honoured Windows style, you’ll have to restart the computer.

For anyone who doesn’t add or remove programs regularly, we’d recommend this pack as it does an impressive job at emulating the $200+ Vista look. However, for those that make regular changes to their PC, the pack can end up being more hassle than its worth as the changes made can conflict with interfaces of other programs.

Download Vista Customization Pack 3.6 in Softonic

CATALYST 3.8 adds new features and advanced, customizable options to ATI’s industry-leading unified software suite. Gameplay, multimedia, 3D applications are extended with new technologies and customizable environments. These features all benefit from intuitive settings, beginning with a user-friendly 3D control panel. The 3D Control Panel makes adjusting 3D settings easier than ever, allowing users to create and save profiles for Direct3D and OpenGL applications.

Custom sections of the control panel can now be used to individually configure 3D settings such as anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering and SMARTSHADER™ effects. These additions enable gamers to activate exciting pixel shader effects in any Direct3D or OpenGL application.

CATALYST 3.8 features upgrades, expansions and innovative solutions to 3D
applications, multimedia, gaming and home entertainment that deliver the ultimate
in visual experiences. With an emphasis on advanced stability and customizable
features, CATALYST 3.8 continues the tradition of ATI’s industry-leading unified
software suite.

Download ATi Catalyst Drivers 8.3 (2K/XP) in Softonic

One of the best ways to speed up your productivity is to take your hand off the mouse and start using your keyboard a lot more.

However, this is easier said than done. First because we're all so used to doing everything by mouse that using anything else just feels weird and clumsy but most importantly, Windows doesn't come with any kind of hotkey configuration utility to help you get more out of your keyboard. That's where Hotkeycontrol XP comes in because it provides an ultra easy and convenient way to configure hotkeys for just about any task - well almost any task. The excellent thing about this program is that it can make use of all those multimedia keys that you never use anymore - the ones that launch the internet, your media player, file browser etc. Rather than have them redundant, Hotkeycontrol XP maps your keyboard and them allows you to assign actions to each one. This suddenly enables you to use your keyboard for everything from running programs and opening files to moving folders and saving webpages. One of the most useful functions of this program however is that it can save you hours of time in wasted typing - if you regularly type the same sorts of e-mail responses, you can use the program to automatically enter a block of text based on the simple press of a hotkey.

A superb utility that speeds-up your working day, makes hotkey configuration a breeze and makes better use of your keyboard.

Download Hotkeycontrol XP 6.0 in Softonic

Digitope Pixelshop is excellent for icon and cursor development. With this full-featured icon and cursor editor, you can create and edit existing icons (ICO), cursors (CUR) and animated cursors (ANI), in all sizes and formats, including the new Windows XP Alpha format.

You can create an icon by using Pixelshop’s easy to use, built-in utility for converting an image (most formats including Adobe Photoshop Images) to an icon, or by using Pixelshop’s simple icon designer interface.

You can also apply several effects to your icons, such as a 3D drop shadow, smoothing or colorizing. Incorporated in Pixelshop is an extensive help file, including tutorials. Create personalized folder icons. Customize your desktop. Add a favicon to your website. Make a cursor. Import Adobe Photoshop files. Modify your icons. With Pixelshop you can.

Download Pixelshop 5.12.7 in Softonic

When I was younger I used to spend hours hanging around in chat rooms and meeting new people from all over the world.

Today I've had the chance to chat again, but in a slightly different way. I've used Weblin, a very original software app that works together with your web browser, enabling you to chat with the people who are visiting the same webpage as you. Also, your chat personality is more than just a plain nickname: it's a fully animated avatar that walks around the bottom bar of your browser window.

At the beginning it may be difficult to find people to chat with, but you can start by the program's "topcloud": a list of the most populated webpages that you can access from Weblin's icon in the system tray. Following this method I soon met some nice people on Youtube and had a short chat with them. Conversations can be held via text balloons or standard chat window, but I wasn't sure which one to use. On the one hand balloons behave in a strange way, as the text you send is not erased and you have to delete it before writing again; on the other hand, the chat window takes way too much space and it doesn't let me read webpages properly.

After chatting for a while, I started browsing Weblin's website and I was surprised to discover a highly detailed customization menu for your personal profile and avatar, which can't be found on the program's settings. So once you've registered your account, be sure to visit the site and explore it for yourself.

Generally speaking, I found Weblin a very original chat app where you can have fun and make friends. On the downside, having a dozen avatars sitting on a certain webpage really disturbs your web browsing.

An original way to chat with other people in your web browser, although certainly difficult to combine with actual web browsing.

Download Weblin 2.7.9 in Softonic

I'm not a big fan of chess but if I do play it, at least I want it to look good. Brutal Chess certainly fulfills this with excellent 3D graphics and some cool features to keep the game interesting.

Despite the name Brutal Chess, the game is in no way violent or brutal. The rules and gameplay are as in any other Chess game except here you can choose some pretty cool chess piece designs and the 3D graphics make it look great. The developers have added a few other touches of realism too including shadows, the ability to rotate the camera in any position and history arrows to show your previous moves. However, because the game is under constant development, it is prone to bugs. One is that you can't move white pawns backwards and it does have problems with operating systems earlier than XP according to the developers. The game will soon utilize what's called the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) which allows chess fans from all over the world to play against each other. To connect to FICS you need to open a socket to freechess.org on port 5000 in your router and you'll be able to play against anyone anywhere which will enhance the game greatly.

A good looking 3D chess game which will pack a much greater punch when some of the bugs are ironed out.

Download Brutal Chess 0.52 Alpha in Softonic

So you want to have Windows Vista, but you don't want to give up Windows XP yet and – of course - you don't want to spend a single cent on it. Believe it or not, we have the solution!

The answer to your prayers is called Vistamizer and it's a complete theme that will transform your current Windows XP system into a brand new Vista with all the 3D effects, transparencies, shiny icons and other eye candy. Don't worry, Vistamizer is just a Vista disguise for XP; the system core files and backbone will still be XP.

After trying a few Vista themes for XP, I was really glad to find Vistamizer, just because it's so easy to install! Unlike other similar tools, which demand external applications, third-party libraries and other strange elements, Vistamizer includes just about everything you need to have it up and running in no time. Installing it is a question of pressing on the "Next" button a few times, rebooting and you're done. Uninstallation is also very easy: as the program creates a restoration point, you won't have any problems to go back to the good ol' XP if you ever grow tired of Vista's style.

Vistamizer lets you select exactly which elements to install and which ones not. The list includes not only Vista graphical elements, but also some extra apps that reproduce Vista's features such as the sidebar, the toolbat tooltips or the 3D effect to switch between running applications. Note that if you want to uninstall any of these later on, you'll have to open the Control Panel and start the Vistamizer uninstalling process, as there's no visual interface from which to manage installed components.

On the downside, I noticed some icons don't show properly, for instance in the Start menu and My Documents folder. But in my opinion these are just minor flaws in a full featured theme that can transform Windows XP into Vista in a couple of clicks.

Vistamizer is one of the best Vista themes for Windows XP available today: it's very easy to install, lets you choose what elements and apps should be included and the final output is pretty much the closest you can get to Vista in Windows XP.

Download VistaMizer 2.2.10 in Softonic

Since its launch about a year ago, Windows Vista has been widely criticized for several reasons: security restrictions, poor usability, lack of actual new features when compared to XP…

But what nobody complained about was the cool eye-candy included in Microsoft's new operating system, such as the 3D system to switch between active applications. What's more, this particular Vista feature has been turned into a software tool that enables you to enjoy that same 3D window switcher in Windows XP.

WinFlip is very easy to use. Simply unzip the file (no installation required), launch the program and you're ready to go. If you want to use it instead of the standard Alt+Tab, press the Windows key+Tab combination. All your active apps and opened windows will be displayed in an attractive 3D environment, where you can flip among them by pressing Tab repeatedly or choose a certain window by pressing the key associated with it.

WinFlip worked fine during our tests, although sometimes the content of some of the windows turned to complete white or complete black while flipping through them. I guess it's just a matter of further development.

WinFlip is an easy, simple - and above all, very cheap - way to have the 3D Flip function in Windows XP.

Download WinFlip 0.42 in Softonic

If you are one of the many that's been left unimpressed with Vista but like the look of it, Vista Buttons is for you. It helps you create Vista/XP/Win98 and Mac style rollover buttons and drop down menus with relative ease.

The interface requires 4 simple steps to create your buttons. You can create your own base on the program although if you import one of your own images as a base, you'll get the job done a lot quicker. The developers claim the program features more than 500 buttons, 100 submenu designs, 50 ready-made samples. This is certainly more than enough to create a really cool looking website menu or desktop buttons although some of the designs are a bit dull. The styles available include Vista, XP, Win98, Mac, Aqua buttons, round, glossy, metallic, 3D styles, tab and drop down menus.

The best thing about this program is that it's aimed at complete novices. You don't require any programming knowledge such as in HTML, JavaScript or CSS to create some really professional looking results. Vista Buttons generates all necessary images, html, javascript and css styles automatically. There's also a theme editor but unfortunately, it's not accessible in the free version.

This is a really excellent design utility and there is little to fault it except it would have been nice to have had a few wizards to take you through the first few attempts.

Download Vista Buttons 2.45 in Softonic

TreeSize Professional is a powerful and flexible harddisk space manager for Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003. Find out which folders are the largest on your drives and recover megabytes of disk space.

TreeSize Professional shows you the size, allocated and wasted space, the number of files, 3D bar and pie charts, the last access date, the file owner, the NTFS compression rate and much more information for several folders or drives you choose.

It also helps you to clean up old, big and temporary files. The application has an intuitive Explorer-like user interface and it is fast and multithreaded. You can print detailed reports or export the collected Data to Excel and to an HTML, XML or ASCII file. TreeSize Pro can be started from the context menu of every folder or drive.

Download TreeSize Professional 5.0 in Softonic

Ubuntu XP is not a strange mixture of operating system, as you could tell from that name. It's a complete kit to transform Windows XP into Ubuntu – at least in its appearance.

The pack includes everything you need to give XP the Ubuntu look, from a new visual style (with several color variations) to mouse cursors, featuring also wallpapers, new logon and boot screens, skins for Firefox, icons and even a clone of Beryl, the 3D windows management system used by Ubuntu to change between applications.

The good thing about having a package with all these elements, categorized in several different folders, is that you can choose what to install and what to leave unchanged. The downside is that you have to do it step by step, and sometimes you even need a third-party application - like in the case of the new boot screen, which needs the Bootskin tool. This installation procedure can therefore be a bit complicated, as there's no documentation to explain how to apply the whole kit properly.

Give Windows the clear, colorful Ubuntu look with Ubuntu XP

Download Ubuntu XP 1.0 in Softonic

Aero was introduced by Microsoft in Windows Vista as a new graphical user interface with eye candy design and effects, like the ability to change between minimized applications by rolling their windows in 3D.

Now you can have that rolling effect when alt-tabbing between apps without having to upgrade your dear XP to Vista. Just install this simple tool and you'll get the same effect every time you press alt-tab or click on the program's icon. Plus, you can choose between the Vista or the Mac layouts.

Although Shock Aero is a good alternative for all those non-Vista users, the 3D effect it tries to emulate is still far from the real one. In other words, it looks much better in the original Vista environment.

Download Shock Aero 1.01 in Softonic

Crystal Button doesn’t just make buttons – it makes buttons that are worth clicking. The program offers 2D, 3D, metallic, transparent, hover, XP or Mac style and about two dozen other types of buttons that are sure to resonate with your website’s audience. These buttons can complement the website unobtrusively and organically or stand out rebelliously, prompting users to press them.

While experience working with graphics and images helps, Crystal Button can be used both by amateurs or professional designers facing an approaching deadline. The program features a convenient interface that allows users to set up future button’s title, size, shadows, lighting, border type, textures, shapes and other properties. The program comes with templates that make creating buttons a fast and smooth process.

Experienced users are sure to appreciate the program’s advanced features that allow users to design entire navigation bars. Batch button processing is a great feature for the digital artists that work with a large volume of buttons on a daily basis. Naturally, the program supports all common image formats, (like JPG, BMP, PNG, GIF) and offers background transparency settings for the latter two formats.

Download Crystal Button 3.00 in Softonic

Would you like to interact with any version of Windows in a 3D desktop, without loading up the system resources? Actually, there are lots of applications that allow you to do so, but they take to much system resources. Bottom line, they are useless.

However, there's a nice tool that makes 3D desktop possible under Windows 2000/XP without hogging your whole system. It's called Madotate and works pretty well. Its 3D desktop management helps organizing your work a lot. Besides, it only takes a peak usage about 5 MB of RAM.

To install it, just create a folder on your hard drive, unzip all files and run it. It also includes a plugin that adds a button on every window to make it 3D/2D.

Download Madotate 2.02.02 in Softonic

This software enables you to create professional quality, unique web buttons in a matter of minutes. With Agama web Buttons you can create a variety of 2D and 3D glassy, metallic, plastic and even XP style Animated buttons from predefined templates. Agama Web Buttons contains 50 packages with more then 450 button templates for instant use.

Creating your own buttons with Agama Web Buttons is very easy. Only three steps and your Web pages will be enriched with nice, professional buttons that respond to a mouse over event.

Download Agama Web Buttons 2.62 in Softonic

The ALC650 is an 18-bit, full duplex AC'97 2.2 compatible stereo audio CODEC designed for PC multimedia systems, including host/soft audio and AMR/CNR based designs. The ALC650 incorporates proprietary converter technology to achieve a high SNR, greater than 90 dB. The ALC650 AC'97 CODEC supports multiple CODEC extensions with independent variable sampling rates and built-in 3D effects.

The ALC650 CODEC provides two pairs of stereo outputs with independent volume controls, a mono output, and multiple stereo and mono inputs, along with flexible mixing, gain and mute functions to provide a complete integrated audio solution for PCs. The digital interface circuitry of the ALC650 CODEC operates from a 5V/3.3V power supply with EAPD (External Amplifier Power Down) control for use in notebook and PC applications.

The ALC650 integrates a 50mW/20ohm headset audio amplifier into the CODEC, which can save BOM costs. The ALC650 also supports an AC'97 2.2 compliant SPDIF out function which allows easy connection from the PC to consumer electronic products, such as AC3 decoder/speaker and mini disk.

The ALC650 CODEC supports host/soft audio from Intel 810/815/820/845 chipsets as well as audio controller based VIA/SIS/ALI chipsets. Bundled Windows series drivers (Win95/98/ME/2000/XP/NT) and sound effect utilities (supporting Karaoke, emulation of 26 sound environments, and 5-band equalizer) provide a more comprehensive entertainment package for PC users. Finally, internal PLL circuits generate required timing signals, eliminating the need for external clocking devices.

Features:

• High-performance CODEC with high S/N ratio (>90 dB)
• 18-bit ADC and 20-bit DAC resolution
• Compliant with AC'97 2.2 specifications
• 18-bit stereo full-duplex CODEC with independent and variable sampling rate
• 4 analog line-level stereo inputs with 5-bit volume control: LINE_IN, CD, VIDEO, AUX
• 2 analog line-level mono inputs: PC_BEEP, PHONE_IN
• Mono output with 5-bit volume control
• Stereo output with 5-bit volume control
• 6 channel slot selectable DAC output for multi-channel applications
• 2 MIC inputs, which are software selectable
• Power management capabilities
• 3D Stereo enhancement
• Embedded 50mW/20ohm OP at front LINE output
• External amplifier power down capability
• Digital S/PDIF output
• Digital S/PDIF input (ALC650 Rev. E or later)
• No external crystal/clock required
• Supports 1 general purpose I/O pin
• Power supply: digital: 3.3V; analog: 5V/3.3V
• Standard 48-pin LQFP package

Download AC'97 Audio Codec A3.83 in Softonic

Future Pinball is a real time Pinball Development System.It allows you to design and play your very own pinball simulation in True real time 3D. It uses Advanced Physics to provide the best possible Simulation of a true to life pinball machine.

Tables are built up out of Standard components (Plastics, Pegs, Bumpers, Lights etc..) which are placed onto the playfield via the Editor. Objects like Surfaces, Lights and Rubbers are shapeable within the editor and generated real-time when the table is played. Other objects (Bumpers, Flippers, Gates, Triggers, Targets etc..) use pre-made 3d Models
(of which there is a nice selection of each type).

The Table logic is scripted in Visual Basic Scripting (via the Microsoft Scripting Technology's built into Windows XP). Scripting is designed to be simple but flexible enough to allow a wide vararity of Original Games to be created. Only a limited subset of the Visual Basic Scripting Language is used as a lotof extra functionality is provided by the game engine.

Full Sound / Music Support is also provided with multiple Music Channels to allow cross fading.

Download Future Pinball 1.6b in Softonic

This version of the classic board game is simple to learn yet difficult to master. The game comes with a range of different features that spice up the program and make it more interesting to play.

Some of the main features include the following:

• Internet/Network support
• Automated update checking and download
• Save/Load games with symbolic names
• Hint and progress indicators
• Take back moves
• Adjustable algorithm search depths
• Multiple fast algorithms with different playing styles
• 3D rendered animation
• Human or computer opponent
• Optional instant replay at the end of a game
• Visually preview moves before committing
• Advanced multi-threaded architecture
• Resizable/Configurable playing board
• Official Game Notation displayed at the end of a game
• Visual analysis with slider bar
• Context sensitive help
• Game board remembers size, position and other appearance parameters
• Sound feedback
• Roll up feature by right clicking on the title bar
• Dialog Animation effect
• Windows 2000/XP transparency effects

Download Deep Green Reversi 4.7.4 in Softonic

Add appealing visual styles to your applications in all Windows versions with this very quick and powerful button. All new default styles (Windows XP, Office 2003, Visual Studio 2005, 3D standard, Flat, Explorer) and themes are supported (blue, olive, silver, royal). My Command Button enables you to customize the appearance of your applications to suit your individual needs. It supports toggle and dropdown mode and automatic theme detection, and allows you to define a default theme if none is available.

Download My Command Button ActiveX 4.0 in Softonic