Microsoft has made the first public beta of Internet Explorer 8 available for download. While generally keeping the same design as IE 7, this new version features some new functionality and is also fully standard-compliant.

First of all bear in mind that this beta of Internet Explorer 8 is intended solely for web developers and designers, not for the average user. This beta is still under heavy development and may not work properly with certain web pages. True, you've got a button to "emulate" IE7 while running IE8 but that's not the point. So if you're not a programmer or do not like strong emotions you'd better stay away from this one.

Internet Explorer 8 includes a couple of exciting new features: Activities and Weclips. The first ones are a collection of customizable add-ons that let you access online services from the browser's context menu. As for webclips, they work like RSS feeds, but focusing only on certain areas of a given webpage that are being constantly updated. Besides these two elements, Internet Explorer also features some other goodies like integration with Facebook and Live Maps and a crash recovery system.

This first public beta of Internet Explorer 8 lets you take a sneak peek at the future next version of Microsoft's web browser and start playing with its new feature. For a more extended review, check out our blog OnSoftware.

Download Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 in Softonic

While Google Earth remains the undisputed navigational heavyweight master of global mapping, Microsoft have weighed in with a reasonable effort.

This beta version of Virtual Earth combines local search with maps and aerial photography. Microsoft have included satellite imagery with maps in its local search results for quite some time but with Virtual Earth, the display is focused primarily around maps and aerial views. You can zoom in and out of maps or images, and drag the images around within the display at leisure and the basic search interface is similar to MSN's local search with "what" and "where" forms to specify what you're searching for. In addition, text results for searches are displayed in floating popup windows on the left side of the display. Aerial photographs are overlaid with labels, showing street names, landmarks, and other features, even including directional arrows for one-way streets plus permalinks saves a screenshot of everything open in Virtual Earth, including the map view location and search results.

It may not be in the same class as Google Earth but this is one of Microsoft's better efforts it has to be said.

Download Microsoft Virtual Earth Beta in Softonic

Let’s say you’re a bit of a catastrophic person, worried about potential Earth events like volcanoes and earthquakes, maybe near where you live. Earth Alerts is just the program you need to have the situation under control and make you feel safer. At this stage, it only provides data for American cities, but maybe in the future the rest of the world will be reassured about fires, severe weather conditions and, as we mentioned, seismic activity.

To start monitoring a city, just click the New Location option you find in the Settings menu. Normally, if you write the name of city the program should find it in its database and automatically fill in all the information, like Time Zone or Weather Zone, which otherwise could be tricky to insert manually. Add as many cities as you like to receive regular updates during the day.

On the left side of Earth Alerts’s window, you have the list of your chosen cities, with the corresponding volcano, fire and earthquake alerts and also severe weather indications. There is also a global overview with ongoing Earth activity, with a special Tsunami and Tropical section in addition to those mentioned above.

Earth Alerts provides regular updates on Earth geological and meteorological activities, both globally and for specified American cities. Information is presented in a clear way, although you shouldn’t expect to receive lots of it every day… hopefully.

Download Earth Alerts 2008 1.74 in Softonic

EarthBrowser delivers a 3D model of the earth with constantly updating live meteroligical information to your desktop. Exploring the earth is fun and easy with a point-and-click interface that lets you rotate and zoom to any desired location. EarthBrowser's dynamic nature makes it an information resource that is useful and fascinating to use.

Highlights of the program include:

• Global weather forecasts for over 17,000 locations
• High resolution 1km/pixel satellite map of the Earth
• Live hurricane and tropical storm tracking
• Satellite cloud animations are updated every 3 hours
• Live earthquake map with magnitudes and links
• Live ocean buoy data for over 250 buoys
• Daily fire hotspot display
• Hundreds of dynamic webcams all over the globe
• Political borders/Tectonic plate boundaries
• Times in cities of all world time zones

Download EarthBrowser 3.0.4 in Softonic

If you're obsessed by the weather or just need to be sure that you're always kept on top of the latest weather patters, Weather Watcher Live is one of the most updated applications you'll ever use.

This personal Windows desktop weather station automatically retrieves the current conditions, hourly forecast, daily forecast, detailed forecast, severe weather alerts, and weather maps for over 77,000 cities world-wide. It's configured by default for US users but it doesn't take long to configure it for your own city and location. The current conditions can be quickly viewed by holding your mouse pointer over the Weather Watcher system tray icon. At that moment, Weather Watcher will allow you to automatically retrieve your weather data at a set interval, display the current temperature in a customized tray icon and display the current conditions image in a tray icon. You can also designate which weather information is displayed in the Weather Watcher system tray tooltip, convert the weather data using almost any conversion, display a weather map as your desktop wallpaper, log the weather data in any format, export the weather data in any format, customize the look of the Weather Watcher interface and icons via skins, and much more. However, is it accurate? Well for my city, the forecasts weren't spot on although neither are the local weather predictions so the program can be forgiven for that but it's easy to use and read and beats trying to catch the weather forecasts on TV all the time.

For fast updates and attractive, easy to read forecasts, Windows Watcher Live is a great 24 hour tool.

Download Weather Watcher Live 6.0.0.44 Beta in Softonic

Have you ever wondered what life is like on the other side of the world, just on a normal day like today? Stop wondering: now you can see it.

Satellite Live is an impressive mapping application with which you can view satellite imagery from any location on the planet, traveling from one place to another with just a mouse click and zooming in and out at your will. In a way it works very much like the popular Google Earth but with a slight difference: Satellite Live offers live, real-time images.

The program uses former military technology that has now been released to civilians. Software developers have quickly taken advantage of it, producing a striking piece of software like you'll never have seen before.

You're able to watch people actually walking down the street, parking their cars, buying groceries from the market stall or going for a walk in the park. Obviously the program only shows images from public and open areas so forget about peeking into somebody's bathroom to witness private stuff. Nevertheless, Satellite Live features an extraordinary zoom level with which you won't miss a single thing.

The program includes also a locating feature (which finds any place on Earth in a matter of seconds), an embedded screen capturing tool and navigational buttons to move around maps. However, there's no support for extra information layers yet.

Bear in mind that the level of detail may vary from one place to another, which means that populated areas such as New York, Los Angeles, London or Tokyo have more image quality than the Nevada desert or the Amazon jungle. In any case, Satellite Live is still an incredible application that opens a window to the world from your own computer.

Satellite Live lets you witness what's going on in any location on the planet, in real time. Though the level of detail may vary, it's still an impressive app with which to learn how life is in other parts of the world.

Download April Fools Satellite Live 1.0 in Softonic

Your aim in UFO: Alien Invasion is to fight the forces of evil in a world that has turned over a leaf in the next stage of it's evolution.

While war and famine have been virtually eradicated, one major threat remains hanging over mankind - the threat of alien invasion. UFO: Alien Invasion is a free game rich in background history and strategy. You have to lead a crack commando team to destroy and investigate the increasingly dangerous extraterrestrial technology which threatens to wipe out the human race. The game takes the shape of a strategy/shoot-em-up action based thriller which requires a certain amount of guile and map reading ability as well as a quick trigger finger. The missions are incredibly well thought out and rich in detail and although the graphics aren't exactly stunning, there are some excellent special effects. It's easy enough however to pick up pretty quickly although to get the most out of the game, you'll have to consult the Wiki which has extensive details of the how to play.

A very well designed and thought-out game that, considering it's completely free, will thrill any UFO enthusiast or strategy game fan.

Download UFO: Alien Invasion 2.2 in Softonic

Windows Live Writer is a desktop application that makes it easier to compose compelling blog posts using Windows Live Spaces or your current blog service. Blogging has turned the web into a two-way communications medium. Our goal in creating Writer is to help make blogging more powerful, intuitive, and fun for everyone. Writer has lots of features which we hope make for a better blogging experience. Some of the ones we are most excited about include:

WYSIWYG Authoring

The first thing to notice about Writer is that it enables true WYSIWYG blog authoring. You can now author your post and know exactly what it will look like before you publish it. Writer knows the styles of your blog such as headings, fonts, colors, background images, paragraph spacing, margins and block quotes and enables you to edit your post using these styles.

Writer also includes other views including HTML source-code editing and web preview mode. Now you don’t have to waste time going through the process of publishing, refreshing, previewing, and tweaking your post to get it looking the way you want. It’s all right there in Writer as you create your post.

Photo Publishing

Writer makes inserting, customizing, and uploading photos to your blog a snap. You can insert a photo into your post by browsing image thumbnails through the “Insert Picture” dialog or by copying and pasting from a web page. Once you’ve inserted the picture, Writer provides contextual editing tools to modify size, text wrapping, borders, and apply graphic effects. Writer also allows you specify a smaller thumbnail to that will link to a larger image for detailed viewing. Photos can be either uploaded directly to your weblog provider (if they support the newMediaObject API) or to an FTP server.

Map Publishing

Whether you are blogging about a vacation or a political conflict, maps are a great help in engaging the imagination of your readers. You can do this using Writer's ability to insert a Windows Live Local map directly into a post. Even better is that the map can be customized directly within Writer - including changing the view to show road, aerial or bird's eye detail and by adding pushpins (including custom links and/or photos for each pushpin). When readers click on the map they get a larger view on the Windows Live Local site.

Writer SDK

Already thinking of other cool stuff you want to insert into your blog? Good! The Windows Live Writer SDK allows developers to extend the capabilities of Writer to publish additional content types. Examples of content types that can be added include:

1. Images from online photo publishing sites

2. Embedded video or audio players

3. Product thumbnails and/or links from e-commerce sites

4. Tags from tagging services

Compatibility

Writer is a great client for Windows Live Spaces but also works with other weblogs including Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress (and many others). Writer supports RSD (Really Simple Discoverability), the Metaweblog API, and the Movable Type API. We want Writer to work well with every blogging service out there. If you can’t get Writer to work with your blog, we want to know.

Stay Tuned

We will continue to post updates and other information on the product to this Space in the coming weeks. Please subscribe to our RSS feed or visit again soon to get the most current information on Windows Live Writer.

Download Windows Live Writer 12.0.1366.1026 in Softonic

EditPad Pro is a powerful and versatile text editor or word processor, designed to make text editing as convenient as possible. Write and edit all your plain text files such as source code, scripts, web sites, logs, letters, memos, reports, articles, etc.

Edit text documents more comfortably with EditPad Pro's tabbed layout, live spell checking, column editing, extensive clipboard and block editing abilities, project files, word count and other statistics, text wrapping and unwrapping, opening all files from certain folders, alphabetic sort, bookmarks, character map, etc. Supports all languages, including Far East languages.

Write source code more easily with EditPad Pro's syntax coloring, search and replace with regular expressions, DOS/Windows/UNIX and ANSI/Unicode conversions, running external applications or scripts, persistent and rectangular selections, hexadecimal mode, integrated diff to clearly compare files, auto and block indent, line numbers etc.

Save time typing and edit complex documents faster with the Clip Collection. Store and instantly reuse standard phrases, formatting tags and source code snippets. Temporarily store and easily move and duplicate blocks of text.

Adjust your text editors to your tastes and habits. EditPad Pro is extremely configurable, with many options specific per file type. Download or create syntax coloring schemes for any programming language or file format. Unlimited file size and line length. Unlimited undo and redo, even after saving.

Download EditPad Pro 6.4.1 in Softonic

If you're constantly getting caught by surprise by the weather, then Crawler Weather will help keep you dry and ahead of the weatherman - and the traffic - on a regular basis.

You can set the program to regularly check for weather updates in your area or for a destination of your choice. This includes information on current local and international weather conditions delivered to your desktop. If you're based in North America, it also offers some really useful information on traffic conditions but unfortunately, this does not extend to Europe - a shame because it's a really nice feature that is a big bonus when planning business or vacation trips. You can also view graphical forecasts, radar images, detailed weather maps and much more. The program is beautifully presented with a live map on the left of the screen, wind speed and temperature gauge on the right plus forecasts for the next three days along the bottom.

A really good looking weather program that would have scored more highly if the traffic information had been available for all parts of the world.

Download Crawler Weather in Softonic

Yahoo! Messenger has long been one of the world's most popular IM clients, mainly because Yahoo! itself is such a large presence in the realms of web-mail, communities and so on. It now sits comfortably in second place to Windows Live Messenger in terms of user-base.

Among the new features in Yahoo! Messenger 9, the emphasis is very much on looks rather than functions. For example, the brand new IMVironment feature (which completely customises your chat windows) looks pretty impressive at first until you realise that nearly all of them are simply complex advertisements or marketing campaigns from firms like Gatorade and Kleenex. Improvements to the way contacts' images are displayed, as well as new photo-sharing via the excellent Flickr are welcome additions but even they can't dispel the bad smell emanating from IMVironment.

New emoticons have been added to this latest version of Yahoo! Messenger, as have new skins for the main window. To me, these represent fairly minor aesthetic changes rather than important new functionalities, and as such aren't enough of a reason to upgrade. More handy features like improved handling of PC to PC calls, MP3 voicemail, and better integration with Yahoo! sites have also been included but again, none except for the Flickr tool seems really useful. Really, this Beta feels as if it's about matching Live Messenger for features and not much more.

Yahoo! Messenger probably isn't aimed at users like me who prize usability and simplicity above bright colours and lots of advertising. If you like the sound of branding every chat window you use with Kleenex or Axe deodorant then Yahoo! Messenger 9 Beta is for you. If you'd rather use a simple, elegant and uncluttered chat interface, switch to Google Talk and you'll never look back.

A bloated, brightly coloured IM client packed with advertising and not much more.

Download Yahoo! Messenger 9.0.0.907 Beta in Softonic

This is definitely good news for all Google Map addicts out there: Mini Map Sidebar is a Firefox extension that enables you to have Google Maps always at sight. It also includes a set of convenient tools to blend Google mapping and web browsing into a unique experience.

Mini Map Sidebar works in a very simple way: whenever you come across any address or Google map link on a webpage, you can select it and drop it onto the sidebar and Google Maps will immediately show its location. The only problem I see here is the fact that sometimes the sidebar is simply too small to be able to see the map properly.

The extension also features a handy tool to obtain directions from one address to another. For instance, you can set a given address as your home location in the extension, and get directions easily to any other address you find online.

Download Minimap Sidebar Extension 0.1.4.9 in Softonic

EarthDesk has a database of 10,000 cities you can choose to set as the map’s centering point. The preferences menu also includes a pop-up menu to provide information about a city, such as sunrise and sunset, moonrise & moonset, current local time, coordinates, etc

Besides a city, the centering point can also be set as 0° N by 0° E, or it can follow subsolar and sublunar points and antipodes. The map itself can be displayed as one of 11 different projections, including the familiar Mercator projection and a standard globe. You can select a Living Earth mode to simulate a view from space (sans clouds) which even shows city lights during the night. Alternatively, you can select a political map mode, displaying country and state boundaries.

Download EarthDesk 4.5 in Softonic

March, 2047. A massive nuclear fireball explodes high in the night sky, marking the dramatic beginning to the Third Tiberium War and long-awaited return of the most groundbreaking Real-time Strategy franchise (RTS) of all time.

In 2047, Tiberium has blanketed the Earth, which is now divided into zones based on the level of Tiberium infestation. Pristine Blue Zones represent 20% of the planet's surface and are the last refuge of the civilized world. Partially habitable Yellow Zones make up 50% of the planet's surface; most of the world's population lives in these war-torn and ecologically ravaged areas. The remaining 30% of the planet is uninhabitable, a Tiberium wasteland swept by violent Ion Storms. Red Zones are like the surface of an Alien planet.

The infamous Kane has returned to lead the Brotherhood of Nod in a massive global assault on the Global Defense Initiative and the few remaining Blue zones left on the planet. Only you can stop him. The fate of humanity – and the planet – is in your hands.

Featuring state-of-the-art, next-generation graphics, an epic story with live action, full-motion video sequences, and the classic fast-paced C&C style of play, C&C 3 sets the standard for the single player RTS experience. When you decide to test your skills online, a suite of truly innovative features, such as the ability to transform online battles into a spectator sport, unfold.

Fast, Fluid, Fun

The ultra-responsive, smooth-as-silk gameplay C&C invented is now better than ever, intuitively placing your entire arsenal at your fingertips.

Over 30 Single Player Missions

In a vast open-world 'theatre of war' where each decision you make matters, you'll experience one cohesive, epic story told from the unique perspective of all three warring factions.

Story Like You've Never Seen

High-definition, live action video sequences that seamlessly tie the game's epic story together featuring an unparalleled, diverse cast.

New Ways to Attack

Keep your opponent guessing by building flying battleships, wielding the power of terrifying Ion Storms, and combining units to form powerful never-before-seen super-units.

Battle the Best Online

With multiple online game modes, all-new multiplayer maps, and a fully featured content editor, go online to see how you stack up in RTS' ultimate forum.

Download Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Demo in Softonic

The image editor market is pretty much dominated by Photoshop, with all the other applications battling it out behind for second place. Pixel Image Editor, trying to make itself a place behind Adobe's star app, seems to be aimed towards more advanced users, particularly photographers. The installation process was pretty lengthy and we were really surprised at all the time it took to start up (much more than Photoshop). The first time you launch Pixel you can also easily be taken aback by all the windows and options in the interface. However a quick look around will reassure you that Pixel offers everything that you need.

We liked the collections of editing tools on hand in the left side floating bar, and found an ample collection of both layers and effects to work with. Pixel also has a handy "workspaces" feature, to avoid having your window to cluttered with objects and images. Users will be glad to also find tools to optimize images for the web.

A bit too complex for some users, but Pixel is still an image editor fitted with many useful features.

Download Pixel Image Editor 1.0 Beta 7.699 in Softonic

WhosVisiting gives you an instant and live overview of current activity on your web-sites. Live list of the visitors on your web-site(s) right now. Live updated world-map with markers representing current visitors Track individual visitor activity. See what they see live, and browse their page history. WhosVisiting only takes a minute to learn. Instead of working with heavy databases, proprietary clients, database connectors, report generators, and hefty hardware requirements, WhosVisiting resides entirely in memory. No backup needed, no databases, no hefty hardware requirements, etc. Only pure valueable online activity information. You get immediate results when analyzing the traffic on your web-sites.

Download WhosVisiting 1.20 in Softonic

MixCast Live is a podcasting application accessible to all. You can easily record and edit your own podcasts, to be broadcast on the internet afterwards.

Features:

• Podcast recording direct to MP3
• Keyboard audio clip mapping
• Graphical clip editor
• Clip sequencer (playlist) with pause between clips or continuous play
• Mixing controls for all available mixers
• Analog and digital VU meters
• Configurable file tree
• Show Notes
• Podcast Publishing
• Free trial account on BigFeeder.com, no sign up required
• Unlimited recording length
• No expiration or activation

Download MixCast Live 1.0 in Softonic

This popular app allows you to design, upload and maintain your website using dual-mode visual (also known as WYSIWYG) and code-based editing functionality. BestAddress boasts a wide range of easy-to-use functions, tutorials for beginners, free updates, integrated technical support contact capabilities and a dedicated Customer Benefits program.

Major features of the editor:

• Visual editing mode

• Coding mode with live split-screen previewing

• Site project capabilities

• Templates with support for integrated images

• Spell checking

• DHTML menu designer

• HTML syntax checking

• Support for opening and saving directly from the Internet

• Image map editing

• Dedicated DigitalAccess FTP program included

• Source code securing: helps prevent unauthorised copying

• Software-integrated technical support

• Mange tasks you need to complete with the to-do list

Download BestAddress HTML Editor 2006 Professional 9.9.0 in Softonic

Presenting business data to your customers or colleagues can be a turgid affair, and audiences can get easily bored (or, worse, confused) by mind-numbing spreadsheets. Traditional charts and graphs can often be static, staid, and standardized. This app is designed to draw the attention of the audience through an interactive Flash experience.

Crystal Xcelsius Professional helps you create eye-catching, professional data presentations quickly using a wide range of features. It allows you to take the data you have in an Excel spreadheet and transfer it into a stunning presentation.

Features include:

• Dozens of visualization components, optimized for dynamic simulations
• Drilldown charts
• Add-on library capability
• Expanded Excel function support
• Unicode support for non-Western languages
• Many fonts and maps
• Flexible alert functionality for performance measurement
• One-click export to Microsoft PowerPoint and Outlook, PDF and the Web

• Ability to import images as well as Macromedia Flash (SWF) files

Download Crystal Xcelsius Professional 4 in Softonic

A visual approach to understanding how visitors interact with your website. Fundamentally different website analytics that displays visitors behavior in context with the site itself. Ideal for right-brained thinkers and those who are tired of long tables of numbers produced by other analytics software.

Your actual HTML pages are displayed overlaid with data that visually shows how many people navigate any link. The pages of your site are live: click a link and the data for the next page is displayed. ClickTracks goes even further by displaying the time spent and other data, along with a map of your site and how people navigate. Different groups of visitors can be compared through the use of 'tagging'. Tagging is simple to use and require no database or programming. A user population is tagged with a single click, selecting the criteria to identify those users - such as referring site name. Once tagged the data for those users is broken out seperately and can be compared to other users at a glance. ClickTracks can focus in on the most important visitor groups and highlight their behavior.

Download ClickTracks Analyzer 5.6.0 in Softonic