Blackboards are what I grew up with at school although nowadays it's all about fancy whiteboards and computer screens.

Ardoise is a old style blackboard that allows you to write, draw and erase whatever you want. When you launch it, Ardoise remains hidden as a transparent small version which is called "Hide mode" and when you want to draw, just switch to "Draw mode" and you can use Ardoise just as you would a normal blackboard but with virtual chalk.

It can even "remember" different boards for different days of the week - so you can set a reminder board for every day of the week. You can also highlight the most important things in different colors. There's even a small syncing tool which allows you to upload your Ardoise board to an FTP server for downloading on another device later.

Blackboards don't come much more sophisticated or useful than Ardoise although it would have been nice to see it incorporate reminder alarms.

Download Ardoise 1.13 in Softonic

If you're a student, and you regularly use Outlook to do your organising then you'll probably get a lot out of Planbook.

Planbook allows you to organize your study schedule plans in an interface similar to Outlook and aims to save you time and effort in organising your study schedule. Planbook allows you to plan anything from up to a day full of several classes to a 2 week plan which takes into account holidays and weekend classes. If a class is canceled or changes schedule, you can switch them round pretty easily.

Planbook allows up to 20 different subjects to be accounted for and it can link your entries to web pages, teacher info, class info and anything else that may help you remember more details about a class. If you're looking for something specific related to your course, you can also search your schedule by keyword as well as export your curriculum to HTML. Alternatively, you can upload your schedule to an FTP server for access anywhere.

Planbook offers a convenient and speedy way of planning your lessons to get the most out of your study time.

Download Planbook 1.2.6 in Softonic

Have you ever wanted to LoadScout is a smart program designed to help you browse the web and FTP sites.

If so, then you'll need LoadScout which allows you to access information from any remote media or archive without the need to download it. Basically, it works by downloading only a small part of a file and then extracting the required data. It works very well in Internet Explorer although unfortunately it doesn't integrate into Firefox at all.

So what are the practical uses of LoadScout? Well, if you want to download an Mp3 or image from a sever, you can use it to preview exactly what it is before downloading the whole thing saving you a hell of a lot of time. LoadScout also includes it's own FTP client and download manager so you can use it to download the full file if you want. Finally, it also supports all types of proxy: FTP, HTTP and SOCKS and will let you save frequently visited sites into the favorites folder.

LoadScout is a great way to preview files on FTP servers without the need to download them whole.

Download LoadScout 2.0 in Softonic

How many times have you tried to save streaming media locally but realised you don't have the appropriate tool? Net Transport (NetXfer) can do just that for you. Net Transport downloads MMS and RTSP streaming in multiple threads with perfect video & audio quality.

There are some other great features, like "Site Manager" which allows you to keep the active connection with the remote servers. In addition, the support for both SSL and SSH is hardly found in other upload/download tools.

Main Features:

• Simple but powerful "File Manager" to categorize and manage downloaded files
• Simple multi-user management
• Inbuilt "Site Explorer" lists the directory structure of the remote server
• FTP reuse mechanism uses one connection to get different files from the same site
• Assign every working thread a different proxy to break certain site restrictions
• Proxies with NTLM authentication can penetrate local firewall, like Microsoft ISA 2000
• Adjust the bandwidth usage of Net Transport
• Monitor browser click
• Can automatically shutdown the system or hang up the modem
• NTLM authentication is supported for both MMS and RTSP
• Use multi-threads for both MMS and RTSP to significantly reduce the time of downloads
• Automatically parse streaming script such as .asx, .smi to acquire real URLs
• Support SSH encryption for both HTTP and FTP
• Flexible "Scheduler Manager"

Download Net Transport (NetXfer) 2.64.423 in Softonic

When it comes to managing and organizing the files on your computer, most of us are perfectly content to use the Windows Explorer. In fact, many people don’t even realise there are alternatives to the built-in file manager, which is starting to get a little long in the tooth now (unless you’ve got Vista, which adds some interesting new tools). Once you’ve tried a different file manager, however, it’s often difficult to go back, especially if that file manager is Directory Opus.

From the outset it’s clear to see that Opus is like Windows Explorer on steroids. The default directory layout is very similar to Explorer but with one key difference – it shows two folders in separate tree-view panes (although you can switch to the more conventional single-folder Flat View). This makes moving files around much easier because you can instantly drag and drop files into other folders without having to open and close new windows.

However, the main difference you’ll notice between Directory Opus and its Windows rival lies at the top of the screen, within the programs toolbar and menu options. Upon closer inspection you start to realise this is much more than just a utility for organizing your files into folders.

When you first install the application it seems to want to take over your whole system, bombarding you with requests to make it your default image viewer, FTP client and the like. We were first dubious about surrendering all these tasks to one application, but after using Opus for a while we went back and checked all of these default radio buttons. It has enough might to handle a huge range of common tasks including viewing pictures, converting files, playing audio, opening Zip files, batch renaming and searching. All of these tools run quickly and can be accessed from one interface without a great deal of fuss. Another boon is the fact that Opus is infinitely customisable, giving you complete control over the layout and structure of your file manager and its supplementary tools.

In terms of sheer power, this is a real brute of a program and makes Explorer look positively weedy. The sheer scale of options and advanced settings means that Directory Opus can be a little overwhelming at first, but once you’ve learned how to tame the beast by customizing the program to your needs, you’ll be astonished at how much it offers. Since discovering the app, we haven't gone back to Explorer and have subsequently ditched many of the apps we used to use on a regular basis such as WinZip and SmartFTP.

Download Directory Opus 9.1.1.3 in Softonic

You could pretty much consider FileZilla an open source success story. It's popular, works well and fast, and regularly updated.

If you're looking for a solid FTP client what more could you ask more? In fact, FileZilla is not just limited to FTP, but also handles FTPS and SFTP for secure transfers of multiple files on multiple servers. The interface gives you a quick outlook of all your transfers, sites and disks and makes it easy to drag and transfer. I also quite like the QuickConnect feature to access your favorite server in seconds.

FileZilla is known to be fairly fast, and can also resume downloads and handle very big transfers, I'm talking here higher than 4 GB. You can set both local and remote filters for things like images, explorer files or CVS and SVN directories or even create your own. FileZilla also includes a tool to compare directories in terms of file size or modification time.

The application can guide you when setting up your network and lets you set speed limits in case you don't want to overload your bandwidth.

One thing really missing from FileZilla though is a scheduler to automatically set transfer times.

Despite lacking a scheduler, FileZilla is an excellent open source FTP client. It's stable, fast and very efficient. Highly recommended.

Download FileZilla 3.1.3 in Softonic

It's always a pain trying to remember to backup things so why not let an application take care of it automatically?

Cobian Backup works as both an application and service. The program is very light on resources for a backup program of its size and runs in the background very discreetly. it makes periodic backups but unlike some programs, doesn't seem to slow down your PC in the process. It acts too quickly to really slow down whatever you are doing although if it has to backup a very big file, you will notice some lag (more than 1 GB). The program only copies your files and folders in their original or compressed mode to another destination and does not perform any compression itself. This is to ensure that nothing is corrupted during the backup process but if you are backing up particularly large files, you might find this something of a problem unless you've got lots of backup space. However, there are limited compression and strong encryption methods available if you need to reduce the size of your files and protect them at the same time.

A very convenient program that backups quickly, quietly and without any further prompting from it's user.

Download Cobian Backup 9.5.0.201 in Softonic

Download managers are one of the most important component of any PC users' tool kit since so many e-mails contains attachments that need to be downloaded on a daily basis.

That's not forgetting files and music and anything else that your hard drive accumulates during the day as you click away. Most people have a browser integrated download manager but sometimes, its nice to have a separate application to do the job in case your browser crashes and your downloads disappear with it.

Orbit Downloader is a fast, lightweight and easy-to-use free download manager which is usually based on P2P and multi-source downloading technology. This means that downloading with Orbit Downloader is usually super fast. Orbit Downloader supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, MMS and RTSP protocols although its developers claim that it can increase speeds by up to 500% are a bit far fetched. However, you may experience increases in speed of up to two or even three times as much using Orbit Downloader depending on the file and host.

What's also impressive is that Orbit Downloader is super lightweight occupying a very minuscule amount of RAM which is important if you've got multiple downloads running at once. Orbit Downloader has also got a handy Flash capture tool which allows you to save Flash video files from YouTube and DailyMotion etc without the need to use a separate video downloader.

Fast, easy to use and very lightweight, Orbit Downloader is a competitive alternative to any browser-integrated download manager.

Download Orbit Downloader 2.7.6 in Softonic

If you don’t know much about web design or programming, creating your own web page might seem like a daunting task. You should probably start off with a good WYSIWYG editor, simple enough that you don’t need to code anything yet packing all the tools to create good web pages. Web Page Maker is a program that will allow anybody to create a good looking website in seconds.

We immediately felt at ease with the WYSIWYG features of the program. You can drag and drop pictures on your page and reshuffle them around the way you want. It’s also easy to insert text boxes to add information and titles to your web page. If you’re feeling lazy, you can also use one of the available templates and tweak it to your liking. The menu bar has a button to instantly clone pages and a preview button to see how your web page looks in your favourite browser. Ready-to-use Java Script and HTML code can also be inserted into your web page in seconds.

Web Page Maker is a WYSIWYG web editor with a quick hands-on approach and accessible features. Although it only offers three types of shapes and the navigation bar feels pretty basic, the program is a great solution for beginners who want to create their own HTML pages without getting lost in technical jargon and coding.

Download Web Page Maker 3.03 in Softonic

High speed Internet connections are quite common now but that doesn’t mean we don’t sometimes need some help when it comes to downloading game demos, videos, MP3 collections and other big files. So, even if you’re enjoying the fastest router in the neighborhood, take a look at Internet Download Manager, because it really has a lot to offer.

This excellent app will take care of all your downloads from the moment you install it on your PC. You can add new download tasks from the program’s interface but the usual thing is to let it capture the links. This means that every time you click on a certain file type (which can be specified through configuration options), IDM will handle the download for itself rather than letting the browser do the job. It’s a really handy option because everything is automatic: no changing from one app to another, no copying and pasting links, just no hassle at all. Also, it works with all major web browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera.

Once IDM captures the link, you can either start to download the file right away or add it to a download list for later, which can be a good alternative if you need all of your bandwidth for the moment and plan to leave the computer on during the night. Downloads can be classified into custom categories right before starting them and can also be resumed if the connection is lost or broken for some reason.

As regards download speeds, Internet Download Manager does meet expectations, although it all depends on your Internet access. That is, don’t expect to download at the speed of light if you’re still using one of those old-fashioned 56K modems. Anyhow, IDM achieves quite satisfying download rates as a result of establishing multiple thread connections to servers. Also, it displays a small window with some interesting information about the download process: transfer rate, data downloaded so far, time left and a neat progress bar for each thread.

The program’s configuration menu displays a wide range of functions and tools devoted to handling your downloads, such as checking files for viruses directly from IDM with your own antivirus system or limiting the amount of bandwidth used by the program. There’s also support for server authentication and proxy, FTP and HTTPS servers.

The fact of the matter is, we couldn’t really find anything wrong with Internet Download Manager. It does its job and does it pretty well, so even if your Internet connection speed is far beyond the usual limits, you should definitely give it a try.

Download Internet Download Manager 5.14.5 in Softonic

Want to hang the photos of your holiday on your blog or web page in a well-organised and unique way? If so, AAA Photo Album can help, as it is specially designed for the creation of online photo albums in HTML. The best thing about the software is that you don't need to be an expert in HTML programming in order to use it. You simply select the photos that you wish to include in the gallery, choose a frame and a colour scheme, and the program magically generates the necessary code for you in seconds.

The images can be organised in a highly efficient manner, with the use of thumbnails making it easy for your visitors to browse through what you've got. Personally, I'd have liked to see at least some basic image editing features in AAA Photo Album, but as a tool for quickly publishing pictures to the web, it does its job with aplomb.

Download AAA Photo Album 2.10 in Softonic

Want to share files with other users but don't know how to get started with FTP? Home FTP server is an easy-to-use FTP server that allows you to share files directly from your PC with little FTP knowledge.

Home FTP Server allows you to set up user accounts, specify directory permissions and monitor access to individual files. In addition, it supports the use of virtual directories, banned IP addresses and offers a web-based administration interface that allows you to look at your user stats.

While clearly aimed at beginners, Home FTP does not lack in other features either. It's easy to get up and running although it could still have done with a wizard to guide you through the initial steps. The interface isn't exactly attractive but beginners will care little about that and more about how it simplifies the FTP process.

Home FTP Server is an excellent tool for all those who aren't familiar with FTP but want to get up and running as soon as possible.

Download Home FTP Server 1.6.3.100 in Softonic

The world of FTP can be a little confusing for anyone new to it or unfamiliar with what it's all about.

Basically, FTP servers are a quick and easy way to remotely back up or store any data on your PC. To use one, you'll need an FTP client such as Save2FTP, which is a free and easy-to-use utility designed to automatically back-up your most important data to remote FTP servers. Of course, you'll need an FTP account which Save2FTP can't provide - this you can obtain from a web hosting company or other dedicates online storage host.

However, Save2FTP doesn't just act as a go between for you and an FTP site. It actively prompts you when you need to make backups based on your own time schedule and preferences. In this way, Save2FTP can actually help you organize your backups and schedule automatic backups. Generally FTP client interfaces aren't complicates and Save2FTP is particularly easy to use making it suitable for both beginners and advanced users.

It would have been nice to have had some sort of browser extension for Save2FTP but as a general FTP server, it hots all the right notes.

Download Save2FTP 2.1.2 in Softonic

How often do you need to share a screenshot online? Whether it's just for fun or serious professional matters, Jet Screenshot makes it a breeze.

As a screen capturing tool, I must say Jet Screenshot is a bit limited: it only features two capturing modes (full screen and user-selected region) and some basic editing capabilities such as adding text, cropping the image and marking certain areas in your screenshot with a pen.

The main feature in Jet Screenshot though is the possibility to publish any of those captured images straight to an FTP server. You can use your own server or make use of the one provided by Jet Screenshot, which, obviously, has a few limitations regarding size and storage.

In any case, this is probably the fastest and easiest way to get your captured images online. The only thing Jet Screenshot needs to improve is the method used to show you the web link of your newly-uploaded image: the current balloon tip is certainly not very user-friendly.

With Jet Screenshot you can capture and share images online in just a couple of clicks.

Download Jet Screenshot 1.0 in Softonic

Many Windows users stay with the standard applications included in the operating system for their most common tasks, like managing files with the integrated File Explorer. However, there are alternative file managers that can also help you to do the job – and sometimes even better than Windows Explorer! Total Commander is one of them.

First of all, be warned that Total Commander is intended for medium to advanced users, and especially for those who like working mainly via keyboard shortcuts. It's not that Total Commander can't be used with your mouse; it's just that it's optimized to be keyboard-controlled.

Total Commander doesn't have what we could describe as an eye-catching design. In fact, it looks pretty dull. It does, however, support three possible views (Full, Brief and Tree) and also uses a double-pane interface, which seem to be quite a common characteristic among other alternative file managers.

This double pane allows you to perform file management tasks like moving and copying in a much more comfortable way. But Total Commander has other aces up its sleeve. It includes extra integrated applications like an FTP client, a ZIP viewer, a renaming tool, a disk space analyzer and a file synchronizer. Another great tool I found to be especially interesting is one that allows you to control, manage and edit file associations so they're not suddenly messed up by a program that you just installed.

Like we said before, Total Commander is intended to be used mainly with your keyboard. This is why it offers handy shortcuts for common tasks like viewing, editing, copying, moving or deleting files. But if you find it hard to abandon your mouse, don't worry: you can use the icons on the program's toolbar as shortcuts for Notepad, Wordpad and the Control Panel, and also add your own shortcuts to your favorite applications via the Configuration > Button bar menu. In fact, Total Commander has such an exhaustive configuration menu that you'll be able to tweak every single detail of the program.

In all, Total Commander is an excellent application that could almost be described as a professional file manager for the advanced user. If you prefer more simple apps then you’d better stick to Windows Explorer.

Download Total Commander 7.04a in Softonic

If you need to transfer files from PC to PC regularly then there are various ways of doing it but CCFile attempts to make it easier.

CCFile is a free web based file transfer application that allows you to transfer files PC to PC regularly. It helps you share files, photos, music and video with friends without the need for P2P software or dealing with the complexities of FTP software. It's especially useful for large files.

It's an extremely simple apps to use. It supports drag and drop so simply drag the files you want to transfer into the CCFIle interface. You then simply enter the IP address of the recipient you want to send it to or if your own on a home network, it will automatically detect all connected users. You can observe the status of transfers via status bar and you can even resume broken transfers at a later date.

Simple and much easier than FTP, CCFile is an excellent way to transfer files to other users in a hurry.

Download CCFile 3.31 in Softonic

BestSync Folder Synchronizer allows you to synchronize, mirror, backup, encrypt and/or compress data between folders, removable media, network drives or FTP servers, along with a wide range of possible options and functionalities.

You'll be able to synchronize files between two folders in single direction or bi-direction, synchronize with FTP servers (useful for updating web pages) and encrypt and compress data, which will come in very handy when copying private information to a USB device.

Tasks can be scheduled in different ways, triggered by means of several events (inserting your USB device, mounting a network drive) or even run as Windows services.

BestSync Folder Synchronizer also integrates seamlessly with Windows Explorer by adding a new command to context menus, from which you can easily encrypt, compress, decrypt and decompress files.

Download BestSync Folder Synchronizer 2008 3.6.18 in Softonic

Slideshows are one of the best ways to add colour and life to a photo collection no matter what the subject matter is.

Slideshow Magic is aimed at both home users and business professionals who want to impress friends or colleagues with their photo slideshow creations. Best of all, it doesn't require the viewer to have the program installed as all slideshows can be saved in any QuickTime compatible format.

The easy to use interface is somewhat like that of a video editor allowing you to add music or audio tracks either for the whole slideshow or just specific segments. You can add some impressive transitions and titles much in the same way as you do with Windows Movie Maker for example. The program also features a useful guide to help you get your photos online or burnt to DVD. However, unfortunately the program doesn't provide either it's own webspace or burner for uploading and saving photos. For uploading, you'll need an FTP client and web host and for burning, a third party burner such as Nero.

In addition, although it's a cross platform application, sharing with other platforms requires some form of network solution between clients (although this needn't be something complicated - a program like MSN Live Messenger is enough

Slideshow Magic is a relatively cheap but powerful way to get your photos either online or burnt to DVD.

Download Slideshow Magic 5.0.5 in Softonic

Move Action is designed to allows your webcam to detects motion and set it up as a security camera.

This can be used to trigger a blocking mechanism on your PC or signal an alarm. Alarms can either be sent via e-mail or even text to warn you of intruders. The PC blocking function works by blocking your PC and requiring a password to access it again. It can also save webcam shots in JPG format and then send them submit them by mail or transfer them by FTP, play a sound file or run external applications. However, as impressive as this is, the most intriguing feature of this program is that it can compare two images captured at different intervals. This way you can monitor a site without having to look at the videos on the camera constantly. This saves you sitting there for hours on end monitoring and is great if you need to use evidence to prosecute or charge someone.

A great little program for those concerned with security although the configuration is rather complicated.

Download Move Action 2.5 in Softonic

Creating professional RSS feeds is one way to extend the coverage of your website and make it look more professional to your readers.

Feed Editor allows you to create new RSS feeds that look professional but also put you in total control of them at all times. Feed Editor generates feeds using Version 2.0 of the RSS standard and it's based on a WYSIWYG editor so there's no need to have any XML knowledge whatsoever.

Feed Editor can also generate RSS feeds from CSV and HTML files, supports uploading via FTP and works with graphics using templates. With Feed Editor, creating RSS feeds will become a pleasure. In addition, Feed Editor also supports podcasts with an unlimited number of feeds and importing from CSV and HTML feeds.

Feed Editor is a solid RSS feed editor that will give you as much control as you need over your RSS feeds and give your website a much more professional feel.

Download Feed Editor 5.2 in Softonic