Norton has been always considered to be a synonym of security. Some of their products have been in the market for years and are used by millions of computer users around the world on a daily basis.

The new Norton Antivirus 2009 promises a faster, easier installation and a better updating technology that protects your computer without interrupting your work. And I must say it really meets the expectations. I'm always afraid of anti-virus tools being too heavy on memory or displaying too many annoying messages, but Norton Antivirus does its job in an excellent way. Besides a really quick installation in just three steps, the program doesn't hog system resources at all and doesn't disrupt your workflow either. What's more, it now includes a "Silent Mode" that temporarily disables alerts and other background activity, perfect for those moments in which you need to really concentrate on work.

The new Norton Antivirus 2009 displays a completely redesigned interface and includes some configuration settings which you can tweak to fine tune the program's behavior, including the elements that should be monitored (e-mail, messenger chats, etc.) and the possibility to schedule automatic scans.

On the downside, I found that the new interface in Norton Antivirus 2009 design lacks information. In their attempt to create a simpler, easier design I think they've gone too far and now the main interface doesn't show as many interesting data as Norton Antirivirus used to. Also, bear in mind that you'll have to set up a free Norton account even if you only want to test this product during the 15-day trial.

Norton Antivirus is a powerful yet light security application with which you'll keep viruses, worms and other online threats away from your system without hassle.

Download Norton AntiVirus 2009 in Softonic

As USB sticks and other flash memory drives increase in storage capacity, so does their popularity as software repositories. Many applications have developed special versions for these devices, usually known as "portable". One of them is CCleaner Portable.

In a few words, CCleaner Portable is the pocket version of CCleaner, an excellent cleaning tool with which you can erase unused files, thus gaining back valuable free disk space and making Windows run faster and smoother. The great advantage about CCleaner Portable is that it allows you to do just the same without leaving any evidence of use on the computer. In fact, you don't even need to install it. Simply run it from your USB memory stick and you'll have immediate access to all of its features. CCleaner Portable does create some necessary keys in Windows Registry, but these are deleted when the program is closed, so there'll be no trace of it left on the system.

Regarding its functions, CCleaner Portable does a very satisfactory job. The program helps you to get rid of many different files such as Internet cookies, temporary files, log files or all those leftovers found after months of installing and uninstalling applications. The configuration menu features interesting options like the possibility to keep certain cookies which may be useful for you or the ability to add custom file types to the delete filter. Apart from freeing up disk space, CCleaner Portable also lets you uninstall applications, find broken registry keys and list all the programs set to run when Windows launches.

On the down side, CCleaner Portable does not allow you to undo changes, so you must be very sure about what you want to erase before clicking on "Yes". Also, the program can take a few minutes before finishing the analysis that must be done prior to deletion. However, this is probably due to the fact that CCleaner Portable runs from a USB device and that we checked all the available options when cleaning our system – the test found 558 MB of removable material, which obviously took a while to be deleted.

All in all, CCleaner Portable is every bit as good as its "big brother" and comes in really handy when you want to use it on any PC without installing anything or leaving any traces behind you.

Download CCleaner Portable 2.12.660 in Softonic

CCleaner is a small utility that will take care of a few of the important maintenance tasks that every computer user should carry out as regularly as possible to keep their systems in top shape. Fast, reliable and easy to use - CCleaner it's one of the best cleaning systems out there.

For me, the beauty of CCleaner is the speed at which it carries out the various scans and fixes. Its main purpose is to clean any unnecessary files from your hard-drive and on opening the program you see the various aspects of Windows that you can search through and clear. CCleaner will also detect your installed applications that may hold on to files which are no longer any use, such as Google Earth histories or Flash Player configurations.

The interface in CCleaner is very easy to navigate and before taking any action, you will always be asked to confirm that you are sure about what you want to do. There is a useful registry checker that will quickly check its integrity, and let you fix bad entries after making a backup. CCleaner uninstall and startup tools are handy to have and simply add to the usability of this very rounded little maintenance assistant.

The most recent release of CCleaner now works on Vista with Admin permissions where available and features various bug fixes and improvements to the translated versions.

CCleaner makes keeping your PC clean easy for beginners and experts alike. It's small, fast, comprehensive, and free to download it - get cleaning now!

Download CCleaner 2.12.660 in Softonic

Are you tired of all those identical yellow folders? Install MyFolder and pimp up the standard Windows file manager by customizing your folders' appearance. This program makes it easy and fun!

You can select the folder's new color either directly in MyFolder interface or by selecting the correspondent option in the folder's context menu. This second option is probably more comfortable, because when working from the interface you have to manually select each folder. I think this could be improved by allowing users to open several folders at the same time and then apply their chosen icons separately to each one of them.

The program includes a nice choice of new folder icons, including variations in color and also some special icons to mark folders as important, private, favourite and so on. The good thing is that you can add your own icons to the program's library.

Download MyFolder Free 2.0.1 in Softonic

As English speakers, we don't usually have any problems with understanding movies and TV shows in their native language as a great percentage of them is produced in our mother tongue. However there are quite a large number of movies in other languages for which we may need SubDowbloader's help.

This program enables you to search the Internet for subtitle files for any video files you have in your computer. This means it can work the same with movies and series. The search procedure is a bit strange, as you have to select the actual video file you're searching subtitles for - instead of entering the video's title which makes more sense to me.

On the upside, the program lets you search subtitles for several files simultaneously, making the task a lot easier when you need subtitles for a complete season of your favorite TV show. You can also upload your own subtitle files, which keeps the program's database in constant growth thanks to its users.

If you ever need subtitles for your movies or TV shows then give SubDownloader a go: it may be the faster, easier way to find them.

Download SubDownloader 2.0.5.1 in Softonic

Taking control of your RAM is one way to free up resources as Windows can sometimes be very inefficient at managing it quickly.

However, it's also a very risky think to carry out as a third party application is effectively deciding what is better for your RAM management than Windows itself. The problem often is that initially, the RAM manager may make a noticeable difference to your machine but after a while, it simply can't hide the fact that you need to install more RAM in your system. SuperRam 5 doesn't do a bad job of increasing computer performance by freeing wasted memory and optimizing memory utilization your computer. Once installed, it doesn't require much setup apart from defining the threshold that you want it to start cleaning RAM. After that, it takes care of the job itself, flushing RAM when it reaches a certain tipping point. When it flushes, there can be a brief lag in your system performance but afterwards you will notice an improvement in performance. However, RAM is like a bottomless pit and the more you clean it out, the fuller it seems to get, especially when opening new applications. Eventually, you may find that the lags it creates when it flushes RAM are causing more problems than letting Windows do the job.

This program may solve your immediate RAM problems but over time, it can get tiresome and it's no substitute for upgrading your RAM.

Download SuperRam 6.9.8.2008 in Softonic

Super Frog is a classic arcade game where you have to guide a frog across a busy highway to safety. This Christmas alternative to the popular game adds a bit of twist to it, with not only cars and trucks, but also candy canes and stockings coming into your way. After crossing the road successfully you'll have to make your way on a path and grab the present on the other side.

Christmas Super Frog is a fun timewaster but doesn't offer much more. First of all the graphics are really weak and the music itself gets annoying after a while. Even though the game is fairly easy to get used to, all you need is your arrow keys, it lacks any guidance for new users. We also thought the game got too difficult too early, as level 2 is already very challenging, with much more faster cars than the first level.

Christmas Super Frog is a basic time waster, fun for the holidays but nothing more.

Download Christmas Super Frog 1.9.1 in Softonic

CloneSpy is a very efficient program that finds duplicate files on your PC, allowing you to free space on your hard disk. This ensures your operating system to run better and even faster, depending on the type of duplicate files you had.

You almost surely have doubled music files which occupy useless space on your HDD. This happens when, for example, you borrow a music CD from a friend and you copy it all without realizing you might already have some of the songs included in your friend’s CD.

Before you can start scanning your system though, add a folder in the ‘pool1’ section. When you browse the directory you want to analyze, bear in mind you need to press the ‘add selected folder’ or the ‘add all sibling folders’ button, otherwise the process will not work, and you will be left with a feeling of not knowing what happened. If you don’t change settings, the program will ask you every time before deleting a file, always showing you the two supposedly duplicate files.

Although ConeSpy’s GUI is surely not so user friendly, the program is so useful that we can close an eye on that. It helps you find all duplicate files on your computer to free space on your hard disk and make your PC work better.

Download CloneSpy 2.33 in Softonic

Don't be fooled by the name - XP Tools Pro is not just for Windows XP but it's an all round registry tweaker, cleaner and PC optimiser for any system.

Making sure the registry is clean of errors is essential to the smooth running of your machine and XP Tools Pro helps you reach the parts that other optimisers can't. It basically promises to speed up your PC by almost twice as much and while that is a bit far fetched, it does pack a big punch - much more so than the average optimiser. Probably the most powerful component is the "Memory Turbo" element which reuses RAM which isn't being used or is being wasted by Windows. However, although this does make an initial difference, it seems to fight Windows for control of your RAM and you may experience slight freezes or at least a few hang ups from time to time. In addition to optimising and cleaning however, this program also promises to make your machine more secure. Amongst the 20 utilities it offers are options to erase your Internet tracks, hide sensitive files and folders and lock important applications. In this respect, it's actually much more useful as a privacy tool as it covers just about any possible angle where your surfing habits or file usage could be compromised.

Cleaning, privacy and security management, this tool features some highly impressive tools that will be of use to anyone on the move.

Download XP Tools Pro 9.1 in Softonic

The Mop! is developed to clean your hard disk from so called "junk" files. Junk files are the files that take disk space but do not contain any useful information and are not used by any application. The typical example of such files are temporary files created by large amount of modern applications (e.g., Microsoft Windows). Other example is *.gid files - Microsoft Windows Help System writes to them the list of viewed pages but does not use this information later.

Why it is so important to clean your hard disk from junk files? First of all junk files take disk space. Secondary junk files can be found in any folder and when you are opening such folder you can see the file with ugly name like ~~~$$$oject_&_of_&_$$$ocument###&&&,doc.tmp - it can irritate any user.

The third reason is that the information about junk files are written in the special areas of hard disk. These areas are viewed and analyzed by Windows when any application accesses disk. So the presence of junk files makes Windows slower. So cleaning hard disk from junk files is one of the most important activities in the computer maintenance.

Nowadays more and more applications create junk files and there are no Windows-embedded tools to fight junk files. That's why the developers have created The Mop! The Mop! can properly clean-up your hard disk and enlarge free disk space and speed-up your Windows system. It's so easy to use The Mop! - just five clicks and few minutes - and you computer works better and faster.

Download The Mop! 4.44.31 in Softonic

Make no mistake: the media industry has changed significantly in the last couple of years. Big corporations are now starting to consider the possibility that their traditional business models could well be about to crumble around them. Newspapers are facing the blogging threat, podcasting is the cool alternative to radio, and now the big TV stations must be starting to sweat a little following the dawn of free online video services such as YouTube, Joost and the one we're about to review: Miro.

After a few months in beta stage, Miro has reached version 1.0, which is considered as a new milestone in the production and development of video and TV content for the Web. Miro is defined by its developers as "the open-source Internet TV platform". In fact, it's been built by a non-profit organization called the Participatory Culture Foundation, which aims to bring together a community of broadcasters to create, what it calls, an 'Internet video ecosystem'. But besides all these elaborate definitions, Miro is simply a great application to watch online videos.

You could now be wondering what's the point of using Miro if you can get those same videos from other places? Well, Miro makes the process faster and much easier. The program uses open protocols to let you subscribe to video channels and video blogs that are fed in via RSS, and uses BitTorrent to download the files. You can also watch videos from Youtube and Dailymotion, or use it to subscribe to a Youtube channel you like, for example. The program supports video playlists and can resume playback just where you stopped.

The inclusion of the 'Channel Guide' is a welcome one, as it helps you get started with the program and also lets you search and browse the various channels effortlessly. Not only can you browse through the existing channel list, but you can easily add new channels simply by clicking a button to subscribe. There are more than two thousand channels available, and all of them are free. Beware, however, that the video quality may vary from one channel or video source to another.

Another great benefit of Miro is that it can handle a wide variety of video formats and, as a good open-source project, it ignores DRM and patents. These and other interesting features are used to compare Miro to Joost, but I think there's no reason for this comparison: they're just different applications with different purposes. In any case, Miro's first public release is an excellent example of how video content from different sources can be integrated into one single application and served directly to your PC in a fast, easy and elegant way.

Download Miro 1.2.4 in Softonic

Maintenance tasks are usually tiring and boring. This is why a tool like PC Health Optimizer is such a great, lucky find.

This complete set of tools contains pretty much everything you need to perform basic maintenance routines on your system and keep it in perfect shape. You'll find a junk file cleaner, a memory optimizer, a Registry cleaner, a PC analysis tool and a file shredder, among many others. There's even an anti-spyware tool to make sure your PC is safe and clean.

All tools in PC Health Optimizer are perfectly organized in different categories and presented in an attractive, nicely designed interface. All you have to do is browse the program's categories and select the one you want, which will open in a separate window. They're very easy to use but there's also a complete help section in case you need it.

PC Health Optimizer may not include as many maintenance tools as other commercial apps, and also lacks advanced features – such as, for example, the ability to schedule tasks – but it's really a great choice for an unbeatable price.

PC Health Optimizer Free Edition will help you improve your system's performance with a complete pack of maintenance utilities, all neatly organized in a nice interface.

Download PC Health Optimizer Free Edition 2.5 in Softonic

You probably wonder why you need an extra defrag tool, if the operating system already includes one. The answer is that UltimateDefrag is much better than the standard Windows tool, so why resign yourself with a basic app what you can have a better one for free?

UltimateDefrag is a surprisingly fast defragmentation tool with a very intuitive interface and really interesting features. The program displays the structure of your hard drive as a circle that you can zoom in and out, and uses a customizable color code to represent the different status of your files: fragmented, compressed, free space, etc.

The best thing about UltimateDefrag is that it doesn't only defrag the whole drive: it also lets you defrag only certain files by using the program's embedded filters to select them according to their level of fragmentation, date, volatility or even name.

Like I said, the whole process is quite fast (though it obviously depends on your drive's size) and can be paused at any time. The program also includes a scheduling tool with which you can program defrags and leave your computer working while you're away.

UltimateDefrag is a fast defrag tool that lets you defragment the whole drive or user-specified files in a very easy way.

Download UltimateDefrag 1.72 in Softonic

Morpheus is one of those age old P2P applications and, with support for Gnutella, eDonkey, Bittorrent and many others, probably the most versatile you can find on the market. The new version aims to turn the P2P client into the ultimate multimedia application. Does it succeed?

Morpheus has gone through a complete facelift and the new version brings a newer interface. The window is divided into 4 tabs: search results, my files, podcasts and Morpheus online, giving you an idea of what it considers important. A pane on the left side allows you to create playlists or keep track of searches and videos – although strangely not music. Morpheus lets you also sync all your downloaded files to import them automatically to iTunes. Oddly enough, the chat tool is now hidden at the top of the interface, next to help and preferences.

Morpheus wants to appear as a multifaceted app, not just a simple P2P program. It includes an embedded browser, Morpheus Online, from which you can check-out the internet or find new files to share while you’re downloading. This is particularly useful when you’re looking for new podcasts. By clicking on the podcast page button in the podcasts tab, you will be taken to Morpheus’ own podcast library. While it’s not as star studded as the iTunes library, it’s full of varied and original content. The podcast tab is wisely divided into podcast and episodes, so you can browse through what you’ve downloaded. However we were quite confused by the whole podcast downloading procedure. The progress bar is hidden in the file window of the My Files tab. Why didn’t Morpheus leave this in the podcast section?

Morpheus has also beefed-up its security. You can now select your antivirus application to automatically scan downloaded files. The program also includes solid parental control so you can enter hazardous terms into the block list to avoid your kids searching for violent or pornographic material. You can also add a password to make sure you control who has access to Morpheus. The application also introduces UDP technology to improve the performance of downloads and allow secure file sharing between 2 firewall protected PCs.

This new version comes with many interesting enhancements, but not enough to get us overexcited. Add to that the many drawbacks we found in the application. The interface for example is way too clunky, and it’s safe to say that lies in the two large ads at the top and the bottom of the program (which disappear if you buy the Pro version). The “My Files” tab has an additional file window at the bottom, which adds to the confusion in the interface. The one click burning function is something we were eager to try out but was nowhere to be seen.

However hard Morpheus tries at integrating cool features like web browsing or podcasting, we figure the application should only be used for what it’s good at i.e.P2P downloading. The program gives access to all the P2P networks, even Bittorrent, and the new version introduces safer and quicker transfer thanks to UDP technology. The other extra features in the application like the library structure or web browser felt a bit awkward, and therefore failed at turning the program into a true multimedia application. Let’s hope Morpheus gets it right in the future.

Download Morpheus Basic 5.5.1 in Softonic

How many times have you wanted to know exactly which programs run at Windows start-up, but couldn’t find a way to discover them? Yes, there is a folder in the Windows’ Start menu, where you are supposed to be able to see them, but for some reason it doesn’t state all the applications and even if you delete a program displayed there, this doesn’t assure you that the file will not be loaded the next time you restart your machine. Unless you use a specific application, there is no control on what Windows should load and that’s why StartEd comes in very useful.

The program’s main interface is very simple and clear. You have a list of all programs running at start-up, so finally you can get red of the ones you don’t want anymore. This operation will also free a considerable amount of RAM, making your computer faster. You can also discover programs you didn’t know about and actually remove them yourself such as malware or spyware.. Speaking of which, it would have been good if StarEd could link the DLL files loaded, to the specific applications they refer to. This would have eased things enormously.

StarEd lets you have full control over which program Windows should run at start-up. You might want to tailor what to run to have all those you need open when you start working and, on the other hand, remove what you don’t need, making your computer more efficient.

Download StartEd 4.2.1 in Softonic

Teleport Pro is a fully automated, multithreaded, file-retrieving Web spider. The program gives you the ability to completely download a Web site, browse it offline, create a mirror of the site, search the site for files of a certain type, and then download the list of files and their URLs.

This new release has automatic proxy configuration, an Add to Favorites feature, an improved Copy URL feature, and the ability to copy multiple URLs. It has also improved the relinking system, which is now faster at managing tightly linked sites (100 links per page). The program also has improved the disk-free space calculation and now works around the Windows 95 OSR2 bug.

Program highlights:

• Download all or part of a website to your computer, enabling you to browse the site directly from your hard disk at greater speeds than if you were to browse the site online
• Create an exact duplicate, or 'mirror' of a website, complete with subdirectory structure and all required files
• Search a website for files of a certain type and size
• Download a list of files at known addresses
• Explore every website linked from a central website
• Search a website for keywords
• Make a list of all pages and files on a website

Download Teleport Pro 1.54 in Softonic

System Mechanic 5 keeps your PC running faster, cleaner, and error-free with its award-winning arsenal of system tools. Find and fix stubborn errors, clean up junk and debris, optimize Internet and download speeds, ensure personal security, and maintain your computer for peak performance.

Version 5 contains a multitude of new and improved tools such as a boot-time defragmentation tool; a universal software uninstaller to completely remove applications; a software relocater to move any program from one location to another; Startup Guard to prevent rogue programs from automatically starting with Windows; SafetyNet, a multi-level undo tool that can reverse tool actions; and much more!

Download System Mechanic Pro 7.5.8 in Softonic

Losing Data (computer files) is at its least a little disconcerting, at most the potential failure of your business. Backup software used regularly ensures your computer against these losses by storing copies of your data in a safe place. Back4Win is free, and is highly regarded by thousands of users as a no-cost solution for data integrity.

Key features:

• Optionally backup your data as an EXE file that can be expanded on most machines without decompression software
• Restore from damaged backups, or even spanned backups with missing or damaged disks (directory disk is not needed)
• Backups are labeled with a unique easy-to-find time stamp
• Variable compression rates to suit different machine specifications (older machines perform faster with lower compression rates)
• Powerful arrangement of backup size - spanning disks, predefined disk size to suit CDR and CDRW media etc.
• Optional Password locking of the ZIP file ensures you or your licensee are the only ones able to access sensitive data
• Logical, easy-to-use functions without annoying pop-up windows
• Various modes of backup operation provide easier and faster ways of doing your backups
• The Restore window lets you select single, several or all files of a backup set to restore
• Does not have 2Gb and 65535 file limit of other ZIP backup programs

Download Back4Win 5.3.3.0 in Softonic

Despite the growing popularity of portable USB memory devices, some people still prefer to store their files online so that they are available from any PC. If you're among them, then this program is for you.

IDrive is a free online storage service that grants you up to 2 GB of space to store any kind of files. Its main purpose is to create backup copies of your most important documents, but I guess you can use it to save just about anything. It's a great way to share files between remote computers, or a desktop and laptop PC.

IDrive is very easy to use because its interface is very similar to that of Windows standard File Explorer. Data is categorized in a tree-like structure, and you only need to check those folders and files that you want to backup. The backup process can take a while (we uploaded about 45 MB in 20 minutes during our tests) but the good thing is that you can leave the program running in the background and even limit the amount of bandwidth used by it. Besides the Explorer-like interface, IDrive also adds a new mapped drive to your "My PC" folder where you can check the contents uploaded to the IDrive storage service.

Generally speaking, IDrive is a great idea. I think it's a good alternative to offline backups and other removable storage solutions such as USB devices or even recordable CD. On the downside, the program lacks a faster response when moving between options and menus.

A free, easy tool that enables you to have a backup copy of your files always available.

Download IDrive 2.0.9 in Softonic

Have you ever wanted an open-source portable anti-virus solution that you can use anywhere at anytime?

Protect Simple Machine is just that - a portable and free anti-virus app that fits on your USB pen and makes sure that the computer you are using is not infected by viruses, worms, Trojan horses or spyware. Created with Visual Basic, the program is incredibly simple to use and can analyze any folder or disk you choose. It also advises you on ways to "tweak" Windows so you can optimise Protect Simple Machine for more effective, faster use. It also has direct links to other Windows tools such as the command line.

Nowadays, one of the most important areas to scan is the memory and Simple Machine Protect also caters for this with a memory scanner which works alongside the disk scanner. The program warns you if it finds a virus with a very primitive "beeping" sound and it can sometimes repair them on the spot, depending on whether the database is equipped with a sufficient solution. At all times, the program lets you know at what stage the scan is at with a progress bar.

A very convenient solution for those on the move although it's a bit lightweight and tends to miss minor viruses and Trojans that more solid scanners pick up.

Download Simple Machine Protect 1.5.5.580 in Softonic