Driving games differ in a number of different ways, not just because they contain different kinds of vehicles (cars, bikes, Formula 1) but also in the type of challenge they present.

In the case of Pure the main objective is not only crossing the line in the first place, but also performing as many jumps, tricks and other acrobatics while you’re on air, flying at top speed over bumpy trails with your quad bike.

Before actually starting the race, Pure makes you go through a training session that also works as a kind-of tutorial. It's a good way to get used to the game's quite confusing controls, which inexplicably mix up keys from the standard WASD combination and the arrow keys.

After you learn how to preload, boost and do a basic trick, you're ready to go: it's time for a real race! This time the track is much more fun, because it enables you to compete against other drivers and also includes higher jumps in which you'll be able to show off everything you learned during the tutorial stage. The realistic, highly detailed graphics in Pure serve to make it even more enjoyable, and a lively rock-style soundtrack adds the final touch.

Pure requires a bit of dexterity, so if you don't get any trick during the first few minutes of gameplay don't panic. Also, note that you’re supposed to perform different tricks on each jump (repeating penalizes) and that if you’re successful with the basic ones, you’ll unlock more advanced tricks.

On the downside, I must admit Pure let us down for various reasons. The first one is the file's size, which is simply too heavy for such a short demo. They could have removed all those promotional videos and include at least another track. The controls are also a bit complex: just performing a basic trick involves four different keys, which are usually configured very far apart from each other on the keyboard. Finally, the game has some absurd restrictions. I don’t know what’s wrong with going a bit off the track or even trying to turn around and racing in the wrong direction, but you simply can't. Pure interrupts the game and puts you into track again. Seriously, a bit more freedom for the player wouldn’t hurt, even if that means I don’t win the race.

Pure is not just about racing: it's also about performing the craziest airborne tricks during the race. Too bad the demo is so short that you hardly have time to enjoy it.

Download Pure in Softonic

The Gimp is the open source reference in image manipulation. This free application will allow you to retouch, author and edit your photos thanks to a wide set of tools.

Let’s quickly go through what you can do with the Gimp. The painting function has the essential clone, airbrush or pencil tools and a powerful gradient and blend tool. You can also create and save your own brushes and patterns for later use. The program lets you manipulate your photos, adding layers, doing Bezier and polygonal selections or setting text. Load and save animations in a frame-as-layer format and batch process all your photos for quick editing. The multi-windowed interface can be moved around to fit your needs and resized according to your desktop space.

What’s more, the Gimp can be expanded with over 100 different plug-ins and extensions available on the Gimp’s website. These apply in majority for layer effects such as render, distort or blur and make a great addition to the ones already present in the program.

While the Gimp is user friendly, the installation process can result a bit hairy. Because the application works under the GTK Runtime Environment, you will have to install this kit to successfully launch the program. The process is fairly lengthy and some error messages tend to pop up, however if you persist, you will be able to install the Gimp properly on your PC

Despite this fairly hazardous installation process, the Gimp is a program we recommend. Whether you’re out of dough or are looking for a free alternative to Photoshop, the Gimp is excellent image manipulation software with all the tools you’d expect. The friendly interface and expandability make this a program of choice.

Download The GIMP 2.6.1 in Softonic

One of most common reasons for your PC slowing down is processes that are hogging your system and taking all your CPU.

Process Lasso aims to solve this problem by reducing the priority of those processes that are not important and returned to a responsive level. It also works with multiple processes that are causing a problem so it can deal with more than one program at once. If you think that the program is prioritising the wrong processes, then you can define default processes that you want to be controlled or kept an eye on. Process Lasso also displays graphs and other graphical represeantations to show you which processes are requiring the most CPU usage. You can blacklist those processes that are showing rather high graph readings or that are clearly taking up more CPU usage than they deserve. Although the program requires no experience, it does offer advanced settings and twesking options to make sure that it only blocks those processes that are specified or targeted by yourself. Fortunately, the program itself is very low on resources so it will not add to your CPU hogging problems.

A very useful process monitor than will ensure your CPU only dedicates itself to those programs that really need it.

Download Process Lasso 3.14 in Softonic

Numerador Fusión is intended to make our printing tasks lighter and easier, by providing us with an almost fully automatic method to print out incremental documents such as bills, invoices, member cards and so on.

Despite the terrible English translation, the program itself is easy to use thanks to a wizard-style interface that guides you step by step through the whole process. But if at any given moment you need to take a look at the program's Help, be aware that it's in Spanish.

This wouldn't be much of an issue because the program is pretty simple, but we did receive some error messages when trying to save the template and we would have appreciated it if we could have searched the Help file for some advice.

Download Numerador Fusión 1.0.13 MAX! in Softonic

Quantum of Solace is the new James Bond game which accompanies the forthcoming movie of the same title, along with its prequel, Casino Royale. You play the tough, uncompromising new iteration of the Bond character, brought to life in the movies by Daniel Craig.

Based on the same engine used to produce Call Of Duty 4 (a game we loved), Quantum of Solace adds third-person shooter (3PS) elements. So, for example, when you take cover, you're switched into 3PS mode, watching the realistic-looking British spy blast enemies away. This aspect of the game has been emphasized by the development studio, Treyarch, as something they wanted to add to the gameplay in order to remind gamers that they're not simply playing Call Of Duty 4 "with new maps". Unfortunately, the 3PS elements feel somewhat tacked-on and we suspect that they're more the result of the movie franchise's insistence than anything else.

The demo itself leaves a lot to be desired. Despite testing the game on a high-spec machine, we found that using the top-end graphics settings resulted in low framerates and a generally jumpy, unplayable experience. Setting the graphics to mid-range resulted in unacceptably low-resolution textures. We noticed that some great elements of Call Of Duty 4's gameplay were missing too, like the ability to shoot through various lighter forms of cover.

Ever since Goldeneye 007, we've loved games featuring Ian Fleming's classic creation. Based on the demo alone, we have to say that Quantum of Solace just doesn't match up, either when it comes to gameplay or up-to-date graphics. That said, the demo only consists of one very short mission (about 2-5 minutes of gameplay), so it is perhaps unfair to judge the entire game on such a short taster. Hopefully, the final game will be more fun.

In closing, this is an unconvincing demo from a franchise we'd come to love - and a disappointing showing for a title we'd been looking forward to intently.

Download Quantum of Solace in Softonic

Poster Forge is a fun tool that enables you to create posters with your own digital pictures in a very easy way. Unlike other similar tools, which only create larger versions of the image for you to print out, Poster Forge adds some cool effects that can turn any picture into a motivational poster, movie poster or a Far West "Wanted" style poster.

The program's interface is divided into three tabs (one for each kind of poster) and includes all the tools you need to customize them. Simply add a picture, type in any text you want, tweak a few settings and you're pretty much done. Unfortunately, there were things I couldn't customize, such as font size. Also, even though there's a tool to move the picture around and make it fit better, it's very limited and sometimes the picture needs to be cropped with a third-party app.

Once finished, the poster can be saved as an image file or conveniently printed as a poster with the built-in printing tool, which enables you to optimize poster printing and make them easier to assemble.

Turn your photos into original posters very easily and in just a few minutes.

Download Poster Forge 1.01.11 in Softonic

Carom literally means a collision followed by a rebound in a billiard game. Commonly, Pool is referred to a billiard game with pockets while Carom is a game without pockets but just using cushions. Carom unlike Pool is a game that you use the cushions to gain points rather than the pockets.

Carom 3D is an online multi-user billiard game created with special 3D graphic effects bringing every aspects such as 6 ball, 9 ball, 8 ball and others of Billiard game to life.

Download Carom3D 5.02 in Softonic

If you're a statistical analyst then you'll be familiar with the design of Neural Networks which help find connections between several variables.

Pythia is a program designed for the development and design of Neural Networks which are used to detect hidden relations in a set of patterns such as stock market data or weather data. Pythia allows you to import data from different file formats or from spreadsheet programs like Microsoft Excel.

Pythia is ideal for statistical analysts working on variable models of learning and information and can be used for statistical calculation, pattern recognition or even filters and electronic simulations of artificial intelligence. What distinguishes this application from the rest is the fact that it uses a graphical interface to clearly display linkages and patterns.

If you're looking for a way to find connections in statistical calculations, then Pythia is one of the only GUI solutions out there.

Download Pythia 1.02 in Softonic

If there were awards for weird originality, then Pozzo - Jello Crusade, would surely win. In this game, you play the role of a janitor named Pozzo who works for a jello restaurant.

His dream is to save enough money to escape the hell he finds himself in but unfortunately his manager has found out that the local health inspector is dropping by for an unscheduled check. Your task is to clean up the entire premises of rotten jellos but here's the catch - Pozzo has no limbs and can't help eating all the jello he finds (I told you it was weird).

Pozzo cannot retrace his steps once he has eaten jellos off a tile which is about the only little "challenge" that the game seems to offer. However, the levels are quite imaginative even if the graphics certainly are not. New blocks and tiles appear from time to time which attempt to block Pozzo's way. In later levels, you have to be much more careful about the routes you take as the pitfalls grow deeper.

Poor graphics and a dodgy soundtrack combined with a bizarre concept make Pozzo - Jello Crusade one of the more unusual and less satisfying puzzle games out there.

Download Pozzo - Jello Crusade in Softonic

If you've ever fancied yourself as a bit of a hairdresser then you you might enjoy this game. You're basically in charge of a beauty salon and have to do your best on all sorts of customers from punk rockers to old ladies.

You have to help Sally run a successful salon in 10 different locations that increase in complexity and difficulty according to how far you progress. Your aim is to wash, dye, cut and style hair in over 50 levels of "frantic but fashionable fun" according to the developers.

Once the punters start coming in and you make money, you can use your earnings to hire helpful employees and purchase salon upgrades to keep your clients looking and feeling their best. Your customers will rate your efforts and based on this rating, will decide whether you get paid or not. The graphics are not exactly great and it's a bit too easy to cheat because by lavishing your customers with all sorts of treatment, the game seems to equate this with quality, no matter what mess you make!

Download Sally's Salon in Softonic

Broken Sword 2.5 is a new episode in the popular Broken Sword series, only that it was created by a group of fans of the game instead of the official developer.

As you can tell by the name, Broken Sword 2.5 sits in between the second and third episodes of the official series. Like the first two titles of the franchise, it's based on the point-and-click style of old school conversational adventures like the ones we used to enjoy from LucasArts.

In Broken Sword 2.5 you're George, the main character in the game's plot. The first steps in the story take you to Paris, after receiving a mysterious telegram that announces the death of Nico, your friend and adventure colleague. Nico however is alive and kicking, but strangely enough she doesn't seem to be very friendly with you. From this point onwards, your mission will consist on discovering what your friend is involved in.

Broken Sword 2.5 uses bright, colorful comic-style graphics that don’t intend to be realistic at all, but still are very eye-catching. As for gameplay, I find the game too slow, but maybe that's because I'm used to more action-packed titles. The real drawback in my opinion is language: the game has English subtitles, but it would be great to have English voices as well.

Broken Sword 2.5 follows the traditional point-and-click adventure style and presents you with a nicely designed - yet slow – story of mystery and intrigue.

Download Broken Sword 2.5 The Return of the Templars in Softonic

In case you don't know, the 'Places Bar' is that left-side menu that appears on every Windows File Explorer window and that includes shortcuts to the most frequently used folders.

The problem is that you may not agree with what Windows considers to be a frequently used folder. If so, simply load Findexer on your system and you'll be able to customize this menu with shortcuts to your actual favorite folders.

Using the program is a bit tricky, as it doesn't have a proper graphical interface. You need to run the register.bat in order to load it on your system and then restart Windows File Explorer. Open any folder, click on View > Explorer Bar > Findexer and you'll be ready to use it. You can customize Findexer in many aspects, from the menu's appearance to the number of links displayed, including number of shortcuts, the order they appear and the icon and text font. Plus, adding new shortcuts is as easy as dragging and dropping them onto the Places Bar.

Though the idea behind Findexer is very good, there's one big drawback to the program: apparently you need to activate it (that is, go to View > Explorer bar > Findexer) every time you open a new window, even if you already activated it before on that same window.

Findexer lets you customize the Places Bar on Windows File Explorer, though unfortunately you have to manually enable it on every single window.

Download FindeXer 1.1.0.3 in Softonic

If you've never heard of it, then Gomoku is a classic Japanese puzzle game also known as Five-Stones, Five-In-Row, Five-In-Line, Tic-Tac-Toe, Make-Five, Renju, Gobang and Piškvorky.

The rules are simple - to win you must have a continuous line of five stones of the same color. Like in Connect 4 - the The line can be either vertical, horizontal or diagonal except there's 5 instead of 4 of course! You can select between wither the devil or an angel as your player of choice and can choose one of three strategies and 5 possible levels.

mGomoku features some very colorful graphics, some natty visual effects plus the sound effects aren't bad either. You can choose your level of difficulty although the higher levels are virtually impossible to master. It would have been nice if you could have a two player mode too but as it is, you'll just have to settle for playing against your PC.

mGomoku isn't the most original puzzle out there but it delivers more than a fair few hours of entertainment.

Download mGomoku in Softonic

SQLyog is an easy-to-use, compact and very fast graphical tool to manage your MySQL database anywhere in the world. There are a number of features designed to help you speed up your database development.

Top tools include:

• Shortcuts to quickly generate SQL statements and paste object names
• Learn MySQL by looking at the SQL generated by SQLyog
• Multi-tab query editor and result-set editor
• Multiple Query Execution
• Multi-threaded query execution with option to stop long running queries
• SQL templates
• Excel-style grid interface to view/update resultsets
• Multi-format blob editor
• View data in grid/text mode
• Support for all MySQL table handlers

Download SQLyog 7.11 in Softonic

To keep your PC organized and running properly, you'll need to defragment your hard drive every now and then. Despite a rudimentary interface, UltraDefrag is a useful and speedy defragmentation tool. The top of the interface shows the different drives you can carry out actions on. The best to do is start by analyzing your drive. The length of the analysis will really depend on how much files you have on your drive and how messy it actually is. Once this is done you can choose to defragment or compact your drive.

Click the fragmented button and a browser window will open up with a list of all the files that have been fragmented. While the list seems to be pretty exhaustive it lacks any real explanation or easy browsing function. Another useful feature in UltraDefrag is being able to rescan your drives. You can do this to verify file size or check if there's any drive you might have missed.

If you go into settings you should be able to create filters. This function is pretty limited as you'll have to type in the name of files you want to include or exclude (but there's no explanation as to how you can enter multiple files) and you can set the program to ignore files greater than a certain size.

Despite some drawbacks, UltraDefrag is an effective defragmentation tool.

Download UltraDefrag 1.4.0 in Softonic

Fedit Image Editor is an image processing tool which appears simple at first but contains a wealth of editing tools.

These include advanced image filtering options, editing tools, multilayer documents, workflow history and multiple document interface model. However, Fedit Image Editor is still very much a work in progress although it seems pretty stable and polished as far as the eye can see.

Fedit Image Editor is certainly very flexible allowing you to work with just about any format imaginable. Like all standard image editors, it can focus on one particular art of an image or take the image as a whole and work in it that way. It has selection tools ranging from rectangles to polygons and can automatically and or cut text from images allowing you to redo and undo at will. It also allows you to change its skin, resize photos and add effects to change the look of the photographs such as making them look like collages or watercolours.

Fedit Image Editor really doesn't have any outstanding features that distinguish it from the crowd but it is at least lightweight and easy to use.

Download Fedit Image Editor 1.0.0.6 Beta in Softonic

One of the traditions now associated with the coming of autumn is the release of two big football titles: FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer. As any fan of gaming will know, these two games go head to head each year, with PES usually coming out on top. The latest edition, PES 2009, will be a huge seller on the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION®3 consoles but how does it perform on the PC, a format notoriously unsuited to sports games?

I'm not going to lie to you: the PES 2009 demo for PC isn't exactly revolutionary when it comes to the old problem of porting console titles to Windows. All the old problems are there but the horrendously clunky controls (caused by lack of analog sticks) are the biggest barrier to enjoying what would, on the correct platform, be an enjoyable and well-designed game.

Another weak point in the PES 2009 demo is the lack of any game options whatsoever. With no way of adjusting graphics, sound or controls, the demo has a very rigid feel to it. Sound controls in particular would be a welcome addition, if only they allowed you to turn off the awful music Konami has selected for the menu and intro pages, and the tinny, poorly rendered chants during the game.

After selecting Exhibition mode (the only option apart from Exit), you're offered a choice of four clubs (FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool and Manchester United) or two licensed national sides (France and Italy) to pit against each other. There follows the usual tactical options screen, a brief summary of the (insanely crappy) controls, and you're straight into the action.

The first thing we noticed about Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is that the graphics have been improved somewhat since last year's edition - player models are smoother and more natural than previously, even if getting the players to go where you want is just as hard as ever. Other improvements include the general AI of computer opponents and the physics of the game, though we're only really talking about minor tweaks here.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is, in the end, a slight improvement on last year's slightly disappointing release. On the PS3 and Xbox, it looks likely to lose this year's contest as FIFA 09 has improved so much. On PC, and especially without a gamepad, its controls are so clunky and inaccurate that it's as much of a waste of time as Civilization is on a console.

In all: PES 2009 is worth a try but not highly recommended on PC.

Download Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2009 in Softonic

For anyone involved in software reviewing like the team at Softonic, annotations of screenshots and other data are essential in day-to-day work.

The same goes for anyone who regularly has to use presentations and other graphical displays to share information. ZoomIt aims to make presentations and annotations easy enough for anyone to illustrate and add comments and annotations to their presentations and screenshots. The first time you run ZoomIt, you're presented with a configuration dialog that gives you some tips on what the program can do and how it should be used. During this time, you're also offered the chance to specify alternate hotkeys for zooming in and out and for entering drawing mode without zooming. In addition, you can customise the drawing pen color and size although this is one aspect where ZoomIt could do with some work as both the sizes and colour palette is rather limited. There's also what the program calls a "break timer" that remains active even when you tab away from the timer window but then allows you to return to the timer window by clicking on the ZoomIt tray icon.

This is by no means the most advanced screen annotation utility you'll ever use but for simple arrow pointing and circling of certain facts and figures, it does a quick and efficient job.

Download ZoomIt 2.11 in Softonic

Spaceships and asteroids have served to create arcade classics for time immemorial and Max Fighter brings together all the old elements for a blast from the past.

You basically find your spaceship hurtling through an asteroid field which is growing in intensity the further you go into space. Not only that, but you're under attack from pirates intent on blowing you out of the galaxy. Well, that's the basics of Max Fighter and to be frank, it's pretty chaotic and crazy and sometimes hard to tell the pirates from the asteroids but at the same time, it's quite gripping.

The interesting part of Max Fighter is that you have to shoot the asteroids and floating containers that litter space and collect power-ups, shields and special weapons along the way. The weapons however only seem the range from a small gun to a big gun although with old skool graphics like these, what more do you expect.

Max Fighter brings together classic elements of space invaders and throws them all together in one heady, crazy mix.

Download Max Fighter 1.0 in Softonic

MSD Tasks Multiuser is a graphics work planner that allows you to visually schedule work tasks. The difference between this and the standard MSD Tasks program is that this version allows several users to share information in a local area network with user access control. It's great for bosses, managers and staff that need to collaborate, organise a rota or working schedule. The program can be used as an electronic appointment calendar, administer customer contacts or help project manager when organizing the activities of a team.

The developers assure that security is guaranteed as all data can be protected and encrypted by password. You can assign it to automatically manage work order numbers and print work order reports. All the records in the program can contain an unlimited history meaning you need never lose another rota or shift pattern.

The software is basically based on two concepts - the working groups on one hand and their tasks on the other hand. It does not however play a role as to whether a team works together on a project or individual coworkers separate tasks. The progress of individual projects can be pursued in detail and so in a glance, you can see how well a team is doing. All data is presented in graphical form and to leave despite innumerable factors clearly to present itself.

MSD Tasks Multiuser is a great tool for those that have to manage sizable teams or want to find a better way of tracking employee progress.

Download MSD Organizer Multiuser 9.10 in Softonic