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

Esmas Player is a truly multimedia application that provides the user with almost any tool they may need to enjoy image, music and video files on the computer.

The program's interface is suspiciously similar to that of iTunes, which makes us wonder why is it that developers weren't able to come up with a more original design. Similarities to iTunes don't end here, though: as you'll see, you can organize your library, play your favorite songs, edit tags, listen to podcasts, synchronize contents with your portable music device and even buy music online. Some people may find this resemblance somewhat uncomfortable – like a cheap imitation – but it's also a way to make the program look familiar and be easy to use from the very beginning.

Leaving comparisons aside, Esmas Player goes a step forward and also enables you to organize photos and videos, and also features extended functionality such as a disc burner, a DVD player and support for online TV channels and radio stations. During our tests, however, I had the impression that some of its functions were not properly implemented or at least not as easy to use as I expected. Also, though the program's language can be set to English, both the installer and documentation haven't been translated from Spanish yet.

In all, Esmas Player works fine as an all-in-one multimedia organizer, but it still needs some improvements in usability – as well as adding the necessary distance between iTunes and itself in order to avoid odious comparisons.

Download Esmas Player 11026 in Softonic

GVC will help you convert your audio and video files using the FFMPEG codec via a simple and intuitive interface.

It is compatible with the most widely used video formats, and you can use it to extract the audio formats from films - great for making your own soundtracks, ring tones etc. The interface however is not simple for those that are not familiar with Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition. However, the good thing is that it's not that hard to learn and there are instructions with the program to help you get to grips with it. FFMPEG can decode (and convert) files of almost any format, including some rare formats such as game music files. You can convert any video file to the following format - AVI, ASF, MOV, MP4, 3GPP, 3GPP2, MPG, FLV, SWF, WMV, DV, OGG, MKV, RM. With audio, you can convert any audio file to the following formats - MP2, MP3, MP4, AIFF, FLAC, OGG, WMA, WAV, AC3, AMR. There's also the option to convert VCD .DAT files and DVD .VOB files to MPG. However for many it will be the audio extraction that is the most useful feature of this program and if only it was a bit simpler to use, it would be more popular.

The solid converter and audio extractor although you'll need to brush up your Visual Basic skills to use it.

Download GVC 0.6 Beta 1.7z in Softonic

When all you want to do is just burn a CD or DVD, huge suites like Nero are certainly not the most suitable solution. Instead, you should look for a simple recording application such as InfraRecorder.

This easy tool features everything you need to record both CD and DVD. It supports data and audio burning, dual-layer DVD and also disc images. It works with rewritable discs and can burn copies on the fly as well. Results are very satisfying, with just one small complaint: I'd like to have a sound normalizer for song compilations.

But the best thing about InfraRecorder is undoubtedly its simplicity, in every sense. It launches in a few seconds, enables you to drag and drop files, features very intuitive menus and even includes a reduced version (InfraExpress) for last-minute recordings. However, if you want to record MP3 files into audio CDs you'll need to download the decoder by yourself and copy it to the Program files – InfraRecorder – Codecs folder.

InfraRecorder is a simple and efficient tool for quick CD and DVD recording.

Download Infra Recorder 0.45 in Softonic

Cliprex DS DVD Player is a free Windows DVD video player software program built on the advanced Directx 9.0 technologies for playing DVD, any movie DIVX, XVID, MPEG, WMV, ASF, Video CD, Super Video CD and any other videofile you have the codec installed for. This free DVD software player supports aspect ratios 4:3, 16:9 and more. The DVD menu contains a chapterlist which makes navigation through the DVD a piece of cake!

With this full-featured free dvd and video player you have the possibility to create huge playlists and take advantage of the nice options the playlist offers like saving your playlist to load at a later time, or publish your playlist to a html website! This version of Cliprex DS DVD Player is free for viewing DVD videos and other videos on a home PC or notebook computer. The package also contains free DVD decoders, mpeg-2 audio/video and divx codecs.

Download Cliprex DS DVD Player 1.0.5 in Softonic

While the audio technology behind DVDs and computer speaker systems has improved greatly over the last few years, the applications designed to play DVDs on your PC are often less advanced. AVS DVD Player has been designed with this factor in mind. It aims to ensure that you get the maximum benefit from any surround sound or multi-channel soundtracks that your films have.

AVS DVD’s interface is typical enough, although it does include a handy shortcut button which lets you burn the file you are watching to a DVD. The program also distinguishes itself with an inbuilt set of codecs that will play most files, meaning you don’t have to trawl the internet for the right decoder just when you want to watch a movie. AVS is really flexible, supporting all the regular DVD and DivX formats but also Real Media, Quicktime and 3GP (mobile video) formats. It’s sound processing where AVS really excels, however, and if you’ve got a decent set of surround sound speakers, you’ll really notice the difference. AVS DVD includes a surround equaliser which distributes sound according to your setup. Currently, this multi-channel surround sound feature supports 3.1, 5.1 and 7.1 speaker configurations.

There is a price to pay, however, for this emphasis on sound. Unfortunately, AVS DVD player is hindered by several basic flaws. Firstly, it’s very heavy on resources. Even if you own a machine with a high-end processor and graphics card, you’ll notice that AVS hogs your CPU power, so it’s advisable to close absolutely every other application to prevent your system from becoming unstable. One technical drawback is that it does not de-interlace images. This means that if you’re watching torrents or DivX files taken from TV shows, you could experience poor image quality, especially around the borders of the screen. This is due to the image resolution in TV broadcasts which operate at a lower frequency than those made for DVD.

Another annoying problem is that you can’t make the playback controls stay visible on the screen in full playback mode. You end up having to return to a smaller viewing window to control the film you are watching. This is not an issue if you just plan on watching a film from start to finish but it is if you plan to stop and start it a lot. One other minor issue is the lack of extra skins available. The black default skin looks great and there are a few more to choose from but nowhere near as many as other players such as WinDVD.

For a totally free DVD Player, AVS is not a bad product and it certainly looks good. However, as many users report, the developers seem to have focused too much on design and sound features than the bread and butter of usability. Nevertheless, if you’ve got a serious sound system or want to feel the full thrilling sound of your films, it’s certainly worth a try.

Download AVS DVD Player 2.2.8.110 in Softonic

The GX::Transcoder is a flexible audio converter software, which is able to convert in a batch mode between a lot of audio formats. Additionally the Transcoder uses plugins to add more functions for transforming and playing audio files.

The GX::Transcoder in it's standard version is able to en- and decode MP1, MP3, MP2, MPC, OGG Vorbis, PCM up to 7.1 Channel, G.721, G.723, G.726, G.729, ADPCM, GSM, VOX, DSP, VQF and RAW files as well as decoding QuickTime MOV and QT files. There are also AddIns available, which extends the Transcoder to handle the formats AAC, M4A, M4P4, LA, LPAC, WMA, TTA, OptimFrog, WavPack, FLAC, rkAudio, Real Audio, Speex, Bonk Audio and Shorten. There are plans to support even more audio formats. The transcoder also contains a video converter. This converter can transcoder between all installed avi codecs, mpeg with dvd, vcd and svs extension and wma video files. The GX::Transcoder can transfer the tags ID3v1, ID3v2, APE v1 and v2, Vorbis Comments, FLAC and WMA Tags.

Download GX::Transcoder 3.0 in Softonic