Traditionally the first choice when it comes to compressing and uncompressing files, WinZip is one of the most popular downloads of all time. Despite the fact that its competitors have caught up somewhat, it remains a simple way to archive programs and reduce file sizes.

Much of WinZip's success has been down to its simplicity. From the outset, the program prompts you to choose between Classic mode and Wizard mode. The wizard is great for beginners, although even the classic interface is easily negotiated, giving you instant access to a range of features such as compression ratios, password-protection and a Favorites list.

While archiving files in WinZip is quick and easy, you can't help but thinking that the program has lost some ground on its competitors. For instance, the compression rates aren’t as high as they are in WinRAR, and you can only save files in Zip format rather than RAR, ISO or JAR.

Nevertheless, WinZip performs its function well, helping you archive files quickly and effectively.

Download WinZip 17.5 build 10480 in Softonic

Google Earth Pro is the professional version of Google Earth. It's downloaded upon registration on its website and adds some extra features to the free version.
Do these additional functions make a difference? Let's dig a bit deeper.
Making use of a vast satellite imagery database –actually the same as the free version, Google Earth Pro displays locations from all over the world, enabling you to zoom in from the image of the whole planet to the streets of any capital city.
As a Pro version user, you're supposed to enjoy a faster performance, but we couldn't really notice any difference.
Another interesting feature included in Google Earth Pro is the ability to record videos with your movements around the world, which you can use to illustrate trips or even give directions.
You can choose different resolutions, but record only in WMV format.
Technical support assistance, Premium print and a GID data importer are other additional capabilities of this Pro version.
However, taking into account that both versions share the same image database, which in the end is Google Earth's biggest value, you may as well use the free version.

Download Google Earth Pro 7.1 in Softonic

Easy to install

In the latest release of SopCast, there are virtually no noticeable interface changes, so it's still extremely easy to use. On installation, you're asked if you'd like to install the Ask.com search bar, which you can de-select by clicking the check-box. When you run SopCast, you can log in either anonymously or, if you're planning on setting-up your own channel, create your own account using the link at the bottom. When you log into SopCast, click on the Live Channels tabs so you can see the channel listings. The first thing you notice is the number of channels to choose from. There's absolutely everything here from obscure Chinese channels to mainstream offerings like The Discovery Channel (although again, you will find many programs either dubbed or subtitled in Chinese). Some of SopCast's channels are organized, such as by News and Sport but these categories can be unreliable and the lower down you go, simply indecipherable.

Pop-out TV screen

SopCast's channel window will pop out of the side of the player but you can expand this to full screen or export it to Windows Media Player using the vision controls on the panel. This truly separates SopCast from the rest of the P2P TV streaming applications. If you want to use a different media player (such as VLC Player), you can do this by clicking on the Options button at the bottom of the main interface.

Broadcast your own programs

SopCast's major draw though, and the reason why many of its channels look like a garbled mess, is the fact that you can broadcast your own channel on it. Once your program has been filmed, edited and is uploaded on your PC, all you have to do is stream it via SopCast and select a server address to which people can connect and watch

Quality depends on other users

The quality of the broadcast in SopCast will very much depend on the number of people connected (the more users there are, the faster the video will stream). You can even create your own private channel and decide what users can watch it by creating a network group, thus enabling you to run your very own personal TV channel in SopCast.

Conclusion

SopCast might look a bit confusing for the first-time user but, despite the dominance of Chinese channels, it provides a whole new world of TV to watch. What's more, it gives you the chance to start your own channel!

Download SopCast 3.8.2 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

Upon opening Your Tube 8 for Windows 8, a group page featuring 25 videos will appear on screen. These will include the title of the clip, the uploader’s handle, and a preview image. Other meta information such as duration, views, or video description are not included. The large arrow icons on each side of Your Tube 8 for Windows 8 can be used to scroll through other group pages containing the next and previous 25 YouTube videos.

Your Tube 8 for Windows 8 allows video sorting based on genre category and popularity type. The genres include comedy, entertainment, games, how to, music, news, nonprofit, tech, and more. Sorting and searching with these genres appears to accurately pull from YouTube’s categories with only minor discrepancies. For example within Your Tube 8 for Windows 8 “how to” links to YouTube's lifestyle channel.

Sorting by popularity is less effective. Selecting top rated, most shared, and most discussed often gave zero results. This may be because the Your Tube 8 for Windows 8 lacks key features to contribute to active discussion or share videos of your own.

Clicking on a preview icon in Your Tube 8 for Windows 8 will take you to a page with the video embedded on the upper left in a 320x240 resolution. On the right will be an over sized description and like/dislike bar. Below all of this will be a selection of the other 24 videos from the group page that can be watched. While there is more meta data, such as published date and views, Your Tube 8 for Windows 8 has completely disabled liking and video rating is bugged; unless every video on YouTube really is five stars.

Your Tube 8 for Windows 8 is very quiet compared to the main site. You cannot log into your account to upload your own video, follow channels, or leave comments. In fact comments do not appear in the application at all. This is actually very efficient and less distracting when you're looking to just watch a video.

Your Tube 8 for Windows 8 is an excellent application when you want to watch video content while avoiding the YouTube community.

Download Your Tube 8 for Windows 8 in Softonic

Skype for Business has the same features as the general public release, with the exception of a few details. In fact, the average user is unlikely to notice anything difference - only the Skype administrator will really see how it differs.

Skype for Business is easy to install, as it comes in an MSI file which is perfect for an extended number of computers. Above all, it offers more flexibility network administrators. From the Skype Manager homepage, you'll be able to log into your company account and manage the service from there. Employees using the service are known as Members, and they'll be able to join your network with new or existing Skype accounts.

Some of these features, for example, include allocation of credit, so your employees can call non-Skype numbers, or the disabling of calls to personal numbers. You can pay by a variety of methods, and can enable or disable auto-recharge. Once you've purchased credit, you can set about assigning features to different members. These features include call forwarding, subscriptions, voicemail and online numbers.

When it comes to the everyday basics of using Skype, you'll find that Skype for Business has all of the same features as the standard version. To find out more about them, read our Skype review!

Skype for Business is convincing. Average users get the service they are used to, while Skype administrators get flexible, professional control over use.

Download Skype for Business 6.1.32.129 in Softonic

SpiderOak is the perfect solution for these situations, as it provides you with the necessary space and tools to store and share your files online in an easy, safe way. After creating a personal account for free, SpiderOak lets you select which files and folders you want to share and uploads the content to a 2GB web space you're given for free with your account. Then you can simply go on with your work while SpiderOak uploads all the data to their server.

Besides being a storage and backup service, you can also use SpiderOak as a way to share files online. After uploading content to your SpiderOak account, you're offered the chance to share it (all of it or just selected items) on a personal page hosted in the SpiderOak servers. In this way your family and friends can access your photos, videos, documents or any other files you want to share.

The best thing about SpiderOak is undoubtedly its simplicity of use, together with the fact that is cross-platform; that is, it can be used in Windows, Mac and Linux. And if I have to point out any weakness that would be that it takes way too long for SpiderOak shared spaces to be available online – even if it's only a few pictures you're sharing on them.

SpiderOak is probably one of the easiest ways to store and share any kind of files online, no matter what operating system you're using.

Download SpiderOak 4.8.4 in Softonic

If you want to watch, search, and manage your YouTube account, YouTube RT is a great application. Unlike YouTube Player, YouTube RT allows users to log into their YouTube accounts to access their uploaded videos as well as their playlists. Users can add more videos to their playlists.

The interface of YouTube RT is simple and very easy to use. If you've used a Windows 8 app before, you'll know exactly how to get to every feature. You can set a default resolution for videos to play back as well as setting your locale. This is a great, somewhat hidden feature, that will allow users to view videos that aren't available in their locale.

Another great feature of YouTube RT is its ability to download videos straight to your device for viewing offline. You can select the quality and video codec, if there are multiple codecs available. Videos downloaded flawlessly and played back perfectly in the Video app.

The only downsides to YouTube RT are the fact that it doesn't dynamically change video quality according to your connection quality and the controls overlay takes up way too much of the screen. These are minor quibbles but it would be nice if the developer added/fixed these issues in a future release.

YouTube RT offers a complete YouTube experience while offering a few extra features that make it one of the best YouTube apps on any platform. It is well worth the $2.49 price and you can try it for free for 7 days.

Download YouTube RT for Windows 8 in Softonic

Instagram is one of the most popular mobile photo sharing programs out there at the moment. Sometimes you just want to view your photos and those of your friends on a larger screen though. WinGram makes that possible with its lovely app, available in the Windows Store.

After signing into your account, WinGram lets you view friends' updates via customizable feeds. You can essentially also do anything you'd be able to do on your mobile device in WinGram. This means you can view your user profile, scan recent feeds, follow other Instagram users, and check your own followers. In addition, you can still interact like you would on your phone by posting messages and liking your favorite photos.

There are also some really great extra perks to WinGram, like being able to view a badge update on your Windows Start Screen that updates you periodically with the latest five feeds. There are so many different features in this one single app that it might take time to learn all of them, in fact.

WinGram is a comprehensive Instagram viewer app for Windows 8 users.

Download WinGram for Windows 8 in Softonic

The Windows Live Photo Gallery interface itself is clean, clear and easy to use. It provides a great platform for your images and the picture quality in the slideshow function is excellent. Windows Live Photo Gallery also features great tagging and sorting functions and a few nice extras, such as the ability to order prints directly from online retailers, burn to CD and publish to a group.

Unfortunately, many of these extras require you to install a supplementary program or sign up for a Windows Live account. Add that to Windows Live Photo Gallery's simplistic editing tools, and suddenly the program isn't looking so rosy.

In fact, Windows Live Photo Gallery even appears to have lost a few features since the last version, as there is no sign of the screensaver function of the beta version and you can only make thumbnails that measure 100 x 75 - not exactly what I'd call progress, Windows!

Windows Live Photo Gallery is a good program for heavy Windows Live users who don't need much editing power.

Download Windows Live Photo Gallery 16.4.3503.0728 in Softonic

It's not unusual nowadays for people to have multiple Gmail accounts for different aspects of your life. Maybe you have one where you pay bills, another for a job search, and yet one more for friends and family. You can add on other secondary accounts to Gmail, but your preferences aren't always saved, nor are you notified when you get a new email in an account you're not currently viewing.

That's where Social for Gmail comes in. Part of the Social Pro series of desktop apps, Social for Gmail focuses specifically on allowing users to manage multiple Gmail accounts.

Social for Gmail works just how accessing Gmail would in an actual browser. In fact, Google Chat is even supported so you can talk away on multiple accounts at once with ease. You switch between accounts on an easy to use tabbed interface. Updates in your system tray ensure you know whenever you get a new email.

It'd have been nice if the email notifications let you know the subject of the email so you could see if you want to read it or not, but other than that Social for Gmail is a really comprehensive program that many people will find useful for managing their multiple email accounts.

Social for Gmail is a great way to organize and manage multiple Gmail accounts with little hassle and lots of usability.

Download Social for Gmail 2.0.9 in Softonic

The instant messaging list on AIM has space for 500 friends and enables you to organize your chats and status messages easily. It also allows you to send bigger files than most IM services. AIM's video conferencing function is however much more hassle and it's not immediately obviously how to start a conference until you scroll through the menus. AIM also features it's own e-mail service although obviously, you need to sign up for an AOL account to use it which can turn into a long drawn out affair in itself.

There's no real advantage of using AOL's IM mail compared to others apart from the fact that it does feature a handy "unsend" function if you've sent an e-mail in error. Of course, there's the obligatory SMS function although this is limited to US users and if your phone supports it, you can also use AOL messenger on the move.

AIM is a bit of a disappointing effort from one of the originators of Instant Messaging but still has a few redeeming features that make it worth a try.

Download AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) 1.0.1.2 in Softonic

The Marathon XML Sitemap Crawler detects also all the outbound links for the crawled sites. This is a useful feature when an analysis is performed for the monitored sites. Also, it takes into account the robots.txt files downloaded from the crawled sites. In the sitemap are included only pages for which the HTTP response codes are 200, 301 and 302.

It does not use a relational database, It's using a local database based on text files, and due to this approach the browsing speed remains steady even if the total number of pages browsed increase in time.

This software can be used by SEO companies that provide XML Sitemap services, by students and by hobbyists.

Download HobbySEO - Marathon XML Sitemap and Link Crawler 1.1 in Softonic

It distinguishes itself by being free, without skimping on options. In fact, iSpy is hugely flexible, and all but the most demanding users will find that it offers enough to happily meet their needs. The interface is a little strange (the top half looks great, but the bottom is old-fashioned), and the program takes up a huge amount of RAM. But these problems aside, it's a really impressive piece of software.

iSpy can be configured to work with various input sources, whether a conventional webcam, IP cam, capture card, desktop camera or microphone, all with a view to monitoring your home and making sure everything is well. Setting up a camera for iSpy is easy - in all probability, it will automatically detect your device, but if it doesn't, there's a handy wizard to help you along the way.

The iSpy interface is completely configurable, but the default layout gives you a main feed on the top, the movement captures beneath, and quick options to the side. It's also accessible from the taskbar, and remotely, provided you have an active iSpy subscription.

Although iSpy is ready to go from the moment you install it, it's really worth taking a look at the configuration options and settings. Although extensive, they're not complicated, and will really help you get the most from a very flexible app. Just bear in mind that for a lot of the program's features, you will need a paid account - primarily secured remote access, SMS, MMS, email alerts and mobile device access.

On the iSpy web site, there's a huge list of possible uses, and it certainly gives you food for thought. The program's options certainly back this up, as it's flexible enough to cater for all eventualities. The only problem we can see, in fact, is the resource-intensive usage.

When we tested iSpy, it seemed clear that only those using pretty powerful machines would be able to run it at the same time as other applications. Of course, as iSpy is mainly used for remote monitoring, that may not be a problem for all users, but it's worth bearing in mind.

iSpy is a very promising piece of surveillance software - but you'll need a subscription and a powerful PC to get the most from it.

Download iSpy 4.1.9.0 in Softonic

Rank Tracker is an SEO tool designed to make search engines rankings, monitoring and keyword research a snap.

Rank Tracker allows you track up to 392 search engines and monitor an unlimited number of keywords. You can use its keyword suggestion methods to discover keywords you've been missing which could increase your ranking. You can also keep history records of your ranking to help you see how well you've been ranking over a specific period of time. You can then display these results in graphical format.

Rank Tracker promises a lot although in reality, it's not much different to any other SEO tool. The fact that is can monitor up to 392 search engines is not much of a selling point since the vast majority of your users will be coming from Google anyway. The presentation of Rank Tracker's findings also require some effort to understand - the developer could surely have made it easier for users to interpret the results, although its website explains in detail how to do so properly.

If you've tried other methods and are desperate for traffic, then Rank Tracker is worth a try. Just don't expect miracles.

Download Rank Tracker 6.1.2 in Softonic

There is a version of FlipToast for Windows 7 and XP, but FlipToast for Metro is the first Twitter client for the touch-friendly Windows 8, which features an animated live tile. You can add a Twitter and Facebook account to the application but there is no support for multiple accounts yet.

FlipToast is targeted at the casual Twitter and Facebook user, as many powerful features are not there yet. That said, you can view comments, reply, and retweet messages from both Facebook and Twitter. You get a column for updates, news feed, photos, birthdays, inbox and "apps." It doesn't seem that FlipToast supports a column for direct messages or favorited Tweets yet.

Although FlipToast can claim the title as first Windows 8 Twitter client, there is still much work to be done. The biggest gripe I have with FlipToast is that there's no in-app browser so clicking links and even profiles will take you out of the application into Internet Explorer. It's a jarring experience and should really be integrated into the app. There are also interface quirks and inconsistencies like the fact that you can't interact with updates in the Updates column while you can in the News Feed. The games and apps in FlipToast are also nothing more than bookmarks that open up pages in Internet Explorer.

Overall, FlipToast is a good first version Twitter and Facebook client but needs a lot of polish before the official launch of Windows 8.

Download FlipToast for Windows 8 1.0.0.3 in Softonic

Let's face it: most of us have more online accounts than we can control. Email addresses, instant messaging clients, social networking sites… do you really have time to catch up with all of them?

If you don't, then you need Digsby, a revolutionary all-in-one IM client with which you can handle all your online contacts under the same interface, even if they belong to different networks. OK, this is probably not that revolutionary, but the real surprise comes when you realize you can also add your email accounts, no matter if they're online or POP3 based, and also your personal profiles in Facebook and MySpace. The result is that Digsby enables you to control pretty much every aspect of your online social life in a very easy way.

After installing the program, you can start adding as many accounts as you want in order to handle them from Digsby. This includes AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, Google Talk, ICQ, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, Facebook, MySpace and more. Despite the amount of supported services, they're presented in a very clear, uncluttered interface and organized in tabs. You'll be able to chat with your buddies via IM and also check and organize your email without even having to open your browser. Everything worked fine except for Facebook, which kept on showing a "Connecting…" message though the widget was up and working on my Facebook profile. My ICQ account didn't seem to respond either, but I guess it's got something to do with the fact that Digsby is still in beta stage.

Digsby saves chat history, supports file transfer and features an extended settings menu from which you can tweak the program's appearance and performance. The only drawback I found, besides the Facebook connectivity issue, was the lack of speed when starting the program and logging in. But then again, it's well worth it.

With Digsby you'll be able to manage all your online accounts for email, IM and social networks under a single interface, making it much easier and faster for you to stay in touch with your friends.

Download Digsby Beta Build 90 in Softonic

Released unofficially on its own website, AIM Preview is not yet replacing the old AIM everyone knows and enjoys using. Instead, it seems to be marketed as an entirely new and improved messaging client, with a built-in video chat feature.

AIM Preview's interface is relatively simple to navigate. There are a few changes, however. First, Lifestream, which encompasses the basic status updates your friends saw on their buddy lists on the old AIM, has been replaced. AIM Preview comes with actual status updates now, like what you'd be accustomed to on Facebook.

In fact, Facebook has now become integrated with AIM. You can log in to AIM Preview with your Facebook account, for one. You can also chat with Facebook buddies on AIM Preview, as wells as buddies on Google Talk. While this isn't technically a new feature to AIM itself, it's a lot easier to figure out how to use with AIM Preview.

In addition, you can access chat histories from virtually any device you have AIM Preview installed on as the histories are now remotely stored. While this allows for synchronization, it also might bring up some security issues. There's a news feed that links to AOL-owned Huffington Post articles as well.

The biggest difference is the new availability to video chat either one-on-one or in groups, which is very similar, if not identical, to what Skype offers now. If not for the ability to connect to your buddies via Facebook and Google Talk though, the feature might seem a little useless, considering AIM doesn't generally boast as many users as other IM clients.

AIM Preview adds some new features and functionality, although it still doesn't really compete with video chat frontrunner Skype.

Download AIM Preview 1.0.0.3 in Softonic

Do yourself a favour: STAY AWAY from cheap Snake Oil Salesmen! Let's face the Facts: Targeted Traffic from Search engines remains the only one proven method to attract people who might be interested in your products and services.

Sadly, Pay Per Click advertising is insanely expensive. As are the promises many SEO expert services make, with results which can only be called Dubious.

TrafficBooster Professional SEO RSS Doorway/Cloaking Software is the ONLY Doorway Page Generator with RSS Unique Content Engine, which not only Creates hundreds or thousands of Niche Keyword Phrase Oriented Doorway Pages for you, but also fills them up with unique and relevant Auto-Updated content, as if you had optimized them personally one by one!

Save hours upon hours of hard labour and repetitious drudgery. Automate your SEO Efforts for ALL your online properties once and for all. Instantly Create Multilingual Doorway Pages in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Russian or ANY OTHER language you choose.

By utilizing the doorway page localization process you access potentially millions of new customers. When you grasp the power of RSS doorway pages you will rise to the top of Google for hundreds or thousands of related and targeted key phrases.

Stop being Burned by Google Because You Don't Have a Massive Advertising Budget! TrafficBooster Professional SEO RSS Doorway/Cloaking Software has an excellent after sales support: Our Clients get exclusive instant access to our SEO SECRET LAB Support Forum where there is a wealth of experience, personal attention and expert support.

We reveal to you every trick you will ever need to know about how to create successful doorway pages, new working ideas, secret methods of cloaking and redirection, the secrets of expired domain names and how to use them to build link popularity, Shadow Domains, secret black hat tricks, custom installations, keyword research help, custom doorway page templates, doorway page monetization with adsense or affiliate programs, and much, much more!

Download TrafficBooster Professional V.2.05 SEO RSS Doorway/Cloaking Software in Softonic

Do yourself a favour: STAY AWAY from cheap Snake Oil Salesmen! Let's face the Facts: Targeted Traffic from Search engines remains the only one proven method to attract people who might be interested in your products and services.

Sadly, Pay Per Click advertising is insanely expensive. As are the promises many SEO expert services make, with results which can only be called Dubious.

TrafficBooster Professional SEO RSS Doorway/Cloaking Software is the ONLY Doorway Page Generator with RSS Unique Content Engine, which not only Creates hundreds or thousands of Niche Keyword Phrase Oriented Doorway Pages for you, but also fills them up with unique and relevant Auto-Updated content, as if you had optimized them personally one by one!

Save hours upon hours of hard labour and repetitious drudgery. Automate your SEO Efforts for ALL your online properties once and for all. Instantly Create Multilingual Doorway Pages in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Russian or ANY OTHER language you choose.

By utilizing the doorway page localization process you access potentially millions of new customers. When you grasp the power of RSS doorway pages you will rise to the top of Google for hundreds or thousands of related and targeted key phrases.

Stop being Burned by Google Because You Don't Have a Massive Advertising Budget! TrafficBooster Professional SEO RSS Doorway/Cloaking Software has an excellent after sales support: Our Clients get exclusive instant access to our SEO SECRET LAB Support Forum where there is a wealth of experience, personal attention and expert support.

We reveal to you every trick you will ever need to know about how to create successful doorway pages, new working ideas, secret methods of cloaking and redirection, the secrets of expired domain names and how to use them to build link popularity, Shadow Domains, secret black hat tricks, custom installations, keyword research help, custom doorway page templates, doorway page monetization with adsense or affiliate programs, and much, much more!

Download TrafficBooster Professional in Softonic