The major developers might not agree with us but the rise of open source equivalents to large, expensive packages has arguably been the most exciting development in the software industry in the last few years. The GIMP and Mozilla Thunderbird are two leading lights of the open source phenomenon and have collectively saved users millions as alternatives to their big-budget rivals.

Artweaver certainly has the credentials to take on the big players and comes stacked with an ample range of brushes, which can be tweaked and customized easily to suit your designs. Just like its more illustrious rivals, the brush selection can be beefed up through plug-ins, although the range of available brushes is pitiful compared with those you can download for Adobe Illustrator. Nevertheless, it's promising to see freeware products embracing extendability in this way.

Other welcome features include a mighty effects selection, layers and transparency functionality, plus support for a range of file formats. You can also add text layers, making it great for creating logos or promotional material. However, it's when you put pen to paper that Artweaver stumbles somewhat. The fact is that the app renders certain brush strokes much slower than its major rivals, and unless you're packing heat processor-wise you're likely to be frustrated by the lag time waiting for the strokes to appear on the page. For such a polished program otherwise, this drawback threatens to stifle its attempts to win over the graphic design market. This said, for a pre-release version ArtWeaver is an impressive piece of kit.

Download Artweaver 0.5.3 in Softonic

When it comes to P2P file sharing, eMule usually wins hands down but UseNeXT is an interesting, slightly more sophisticated offering which has a lot to offer.

For starters, depending on your connection, it can be remarkably quick. You can download at speeds of up to 25 Mbps with DSL/Cable and it¡s pretty constant rather than the fluctuations you often get with such services. The network also prides itself on security over it's rivals such as Limewire and eMule - with ISPs continually cracking down on users, UseNeXT promises users far more anonymity than most.

The Usenet archives are supposedly some of the biggest in the world - more than 300 Terabytes of data available at all times and they claim that around 2,000 Gigabytes of new files are added daily. The problem in the past was that UseNeXT used to be a very complicated affair that only tech geeks can handle. However, nowadays, it's been simplified to such an extent that eMule, Limewire and other P2P users will feel more than comfortable with it.

While it can't possibly hope to compete with the reach and depth of the major P2P networks, UseNeXT offers an impressive selection with some super fast downloads.

Download UseNeXT 4.81 in Softonic

I'm sure we've all come across hundreds of awesome high quality photo collections or impressive image galleries online. The trouble is, if you want to transfer all of these beautiful shots onto your hard drive, it takes forever, as you need to save each one seperately. Don't lose too much sleep over this though, because you can always use Bulk Image Downloader to do this task for you.

The app lets you schedule downloads of entire online image collections through a dead simple interface. Or, you can even choose to dispense with this altogether by taking advantage of the built-in IE and Firefox integration to grab multiple pictures even quicker. Although there are no options for editing the resulting images or categorising them into galleries of your own, the program does contain settings for things like blocking pop-up windows, restarting incomplete tasks and repairing broken downloads.

Download Bulk Image Downloader 1.36 in Softonic

FrameShow is an imaging and desktop enhancement program that adds impressive frames to digital photos in order to enhance your personal albums, projects, websites or desktop wallpapers with remarkable ease. Through its innovative graphical user interface, you can choose from a variety of frames and add them to your images.

Most importantly, you can blend your favorite pictures with your desktop wallpaper simply by dragging and dropping them at your desired location on screen. Apart from the frames found in the program, you will find hundreds of original and creative frames that you can download from the Online Frame Gallery. The Online Frame Gallery includes categories such as: Classical, Shapes, Emotions, Occasions, Seasons, Sports, Locations, Music, Family and much more!

Features:

• Save your framed images in popular formats for use on your projects
• Print your framed images through an on-screen "virtual" printer
• Email your framed images to your friends directly from within the program

Download Photo Frame Show 1.4.152 in Softonic

Yahoo! Messenger has long been one of the world's most popular IM clients, mainly because Yahoo! itself is such a large presence in the realms of web-mail, communities and so on. It now sits comfortably in second place to Windows Live Messenger in terms of user-base.

Among the new features in Yahoo! Messenger 9, the emphasis is very much on looks rather than functions. For example, the brand new IMVironment feature (which completely customises your chat windows) looks pretty impressive at first until you realise that nearly all of them are simply complex advertisements or marketing campaigns from firms like Gatorade and Kleenex. Improvements to the way contacts' images are displayed, as well as new photo-sharing via the excellent Flickr are welcome additions but even they can't dispel the bad smell emanating from IMVironment.

New emoticons have been added to this latest version of Yahoo! Messenger, as have new skins for the main window. To me, these represent fairly minor aesthetic changes rather than important new functionalities, and as such aren't enough of a reason to upgrade. More handy features like improved handling of PC to PC calls, MP3 voicemail, and better integration with Yahoo! sites have also been included but again, none except for the Flickr tool seems really useful. Really, this Beta feels as if it's about matching Live Messenger for features and not much more.

Yahoo! Messenger probably isn't aimed at users like me who prize usability and simplicity above bright colours and lots of advertising. If you like the sound of branding every chat window you use with Kleenex or Axe deodorant then Yahoo! Messenger 9 Beta is for you. If you'd rather use a simple, elegant and uncluttered chat interface, switch to Google Talk and you'll never look back.

A bloated, brightly coloured IM client packed with advertising and not much more.

Download Yahoo! Messenger 9.0.0.907 Beta in Softonic

Facebook is probably the most popular social networking site nowadays, which means that there are dozens of Facebook-based applications created everyday. One of them is Fizzboost, a small tool that enables you to manage your Facebook account from the system tray.

After authenticating the program so that it can access the Facebook site, Fizzboost will sit unobtrusively on your system tray and will display a notice every time a friend wants to add you or whenever you've got unread messages, pokes, wall posts and more. The program also displays links to quickly access the most important areas in your Facebook profile.

In general terms I found the program to be quite useful for Facebook users, allowing them to be permanently aware of any important changes without having to be constantly logging into the site. On the downside, the app was a little buggy and some of its functions, like the Photo upload tool, are still a bit clunky.

With Fizzboost you can view what's going on in your Facebook account without having to log into the website, right from your Windows desktop.

Download FizzBoost 1.5 in Softonic

The vast majority of films that people download from the internet are in DivX format because it's super compact and become the standard over the years. This program allows you to create and author your own DivX films in an impressive and highly professional package.

This collection really packs in everything you could possibly need in a DivX suite. It includes the ability to create full-motion menus, chapter points, subtitles, multiple audio tracks and motion thumbnails. It also incorporates a superb multimedia photo slideshow option to make some great shows with your digital photos. If you're not familiar to editing, don't worry because this suite is packed with wizards that take you from A to B easily. It's also very tolerant of formats from any source - it accepts just about anything you can think of.

If you're looking to upload films in DivX format or simply backup your DVD collection, this suite really can't be beat - nothing more than you'd expect from the creators of the DivX codec.

Download DivX Author 1.5 in Softonic

You might not think that looking at a rock on your desktop is the most exciting way to spend an afternoon, but this screensaver isn't quite as dull as it sounds. The rocks in question are actually part of some quite beautiful scenary and provide a nice way to decorate your desktop while your computer is idle.

Although there are only six images (one of which is a garish advert for the developer's site) the screensaver comes with a nice range of options for customizing the look and behaviour of the display. It's nice for a while but we can't imagine anyone other than Barney Rubble wanting to pay to download the extra 20 rock images from the developer.

Download Rock Perspectives Photo Screensaver 2 in Softonic

Have a new wallpaper automatically downloaded and installed into your desktop every day. Create your own slideshow screensavers with music and impressive smooth image transitions including your own photos or choose from 12,000+ desktop-size pictures. The program combines full wallpaper and screensaver functionality with an easy and convenient image navigation interface. Most popular image and sound file formats are supported. You can customize your hotkeys.

Download Live Desktop 1.0 in Softonic

Simple, fast and reliable, Rhapsody seamlessly combines complete music jukebox software with award winning music services to bring the world of music to your fingertips.

Whether you are playing your personal MP3 collection or exploring our on demand catalog of over a million pristine digital songs, Rhapsody is ready to deliver the music experience you're looking for.

Rhapsody's jukebox software is packed with all the tools you need to build and manage your digital music collection. Import and organize your music files, burn CDs, download songs and transfer them to your portable music player. Rhapsody makes it easy.

Rhapsody's music services offer music fans unlimited access to a massive music collection. From bass-bumping hip hop and guitar-thrashing rock, to country, jazz, classical and beyond... With more music being added daily, you can listen to the hottest songs, albums, artists, and exclusives whenever you want - all in pristine digital sound.

Sometimes you want someone else picking the songs. Rhapsody comes equipped with over 100 professionally programmed stations in every format under the sun. Want more control? create the perfect mood by building stations based on your favorite artists. It's an amazing way to discover new music while enjoying your favorites.

Rhapsody's Music Team is made up of some of the most passionate and plugged-in music nuts in the industry. Listeners can discover great new music with Rhapsody's Staff Picks, read insightful album reviews and learn biographical tidbits about their favorite artists.

Get inside the music with our artist photo galleries and music videos. We all need new music from time to time and Rhapsody is dedicated to finding you new music you will like based on the music you're already interested in.

Want an instant collection of over a million songs in your living room, dorm room, or anywhere else? Rhapsody comes fully equipped to help you play your digital music on your home stereo system where it was meant to be heard.

You aren't tethered to your PC and your music shouldn't be either. Rhapsody lets you quickly and easily burn CDs and manage your portable MP3 player so that your music is always where you want it…no strings attached. Try Rhapsody To Go for the cutting edge in portable music subscriptions.

Found a new artist or assembled that perfect mix? Email it to a friend or publish it to Playlist Central, Rhapsody's own playlist sharing community. The world of music is waiting for you! Take a trip through your high-school years, burn a CD for your next vacation, post a playlist to impress your friends, connect Rhapsody to your stereo and power your next party…whatever you want.

Download Rhapsody 2.1 Build 0.163 in Softonic