CyberLink YouCam is one of those applications that allows you to add wacky and bizarre effects to your webcam chats and conversations.

You can do just about anything from turning yourself into Abraham Lincoln to a talking dog to shock, surprise and even disgust your friends. It works in conjunction with Windows Live Messenger, Skype, Yahoo Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger. CyberLink YouCam doesn't just stick a dogs face in front of yours however. It uses facial-tracking 3D avatars that mimic the real movements of your face so it actually looks pretty good (except the dog, it has to be said).

There are two different modes to choose from - Live Chat Mode which allows you to pepper your chats with video effects; Video and Photo Capture Mode - this allows you to record yourself on video, capture a single photo, or photo burst. And finally, Automatic Capture which records videos by setting your recording time, or to starting with the detection of motion.

CyberLink YouCam is a fun tool that will spice up any webchat conversation, although some of the effects are clearly more realistic than others.

Download CyberLink YouCam 2.0 in Softonic

If you're the kind of person who likes to have a colorful signature in your e-mail messages, this program is for you.

WiseStamp is a Firefox add-on that lets you add a fully customizable e-mail signature to all your outgoing messages. The good thing about it is that it's compatible with the most popular webmail services on the web: Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! and AOL Mail.

WiseStamp is very easy to use: after installing it in Firefox, you'll see a tiny icon in the browser's bottom right corner from where you can enable or disable the extension, as well as choose between the two only available signatures: business or personal.

You can totally customize each signature: choose fonts and colors, add links to Internet sites, display a small image, link to your profile on a dozen different social networks… the choice is yours.

WiseStamp offers also a preview window to make sure your signature looks nice before saving your work. Pity it doesn't save and sync signatures across computers, which means you'll have to manually create and configure your signature in every single computer you access webmail from.

With WiseStamp you'll be able to create and use completely customized HTML signatures in your webmail system.

Download WiseStamp 1.1 in Softonic

High speed Internet connections are quite common now but that doesn’t mean we don’t sometimes need some help when it comes to downloading game demos, videos, MP3 collections and other big files. So, even if you’re enjoying the fastest router in the neighborhood, take a look at Internet Download Manager, because it really has a lot to offer.

This excellent app will take care of all your downloads from the moment you install it on your PC. You can add new download tasks from the program’s interface but the usual thing is to let it capture the links. This means that every time you click on a certain file type (which can be specified through configuration options), IDM will handle the download for itself rather than letting the browser do the job. It’s a really handy option because everything is automatic: no changing from one app to another, no copying and pasting links, just no hassle at all. Also, it works with all major web browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera.

Once IDM captures the link, you can either start to download the file right away or add it to a download list for later, which can be a good alternative if you need all of your bandwidth for the moment and plan to leave the computer on during the night. Downloads can be classified into custom categories right before starting them and can also be resumed if the connection is lost or broken for some reason.

As regards download speeds, Internet Download Manager does meet expectations, although it all depends on your Internet access. That is, don’t expect to download at the speed of light if you’re still using one of those old-fashioned 56K modems. Anyhow, IDM achieves quite satisfying download rates as a result of establishing multiple thread connections to servers. Also, it displays a small window with some interesting information about the download process: transfer rate, data downloaded so far, time left and a neat progress bar for each thread.

The program’s configuration menu displays a wide range of functions and tools devoted to handling your downloads, such as checking files for viruses directly from IDM with your own antivirus system or limiting the amount of bandwidth used by the program. There’s also support for server authentication and proxy, FTP and HTTPS servers.

The fact of the matter is, we couldn’t really find anything wrong with Internet Download Manager. It does its job and does it pretty well, so even if your Internet connection speed is far beyond the usual limits, you should definitely give it a try.

Download Internet Download Manager 5.14.5 in Softonic

Are you tired of heavy instant messengers, which are slow to load, full of colours, animations, and add-ons that put a considerable strain on the whole performance of your PC? If so, then consider an alternative, lightweight solution like Pidgin Portable which has the advantage, like its name says, of running from a USB pen drive. You will be able to use it wherever you are, without having to install anything on any computer while travelling or working.

Just plug in your USB pen drive and run the exe file to have all your contacts from different accounts, available for a chat. Pidgin Portable is able to connect to multiple networks: AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, XMPP, ICQ, IRC, SILC, SIP/SIMPLE, Novell GroupWise, Lotus Sametime, Bonjour, Zephyr, MySpaceIM, Gadu-Gadu, and QQ. You will never again need to use different messengers for every account you have, Pidgin manages them all at once. Although the interface is rather simple and the icons available are limited, the program is light and lets you choose a picture to represent you.

Try Pidgin portable if you are tired of heavy instant messengers and if you would like multi account application that can run from a USB pen drive, without any installation on the computer you’re using.

Download Pidgin Portable 2.5.1 in Softonic

Listen to music, watch videos, tune in to radio, burn CDs and more from one convenient player! AMP is an application that works outside of the AOL client, and can be used to play audio and video content on your computer when you are not connected to the Internet.

Download AOL Media Player 0.6.1.7 Beta in Softonic

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

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

Download Pidgin 2.5.1 in Softonic

PostSmile makes it easy to add fun and excitement to your email messages and web-forum postings. You can drag and drop images and animations, smileys and emoticons, text or HTML snippets, quotes and signatures into your email, message board or web-forum postings.

The program offers a wide variety of original artist-created smileys that are sure to leave no one indifferent. All smiley faces are divided into clear categories - Happy, Love, Sad, Communication, Other, Signatures, Famous Quotes, Love Quotes, Proverbs, Jokes and Compliments. But, you don't have to stop there! Our artists have created for you the world best Online Smileys Collection!

PostSmile works with the most popular email programs, including Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Thunderbird, IncrediMail, AOL Mail and many others that support HTML-based email. And also it works with Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail and other Internet Web-based email systems.

The program is easy to use, has an attractive and compact interface with images, animations, emoticons, "signatures" and text snippets organized into categories. You may change the appearance of the Smileycons program interface by using the different "skins" provided with the package.

Download PostSmile 6.8.1 in Softonic

If you ever need to edit audio files, look no further than ALO Audio Editor, a full featured audio editor with a wide array of tools.

ALO Audio Editor works with many different formats and lets you perform all sorts of operations on your audio files, from the basic cut, copy and paste tasks to more complex special effects and filters with which to alter the way your audio file sounds.

ALO Audio Editor features the classical audio editing interface, with a timeline displaying the loaded file and all the buttons and menus you need just a click away. The program includes a varied selection of filters and effects you can apply to the while file or just a selected area. Then, you can check the results in the built-in audio player.

The only drawback to ALO Audio Editor, in my opinion, is the nagging window that appears with almost any action you perform on the program. I know this is a trial version, but I don't need to be reminded of it every 20 seconds.

If you ever need to edit an audio file, be it a simple cut and copy task or a cool special effect, AOL Audio Editor is a great choice.

Download ALO Audio Editor 3.2 in Softonic

Complete Cleanup will cleanup all major browsers, including Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, Mozilla, and AOL. This works with all versions both past and present. It will show you all your file statistics, and will allow you to safely remove all the privacy related files, browser data, space wasting files, and various other unwanted garbage files found on your PC. Even if you do not know much about computers or files, you cannot make a mistake, as the software finds only garbage data and safely removes it for you!

It also cleans up many non-internet files, including your recent documents list, temp files, excess index files, various registry entries, run history, find history, thumb cache, and more. Normal deletes using the browsers will leave files in a state where the data can be recovered, as numerous file recover utilities are available on the net, but the secure file wiping feature of Complete Cleanup will render the file unrecoverable and permanently deleted. All cleanups can be chosen by you, or you can conveniently clean everything with one button click. Not only will this help protect your privacy, but it will also free up alot of your extra disk space, helping keep your system at peak performance.

Download Complete Cleanup 5.04 in Softonic

Crypt4Free (freeware) is file encryption software with the ability to encrypt files and text messages. The application contains support for ZIP files and ability to securely delete sensitive files, as well as a skinnable user-friendly interface.

Features of the app:

• Easy-to-use
• Skin support (one free skin in standard downloadable package)
• Encrypts every kind of file on every kind of medium, whether floppy disk, removable hard drive, zip drive, tape drive or other
• Full .ZIP support - Crypt4Free can browse for existing .zip archives, extract its contents and even create new .zip archives
• Built-in files compression to reduce size in transmission
• Ability to send encrypted files and messages via the internet
• Ability to encrypt email text (or any other text message) to send it securely via e-mail, chat, or instant messengers like ICQ, AOL Messenger, Microsoft Messenger etc. The recipent must enter the password to read this message
• No "back door" in the software - No access possible under any circumstances. If you do not remember the password you cannot access the encrypted contents. There is no special procedure, secret code, or hidden entry method to fall back on
• Built-in file shredder - i.e. wiping the contents of the original pre-encrypted file

Download Crypt4Free 4.7.6 in Softonic

Adobe's 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. Its ease of use, high performance, small file-size and now near-HD quality all combine to make it a popular choice for web content professionals and casual users alike.

Flash Player 9 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 with only slightly reduced performance looks set to trigger another revolution in web video, as the first HD movies are already beginning to appear on YouTube - and they look and sound great!

Apart from that, Flash 9 irons out some of the problems that previous versions have suffered from (like security and stability issues), as well as adding suuport for ActionScript 3.0, the latest instruction set from Adobe. This makes for more dynamic and interesting navigation, games and interactivity on websites.

Adobe Flash Player 9 represents a leap forward in terms of quality and also stability and security. It's therefore a highly recommended update for all users.

Download Adobe Flash Player (IE & AOL) 9.0.124.0 in Softonic

Ever tried to send media or files to your friends? How much time did you waste compressing, resizing or even, burning a CD? Imagine a program designed to take care of all that for you, designed for people who hate to waste time as much as you do. That's Swapper, free software for fast media swapping with friends.

You can use Swapper for privately sending music, photos and videos to your friends. Swapper is a tiny application that takes seconds to install. To make things even easier, no registration necessary since you can use your existing AOL, Google, MSN or Yahoo ID to authenticate.

It's as easy as sending an email. To get started, click New Swap, drag-n-drop the files you want to send and enter your friends' emails. Your friends will automatically receive an email with instructions to pick up the files, and upload their own for you.

Swaps work like emails: when you are starting a new Swap, enter all of your friends' contact or email and attach your files. Each of them will be included in the swap and will be able to download the files and add their own, securely. It's also possible to Invite friends to an ongoing discussion -- or forward a file you liked to start a new swap with some other people, all in one click.

Fast

Swapper automatically compresses your media when sending and securely caches the files. As a result, your transfers are up to 100 times faster - or just instantaneous when resending something that's already been swapped.

Secure

All communications in Swapper are encrypted and password protected. What happens in Swapper stays in Swapper.

Works with email

To start swapping, simply enter your friend's email. Your friend will instantly receive an email with a link to access your files.

Online and Offline

Unlike Instant Messaging programs, with Swapper you can send files to friends that are offline.

Download Swapper 1.0.6 in Softonic

Collanos Phone is three tools in one - a multi-protocol instant messaging client, VoIP app and a
video conference suite.

The program supports a multitude of IM clients and protocols including Jabber, MSN, ICQ, AOL, and Yahoo! The VoIP phone function is based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standard while the Instant Messenger is based on the popular Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) standard. As far as conference calls are concerned, it doesn't support more than three callers at a time which is a definite drawback for large meetings. It is very well organised though in the way it shows useful information about contacts in the profiles. The program is based on existing Collanos user profiles so if you use any other Collanos products, the profile is instantly imported and shared in Collanos Phone. The other thing that makes life easier is that you make calls from the Windows taskbar - simply right click on the Collanos Phone symbol and you are given options to call or start conference calls.

A very basic but professional VoIP and IM client that's suitable for businesses although general users won't find all the fun features you find in most similar communication suites such as MSN Live Messenger.

Download Collanos Phone 1.0 Beta in Softonic

Believe it or not there was a time when using email was something of a novelty, rather than the routine means of communication it's become today. If you're yearning for those halcyon days when emailing was new and exciting then maybe it's time you found a way to spice up your text life. Incredimail is an email client that allows you to inject a bit of fun into your mail.

The application, which has been around in various forms for some years now, allows you to insert audio and visual elements such as background images, animated pictures or humorous (or at least supposedly humorous) noises. It's clear from the outset that the program is aimed at the less technical user from the set-up wizard that makes it incredibly easy to register your accounts and import your existing mail from either Outlook or your webmail account.

Once you've got the app up and running, you'll find a truly impressive range of backgrounds, fonts, emoticons and all manner of other bells and whistles that you can browse through and add to your messages effortlessly. There's also a wealth of downloadable extras you can find on the web should you want to add even more variety to your outgoing mail.

In terms of its basic mail features Incredimail is very similar to Outlook Express, though the junk filtering system is a little difficult to set up, which isn't really in keeping with the rest of the program. Another interesting touch is the addition of a 'mail servant,' which notifies you of new mail even before you've opened the client. The default is in the form of an animated butler, although this can be changed if, or should we say when, you become annoyed with him.

There's no doubt that the program provides an interesting way of making your emails appear more interesting. The trouble is, one person's idea of fun is another's vision of tackiness hell, and festooning your messages with all these gimmicks means mail takes longer to download, which is doubly annoying for dial-up users. Although we personally wouldn't want to subject our friends to animated kisses, jumping clowns or burp sounds, Incredimail certainly provides a novel way of making your emails stand out from the rest.

Download IncrediMail Xe 5.70 build 3524 in Softonic

Windows Live Mail Desktop is a simple, powerful tool that lets you get e-mail from multiple accounts in one place and integrates your mail with Windows Live™ Spaces, Windows Live Contacts, Windows Live Messenger, and more.

It gives speedy access to multiple e-mail accounts in one place (even AOL, Gmail, and many others) and allows you to compose and manage e-mail while offline: simply connect to the internet and your messages are sent and new messages downloaded.

Other key features include a reading pane with drag-and-drop features, so you can quickly read and manage your mail plus synchronization with Windows Live Mail and MSN Hotmail accounts.

It also features increased security options to keep your mail safer from hackers.

Download Windows Live Mail Desktop 12.0.1606 Beta in Softonic

SpyAgent gives you the power to log several aspects of machine usage. It can be set to monitor all keystrokes typed, websites visited, windows viewed, applications ran, Internet connections made, passwords entered, documents printed, AIM/AOL/ICQ/Yahoo/MSN conversations made, documents opened, emails sent/received, and even capture screenshots of the user's activities.

SpyAgent can log anything from what the user types, to the files they printed and programs they ran - all time stamped and dated for easy viewing. All logs are easily saved and exported for later use. SpyAgent can be configured to log all users on your computer with ease.

Download Spytech SpyAgent 6.2 in Softonic

Editing your icons can be one of the best ways of giving your desktop and PC a really individual feel.

Microsoft has always provided some pretty uninspiring icons for all Windows releases and this program is aimed at giving them an extra touch of class. The good thing about IconEdit is that it accepts a huge range of icons formats from ICO, ICL, NIL, EXE and DLL to GIF, TIFF, BMP, and JPEG. It's also extremely easy to use even if the interface is a bit bland. Normally icon sizes are 32x32 pixels, 16x16 and in some rare cases, 48x48 for really big ones. The different size ranges require different tools to edit them effectively and IconEdit2 allows you to do so with speed and a touch of finesse even if you're no Picasso. The interface is similar to Window's own Paint application and the program allows you to modify desktop shortcuts and folder icons as well as substitute your own images instead of the default ones. You can also use it to create convincing Avatars that can be used with IM clients and forum sites. Probably the nicest feature for an imaging novice is the option to create a "transparent" background for any image or icon which usually takes longer in other similar apps.

This is an excellent icon editor that's simple to use but gives you just enough creative scope to make some really natty icons.

Download IconEdit2 5.0 in Softonic

It's the end of the road for what used to be the best web browser in the world. AOL have decided to end support of Netscape at version 9.0.0.6.

Netscape very much resembles Firefox in its features and functions, all in a clear light turquoise interface. From tabbed browsing, to RSS feeds, sidebar and bookmark organizing, Netscape is just like Firefox. You can also manage your own search engines on the top right and add all sorts of Mozilla extensions.

In terms of performance, you can also expect identical speed and memory usage as Firefox. Netscape also has a number of similar security features like master password and SSL and TLS encryption.

Two features that Netscape offers that you won't find in Firefox though are the link pad and mini browser. Both appear in the sidebar on the left. I quite like the link pad, which lets you drag and drop any link in the sidebar. I found this quite useful for things I didn't really wanted to bookmark but still wanted to store somewhere.

The mini browser, on the other hand, seems a bit out of place. It essentially shows websites in simple text, in case there's some pages you just want to browse through quickly. However I felt it all looked a little cluttered, especially when you can open pages in multiple tabs instead.

Ending support for Netscape essentially means this version will slowly turn into a museum piece. The browser even includes a link to both Firefox and Flock. Download it only out of curiosity.

Download Netscape Navigator 9.0.0.6 in Softonic

If you're floundering in multiple e-mail accounts and just want to use one account for all, then Mail Forward may be able to help you.

The simple application can forward forward mail from AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, Netscape, and Yahoo web mail accounts to any email address. Not only that, but it can also forward mail from standard standard POP e-mail accounts such as in Outlook or Outlook Express. You can choose, when you delete mail, whether you want it deleting from both accounts or just one of them. The original mailbox address will be used as the return address for the forwarded mail, so if the mail is undeliverable it will be returned to the original account. A nice feature, especially if you send out newsletters regularly or a habitual group e-mail, is the option to use a built-in scheduler that allows you to forward mail at a specified time. If you've got any scripting skills, you can also use scripts to forward e-mail at periodic intervals. This latest version includes support for forwarding mail from alternate, international, and custom domains which means those such as live.com, yahoo.co.uk etc.

A simple solution to your mail, forwarding needs although don't expect it to forward everything instantly.

Download Mail Forward 5.1 in Softonic

PMsn Paraiso is a program for to easily enhance your instant messenger. With this program you can browse and autoinstall display pictures, animated gifs, new fonts, emoticons and backgrounds. With one or two clicks you can install all sorts of neat customizations. It works with the popular messenging clients: MSN 6, 7, 7.5, 8, Yahoo, AOL, ICQ.

The best features are:

• Auto-install Packs (Displays, Emoticons, Backgrounds)
• Change your display picture automatically
• MSN Agent Detector (To know who delete you from their contact list)
• Block Checker (Find out who's blocking you)
• Emoticon creator
• Text display picture creator
• Add backgrounds to your contact list
• Add skins
• Muggins and Winks
• Games and aplications launcher
• Delete all emoticons, display picture and backgrounds
• All the latest news about Messenger
• View your personal Messenger folder

Download PMSN Paraiso 2.8.01 in Softonic