All of your purchases are available to stream and you can also download them locally and have the files auto imported into iTunes or Windows Media Player.

Simple streaming and local playback

Since the focus of Amazon Cloud Player for PC is to access your purchases of CDs, vinyl, and mp3s, having an Amazon account is required. Depending on how many albums or singles you've purchased, they will be loaded automatically into the app.

You can also designate a local folder to upload music into the player so your local library of music is accessible from the cloud. Amazon Cloud Player for PC also has the ability to create playlists and download your albums from the cloud to a local folder.

Designed for simplicity, there aren't many options, though you can manually adjust the size of the cache for streaming playback and restore removed music with a click.

It doesn't have access to the Amazon MP3 store directly from the app. Instead, it opens a new tab in a web browser.

Very easy to use

One of the best parts of Amazon Cloud Player for PC is that it's very easy to use. You are given all your albums in an easy-to-see grid layout by default, but you can change it to a list view to see individual songs.

If you start typing anywhere in the Amazon Cloud Player for PC window, it will automatically start searching for relevant songs or artists.

Downloading songs is simple. You drag-and-drop the album or songs into a small window on the right and the app starts downloading the songs.

Overall, Amazon Cloud Player for PC is a streamlined program for listening to music bought through Amazon.

Meant for simple playback

The design of Amazon Cloud Player for PC is meant for simplicity. You can play music, download songs from your Amazon account, and define local folders.

What you can't do it change streaming audio quality or change the theme. The black background highlights the album covers, but if you are missing the album cover from music, then you only have a generic album icon.

There is also no equalizer or presets in Amazon Cloud Player for PC, so you have little control over the sound of your music.

Great for Amazon users

If you buy a lot of music through Amazon, then Amazon Cloud Player for PC is perfect for you. It allows you to easily download all your purchased music and offers simple playback that will satisfy most users.

The lack of advanced options is disappointing, but is great for people who just want to listen to their collection through streaming or local means.

Download Amazon Cloud Player for PC 1.0.0.303.1.0.140-20130510 in Softonic

Merry Christmas Windows Theme is a perfect desktop theme for the holidays, with the variety of wallpapers and their quality we never get bored of it.

Special for Christmas lovers and those who enjoy to decorate their computer desktop.

Download Merry Christmas Windows Theme 1 in Softonic

Advanced warning system of the hotel operation Registration stays. Advanced reservations management. Forecast of entry and exit. Advanced control of the stay. Differentiation between Client and Guest. Custom List of Guests. Advanced control of customer data. Rooms are grouped by type Intelligent Room Block Rooms unlimited Unlimited rates. Seasonal prices and date ranges in a single rate. Prices per room. and others.

JCL Hotel was created with industry experts of Lodging and focused on current business needs. Its versatility allows it to adapt to disparate hosting environments such as Medium and Small Hotels, Motels, Inns, Holiday Homes and Holiday Homes, among others. Built on a next-generation desktop applications targeting enterprise solutions, usability and compatibility.

Intended for businesses and business owners of hotels who want to automate all the information generated in their business efficiently and easily, and have the information available with added values??.

Download JCL Hotel 2.10.1 in Softonic

Once a relatively complicated application, Rainmeter developers have increasingly striven to make the meter's interface more user friendly. This trend started with the 1.0 release and continues now that 2.0 is available. In fact, Rainmeter can do some pretty cool things to your windows desktop, and it's easier than ever now to apply new settings.

Rainmeter now comes pre-installed with a theme called "Enigma", which is a great example of how cool your desktop can look. You can add clocks, calendars, and RSS, as well as a whole range of system monitors. And that's just the beginning. Virtually everything on Rainmeter is customizable, and there are scores of other themes you can download for free to give your desktop a really personal feel.

Enigma has been included specifically because it makes your desktop into a really functional space. You can move different meter windows around on a whim, edit their skins relatively easily, tweak the transparency, and even make them disappear completely. As a way of freshening your desktop, Rainmeter is absolutely fantastic.

While Rainmeter has improved its user friendliness substantially, beginners can still easily get lost in the configuration options and settings. There's really not much reason to mess around with them at all though, unless you want to create your own look. Adding new skins is now much easier and doesn't require coding, although if you want a challenge the option to personalize with your own code is still available.

Rainmeter shows how easy it is to personalize Windows and quite effortlessly revolutionize its looks.

Download Rainmeter 2.5 in Softonic

The data in Magic Desktop is not really included in the program, but downloaded from the Internet. The download can take a while depending on your connection and also on the number of items you’ve selected, and can sometimes delay the program’s startup. Also, bear in mind that the program will automatically restart your computer upon installation – no option for a later restart.

In general terms, Magic Desktop is very easy to use. All you need to do is select whatever you want to install – a theme, a wallpaper, a new set of icons - and the program will download and install them in a few minutes.

Besides customizing your desktop, Magic Desktop also lets you create special personal packs (called “suits”) by combining the different icons, cursors, themes and wallpapers included in the program.

With Magic Desktop you can easily customize your Windows desktop in just a few minutes with new wallpapers, themes and more.

Download Magic Desktop 5.1.4 in Softonic

If you can’t wait to have Windows 8 – at least in appearance - 8 Skin Pack is the perfect desktop theme for you. It customizes the start-up screen, wallpaper and taskbar, as well as the aspect of Explorer windows.

The best thing about 8 Skin Pack is its incredible ease of use. To install the theme, just run the EXE file contained in the ZIP archive. The program even patches the uxtheme.dll file automatically – a necessary requirement to use third-party themes. Likewise, if you want to remove it, simply go to the program’s list in the Control Panel and click Uninstall.

On the downside, 8 Skin Pack requires a system reboot in order to be able to use it.

With 8 Skin Pack you can already start enjoying Windows 8 – even if still have to wait for Microsoft’s new operating system for a few months.

Download 8 Skin Pack for Windows 7 11 in Softonic

Mac OS X Lion Skin Pack does an excellent job of emulating the look of Lion OS X. This includes windows, folders, Trash can and even the Dock. Of course, it doesn't include the functionality of Lion - you can't use Spaces for example or such things as Finder and Spotlight but the overall look is quite impressive.

If you want to give Windows an OS X makeover, then Mac OS X Lion Skin Pack will impress your friends.

Download Mac OS X Lion Skin Pack for Windows 7 13 in Softonic

Windows 8 Transformation Pack give you the look and feel of Windows 8 on older
Windows versions. The Metro design, themes, wallpapers, icons, sounds and other features can all be yours with this excellent free theme pack.

Features

Windows 8 Transformation Pack automatically installs several design changes and programs. The freeware comes with an imitation of the new Modern style and adjusts menus, cursors, screensavers and system sounds to emulate Windows' 8th version. You can also configure individual elements of Windows 8 Transformation Pack via the wizard.

Usability

Windows 8 Transformation Pack adds pizazz with its own Modern apps. By clicking on the tile store, you can manage programs and play mini updates or add extra apps. Standard elements include apps like Clock, Calendar, system settings, Gmail, Hotmail, Twitter, Facebook, Internet Explorer, Music and Photo Gallery.

Quality

Windows 8 Transformation Pack is a worthy successor to the popular Seven Transformation Pack. This early version of Windows 8 is a pretty impressive mimic. If Seven Translation Pack is anything to go by, as Windows 8 gets more advanced, so too will Windows 8 Transformation Pack, so keep an eye out for even more updates.

Conclusion

If you want a taste of Windows 8 on XP, Vista or Windows 7, download Windows 8 Transformation Pack asap!

Download Windows 8 Transformation Pack 7.0 (8TP) in Softonic

Thunderbird is Mozilla's award winning and free solution to manage your mail more efficiently. And there are many advantages of switching to it too. Unlike Mail for example, it can handle virtual identities and create on-the-fly addresses and it's widely regarded as having one of the best spam filters out there. Most recently, it's been updated with a slick tabbed interface to make managing your e-mail easier.

The fact that like Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird can be beefed up with all manner of extensions makes it an extremely competitive mail client. It's also now much faster and more stable than before due to the Gecko 5 engine.

Getting going

Setting up Mozilla Thunderbird is painless. You can quickly import your mail and contacts from your Outlook or Mail account and set up POP3, IMAP or SMTP accounts in a flash. To stay well organized, Mozilla Thunderbird offers filters to deliver your mail into separate folders and inboxes. And of course, there's a built-in spell checker to make sure that your mails are professionally crafted.

What makes Mozilla Thunderbird slightly more unusual is the fact that it comes with an integrated RSS reader. Nowadays, this is a little outdated because many people use a separate application - or even Firefox itself - to follow RSS feeds but it may be useful if you only want to mail and follow RSS feeds at the same time when composing mails.

Searching your mail

The search tool in Thunderbird is excellent and searches happen in real time as you type. Search results are displayed in a separate tab. Tabs in general are a very big part of Thunderbird and like Firefox, you can have multiple messages open in separate tabs. This is a fantastic feature of Thunderbird although does tempt you to have too many mails open at once. Archiving is also another handy feature for those that don't want to delete messages but want to clear space in their inbox.

So what about security? You might think an open-source mail client would inherently be less secure than a paid one but Thunderbird is surprisingly secure with a fairly bulletproof spam filter. The reason being is that Thunderbird is regularly updated and crafted by volunteers who's main interest is making a better product rather than profiting from an end-product. Security updates are regular but small so as not to slow-down Thunderbird.

Exchange support

One of the biggest selling points of Mozilla Thunderbird is that it offers Microsoft Exchange support, meaning it will appeal to Office users who previously discounted it.

On the downside, the app is lacking some finesse in certain areas. Thunderbird still doesn't have conversation style email views like in Gmail (although an extension to do this can be downloaded separately) and there aren't many options for managing attachments and photos. There's also no calendar but again, this can be downloaded separately in the form of "Lightning".

Overall, Thunderbird is an excellent free alternative to Microsoft Outlook.

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Download Mozilla Thunderbird 17.0.4 (en-US) in Softonic

This software provides the user with instant download and automatic installation of Windows 7 and Windows 8 games themes. Because it provides access to over 30 themes it spares the user the hassle of looking for themes online. This themepack also contains themes that works for both Windows 7 and Windows 8.

This software is meant for enthusiast and ardent players of the most popular games who likes to customize their desktops with themes of their favorite games.

Download Windows Themes Game Pack 1 1 in Softonic

QQ Messenger may not sound familiar, but it's the most popular IM client in China.

When you think about IM clients, the first names that come to your head are Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and the likes. But have you ever heard of QQ Messenger?

With more than one billion registered accounts, QQ Messenger is now more than just a simple IM client: it's a whole social phenomenon that millions of people use on a daily basis, and an essential part of their lives.

The truth is that QQ Messenger is not that different from other IM clients you may have used. There are the typical contacts list – which you can organize by groups - support for voice and video chats, smileys, nudges, ability to send photos and share files (with support for pause/resume!), and other utilities we're used to finding in IM clients. There's one important difference however: in QQ Messenger you hardly find any ads!

Besides the traditional IM tools, QQ Messenger also includes some not-so-common features. You'll be able to capture an area of your screen or record a short video clip on the spot, and share both of them instantly with your contacts. Another area where QQ Messenger stands out is personalization. You can customize almost anything, from choosing a skin for the interface to selecting the font for your messages. The program also includes a wide selection of avatars and personal pictures to choose from, but if you don't like any of them, simply upload one from your hard drive. The only thing that didn't work for us was downloading more themes from the Web.

QQ Messenger is mainly a tool for chat, but it can also be used to help your friends or customers thanks to its integrated Remote assistance tool: a basic remote control app that grants you access to your friend's desktop and enables you to help them with any computer issue.

In general terms, QQ Messenger surprised us for various reasons: first, it features a nicely designed interface with cute buttons and icons, which is hard to find in IM clients; second, it has interesting extra features that make it a complete communication tool; and third, it's amazing how such a popular program with more than a billion users is still known by so few people over here!

On the downside, I have to admit that QQ Messenger was a bit unreliable when trying to add contacts - which, by the way, are identified with numbers, like good old ICQ. Not a very user-friendly method, I'd say. Other than that, QQ Messenger is a great IM cilent that is definitely worth trying out.

QQ Messenger, the most widely used IM client in China, has now an international version that may help it become even more popular!

Download QQ Messenger International 1.6 in Softonic

Windows 8 offers tons of user customization but the included backgrounds can become boring very quickly. Chameleon for Windows 8 keeps your lock screen background interesting by cycling through new photos at a set interval. You can set it to change anywhere between 15 minutes and two days. Chameleon for Windows 8 provides a great way to be greeted with a different, interesting photo every time you log in.

Beyond setting lock screen backgrounds, Chameleon for Windows 8 doesn't really do much else. There's no way to change the background image for the Windows 8 start menu. You'll be stuck with the default themes that Microsoft included.

While the quality of the photography in Chameleon for Windows 8 is great, the resolution left much to be desired. Photos loaded quickly but that's because they were compressed. Pictures look fuzzy and weren't displayed at the native resolution of our monitors. We wish that Chameleon for Windows 8 had a way to automatically download backgrounds at the native resolution of the screen.

Overall, Chameleon for Windows 8 provides a fun way to get fresh, interesting backgrounds for your lock screen but leaves much to be desired for the quality of the photographs.

Download Chameleon for Windows 8 1.0.3.14 in Softonic

Stardock Fences is a simple icon organizer that creates special boxes where you can store and categorize them in different sections: special tools, Internet stuff, projects in progress, etc. The boxes in Stardock Fences are simply grayed areas which you can customize to your liking by adjusting the color, brightness and transparency levels, and labeling it with a proper name.

You can then distribute those boxes according to one of the program's layout templates or create one of your own. Stardock Fences also includes a special functionality: a double-click anywhere on the desktop hides all desktop icons temporarily, until you double-click again to bring them back.

Stardock Fences is a great way to organize icons on your desktop, but it could be improved with some extra tools, like the ability to add new shortcuts directly into each box or the addition of themes to easily customize the program's appearance.

Stardock Fences lets you organize all the icons, shortcuts, applications and documents on your desktop in an easy and stylish way.

Download Stardock Fences 2.01 in Softonic

In ShixxNOTE, creating a note is a matter of making a double click on the program icon in the system tray. Once created, a note is displayed on your desktop and can be instantly shared over LAN, the Internet or email with all the interested parties. You can share notes with specific recipients or groups of users, save, print, export and import notes, set alarms and expiration dates, save notes to files and fully customize their appearance to match your desktop theme.

It is multithread client/server network tool that lets you display notes on your desktop and send them through your local network (LAN), Internet or via email to others. Easy to use personal info management application and powerful communication tool. It makes writing notes to your self or to your colleagues very easy and instant. The sticky notes appear &amp;quot;stuck&amp;quot; on your desktop, and it is pretty hard to forget something that is written on them. It is configurable and stable.

All computer users which work in a small or middle office. Where they have all computer integrated in a Local Area Network. This user can be working in some dentist office, or can be some student on University.

Download ShixxNOTE 6.net in Softonic

Reminiscent of the Mac desktop background, Animated Desktop Wallpaper Starfield is an animated wallpaper that shows stars moving in front of shades of blue and purple.

One nice thing about Animated Desktop Wallpaper Starfield is that you can change the underlying wallpaper while keeping the star animations. This allows you to create virtually endless combinations of desktop backgrounds with your animated stars.

If, on the other hand, the animation makes you dizzy, you can choose to disable it entirely. Unfortunately, the starry animation is the primary features that makes this wallpaper stand out, so if you disable it you lose most of what makes Animated Desktop Wallpaper Starfield special and unique.

For astronomy lovers, Animated Desktop Wallpaper Starfield will make a beautiful addition to your PC's desktop environment.

Download Animated Desktop Wallpaper Starfield 1.8.1 in Softonic

Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and 7, Windows 8 Charms Bar Skin offers two separate skin options for your RocketDock. One is transparent and the other is black, giving you the option to switch easily and to whatever suits your current aesthetic.

To make use of Windows 8 Charms Bar Skin, you'll need to first download and install Rocketdock, a nifty little app that gives you a Mac-style navigation bar for your PC's desktop. Then unzip Windows 8 Charms Bar Skin and move the "Transparent charmbar" folder into the RocketDock program's skins folder. Strangely enough, the black bar option is named "settings," which could get confusing. You'll also need to move that in the same manner though.

Windows 8 Charms Bar Skin's Startmenu.exe file also needs to be moved into the RocketDock folder. Once done, Windows 8 Charms Bar Skin should work and appear once you launch RocketDock though.

Setup for Windows 8 Charms Bar Skin can be a bit of a pain, but once done you'll have two great new skin options for your RocketDock navigation bar.

Download Windows 8 Charms Bar Skin (for RocketDock) in Softonic

While Windows 8 users may be missing the traditional start menu, Windows 7, Vista, and XP users can also benefit from installing Start Button 8. It is a fully customizable start menu that features the ability to create smart folders or 'virtual groups.'

Users have the ability to skin the start menu and button. Included with the application are some fun Angry Birds themed buttons and some pretty lack luster skins for the start menu. Start Button 8 differs a little from the stock start menu by making it quicker to access items. You only have to hover over an item for it to expand.

There is also an integrated search bar in Start Button 8 but its performance is a bit lacking as the stock Windows 7 search is quicker. While it's nice to see all of your options automatically appear when hovering, it requires users to be precise with their mouse movements.

For Windows 8 users, Start Button 8 offers a way to get back the traditional start menu. It doesn't block access to the Windows 8 Modern UI but it does make it a bit more cumbersome to get to. You'll have to activate the 'charms' and click on 'Start' to get into Metro.

It's also a bit disappointing that Start Button 8 doesn't disable booting into the Windows 8 Modern UI. Many users who are using Windows 8 as a desktop operating system will likely benefit from this feature. Hopefully the developers will include it in the future.

Overall, Start Button 8 offers a few unique features but its performance and interface give little reason for users to replace the stock start menu.

Download Start Button 8 4.53 in Softonic

There are a decent amount of free Twitter clients available for download already out there. If you're looking for one that allows you to customize its appearance a lot of different ways though, Janetter might be right up your alley.

Janetter offers several different skins or themes to choose from, in almost every color and style imaginable. You'll be able to integrate it into your desktop without any clashes with background wallpaper colors or other applications.

Janetter employs a tabbed interface, similar to other popular clients like TweetDeck. An easy to access right column allows you access to your at-replies, direct messages, search results, and more. Each item is illustrated with a simple icon and will correspond to a tab at the bottom of Janetter's interface once clicked on.

Janetter offers the usual searches based on keywords, as well as an advanced search where you can search via specific user or tweets and filter by language. In addition, you have easy access to all of the information on your user profile in an additional popup window.

If you want to share links or images Janetter offers several services as well:yfrog, Twitpic, img.ly, Lockerz, Mobypicture Twipple. You can also use URL shorteners like bit.ly, j.mp and goo.gl.

Janetter would be next to perfect if it added the ability to view images or videos within its desktop interface. At present, clicking on either media will result in your browser launching so you can view it. The program also doesn't offer tweet statistics or insights.

Janetter is an elegant and easy to use desktop client for all of your personal tweeting needs.

Download Janetter 4.0.1.0 in Softonic

Have you ever placed Limbo? It's a 2D indie horror platformer game with spectacular graphics and a great (but creepy) atmospheric tone.

Limbo Windows Theme lets you bring the mood of the game straight to your desktop. It includes 67 wallpapers and icons within one easy to download ZIP file. In addition to gorgeous wallpapers, Limbo Windows Theme also includes a variety of desktop customization features, including a unique start button.

Unfortunately, the customization features that come included in Limbo Windows Theme require manual installation, which may be tedious for some.

Limbo Windows Theme is a comprehensive theme for fans of the original Limbo game.

Download Limbo Windows Theme for Windows 7 in Softonic

Windows usually comes with a dearth of apps out of the box but Windows Essentials 2012 solves this problem. It's a big download but that's because it comes with Live Messenger, Photo Gallery, SkyDrive, Live Mail, Live Writer, and Movie Maker. Let's take a deeper look at each program.

Windows Live Messenger

Windows Live Messenger hasn't seen much changed. There's tabbed browsing, Facebook/Linkedin integration, and the ability to log chats. The interface is almost exactly the same as Windows Live Messenger 2011. We would have liked to have seen some more changes to make Windows Live Messenger 2012 relevant in this crowded space. See our full review of Windows Live Messenger 2012 here.

Photo Gallery

Photo Gallery and Movie Maker are the highlights of Windows Essentials 2012 as they received the biggest overhaul. Both programs are now designed for Windows 8 in mind and feature the Microsoft ribbon interface.

You can now tag people in photos in bulk. There's still great social network integration for quick, seamless sharing. There is also a new 'auto collage' feature which blends photos you choose into one fluid picture.

SkyDrive

SkyDrive is perhaps the least exciting but necessary app included in Windows Essentials 2012. Similar to Dropbox's approach, SkyDrive creates a folder that syncs to the cloud and between machines. Make a change to a document on one machine and every other machine you have linked to your SkyDrive will update that document to the latest version. Integration is seamless and you'll soon forget about it, which is good.

Windows Live Mail

While competitors Apple has their default Mail application, Windows doesn't come with a mail client out of the box. Windows Essentials 2012 solves this by bundling Windows Live Mail. It is a solid mail client that offers a good way to manage your mail on the desktop.

There's an offline mode but Live Mail offers little benefit to those who want to manage their mail exclusively in a browser. The Outlook.com redesign helps to make the web site feel like an app so Live mail might not benefit users who prefer the web interface.

Windows Live Writer

Windows Live Writer is the oddball of Windows Essentials 2012. It is basically a writing app that integrates with your Blogger, Wordpress, SharePoint, and other blogging services. You can write, attach photos, and edit the theme of your blog from the application but its features are limited enough that users may as well use the website to make changes. It's a basic WYSIWYG editor that lacks features that would be useful for intermediate and expert bloggers.

Windows Movie Maker

Last but not least, we have Windows Movie Maker, which is the stand out application of Windows Essentials 2012. This basic video editing tool remains great while offering a few new features.

Movie Maker now takes advantage of hardware acceleration, which will speed up video exporting and encoding. There is also a new video stabilization feature, which will be a boon to those with cameras that don't offer this feature. Videos now output to h.264 by default.

The interface of Movie Maker has stayed the same for the most part but integrating audio is easier as you can now look up music from services like AudioMicro, Free Music Archive, and Vimeo Music Store. The video timeline also features a wav form so you can easily see where audio is placed within the video.

Final Words

Windows Essentials 2012 is a great suite of applications that will satisfy most Windows users. While some of its included apps struggle for relevance, many included apps are actually very useful. Best of all, its free and you can select which programs you want to install so you aren't forced to install the entire Windows Essentials 2012 suite.

Download Windows Essentials 2012 16.4.3503.0728 in Softonic