Features

Version 2 ("Twoflower") brings a new interface, faster decoding, support for more formats and the ability to play HD and BluRay. It still remains however the most stable, flexible and lightweight audio and video player around today. While other media players will play unusual formats after downloading a codec, or simply refuse to play things,

VLC media player handles tons of formats, from MPEG to FLV and RMBV files. Version 2 has seen some important additions too such as support for 10 bit codes plus multi-threaded decoding for H.264, MPEG-4/Xvid and WebM.

Also useful is the fact that you can use VLC media player to preview files you are downloading since it plays incomplete parts of video files. VLC media player is not just for video playback however. It also offers superb integration with video channel streaming services such as Channels.com giving you access to channels such as ESPN, Reuters and National Geographic. Just right-click or CMD-click on the playlist, select Services Discovery and Channels.com.

Channels.com will then appear in your VLC media player playlist. Click on it to reveal the the different categories of channels available. Click on the category you want and a drop down list of all available channels appears in VLC media player. Just click on the channel you want to watch and streaming should begin almost immediately.

Usability

VLC media player also has great hotkey support and if you take the time to learn the shortcuts so it can be controlled without touching your mouse. If you're watching DVDs or video files through it, this is not an issue. For music, it plays more or less any file and features an equalizer and playlist creation. VLC media player isn't as intuitive as iTunes as a media manager, but it's a much more flexible player in terms of file formats. You can even use VLC to convert your files, and on top of all the formats and physical media it will play, many streaming protocols and TV capture cards are supported.

VLC media player makes it easy to add subtitles to your video files too - just add the SRT file to the folder where your video is kept, and it will automatically play with subtitles.

Finally, the interface in VLC media player has been somewhat improved in version 2 although it remains strictly functional. However, you can download skins to completely change VLC media player's appearance. The preferences menu is comprehensive without being overwhelming, and there is extensive documentation online.

Conclusion

VLC Media Player is quite simply the best multimedia application for Windows and Mac. It plays just about anything, hassle free - what more could you need?

What's new

Rework and fixes of the Mac OS X interface

Fix Pulseaudio initial synchronization

Fix MKV, SWF, AIFF and subtitles demuxer crashes

Translations updates and new Welsh translation

DVB-S delivery system detection

Fix audio and video track selection through libVLC

Fix system sleep issue on Mac OS X 10.5

Download VLC media player 2.0.7 in Softonic

Supported Photo Storage Devices DE HDD, SATA HDD, SCSI HDD, FireWire HDD, SSD, USB HDD, External HDD, Hardware RAID, Floppy drive, USB flash drive, Compact flash card, Secure Digital card, Memory card/Memory stick, Micro card, Zip drive, IPod, Other storage devices Secure Digital card, SD card, SDHC, miniSD, MicroSD (TransFlash) card Compact Flash card, CF Type I, Type II, MicroDrive, CF card Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Duo, Pro-HG, XC, Micro(M2) MultiMedia card, MMC card, SmartMedia, flash card, xD Picture card Cellular phone, mobile phone memory card

More Supported Photo/Image File Formats Enhanced Meta file(.emf), Encapsulated Postscript file(.eps) Freehand 10 file(.fh11), GIF graphics file(.gif), Icon file(.ico) JPEG Graphics (.jpg.jpeg), Portable Network Graphic(.png) Adobe Photoshop file(.psd), Paint Shop Pro file(.psp), Q uattroPro 7 File(.qpw) Corel Presentation File(.shw), Tagged Image(.tif)

Supported Video/Audio File Formats .3gp/.asf/.au/.avi/.mid/.mov/.mp3/.mp4/.swf/.wav/.wmf

Download 7-Data Photo Recovery 1 in Softonic

Features

These days, it's an app that attempts to be all things to all people - play DVDs, organize music, catalog photos, convert video, interact with social networking sites, browse internet multimedia....there's no end to what RealPlayer offers to its users. Even so, it's not an out-and-out success...

Usability

For a start, installation of RealPlayer is annoying - it takes a while, requires lots of "nexts" and tries to install and enable several features that users don't really need. Finally, when it starts, you're offered a chance to upgrade to paid versions of RealPlayer before you have to register yourself with Real Networks. If all this messing around doesn't appeal, check out a slimline app like UMPlayer.

When you're up and running, RealPlayer features a wide interface where you will notice ads and videos recommended by Real Networks. This looks cluttered and messy, and it's hard to know what the app actually offers. In reality, RealPlayer is ideal for playing and sharing video with your friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter and it works easily with BlackBerry, iPod, iPhone and other game systems. The new video converter allows you to copy online video to your iPod, Xbox, PS3 and other devices. Unfortunately, you can't rip DVDs with RealPlayer, although this is available as a feature if you upgrade to RealPlayer Plus.

Most recently, RealPlayer has been updated with far better mobile and social networking integration. You can now copy your favorite videos to an iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry and dozens of other popular devices automatically. Downloading internet videos is faster, and for those of you with something to hide, RealPlayer offers a new Private folder. Social media has also been bumped up, with direct access to Facebook videos and usefully, a built-in feature to transfer videos to your mobile devices.

Quality

That said, RealPlayer isn't bad at all. It's comparable to Windows Media Player 12 as they both have some impressive ways of organizing your music. For me, the best feature is the CD burner which is something I've used from the early days of RealPlayer. The sheer quality of some of the media only available in Real formats makes RealPlayer an essential item in the toolkit of any fan of internet video and audio.

Conclusion

There's no shortage of media players theses days, and RealPlayer is by no means a bad option. It offers lots of features, good options and is a high-quality player that will do justice to your media. The only problem is that despite its modern features, it feels like a bit of a dinosaur. It's heavy and slow, looks chunky and takes an age to respond to clicks, and for many people - especially those who have experience of lighter options - it's just not the most comfortable player.

RealPlayer is a media player that, although powerful, has suffered from serious feature-creep over the years.

Download RealPlayer 16.0.2.232 in Softonic

Although Microsoft's Silverlight was originally conceived as a competitor to Adobe Flash, it now finds itself competing with Abobe's Web 2.0 platform, Adobe Air.

The harsh truth is, Microsoft Silverlight has already fallen considerably behind Adobe Air. In typically Microsoft style, the software giant's surely missed the boat, by aiming at a replacement for Adobe Flash when the web world was already shifting towards interactive Web 2.0 platforms such as Adobe Air.

Microsoft Silverlight is a lightweight plugin that allows you to watch Silverlight-based content in your browser. It works with most major browsers, including Firefox and Safari. There is no prompt to restart the browser after installation but I recommend you do so because the first site of Silverlight content I accessed after installation simply crashed the browser.

The most important improvements to the latest version are smoother streaming, DRM management, and an out-of browser player. The out-of browser player, however, is dependent on developers embracing it and as yet, there are few examples available. The smooth streaming feature will iron out many of the streaming programs that have plagued Microsoft Silverlight in the past. If your bandwidth drops below 3Mbps, smooth streaming will kick-in so that your video isn't affected.

Microsoft Silverlight can stream high resolution video well and supports HD-quality videos. If you want to create content for Silverlight, you'll need Expression Studio and Visual Studio. In fact, this latest release is is of particular interest to developers because it adds 60 customizable controls, new layout containers, 'deep linking' for page bookmarking, search engine optimization, and enhanced data support.

The signs are though that Microsoft has realized that the battle for web content is already being won by the much slicker and more stable Adobe Air platform and is therefore aiming Microsoft Silverlight at business users. The Silverlight homepage boasts 'Learn how Silverlight is right for your business', and that companies such as Continental Airlines have adopted Silverlight for use in their reservation system, showing that Microsoft knows which side its bread is buttered on.

Silverlight has probably missed the boat as far as Web 2.0 goes, although there's probably no way you can avoid it since there will always be some websites that opt to stream content with Silverlight rather than Flash.

Download Microsoft Silverlight 5.1.20125.0 in Softonic

Adobe Flash Player (originally a Macromedia product) remains the standard platform for viewing a wide variety of web content, varying from navigation elements to every video you watch on YouTube.

Some of the main reasons to use Adobe Flash Player are:

-simple to use
-high performance
-small file size
-near-HD quality

Additions and Improvements

Adobe Flash Player 10 includes a wide range of interesting additions and improvements when compared to previous versions. Some of these great new features include the inclusion of support for the H.264 video codec and the HE-AAC audio codec, which together offer a much richer, higher-definition picture and crystal-clear sound. By introducing these capabilities and only slightly impacting performance, Adobe Flash Player is set to encourage another revolution in web video, since HD movies are becoming standard on YouTube. They also look and sound fantastic!

Adobe Flash Player 10 also irons out some of the problems that previous versions have suffered from. These include previous security and stability issues. This update also includes support for ActionScript 3.0 and makes fantastic 3D graphics possible. This means more dynamic and interesting navigation, games and interactivity on websites.

Adobe Flash Player 11 represents a leap forward in terms of quality, stability and security.

Download Adobe Flash Player (for IE) 11.7.700.224 in Softonic

Adobe Flash Player is an essential plugin for your browser that allows you to view everything from video to games and animation on the web.

Features

Adobe Flash Player 10 includes a range of interesting additions and improvements when compared to previous versions. Top of that list is the inclusion of support for the H.264 video codec and the HE-AAC audio codec, which together offer a much richer, higher-definition picture along with crystal-clear sound. Introducing these capabilities in Adobe Flash Player with only slightly reduced performance looks set to trigger another revolution in web video, as HD movies are already an important element on YouTube - and they look and sound great!

Quality

Adobe Flash Player 10 irons out some of the problems that previous versions have suffered from (like security and stability issues), as well including support for ActionScript 3.0. It also makes fantastic 3D graphics possible. This makes for more dynamic and interesting navigation, games and interactivity on websites.

Conclusion

Adobe Flash Player 10 represents a leap forward in terms of quality as well as stability and security. It's therefore a highly recommended download for all users.

Download Adobe Flash Player Firefox, Safari, Opera 11.7.700.224 (Firefox) in Softonic

The intuitive user interfaces helps to get job done without headache. You no longer to need to mess up with Java coding and expensive IDEs. It includes a easy way to test your application using Adobe Debug Launcher which simulates mobile device. Also it generates all required icons just by providing one main icon.

Anyone who wants to start mobile games development could use this software and also everyone with no coding experience. If you are a sponsor who buys and licences Flash game this tool could easily help you to port game for Android.

Download Andaired 1 in Softonic

If you want to play in online games on your browser, there's a good chance you'll need Adobe ShockWave Player, the daddy of online action plug-ins.

After a simple install and restart of your browser, you'll be able to enjoy a large range of graphically impressive online experiences. Most of the time you won't notice Adobe ShockWave Player is even there, but like flash and other plug ins it should be one of your basic downloads after installing a browser.

Compared to other more recent plug-ins like Unity, Adobe ShockWave Player is quite resource heavy. We tried some online Shockwave things that really slowed down our system. However, while it's a platform developers continue to use, it's useful to have.

While Flash and Unity have probably superseded it in many places, Adobe ShockWave Player can still give you some enjoyable Web gaming.

Download Adobe ShockWave Player 12.0.0.112 in Softonic

Windows 8 launched with Internet Explorer 10 installed by default but Windows 7 users were still stuck with IE 9. With Internet Explorer 10 Preview, Windows 7 users can now enjoy some of the new features that Windows 8 already have.

While Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 8 lives a double life as a touch-based and desktop browser, Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 only presents the desktop version of IE 10. Still, there are plenty of interface and upgrades under the hood.

Interface

The interface of Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 has changed only a little. The forward and back buttons are integrated into the window, making the look of Internet Explorer 10 Preview more seamless. Tabs and the address bar share the same space. If you have a lot of tabs open, the interface can look a bit cluttered.

Menus have been simplified and the menu bar is still hidden by default. Users can get to all of the options from the little gear icon on the top right. The options menu is still there for the more technically inclined but it hasn't received any update.

Performance

Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 is the quickest version of the browser yet. Microsoft has included support for web standards like CSS animations, HTML5 spell checking, and improved JavaScript performance. The browser definitely feels a lot snappier than previous versions and puts it on par with competitors like Firefox and Chrome. Microsoft even partnered with Atari and Contre Jour to show off the power of Internet Explorer 10.

In our HTML5 benchmarks, Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 fell behind both Chrome and Opera but beat out Firefox. It is slightly faster than IE 9 and much faster than IE 8. Microsoft has done a great job of making Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 a speedy browser.

Security

IE has been very weak in the security department and Microsoft hopes to change this with Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7. The main security addition to Internet Explorer 10 Preview is "Enhanced Protected Mode," which will lock down parts of the Windows operating system, preventing the browser from accessing the OS. There will be specific pop-ups that will ask for permission to access part of the OS that a browser typically doesn't require. This will help prevent viruses or hackers from gaining access to your files, even if IE has been compromised.

Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 takes a page out of Google's play book and adds automatic updating. This way, users won't have to remember to update their browsers for the latest security and performance upgrades.

Do Not Track

It seems that just about every browser these days has a 'do not track' feature. This feature allows users to opt out of targeted advertising. With Google Chrome, you'll have to enable it yourself. Microsoft makes 'do not track' user friendly by having it be opt-out instead. This move by Microsoft has upset some companies with its do not track enabled by default. Some companies have announced that they will be ignoring Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7's do not track settings.

Integrated Flash

Like in Windows 8's version of Internet Explorer 10, Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 will feature integrated Adobe Flash support but only for selected sites. The Flash plugin isn't integrated into Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 yet but will be added in a future update for the browser.

Wrap-up

Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 offers a great look at the future of IE 10 but lacks the complete touch-focused redesigned of IE 10 for Windows 8. There are still interface elements in the Internet Explorer 10 Preview that look and feel antiquated. Unfortunately, its improvements aren't enough to sway users away from competitors like Firefox or Chrome.

Download Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 10.0.9200.16521 in Softonic

Windows 8 launched with Internet Explorer 10 installed by default but Windows 7 users were still stuck with IE 9. With Internet Explorer 10 Preview, Windows 7 users can now enjoy some of the new features that Windows 8 already have.

While Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 8 lives a double life as a touch-based and desktop browser, Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 only presents the desktop version of IE 10. Still, there are plenty of interface and upgrades under the hood.

Interface

The interface of Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 has changed only a little. The forward and back buttons are integrated into the window, making the look of Internet Explorer 10 Preview more seamless. Tabs and the address bar share the same space. If you have a lot of tabs open, the interface can look a bit cluttered.

Menus have been simplified and the menu bar is still hidden by default. Users can get to all of the options from the little gear icon on the top right. The options menu is still there for the more technically inclined but it hasn't received any update.

Performance

Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 is the quickest version of the browser yet. Microsoft has included support for web standards like CSS animations, HTML5 spell checking, and improved JavaScript performance. The browser definitely feels a lot snappier than previous versions and puts it on par with competitors like Firefox and Chrome. Microsoft even partnered with Atari and Contre Jour to show off the power of Internet Explorer 10.

In our HTML5 benchmarks, Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 fell behind both Chrome and Opera but beat out Firefox. It is slightly faster than IE 9 and much faster than IE 8. Microsoft has done a great job of making Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 a speedy browser.

Security

IE has been very weak in the security department and Microsoft hopes to change this with Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7. The main security addition to Internet Explorer 10 Preview is "Enhanced Protected Mode," which will lock down parts of the Windows operating system, preventing the browser from accessing the OS. There will be specific pop-ups that will ask for permission to access part of the OS that a browser typically doesn't require. This will help prevent viruses or hackers from gaining access to your files, even if IE has been compromised.

Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 takes a page out of Google's play book and adds automatic updating. This way, users won't have to remember to update their browsers for the latest security and performance upgrades.

Do Not Track

It seems that just about every browser these days has a 'do not track' feature. This feature allows users to opt out of targeted advertising. With Google Chrome, you'll have to enable it yourself. Microsoft makes 'do not track' user friendly by having it be opt-out instead. This move by Microsoft has upset some companies with its do not track enabled by default. Some companies have announced that they will be ignoring Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7's do not track settings.

Integrated Flash

Like in Windows 8's version of Internet Explorer 10, Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 will feature integrated Adobe Flash support but only for selected sites. The Flash plugin isn't integrated into Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 yet but will be added in a future update for the browser.

Wrap-up

Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 offers a great look at the future of IE 10 but lacks the complete touch-focused redesigned of IE 10 for Windows 8. There are still interface elements in the Internet Explorer 10 Preview that look and feel antiquated. Unfortunately, its improvements aren't enough to sway users away from competitors like Firefox or Chrome.

Download Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 10.0.9200.16521 64 bit in Softonic

Easy to use - Just two clicks, everyone can become the master of AVI FLV Converter; Automatically shutdown the computer after conversion; High speed - A two hours long movie can be convert into a FLV movie with high quality within one hours; Many settings are adjustable, such as video size, bit rate, frame rate, so that the output FLV video will match most web video player.

Suitable for home users and company users to convert AVI video format to FLV video format.

Download AVI FLV Converter 1.0.2 in Softonic

Easy to use - Just two clicks, everyone can become the master of VOB to FLV Converter; Automatically shutdown the computer after conversion; High speed - A two hours long movie can be convert into a FLV movie with high quality within one hours; Many settings are adjustable, such as video size, bit rate, frame rate, so that the output FLV video will match most web video player.

Suitable for home users and company users to convert VOB video format to FLV video format.

Download VOB to FLV Converter Pro 1.0.3 in Softonic

This very early developer version of Google Chrome gives us a glimpse into the future of a touch-friendly Chrome. To install this version, users will have to go to the developer channel and download Google Chrome from there. Make sure to check the box for "Make Google Chrome my default browser" to enable its Metro interface.

This developer version of Google Chrome for Metro will immediately be familiar. It looks almost identical to the desktop version of Google Chrome but simplifies things with a bigger menu button on the top right. From there, you can access all of the preferences and settings that you would get from the desktop version of Chrome. This is where Google Chrome for Metro begins to show its sloppiness. The settings buttons are bigger, but aren't as touch-friendly as Internet Explorer for Metro.

One of the best features of Google Chrome for Metro is full Adobe Flash support. As with all other variations of Google Chrome, Flash is baked right into the browser so no additional downloads are needed. Internet Explorer for Metro, on the other hand, features a watered-down version of Flash that only works on certain sites.

Google's developers have a long way to go to make Google Chrome for Metro feel like a native application. As it stands, this is a very early port of Chrome that hasn't put much thought into design.

Download Google Chrome for Windows 8 22.0.1229.96 in Softonic

Adobe have long provided some of the best creative tools around for digital designers and Adobe Creative Suite is about as good as it gets for professionals.

Adobe Creative Suite CS6 Design Premium consists of: Adobe Photoshop, the world's most powerful image editing tool; Adobe Illustrator, for pinpoint retouching and editing; Adobe InDesign, for professional desktop publishing; Adobe Dreamweaver, the ultimate web design tool; Adobe Flash and Catalyst, for creating animations and multimedia web content; Adobe Fireworks, for specialist web design work; and Adobe Acrobat X, the most popular PDF reader and writer out there.

Adobe Creative Suite CS6 Design Premium also includes several useful online tools for ultimate power and control over your designs.

Adobe Creative Suite CS6 Design Premium is one of the most powerful design packages available.

Download Adobe Creative Suite CS6 CS6 Master Collection in Softonic

Overview

With this trial of Windows 8, users have an opportunity to test a slick and solid operating system that promises to revolutionize the way you do everything, from browsing the web to viewing multimedia files.

This is the most ambitious operating system that Microsoft has ever created. By blending both a tablet interface and a traditional desktop interface, Microsoft hopes that Windows 8 can please everyone. But can it? Let's find out.

Modern Interface

As seen in the numerous preview versions, the Windows 8 interface is one of the largest changes to the Windows operating system. Every app you install on the new Modern interface is shown in multiple colored squares on your screen. Each square acts as a shortcut to open the program or the corresponding directory. Each panel is also fully customizable, so you can group apps together.

New features

Flash

The use of Flash in Windows 8 is one of the primary updates. Working together, Microsoft and Adobe have created a situation-specific version of Flash that works with Internet Explorer 10. This ensures Flash will run when you want it do, such as during video play-back, but won't affect your PC's performance or battery life by running when unnecessary. This is especially important for Windows RT users who value battery life and performance on the go.

New apps

There are also quite a few Windows Store expansions when it comes to apps included natively in the Modern interface. Bing has added apps for travel, sports and news, for example. There are also, of course, existing Modernapps that were released in conjunction with Windows 8. Some of these include Weather, Maps and Finance.

Surfing the web

Windows 8 ties up a lot of loose ends in terms of stability issues seen in its preview versions. There is also a new feature users can look forward to called Flip ahead, IE which uses crowd-sourcing to determine what web page you're the most likely to click on next during your web browsing. To advance, all you have to do is swipe the screen if you have touch screen capabilities or click the forward arrow onscreen to get to the next page. This feature works while searching Bing, of course, but is also compatible with other search engines, so long as you're using Internet Explorer 10.

There's also now a Share feature in Windows 8's Modern UI version of the IE browser that lets you share web pages with friends - just open the Charms Bar then choose Share and you can Tweet or Facebook your page.

In addition, both desktop and Modern UI versions of this Windows 8 have Flash 11.3 built right into it.

Mail

In Windows 8, the Mail feature has also been tweaked to add a better user experience. You can pin multiple inboxes to your start screen to differentiate between your different email accounts more easily. There is also a useful threaded conversation feature, which groups emails from the same conversation thread. Microsoft also addressed some stability issues to ensure less instances of app crashes.

Windows 8 Pro

Stepping up to Windows 8 Pro, users will gain the following features:

BitLocker Drive Encryption and BitLocker To Go

This is great for people looking for more security. BitLocker will encrypt the entire drive and prevent hackers from getting to your precious information if your computer is ever lost or stolen. BitLocker To Go will provide the same level of encryption to your USB drives.

It's nice to see business oriented features like this be included in a consumer oriented version of Windows 8.

Functionality Hyper-V virtualization

This is a very technical piece of software that's oriented toward IT professionals, allowing them to deploy software and manage servers.

Remote Desktop

Remote Desktop is a great feature for those who need to access their computer remotely. It's also a great tool for those who need to provide tech support for their friends and family. This feature was first introduced in Windows XP but has been refined over subsequent versions.

Windows Media Center

Fans of Windows Media Center will have to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro to get these features back. This is also the first time that Windows Media Center will be a paid add-on for Windows 8. This will anger many Windows users who have home theater PCs.

Windows 8 Enterprise

Going up to Windows 8 Enterprise will add the following features:

Windows to go

This feature will allow Windows 8 to be installed and run from a mass storage devices like USB drives and external hard drives. This makes it fully manageable in corporate environments. This makes imaging and deploying a copy of Windows simple for system administrators.

Access via DirectAccess VPN

This allows users to work from home as it will create a secure connection to a company's internal network from anywhere.

BranchCahce

BranchCahce enables PC cache files from a central server, which helps to improve speed. This is perfect for companies that have offices in different locations. BranchCahce will enable servers to automatically retrieve and deploy local copies of files to remote clients.

AppLocker

This feature allows you to lock access to applications if you share a computer.

Conclusion

Microsoft has offered a lot of welcome changes in its Windows 8. Navigation on a desktop is still a bit tricky without touchscreen capabilities, but many will appreciate the simplicity of the Modern interface, as well as the completely redesigned apps that come with Windows 8. If you'd like more details on installing, just have a look at Lewis' handy blog post telling you how. Don't forget to check if you need the 32 or 64bit version.

Windows 8 is a necessary change for Microsoft but it remains to be seen if its gamble on this radical new operating system will be adopted by consumers.

Download Windows 8 64 bit in Softonic

Overview

With this trial of Windows 8, users have an opportunity to test a slick and solid operating system that promises to revolutionize the way you do everything, from browsing the web to viewing multimedia files.

This is the most ambitious operating system that Microsoft has ever created. By blending both a tablet interface and a traditional desktop interface, Microsoft hopes that Windows 8 can please everyone. But can it? Let's find out.

Modern Interface

As seen in the numerous preview versions, the Windows 8 interface is one of the largest changes to the Windows operating system. Every app you install on the new Modern interface is shown in multiple colored squares on your screen. Each square acts as a shortcut to open the program or the corresponding directory. Each panel is also fully customizable, so you can group apps together.

New features

Flash

The use of Flash in Windows 8 is one of the primary updates. Working together, Microsoft and Adobe have created a situation-specific version of Flash that works with Internet Explorer 10. This ensures Flash will run when you want it do, such as during video play-back, but won't affect your PC's performance or battery life by running when unnecessary. This is especially important for Windows RT users who value battery life and performance on the go.

New apps

There are also quite a few Windows Store expansions when it comes to apps included natively in the Modern interface. Bing has added apps for travel, sports and news, for example. There are also, of course, existing Modernapps that were released in conjunction with Windows 8. Some of these include Weather, Maps and Finance.

Surfing the web

Windows 8 ties up a lot of loose ends in terms of stability issues seen in its preview versions. There is also a new feature users can look forward to called Flip ahead, IE which uses crowd-sourcing to determine what web page you're the most likely to click on next during your web browsing. To advance, all you have to do is swipe the screen if you have touch screen capabilities or click the forward arrow onscreen to get to the next page. This feature works while searching Bing, of course, but is also compatible with other search engines, so long as you're using Internet Explorer 10.

There's also now a Share feature in Windows 8's Modern UI version of the IE browser that lets you share web pages with friends - just open the Charms Bar then choose Share and you can Tweet or Facebook your page.

In addition, both desktop and Modern UI versions of this Windows 8 have Flash 11.3 built right into it.

Mail

In Windows 8, the Mail feature has also been tweaked to add a better user experience. You can pin multiple inboxes to your start screen to differentiate between your different email accounts more easily. There is also a useful threaded conversation feature, which groups emails from the same conversation thread. Microsoft also addressed some stability issues to ensure less instances of app crashes.

Windows 8 Pro

Stepping up to Windows 8 Pro, users will gain the following features:

BitLocker Drive Encryption and BitLocker To Go

This is great for people looking for more security. BitLocker will encrypt the entire drive and prevent hackers from getting to your precious information if your computer is ever lost or stolen. BitLocker To Go will provide the same level of encryption to your USB drives.

It's nice to see business oriented features like this be included in a consumer oriented version of Windows 8.

Functionality Hyper-V virtualization

This is a very technical piece of software that's oriented toward IT professionals, allowing them to deploy software and manage servers.

Remote Desktop

Remote Desktop is a great feature for those who need to access their computer remotely. It's also a great tool for those who need to provide tech support for their friends and family. This feature was first introduced in Windows XP but has been refined over subsequent versions.

Windows Media Center

Fans of Windows Media Center will have to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro to get these features back. This is also the first time that Windows Media Center will be a paid add-on for Windows 8. This will anger many Windows users who have home theater PCs.

Windows 8 Enterprise

Going up to Windows 8 Enterprise will add the following features:

Windows to go

This feature will allow Windows 8 to be installed and run from a mass storage devices like USB drives and external hard drives. This makes it fully manageable in corporate environments. This makes imaging and deploying a copy of Windows simple for system administrators.

Access via DirectAccess VPN

This allows users to work from home as it will create a secure connection to a company's internal network from anywhere.

BranchCahce

BranchCahce enables PC cache files from a central server, which helps to improve speed. This is perfect for companies that have offices in different locations. BranchCahce will enable servers to automatically retrieve and deploy local copies of files to remote clients.

AppLocker

This feature allows you to lock access to applications if you share a computer.

Conclusion

Microsoft has offered a lot of welcome changes in its Windows 8. Navigation on a desktop is still a bit tricky without touchscreen capabilities, but many will appreciate the simplicity of the Modern interface, as well as the completely redesigned apps that come with Windows 8. If you'd like more details on installing, just have a look at Lewis' handy blog post telling you how. Don't forget to check if you need the 32 or 64bit version.

Windows 8 is a necessary change for Microsoft but it remains to be seen if its gamble on this radical new operating system will be adopted by consumers.

Download Windows 8 32 Bit in Softonic

Improved interface

The first thing that will strike you when you start up Windows Media Player 11, is the complete revamp of the interface. No more deep blue, the whole application is now dark and shiny and you can customize it by selecting a hue of your choice. Windows Media Player's left side is a drop down pane for your library, the center displays your lists and the right side is used to create playlists which you can rip, burn or sync with a mobile device.

Compared to Windows Media Player 10, we feel that Microsoft has actually made an effort to simplify the interface and give you more ways to browse through your media list, whether by using the drop down menu or the quick rollout line on the top left. The 'play' and 'previous' and 'next' buttons are now nested at the bottom of the interface and have a jazzy glow whenever you roll over them. Microsoft has finally succeeded in integrating a good search function into its Windows Media Player interface. As you type the name of an artist or title the application will bring up the results in the main window.

Windows Media Player 11 makes all your media more accessible. Double click the Media Library button to browse from your music to pictures, movie files and recorded TV. The thumbnail view is a great way to quickly scan through pictures and videos and to include the album image to audio tracks. By clicking the “Media information changes” option under the Library button you can also scan your PC to automatically find new media files. Creating a playlist is a case of drag and drop and oddly enough you can integrate audio, video and pictures. Burning and ripping in Windows Media Player is also very simple, yet disappointingly converting is limited to WMA, WAV or MP3.

Easy to use

The sync process is promising yet remains a bit unstable. While it’s very easy to create a list and sync media, Windows Media Player can occasionally crash or fail to load your mobile device, even if you press the refresh button. When we tested it with a Pocket PC, we had to restart Windows Media Player 11 so that it would recognize it and let us sync our music. As soon as the device became accessible though, it also became visible on the left sided menu, making it very easy to browse through it for music or pictures.

A big improvement

Windows Media Player 11 is a huge improvement from version 10. The whole interface is snazzier and makes browsing through your media simpler. Microsoft has also made creating playlists, syncing, burning or ripping just a case of drag-and-drop. Windows Media Player lets you check out music on dozens of online stores and is loaded with small features to customize your interface and change how you interact with your media.

Conclusion

While the syncing process still remains a bit unstable and we lament the lack of podcast feed support, Windows Media Player 11 is a solid competitor to Apple’s iTunes.

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If you need to run an operating system in a virtual machine, VMware Workstation is one of your best options. It is feature packed and offers support for tons of operating systems. VMware is dedicated to updating their applications to support the latest operating systems and hardware, including Windows 8 and USB 3.0.

Interface

VMware Workstation’s interface is a pleasure to use. When you first launch VMware Workstation, you’re greeted with a welcome screen that allows you to quickly create a new virtual machine (VM), edit networks, connect to a remote server, and more.

Creating a new VM is a piece of cake. VMware Workstation will detect what operating system you’re installing and will ask you relevant questions for things like product keys. It will also install the drivers and tools needed to make the VM work will with your native desktop environment.

Different VMs will show up in different tabs so you can bounce between different VMs with ease. VMware Workstation’s tabbed interface allows quick access to all of your virtual machines and even settings from the home tab.

When you’re inside a VM, VMware Workstation puts a persistent toolbar at the top of the screen to access features like full screen, Unity, and even video capture. There’s also a easy to use interface for taking snapshots and restoring your virtual machines.

Unity mode

Unity mode in VMware Workstation is great if you want to integrate applications from your virtual machines with ones from your native operating system. Applications that are virtualize are clearly marked, making it easy to distinguish the same app from different machines. Unity will blend both operating systems seamlessly so you get a fluid desktop experience.

Users will still be able to influence the settings and control their VMs with ease, even in Unity mode. VMware improved its juggling of having two Start Menus by having the VM’s start menu show up when hovering over the host’s Start button.

Speed

VMware Workstation has improved the speed across the board. Creating virtual machines is speedier but the restoring and suspending virtual machines provides the best example of improved performance.

Virtual machines react quickly. Jumping in and out of VMs is much faster. There are also improved 3D graphics support so you can even virtual some low powered games. Don’t expect to run Crysis in VMware Workstation.

Network

VMware Workstation is truly a program for engineers, created by engineers when you see its networking features. Users can share their virtual machines over a network and access them remotely, which is great for those on the go.

Users can use their virtual machines in any browser and doesn’t require any special plugins or even Adobe Flash. This makes accessing your virtual machines a breeze.

Conclusion

If you can afford it, VMware Workstation is one of the best virtualization applications out there. It is feature packed and will make managing different operating systems and users a breeze.

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Instantly reset local passwords for Windows 7/Vista/XP. Instantly reset local and domain passwords for Windows server 2008(R2)/2003(R2)/2000. Reset Windows password with CD/DVD and USB flash drive. Support NVIDIA and ATI GPU and multi-core CPU for MS Office files, RAR archives and PDF files. Use optimized SSE codes to speed up password recovery for all files and archives. Recover password for MS Office Word/Excel/PPT 2010/2007/2003/97. Recover password for RAR and ZIP archives created by any programs. Recover password for PDF files created by any tools excluding Adobe Acrobat X. Support Brute-force, Brute-force with Mask and Dictionary attacks. Support self-created dictionary created with various languages.

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Password Unlocker Bundle Professional is all-in-one password recovery bundle to recover passwords for Windows, RAR/ZIP archives, MS Office 97-2010 files, PDF files, IE and IM. NVIDIA and ATI GPU, Multi-core CPU and SSE supported for acceleration.

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Emmabuntüs added the following software : Communication : parental control filter (Blocksi) and anti-tracking (Ghostery) in browsers, and integration of the cloud computing like : UbuntuOne, Dropbox, and so on Office : Calibre, Grammatical extension “Language tool” included in LibreOffice Audio : Easytag, Sound Juicer, Sound Converter, Pulseaudio-equalizer Video : Smplayer, Openshot, WinFF Photo : Pinta, Gimp System tools : BleachBit, Déja Dump, TeamViewer, Gufw, MintNanny, Xl-wallpaper, Flash-Mint

This version, the following changes have been made : Implementation of 7 languages in cairo-dock (En, Fr, Es, Ar, De, It, Pt) in addition of 3 dock levels for each language (experts, beginners and children) with “one click” switch New script for easy installation of Calibri font for a better interoperability with a certain office suite Better videos support with 2 versions of the Adobe Flash reader you can choice to install or not Support for Wubi, to facilitate and simplify discovery Emmabuntü

This distribution is designed for the renewal of the machines, but also to allow beginners and children to use a Linux distribution easy and equitable

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