As one of the mainstays of the instant messaging world, Yahoo! has finally decided to drag itself onto the VOIP bandwagon with the launch of this Voice version of its popular client. As well as offering free PC-to-PC calls and cheap PC-to-phone (landline and mobile) calls, the program throws in all the usual over-the-top gadgetry and gimmicks we've come to associate with Yahoo! Messenger.

As we've seen before from programs that try to be all things to all people, there's always a danger that things can get a little out of hand for the user, and this is the territory that Yahoo is entering with this latest incarnation of its messenger. It's true that the voice facilities in the program are top-notch, delivering crystal-clear clarity for most calls to PCs and phones. It's also true that the application boasts a bevy of interesting and innovative features, such as the ability to play games and listen to online radio together, send animated, talking emoticons, and quickly share files and photos simply by dragging and dropping them into the chat window.

Although, in the main, these features are good for a laugh, we did have a couple of things that we'd like to raise if we ever met Mr Yahoo! Firstly, we like the games but they lack instructions, so sometimes it can take a while to figure out how to play them. Also many of the so-called 'Audibles,' which are essentially animated, talking emoticons, are a little vulgar to say the least, and not really suitable for anyone with a reputation to uphold.

There are plenty of ways to customize the client to suit your mood too. The main interface is fully skinable, and you can also change the way the chat window looks by selecting from dozens of themed 'IMvironments', which certainly helps to inject some variety into your chat experiences. You can also build your own avatar – a process which can take hours as you carefully select the right haircut, clothes, sunglasses and even breed of dog to have sitting at your side in your IM profile.

Individually, these features are both innovative and compelling, but ironically they combine to contribute to the downfall of Messenger for Voice. The fact is that all of these options serve to swamp the interface and if you have a lot of the features running at the same time it's often hard to find even the text window. While it's fun and novel at first, the messenger very quickly becomes an irritant more than anything. Our advice – stick with Skype.

Download Yahoo! Messenger with Voice 9.0.0.1912 in Softonic

So you want to develop your own portal or community website? XOOPS is an easy to use dynamic web content management system based on PHP. It's mainly aimed at those that want to develop small to large dynamic community websites, intra company portals, corporate portals and weblogs.

For a free application, this is a great piece of software. The lite version of XOOPS can be used as a personal weblog or journal. For this, you just perform a standard installation and use the 'News' module only. For a slightly more advanced site, you can add the Forum, Download and Web Links modules which are excellent for community sites. For an advanced large site, you can even develop your own modules such as eShop and use XOOP's uniform user management system to seamlessly integrate your modules with the whole system. Modules can be installed/uninstalled/activated/deactivated with a click using the XOOPS module administration system.

XOOPS also allows users a huge amount of customisation once they are registered. Registered users can edit their profiles, select site themes, upload custom avatars amongst other things. If you've never had the time or patience to learn how to develop a website, XOOPS is an excellent free solution although it still takes a considerable amount of time to learn how to use it, especially for bigger sites.

Download XOOPS 2.0.18.2 in Softonic

K-Meleon is an extremely fast, customizable, lightweight web browser for the win32 (Windows) platform based on the Gecko layout engine (the rendering engine of Mozilla). K-Meleon is free, open source software released under the GNU General Public License.

Features:

• Choose your desired bookmarking system
• "Tabbed" browsing
• Mouse gestures
• Complete toolbar, menu, context menu, & keyboard shortcut customization
• Block popup windows
• Fast load time
• Easy web searching
• Themes & skins
• Macros

Download K-Meleon 1.5.0 in Softonic

If you get easily bored of your desktop or your desktop background, Dream Wallpaper is a free and easy-to-use solution that changes your computer desktop wallpaper.

With Dream Wallpaper, the developer has left 80,000 high-quality free wallpapers at your disposal, ranging on themes from Movies to Stars, Nature, Cartoons, Art, Animal and Games. Dream Wallpaper automatically cycles through your wallpaper too, so that you have a different image every day if you want.

Alternatively, if you don't like the selection on offer at the developer website, you can use your own images and Dream Wallpaper will cycle through the wallpapers automatically. The selection of images on the developer website is truly outstanding including high-quality images and even widescreen options. However, there don't seem to be many tweaks that you can perform such as adding fade-in and fade outs to changes but this is no big drawback.

Dream Wallpaper is an excellent solution for those that can't be bothered changing their wallpaper manually and want something that spices up their desktop a bit.

Download Dream Wallpaper 1.2 in Softonic

AllWebMenus is a DHMTL menu/Javascript menu builder for web navigation that requires absolutely no DHTML or Javascript experience. It creates any cross-browser, pop-up or drop-down web menu that works alike in all browsers supporting DHTML held by all popular platforms (PC, MAC, Unix).

DHTML/JavaScript menus are designed with a tree-like approach. Users can tailor their menus by using the Properties Pane or by choosing from a series of predefined themes from the Theme Gallery. The menu can be either vertical or horizontal (pop-up or drop-down menu), it can be movable, stay visible while scrolling, contain static or animated images, borders, colors, and much more. Once everything is set, you can use the Link Menu to Web Page command to link the menu to your Web page in a fast and easy manner.

AllWebMenus offers:

• New ready-to-use Themes
• Optimized Style Editor
• Creation and saving of customized Themes
• Free Dreamweaver extension and NetObjects Fusion component
• Import FrontPage Navigation Structures
• Support for .JPG, .GIF and .PNG image files.
• UNDO/REDO function
• Right-to-Left language support (Arabic, Hebrew, etc.)
• Non-English font support
• Optimized menu building process with separate javascripts for different browsers
• Use menus over flash objects, form elements, applets and iframes
• Use multiple menus in the same page
• Create popup, hidden, horizontal and vertical menus
• Free Sitemap generator based on the menu structure
• Specify optional Javascript Commands

Download AllWebMenus Pro 5.1.742 in Softonic

I don't know about you, but I quickly grow tired of a Windows appearance. This is why I was happy to find MyColors, a simple theme manager with which you can completely customize the way Windows looks.

MyColors is another product from the Stardock company, which seems to have specialized in customizing software. MyColors features a sleek interface divided into several tabs, from which you can manage your themes, adjust the program's settings and select the wallpaper, among other options.

MyColors includes a few themes and allows you to easily download a few more from the Stardock website. Be aware though that only a few of them are free, while the most attractive ones are only available after paying 20 bucks.

The best thing about MyColors is how easy it is to install new themes. Simply click on the "Apply" button and wait for it to complete the process. Also, going back to Windows standard appearance is as easy as re-installing the Windows standard theme from MyColors.

If you'd like to give Windows a completely new look, you should give MyColors a go, although the theme selection is not precisely very wide.

Download MyColors in Softonic

So you’ve made the leap and installed the versatile internet browser, Firefox, but are you ready to trade in your Outlook Express for Mozilla’s open source mail application? Thunderbird is Mozilla’s award winning and free solution to manage your mail more efficiently.

Thunderbird woos users thanks to its flurry of options and the benefits of an open source application. Automatic updates ensure that you have the latest version of Thunderbird, preventing any security threats and offering you new features as soon as they’re available.

The biggest worry for users is switching from one mail application to another and losing precious information. With Thunderbird the switch is painless because you can quickly import your mail and contacts from your Outlook and set up your POP3 or IMAP account is a snap. To stay well organized we suggest that you take advantage of Thunderbird’s filters. While this option is nothing new to the experienced Outlook user, you’ll come to see that Thunderbird makes filters much more accessible, thanks to a simple selection of combinations and actions. Create distinct folders for your personal and professional mail and your newsletters and associate them with filters to avoid the hassle of constantly sorting your mail. Another feature we could single out is the integrated spell checker, a blessing if you send many emails and can’t be bothered to constantly verify your writing.

Although it isn’t visible right away, Thunderbird also features an RSS reader. Handy if you need to follow the news or specialist websites, this tool fits seamlessly into Thunderbird and you could almost forget that it is a mail application. Paste in the RSS feed from your favorite news source and the main messages window will reveal a list of all the latest feeds. The message pane is used as an integrated browser window to display the selected article.

Email is the number one source of viruses, that’s why Thunderbird offers various levels of message encryption, a spam filter and support for valid certificates. We found the spam filter particularly effective. Set it to “learn” mode, and it teaches itself to separate the valid email from the rest of the junk. You have to be mindful of this option though, because Thunderbird can become too restrictive and may decide on its own that one of your friends is suddenly persona non grata. Reviewing your junk folder every now and then should avoid you accidentally losing friends. Thunderbird also automatically turns off Javascript and by default does not load remote images, a good way to defuse the risk of viruses from dodgy emails.

Another known feature of the Mozilla line of products is customization. Just as with Firefox, Thunderbird can integrate a slew of extensions and add-ons to rev up your inbox. You can also add or remove icons from the actions pane, selecting the ones you use most frequently.

The one place where Thunderbird fails, and professionals will confirm this, is the failure to integrate Microsoft Exchange support. An essential tool in any work environment, the collaborative messaging software is sorely missed in Thunderbird and seriously limits its usefulness in offices. Furthermore, we can question why Mozilla included an RSS reader yet failed to incorporate a calendar, standard in most mail applications nowadays.

While the lack of proper business minded features will limit Thunderbird’s point in the workplace, the simplicity, customizability and security make it a number one choice for home users. If you’re worried about your safety on the Internet or are just looking for a more efficient way of handling your mail, Thunderbird is probably the best solution out there.

Download Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5.0.10 in Softonic

NewsLeecher is a tool made for fetching and managing articles from Usenet. It downloads Usenet articles in a snap, and uses its inline engine to assemble and decode all the downloads.

It boasts the following features:

NZB download files

NewsLeecher has full support for the NZB file format.

Ultra fast Usenet super search engine

Search *all* the binary usenet groups for a specific keyword or keystring at once

Full privacy - spyware & adware free

NewsLeecher does *not* contain any spyware or adware

Advanced multiserver support

NewsLeecher has advanced support for leeching from multiple servers at the same time

Top tuned yEnc support

Besides supporting the "old" encoding formats, such as uuEncode, NewsLeecher also supports the brand new encoding format called yEnc.

Multithreaded server downloading

Besides being able to download from several servers at the same time, NewsLeecher can also use up to 99 simultaneous download threads per server.

Filter system

Enables one to find certain posts without going through all received headers. Filter by subject, size, age and more.

Automatic downloading

The built-in automatic multipart posts processing removes the hassle from combining binary post parts one by one. NewsLeecher detects and combine parts by itself!

Fastest group caching in the world

Fast group caching enables much faster group viewing by only receiving the latest available post headers and caching the old ones.

Top todern user interface

State of the art user interface with support for XP themes and many options for tweaking the usability and the interface!

Advanced feature support

NewsLeecher supports many advanced features that make it easy to use your usenet membership to the fullest. Such features include smart article highlighting, a built in group noteblock and much much more!

Download NewsLeecher 3.9 in Softonic

The Royale Theme is a slick black theme for Windows XP which originally leaked out of Microsoft and onto the web in 2005.

There's no way to know but it seems to have come out of the new version of Windows Media Centre that Microsoft developed for XP. The Royale theme is remarkably similar to XP's default "Luna" theme but is a much sleeker shade of black. If you are tired of the default theme then you'll surely find something that appeals in Royale. It's also a remarkably small download at 2MB so there's no need to worry that it's going to slow down your machine although it does take up slightly more RAM so if you're on a slow machine, you might want to think twice before installing it. The installation is very simple - simply download the theme and run the EXE and it will ask you automatically where you want to install it. If you choose C:\WINDOWS path the files will automatically be placed in the Resources Folder on your computer. Once it's installed, you'll still need to activate the theme by right-clicking on you desktop, selecting Properties, then Appearance and finally Windows and Buttons. Select the Media Center Style option and click apply and the screen may go black while the theme is applied.

If you're bored with XP's default theme, this is an excellent free way to spice up your desktop and Windows itself.

Download Royale Theme for Win XP in Softonic

If you've ever dreamed about working in a warehouse (and I know I have on many occasions), then the chances are you used to love playing Sokoban. Although, you probably didn't know it was called Sokoban, but it's the one where you have to push boxes in a straight line into a designated space.

Well, the game is still alive and kicking, and is widespread on mobile devices. Caisses is one of the more interesting clones I've come across though, and provides amazing depth considering it's a piece of freeware.

Your basic aim is the same old story - you're a warehouseman who must shuffle parcels around. You can only push the boxes in a straight line, and you can't push more than one box at a time. As a result, the gameplay is very addictive, but certainly not very original.

The best thing about Caisses is the fact that you can customise the game to the n-th degree. Not only can you choose from a bevy of cool backgrounds, but there are loads of game themes to choose from too. For instance, you can choose to play as Pac-Man, Zangeif, a nurse, or even the Linux penguin, and the objects you push change accordingly.

It gets pretty tough as you progress through the 500 levels, so it would've been nice to see some kind of hints feature, but the challenge of getting your head around the hundreds of puzzles is enough to keep you coming back for more.

The graphics aren't the best ever and because this version is ported from a mobile phone version, the game window is quite small.

Nevertheless, Caisses offers a fun way to test your brain during a break from your usual routine.

Download Caisses 1.21 in Softonic

This is one of those indie games you find especially attractive, either because it's fun to play, or because it has cute graphics, or because it reminds you of other games you like, or just for all these reasons at the same time.

Frozzd will immediately remind you of Super Mario Galaxy, always keeping in mind that we're comparing Nintendo to an independent game developer. Your objective in Frozzd consists on flying from one planet to another, rescuing a bunch of sweet creatures called mubblies from freezing to death.

You'll have to explore planets on each level, collect all the mubblies you can find and fight any enemies you face. But your best ally will be gravity, which will help you to move around space and jump safely from one planet to another. The game's twelve levels are not very hard to play and can be easily completed, something that makes of Frozzd a great pastime for work breaks.

A simple, nice game based on Super Mario Galaxy that you can play during your coffee break.

Download Frozzd in Softonic

Learning to touch type is one of the fastest ways to improve your productivity. Mika's Touch Type Trainer is a program designed for to improve your typing speed through the use of children's stories.

The interface is very basic and it's not exactly flashy in the graphics department but it gets down to business quickly and if you've got an aptitude for it you should see some rapid improvements. The program is based around 6 stories including such classics as The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. The program was originally a smash hit in Japan although I suspect this is a stripped down version of it for free. The themes of the stories obviously mean this is a suitable program for children and beginners and it's a very lightweight program that you could even carry around on a USB stick easily. The one major problem with this program is that it has been very badly translated from Japanese to English so parts of the interface, and especially the instructions are difficult to understand.

Mika's Touch Type Trainer is an unusual touch typing teacher which attempts to reach beginners and children although be prepared to struggle with the translations.

Download Mika's Touch Type Trainer 2.02 in Softonic

Would you like to make a photo card but can't be bothered opening a proper graphic editor? I'm sure you are not alone. Try Photo Card Maker with which you have several templates divided into categories. Upload the photo you want and export you final card as JPG, PNG or BMP.

Let's make a point: we are not talking about fine design here. The only cute available templates are the cartoon ones. The Holiday, Travel and Sport ones are a fairly basic and I wouldn't recommend them if you are looking for something slightly cool or stylish. That said, if you are not too fussy, they will save you lots of time when you have to make an announcement to your acquaintances.

A nice feature allows you to upload a photo which you can resize and rotate so that it will fit exactly the apposite photo space in the template. The program automatically takes care of the card's layer level as sometimes your picture will be surrounded by stars and circles. It is also possible to modify the default text which is useful considering it is often miswritten. The good news is that you can download more cartoon themes!

Photo Card Maker will let you create lovely cartoon photo cards to send around in image format. It is very easy and fast to make announcements or best wishes with this free program, so if you like cartoon-style cards, don't hesitate longer and give it a try.

Download Photo Card Maker 1.0.1 in Softonic

If you're not content with Windows Vista standard appearance and want to customize it in detail, this program is for you.

Vista Visual Master lets you do loads of changes to Microsoft's new operating system, mainly referring to its visual appearance and graphic design. Tweaks are organized in different categories to make them easier to find and apply. You'll find tools to customize desktop and system icons, change logon screen and boot picture and personalize the OEM information (that is, the PC owner's name) among others. There's also a special tool to patch Windows theme DLL file, in order to be able to use third-party visual themes. The program includes a restoration function as well, in case any tweak doesn't have the desired effect or you simply want to go back to the standard configuration.

What I didn't like about Vista Visual Master is the inclusion of links to other programs under the Vista Extras tab. I felt like they were trying to fool me, while I know this is clearly ads. But then again, at least they're hidden under a tab and don't disturb the program's functionality.

With Vista Visual Master you can customize every single aspect in Windows Vista, from logon screens to desktop icons, in just a couple clicks.

Download Vista Visual Master 1.0.2.0 in Softonic

So you want to have Windows Vista, but you don't want to give up Windows XP yet and – of course - you don't want to spend a single cent on it. Believe it or not, we have the solution!

The answer to your prayers is called Vistamizer and it's a complete theme that will transform your current Windows XP system into a brand new Vista with all the 3D effects, transparencies, shiny icons and other eye candy. Don't worry, Vistamizer is just a Vista disguise for XP; the system core files and backbone will still be XP.

After trying a few Vista themes for XP, I was really glad to find Vistamizer, just because it's so easy to install! Unlike other similar tools, which demand external applications, third-party libraries and other strange elements, Vistamizer includes just about everything you need to have it up and running in no time. Installing it is a question of pressing on the "Next" button a few times, rebooting and you're done. Uninstallation is also very easy: as the program creates a restoration point, you won't have any problems to go back to the good ol' XP if you ever grow tired of Vista's style.

Vistamizer lets you select exactly which elements to install and which ones not. The list includes not only Vista graphical elements, but also some extra apps that reproduce Vista's features such as the sidebar, the toolbat tooltips or the 3D effect to switch between running applications. Note that if you want to uninstall any of these later on, you'll have to open the Control Panel and start the Vistamizer uninstalling process, as there's no visual interface from which to manage installed components.

On the downside, I noticed some icons don't show properly, for instance in the Start menu and My Documents folder. But in my opinion these are just minor flaws in a full featured theme that can transform Windows XP into Vista in a couple of clicks.

Vistamizer is one of the best Vista themes for Windows XP available today: it's very easy to install, lets you choose what elements and apps should be included and the final output is pretty much the closest you can get to Vista in Windows XP.

Download VistaMizer 2.2.10 in Softonic

After using the same wallpaper for months, don't you feel it's time for a change? Don't worry if you don't have any suitable images, Strayk takes care of everything.

This easy tool presents you with a wide collection of wallpapers you can download and use for free, thus updating your desktop background with a fresh, brand new wallpaper every single day. The program covers quite a varied selection of topics, from nature images to space and astronomy, models and celebrities, travel, art and fantasy.

Strayk puts an icon on the system tray, from which you can access the program's main functions. Besides downloading new images and use them as wallpapers, you can save them in a folder on the hard drive for your own collection and also use them as screensaver.

However, I found this program to have what I consider a major flaw: images can only be downloaded on a daily basis or on Windows startup, and not updated any time you want. So if you want to refresh your wallpaper, you either wait until the next day – or restart your PC.

With Strayk you'll be able to enjoy a different wallpaper in your desktop background and also use them as a screensaver, but you won't be able to download more than one a day.

Download Strayk 2.0 in Softonic

If you are one of the many that's been left unimpressed with Vista but like the look of it, Vista Buttons is for you. It helps you create Vista/XP/Win98 and Mac style rollover buttons and drop down menus with relative ease.

The interface requires 4 simple steps to create your buttons. You can create your own base on the program although if you import one of your own images as a base, you'll get the job done a lot quicker. The developers claim the program features more than 500 buttons, 100 submenu designs, 50 ready-made samples. This is certainly more than enough to create a really cool looking website menu or desktop buttons although some of the designs are a bit dull. The styles available include Vista, XP, Win98, Mac, Aqua buttons, round, glossy, metallic, 3D styles, tab and drop down menus.

The best thing about this program is that it's aimed at complete novices. You don't require any programming knowledge such as in HTML, JavaScript or CSS to create some really professional looking results. Vista Buttons generates all necessary images, html, javascript and css styles automatically. There's also a theme editor but unfortunately, it's not accessible in the free version.

This is a really excellent design utility and there is little to fault it except it would have been nice to have had a few wizards to take you through the first few attempts.

Download Vista Buttons 2.45 in Softonic

If you've decorated your entire house with Christmas stuff, why not doing the same with your computer?

Start by customizing system icons with this great collection of Christmas-themed icons for your PC. The Merry Christmas PNG Pack includes fifty icons featuring the most typical elements in this holiday season: Santa hats, snowmen, gifts, Christmas trees, colored balls, stars and so on. However, I missed having some more variety – for example, there are a bunch of Santa hats, but only one gingerbread cookie and one snowball.

All of them are saved in PNG format, which allows transparency effects. Also, their generous size (256x256 in most of them) enables you to enjoy them in full size without losing any quality.

Get your PC in the holiday spirit with this excellent pack of icons.

Download Merry Christmas PNG Pack in Softonic

When I was little one of my favorite toys was a Lego set of pieces which I used to build just about anything, from a house for my dolls to a supersonic spaceship. This is probably the reason why I was delighted to discover a digital version of that good old Lego box.

Lego Digital Designer provides you with a huge amount of Lego pieces of all sorts and sizes with which you can build anything you can come up with. Besides free creation, you can also use pre-rendered 3D figures included in Lego Digital Designer, either for editing them or for taking them as models for your own designs.

The program displays a 3D working area to place pieces than can be panned, zoomed or moved in any direction to get a better view of your creation. Just bear in mind that you need to be extremely accurate with your mouse and move the working area a lot in order to get pieces in the appropriate spot.

Pieces are selected from a floating menu: you'll find them conveniently organized by categories and grouped by size. And you know what? They're endless, like in any child's dream! Once your work of Lego-art is done, you can upload to an online gallery or even order it in real Lego pieces.

Lego Digital Designer enables you to build anything with Lego on your PC and share it online.

Download LEGO Digital Designer 2.3 in Softonic

If you're considering moving to Linux but haven't made up your mind yet, ClearLooks can tip the scales in favour of the open source option. This Windows theme includes two new visual styles that resemble Linux Ubuntu's appearance, with new colors and a refreshed window style.

Simply run the msstyles file and you'll be able to choose the visual theme in Display settings. ClearLooks includes a couple of matching skins for Y'z Toolbar in case you use it, and also a cursor set that must be installed one by one in the Control Panel > Mouse configuration window. However, I missed having some wallpapers bundled in the package.

ClearLooks is a Linux-based visual style that enhances the appearance of your desktop.

Download ClearLooks 2.2 in Softonic