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

Theme contain 20 high resolution wallpapers in 1920x1200 resolution. 5 Custom logon screen replaces Windows old login screen and changes automatically after every restart. Theme also contain 3 icons for most used shortcuts

People who like to customize their desktop would like this theme. It is specially targeted at Ice Age movie fans and small children's who'll able to enjoy fun from the movie on their desktop

Download Ice Age: Continental Drift Theme 1 in Softonic

As you enter match results, the program automatically calculates team stats, ranks teams and updates standings table. You can quickly display and edit tournament standings table, results grid, fixture list, team stats.

Download Sport Tables 2.2 in Softonic

Continental Truckers

This driving simulator puts you behind the wheel of a powerful truck and entrusts you with several different missions. Euro Truck Simulator's activities consist on taking cargo from one place to another and getting paid for the delivery. Saving enough money you will eventually be able to buy better and faster trucks to be able to work more and earn more money.

I find the main idea in Euro Truck Simulator is quite original. We're used to car, motorbike and even airplane driving simulators, but not that much to trucks. Also, the game features excellent, highly realistic graphics.

Need for sleep?

So far, so good. The problem is that Euro Truck Simulator becomes a boring game quite easily. I don't know if it was due to the repetitive sound of the engine, the slowness of my driving or the lack of real action, I started feeling sleepy shortly after starting to play. Maybe if you could play your own music on the truck's radio, or get into some more action by delivering illegal stuff and occasionally being chased by the cops, Euro Truck Simulator would be more exciting. Also, I didn't like the fact that I can't choose the UK as the starting country for my career as truck driver! It is extremely similar to German Truck Simulator and UK Truck Simulator

Euro Truck Simulator is a pretty original game, with especially outstanding graphics, but which gets boring quite easily.

Download Euro Truck Simulator 1.3 in Softonic

From the day you first strummed a broom like a guitar, or sung in front of the mirror with a hair brush, you've dreamed of becoming a music star. Now you can live that dream without leaving your home!

In Shady O'Grady's Rising Star, you start out as a rookie musician, and work your way up to stardom. However, success doesn't come without hard work. You must join other musicians with compatible personalities, write songs, and practice practice practice! Go out on the town, to get familiar with the local club scene, until the day comes for your first gig. Eventually, you will deal with larger venues, managers, producers, record contracts, product endorsements, and more.

Choose your starting city in the continental United States, and conquer as many cities as you can while on tour. You can even buy a home in each city, to make visits more convenient than staying in a hotel or motel.

Customize your band with tons of clothing and hair styles, as well as hundreds of different kinds of equipment. You can even get a custom paint job on your band van.

Download Shady O'Grady's Rising Star Demo in Softonic

Antarctica, the ice-covered continent around the South Pole, is Earth's last continental frontier, the most remote and uninhabited place. Other than the Penguins of course, it is inhabited mostly by scientific researchers, but more recently Antarctica is also visited by cruise tourists who tour Antarctica's unique and undamaged landscapes.

Download Mount Erebus wallpaper in Softonic