Windows 8 Transformation Pack give you the look and feel of Windows 8 on older
Windows versions. The Metro design, themes, wallpapers, icons, sounds and other features can all be yours with this excellent free theme pack.

Features

Windows 8 Transformation Pack automatically installs several design changes and programs. The freeware comes with an imitation of the new Modern style and adjusts menus, cursors, screensavers and system sounds to emulate Windows' 8th version. You can also configure individual elements of Windows 8 Transformation Pack via the wizard.

Usability

Windows 8 Transformation Pack adds pizazz with its own Modern apps. By clicking on the tile store, you can manage programs and play mini updates or add extra apps. Standard elements include apps like Clock, Calendar, system settings, Gmail, Hotmail, Twitter, Facebook, Internet Explorer, Music and Photo Gallery.

Quality

Windows 8 Transformation Pack is a worthy successor to the popular Seven Transformation Pack. This early version of Windows 8 is a pretty impressive mimic. If Seven Translation Pack is anything to go by, as Windows 8 gets more advanced, so too will Windows 8 Transformation Pack, so keep an eye out for even more updates.

Conclusion

If you want a taste of Windows 8 on XP, Vista or Windows 7, download Windows 8 Transformation Pack asap!

Download Windows 8 Transformation Pack 7.0 (8TP) in Softonic

Features

The beta release of Chime has support for ten web services: Google+, Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, Quora, Flickr, GitHub, Foursquare, Reddit, and Stackoverflow. For Chime to recognize a service you must log into each of them separately from their main website. Once you’ve logged in to one or more of these services Chime will notify you of activity in three ways. First, a pop-up will show in the lower right corner of your desktop. Second, clicking the Chime extension icon will show a drop down list of all unread alerts. Last, you can open a Chime tab that will provide all past notifications.

With all of these great features it's a shame that Chime does not support other popular web services such as LinkedIn, Tumblr, or Outlook. Hopefully these will be included in the final release.

Usability

Chime is intuitive and easy to use. You will be presented with large icons of each of the supported web services, though there are no rollovers or headers for ones you might not be familiar with. Clicking on an icon will take you to the corresponding website where you can log in. Chime's functionality depends on your settings on each individual website. For example, if you disable notifications on Facebook, then Chime will have nothing to intercept. Clicking on a notification will take you directly to the corresponding website.

Despite Chime’s name there are no actual audio notifications or settings to change how notifications appear. At present you can only choose to enable/disable desktop notifications. You can filter and hide each service type in both the drop down menu and Chime tab. However, if you do not have log in cookies enabled filtering will log you out of a service.

Quality

Chime is coordinated with each network’s prime color: Facebook is blue, Reddit is orange, etc. Whenever a notification pops up or is checked it will have a clear colored banner. Chime has slow down when first logging into a service, especially if it’s accumulating hundreds of unread emails or replies. After the initial hiccup Chime works smoothly without noticeable performance issues.

Conclusion

Chime is a great way to stay on top of ten popular web services and social networks. The beta might have some minor performance and functionality issues, but it’s still an excellent means of monitoring popular sites.

Download Chime 1.73 in Softonic

Mailbird is a Windows desktop email client. The client currently only supports Gmail accounts for email, but also provides support to display Dropbox, Facebook, Google Drive and other services. Mailbird’s design and functionality is nearly identical to Sparrow on Mac, making it ideal for anyone looking for a Windows equivalent. This free beta version doesn’t include all of Mailbird’s features, but will give you a good taste of what it can do.

How it works

The app provides basic Gmail features such as composing emails, and sorting email into folders and labels. Mailbird does not support more advanced options such as filters, making it lackluster if you want to perform complex tasks. Another downside is that the beta only allows a single Gmail account at once.

However, you can work around this with the Identities feature. Identities allow you to forward several e-mail accounts through a single Gmail account, making it very similar to having multiple accounts. However, you have to setup e-mail forwarding within Gmail. Identities also do not save folders, labels, drafts or sent messages to the secondary accounts, only to the primary account. There are plans to add multiple account support in the final release, but for now this is not part of Mailbird's beta.

Mailbird also includes several optional apps that provide more functionality or connect to other services. Feature Apps include quick access to contacts, a detailed calendar, and the ability to search attachments. You can also use apps to connect to online services such as Dropbox, Facebook, and Asana. There are also links to popular tech blogs such as TechCrunch and Lifehacker.

Design and Interface

Nearly all of the menus, apps, and notifications are accessed from a toolbar on the left. Emails are listed in a large column that takes up only a fourth of the screen. Before a message is selected there will be a large empty space. Once an email is picked, this space will fill with the message, graphics, metadata, and menu controls. In the upper right hand corner you can quickly add labels, download attachments, or reply to an email. You can also use any Gmail keyboard shortcuts in Mailbird, making it even faster to access different features.

Composing an email will open a new compact window that has all the normal writing functionality. This includes being able to select font type, size, and color, a paragraphs alignment, and any images, lists, or links. The slight annoyance is that the app does not search for contacts; you will need to have your contacts app open or know the exact email address. The apps in generally don’t have an unique interface in Mailbird, instead they simply open the service’s webpage in the client.

Performance

Emails from major social networks such as Facebook or LinkedIn are clearly marked with icons so that you can quickly identify them. When a new email or notification arrives a bird chirp will play. If you receive too many frequent messages you can disable this chirp. Mailbird does generally have load slowly when first opened, mainly caused from populating your entire Gmail account and all folders. However, its speed is quicker when receiving a fewer messages at once. You should be able to avoid this problem by staying logged in.

Conclusion

While in beta, Mailbird is still a great Windows email client if you are content with only a single Gmail account. Its biggest advantage is apps that provide integration with services such as Facebook. Just be prepared for delays when receiving a large amount of emails. Give the beta of Mailbird a try and it might entice you to get the full version.

Download Mailbird 1.0.0.136 Beta in Softonic

Available everywhere

Not only does Google Talk support Google accounts, it also supports a variety of other protocols and apps. In other words, you can log in with accounts from Jabber, Pidgin, Miranda, Psiand Trillian.

As well as supporting lots of protocols, Google Talk is also available for lots of devices, so even if you are chatting on your desktop, you'll be able to keep in touch with your friends on Android, iPhone and Blackberry. Even though not explicitly supported, you'll also be able to use Google Talk on Mac and Linux, as long as you use the browser version.

Simple but effective

Google Talk is an attractive app and very easy to use, although its bright, almost childlike appearance is looking a bit old-fashioned these days. There are various themes available from the Settings options, although they have more impact on the window layout and are not strictly "skins". You'll also be able to choose your status, picking from Available, Busy, and Idle, as well as custom messages and the option to show your current music track. Google Talk also notifies you when you receive new emails.

Adding and chatting with contacts with Google Talk couldn't be easier. Double click a name to start a conversation, and a new chat window will appear. If you see a little telephone or video camera icon beside the contact's name, they are also available for phone or video chats, but you'll need the Video and voice plug-in to do this.

Works, but it's neglected

Google Talk has many of the features that you'd expect from an IM client. You can add, block, rename and remove contacts, send smileys, and customize the way you see your friends online. If you look under the more technical settings, you'll also be able modify notifications and connect to the service using a proxy. It's not overrun with options, but most people seem to appreciate the resulting simplicity and light resource use.

Even though Google Talk is the go-to IM app for thousands of people, long term users can't help feeling that Google Talk is pretty low on Google's list of priorities. It works perfectly and is a great app, but that's because it was well made and ahead of its time when it first came out.

Overall

Google Talk hasn't been updated in what seems like years and, with the exception of the VoiP features added in recent times, the program feels a little bit forgotten. This has no impact on usability for Gmail users, but it does feel like Google Talk could do with a little more loving care.

If you're a Google User who wants to IM, you'd be mad to use anything but Google Talk.

Download Google Talk 1.0.0.104 in Softonic