In fact, FrostWire has more than just a few similarities to Limewire, although unlike the latter, it does not carry advertising and there are no annoying pop-ups. Just as Limewire was, FrostWire is straightforward and easy to use. A simple search bar, divided by category, makes it a breeze to browse for a file, whether it is a video, image, audio, or program. FrostWire also has a What’s New button to check out what popular files users have recently exchanged.

One particularly handy feature of FrostWire is a special direct connect option. If you know the IP address of one of your friends, type it in the box and FrostWire will browse to that user’s files. This is a quick way of sharing files with someone you know although it would be even better if you could enter the username of a user rather than the IP address.

In terms of speed, much will depend on the speed of your own connection. It definitely helps though if you've correctly opened your router's ports and whether you’re downloading a popular file or not. To avoid the risk of downloading copyrighted or adult material, FrostWire also allows you to apply content filters. Another handy feature of FrostWire is a built-in media player. Video and audio can be tested using Frostwire’s media player which gives you an immediate preview of your file.

It should be noted that FrostWire is basically a stripped-down version of Limewire, but is a not-for-profit project. The developer claims it will never support Digital Rights Management (DRM) or any type of advertising. However, the demise of Limewire due to legal issues mean that FrostWire may well be targeted in the future for closure.

FrostWire for Mac is a hugely popular alternative for anyone who misses Limewire.

Download FrostWire 5.3.2 5.3.2 in Softonic

Other features: DVD support. CD support. The option to preview images from webcams, DV or any other video source such as TV tuner. Two monitors or monitor and TV support. Support for Dolby Surround, SPDIF and 3D audio. PlayList - searching for all movies or music in a specified folder or drive and putting them into a playlist. Ability to choose any audio output, including SPDIF, allowing lossless digital transmission of sound to an amplifier. Subtitles support in all known formats (hh:mm:ss, ASS - Advanced SubStation, SSA - SubStation Alpha, SubRip. SubViewer (1 & 2), MicroDVD, MPL2 , SRT, SMI etc.). DivX Muxer - creates a DivX/XviD file with subtitles in it. Ability to display subtitles under the picture.

Unlike most players, ALLPlayer is not merely an overlay for MediaPlayer, and it uses DirectX, which makes it possible to play any movie. The program is also integrated with a speech synthesizer application, allowing you to watch movies with subtitles with a reader (dubbing). Most popular formats such as DivX, XviD, MP3, and AVI, FLV, MP4, 3GP, MKV, M2TS, MPG, MPEG, RMVB, WMV, QuickTime, MOV, FLAC, APE, and many more less known formats can be played thanks to liveupdate codecs downloader.

This is for all users watching movies on their computers a specially for those who need subtitles

Download ALLPlayer 5.0.5 in Softonic

Using VDownloader is really simple. Just paste a video URL into the interface and click the download button. The latest version of VDownloader has increased its download and conversion speed, which makes it even a more interesting tool.

You can also search for videos about a specific topic with the program's built-in search tool. The good thing about VDownloader is that you can use it with virtually any video sharing website, just by entering the video URL.

VDownloader features a number of output conversion profiles, so you can make the downloaded videos compatible with your portable device or media player. Alternatively, you can download the files in original format. Bear in mind though that if you choose this option, you won’t be able to convert the file afterwards.

To save you time, VDownloader will batch download up to ten videos at once and features a scheduler so it can be set to download files whenever is most convenient for you. The program includes other extra features, but sadly they’re only available in the Pro version of the program.

VDownloader is a handy, effective video downloader and converter that works with all popular video sharing sites.

Download VDownloader 3.8.974 in Softonic

There are so many video and audio formats that sometimes you need a helping hand just to know which codec you need to play that darn file that won't open up in your multimedia player.

This is where MediaInfo comes in handy, by analyzing any media file you open with it and displaying a complete report with all the information available about that specific file. The information displayed by MediaInfo includes basic data such as file name, playtime, file size and the likes, as well as more specific details like used codec, bitrate, channel, sample rate and resolution, among others.

The information provided by MediaInfo can be displayed in a variety of ways, from a basic data sheet or plain text to a tree-like structure or an HTML document. It can also be exported to a file but surprisingly enough MediaInfo doesn't include an option to obtain a printed copy.

Another thing I missed in MediaInfo is the possibility to obtain more information from the Internet (a web link would have been enough) or being able to download the necessary codec if it's not present in the system.

With MediaInfo you can obtain a complete report on any audio or video file, display it in several ways and also export it to several formats though it doesn't support printing and lacks some advanced functionality.

Download MediaInfo 0.7.53 in Softonic

Download SolveigMM WMP Trimmer Plugin 2.1.1111.8 in Softonic

Most PC users are accustomed to massive media players that hog resources and take up large portions of your PC's hard drive. This is why finding a small, simple, and lightweight player such as Winyl is so great when it actually happens.

The program's interface is divided into two panels: a primary one with your current playlist and a smaller one that has a tree-like structure. The latter enables you to filter music according to different criteria. To add music in Winyl, simply right-click on the top toolbar and select the Library option. You can also add complete folders or individual files via a personalized Add menu. Winyl includes support for star rankings, much like iTunes, and can also display ID tags. Unfortunately, you can't edit ID tags, making its functionality a little limited.

There are also a few different skin options you can use for Winyl, including one that makes it actually look like iTunes. This is a definite plus for someone who prefers to personalize their audio player a little and make it more their own. Winyl is also fast and stable, so it doesn't overwhelm system resources. For someone who doesn't need a complete multimedia station on their PC, this is a fantastic option.

Winyl is a lightweight player that allows you to enjoy your favorite music in a simple, minimalist environment.

Download Winyl 2.8.5 in Softonic

NowSmart Cut does not only support audio files(MP3, OGG, WAV, M4A), it is also able to cut audio clips out of video files(AVI, WMV, MKV, MP4, RM, RMVB).

Who may want to archive them for later listening, but you do not need the full length media file. Who are making your own video, but would want to use some audio clips from other media files. Who may want to create a ringtone from music or video.

Download NowSmart Cut 1.1 in Softonic

Format Factory's supported formats include WMV, AVI, MPG, MP3, WMA, AAC, JPG, PNG, GIF, and many more. Better still, Format Factory supports media formats used by most major portable devices, including PSP and iPhone.

The app is very easy to use, although it does have a slightly unintuitive interface. Format Factory's file browser doesn't appear until you select the target format, which is a bit weird, but as long as you know this it's no problem. You can select individual files to convert, or complete folders, and also tweak some basic conversion settings.

Format Factory isn't particularly original but what makes it really useful is that it handles images as well as audio and video. Most converters like this only handle audio and video, so adding images to the mix gives it an edge, especially considering it's free. We also like the Audio Joiner in Format Factory, which allows you to take two separate clips, join them together and then convert them. It would've been nice to have preset profiles for mobile conversions, but you can't always have it all in a free app!

Format Factory is an excellent conversion tool for anyone who converts between video, audio and images on a regular basis.

Download Format Factory 2.90 in Softonic

In this day and age, it's easy to download virtually anything you want off the web. There are a slew of download managers that let you grab web content in no time flat. Megavideo Video Downloader is just one of the myriad.

In that way, Ilivid Download Manager is really no different. Like other tools of its kind, Ilivid Download Manager lets you download web content to your Windows PC without much ado. Computers can get clogged up quickly with unwanted files though. What if you want to preview the content before actually downloading it?

That's what Ilivid Download Manager will let you do. With a simple cut and paste approach, you can grab content from all over the web. If you want to watch a video from YouTube, for example, just type the video's URL into the Ilivid Download Manager interface and you can watch. If you like what you see, the option to download is just a few short clicks away.

The convenient thing about this tool is not only that you can preview web content before actually downloading but also that you can share your finds with friends on Twitter and Facebook. Now, friends and family can also see what you're seeing almost the instant you discover it, all thanks to Ilivid Download Manager.

Unfortunately, Ilivid Download Manager's may look clean and straightforward, but it might take time for some users to really get the hang of using all of its features. There are times when the content you've selected doesn't play either.

Overall, Ilivid Download Manager is a unique concept that lets you preview content before downloading.

Download Ilivid Download Manager 1.93 in Softonic

Uploading songs to your Google Music library on an individual basis can be a serious drag, as well as a complete time-waster. Much like the 8tracks Uploader for Macs, Music Manager lets users easily and quickly transfer songs to their Google Music Library in no time at all.

You can tweak the settings on Music Manager to automatically upload new music it detects from iTunes, Windows Media Player, or other storage media.

In addition to uploading songs, the program also provides a list of songs it was unable to upload, as well as a reason as to why the upload didn't work. Unfortunately, if you do encounter an error in uploading, Music Manager doesn't actually suggest a solution. You might just be out of luck, which could be frustrating.

If you want an easy-to-use method of uploading songs to your Google Music library, Music Manager is the way to go.

Download Music Manager by Google 1.0.23.1344 in Softonic

With iTunes 10, the library has been improved with an extra view that adds album artwork where there’s room, instead of the traditional album title next to each song. This smartens up library viewing a lot, and generally underlines the new, clean look of the interface. It's no revolution, but looks neater. Playlists and iTunes DJ are untouched, and managing your library is as easy as ever. Creating playlists is one of iTunes' strengths, and it's still simpler and more user-friendly than the competition.

Syncing iTunes with iPods and other Apple devices is really easy, and there are no longer problems using Mac-formatted devices in iTunes for Windows, or vice versa. Home Sharing is a great way to keep your library across multiple computers at home; it is really easy to set up and means all your computers will automatically have up-to-date libraries.

The biggest change with version 10 is to the iTunes Store. Ping, which is linked to your iTunes account, allows you to create a personal profile and share your purchases and reviews with friends, and artists you like. It looks very much like a basic Facebook News Feed or Twitter, but just about music. At the moment Ping feels underdeveloped. You can't share your listening habits, like Last.fm, and manual sharing is limited to the iTunes Store, not your own library. There's no option to share what you're listening to right now, which is pretty terrible! Ping will surely develop and improve very soon.

The basic library function of iTunes is unparalleled, and syncing with iPods, iPhones and iPads is excellent. iTunes 10’s new social features are interesting, but limited at the moment.

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Most of us who own an MP3 player or play digital music on a computer will admit that it’s possible to get a little precious over your audio collection. There’s something very satisfying about having a hoard of music with the correct track and album names for each song. Not only does it look a lot cleaner in your player, but it makes it a darn sight easier to organize your collection and manage playlists. Ensuring that all the tags in your audio files are correct can be a thankless task, but there’s plenty of software around that will make a much quicker job of it.

mp3Tag is one of the better tag editors around, allowing you to edit the metadata (the information about a track’s name, size, album name, artwork, etc.) with a good degree of autonomy. The app lets you rename files based on this tag information, replace characters or words from tags and filenames, import/export tag information, and create playlists. It carries out its dutiesdoes the job very well too. For instance, the program has a much cleaner interface than many of its rivals and is smaller to boot, making it very quick and responsive.

If you find that you have a lot of different audio formats on your machine that you want to keep in check then mp3Tag is perfect. It supports virtually every major audio file type, so you can edit tags for Ogg, Musepack, and AAC/MP4, besides just MP3s. tThe program isn't just a tagger, as it also includes cutting and joining functions that perform pretty well.

Perhaps the biggest boon though is the inclusion of a link-up with the online FreeDB database to import tags from the appropriate album, spelling a swift end to those MP3 albums you get with track names like ‘track01’, ‘track02’, ‘track03’, etc.) While the data returned from the FreeDB is sometimes erroneous, it’s generally pretty good (though probably not quite as quick as the import tool in Tag&Rename).

It’s fair to say that mp3Tag is one of the clear leaders in its field, and considering it’s a freeware app, it’s well worth downloading if you want to clean- up your music collection. Tag editing is very quick and once you’ve given your audio the mp3Tag treatment, you should find it so much easier to organize your tracks.

Download mp3Tag 2.49b in Softonic

With Sharepod you can easily copy music from the computer to your iPod and viceversa. The program works like a charm: simply plug the iPod in, launch Sharepod and you’re good to go. It doesn’t even require installation! Besides adding or removing music, you can also copy videos from your iPod to the PC, back up photos, and edit tags. Sharepod also imports and exports album art, ratings and playlists.

The interface in Sharepod features a simple, clean design that makes the program a pleasure to use. It supports drag-and-drop, includes a search tool and also has a built-in player to listen to the music on your iPod.

On the downside, and though the developer claims Sharepod works with iPhone and iPod Touch, we couldn’t use all of the program’s features when testing with an iPhone 4.

Sharepod is a great iPod manager that lets you transfer content between Apple’s star device and your computer.

Download Sharepod 3.9.8 in Softonic

VLC media player nightly supports partially encrypted Blu-ray discs and brings a more polished look and enhancements to the options and codecs in this flexible player. VLC media player nightly is more visually striking with a new sidebar allowing quick access to your playlist, media folders or online streams. The final version will also include a search tool so you can find missing media much more easily than before.

Blu-ray support

The most important feature in VLC media player nightly however is Blu-ray support. However, for legal reasons, it will only open partially encrypted Blu-ray discs. It can also now output audio to Android and iOS devices. Note that it can also be quite unstable as this is effectively a beta release of VLC media player.

VLC media player nightly is an exciting glimpse at how VLC media player will look and finally supports Blu-ray discs.

Download VLC media player nightly 2.1.0 64-Bit in Softonic

VLC media player nightly supports partially encrypted Blu-ray discs and brings a more polished look and enhancements to the options and codecs in this flexible player. VLC media player nightly is more visually striking with a new sidebar allowing quick access to your playlist, media folders or online streams. The final version will also include a search tool so you can find missing media much more easily than before.

Blu-ray support

The most important feature in VLC media player nightly however is Blu-ray support. However, for legal reasons, it will only open partially encrypted Blu-ray discs. It can also now output audio to Android and iOS devices. Note that it can also be quite unstable as this is effectively a beta release of VLC media player.

VLC media player nightly is an exciting glimpse at how VLC media player will look and finally supports Blu-ray discs.

Download VLC media player nightly 2.1.0 32 Bit in Softonic

In a market that's saturated with media players, Zoom Player attempts to be two players in one - a no fuss simple one and an advanced one with just about every imaginable tweaking and customization option.

It's a unique offering and chances are that if you've found your current player lacking in some department, you'll find what you're looking for in Zoom Player. If you just want a bare bones media player, then you may be better opting for something like VLC Media Player but Zoom Player lets you have your cake and eat it if you need something with a little more to offer.

The basic version of Zoom Player comes installed with a graphic equalizer, playlist editor and everything else that you'd expect in a basic player. Zoom Player's professional version however comes with a whole lot more power, including a more powerful Playlist Manager, added safety features (such as password protection), Media Definitions plus Web Remote (so you can control Zoom Player from your web browser) and an Extended command line interface, exposing many Zoom Player functions directly from the command line. Finally, the professional version also supports playback of DRM protected movies and music (Windows Media DRM).

Zoom Player's interface is slimline but expandable very easily. By clicking on the circle of dots in the bottom right hand corner however, you reveal a top bar within the main screen which is packed with features. The symbols used in the menu aren't particularly helpful as they look like hieroglyphs so your only option is to work out what each one does by trial and error. These advanced features include a station manager (for streaming radio and TV channels), skin changer and media library editor.

Indeed, the amount of options in Zoom Player available will intimidate anyone that just wants a playback application. It takes quite a while to understand what all the audio options offer, for example, although there is an extensive list of help files that comes bundled with the installation to help you. This is probably the biggest annoyance of Zoom Player: the advanced options seem extremely "spread-out" and it's rather overwhelming to get to grips with where they all, let alone what they do.

On the plus side, one particularly useful feature of Zoom Player is that if you don't have the correct codec installed, it will tell you the exact one you need without the need for a third party inspection device. Playback is smooth, files are loaded quickly and the playlist supports ID3 tags. You can also easily change skins through the skins editor plus you can download more from the developer site.

Zoom Player is two players in one - a basic player that serves you well and an advanced player that offers a lot of options that you'll probably never need but will no doubt appeal to power users.

Download Zoom Player Professional 8.1 RC2 in Softonic

SoMud allows you to search, download and even play web videos within its interface thanks to its own embedded media player. You can preview media files while they are being downloaded which is handy for avoiding fake or spam files. The download speeds are also impressive although it's obviously dependent on your connection and the number of peers connected.

SoMud is also unusual in that it also allows users to record their desktop or screen activity and share it with other peers. This includes audio and webcam images. In addition, there's a P2P wizard that allows you to create your own torrents and there's also parental control to filter specified keywords and lock specified content.

SoMud doesn't have the simple, slick interface that uTorrent has for example. It's also rather annoying that when you install it, it automatically opens the developer homepage in your browser. Finally, downloads are generally reliable but can take some time to start.

SoMud is a very interesting P2P client with some unusual features and may appeal to those who want a bit more control over their P2P downloading than most other clients allow.

Download SoMud 1.3.5 in Softonic

For people whose sights are trained on a computer screen all day long, reading in-depth articles on favorite blogs or sifting through long emails is the last thing you want to do at the end of a day at the office. You may also have a medical condition that means it's easier to listen than to read.

TextAloud is a text to speech tool that will read all this text aloud for you, so you don't have to. The beauty of TextAloud is that it not only reads out anything you copy and paste into the voice window, but also allows you to save the resulting speech as an audio file. Effectively this means you can transform any web page, email or text document into a podcast to download to your MP3 player and listen to at your leisure. TextAloud keeps file sizes at a minimum, making it possible to save entire novels as a audio files of less than 1 megabytes apiece.

Unfortunately, TextAloud's default speech sounds somewhat monotonous which can get dull really quickly. TextAloud does have options to let you change the tone and speed of the speaking voice, but this doesn't really have much effect on improving the overall sound of the speech. The full version of TextAloud has quite a bit more to offer since it makes use of AT&T's Natural Voice technology. You can choose from several different accents with this feature, including UK English, Indian English and Spanish. It's almost as convincing as having someone sit next to you and reading out loud.

Although the voice in the freeware version is pretty monotonous, TextAloud is a nice option for anyone who wants text read out loud.

Download TextAloud 3.0.35 in Softonic

Easy for understand and clear user interface, number of supported input audio and video formats. Loseless audio formats support. iTunes playlist support.

MediaHuman Audio Converter is a freeware for Windows. It can help you in case you need to convert your music in WMA, AAC, WAV, FLAC, OGG or Apple Loseless format. This program was designed to simplify as much as possible the process of conversion.

Download MediaHuman Audio Converter 1.5 in Softonic

J. River Media Center is an intuitive program that will allow you to manage all of your multimedia files - audio, video, images and more - from a single interface. It isn't very pretty, but it does provide a great platform for your media and pretty much every configuration option you could hope for.

Although there are a number of skins for the J. River Media Center, none of them particularly help in the looks department. What is attractive, however, is the variety of viewing modes available: the four screen options available will take you from quick access to more theater-like viewing for movies and television. Playback quality is good, especially for audio, and larger screen options don't compromise viewing.

J. River Media Center has all the features you would expect from a modern player. As well as the standard audio, video and images, you can also subscribe to and manage podcasts, burn and rip CDs, sync with handheld devices, control via remote control, stream from the 'net and connect to high definition television (although to do this you'll need a tuner). Add this to J. River Media Center's extensive organizational, tagging and management abilities and J. River Media Center begins to look like a serious threat to other multimedia players.

Don't be fooled into thinking that the J. River Media Center is just a pretty face. It also has a fully functional browser, allowing you to search for information related to your music - and more - on the internet. Tech fans won't be disappointed either - J. River Media Center has a huge variety of configuration options ranging from the esthetic to the advanced, including a DSP (digital signal processor) studio for tweaking your audio, a media editor and audio recorder.

Often, a major problem with programs that try to do a lot is that they overreach and end up compromising quality. Not so with J. River Media Center. In the short time I tested it, the program performed perfectly, was easy to use and gave great quality output. If you just want a program that will play your CDs, you can probably get away with something lighter, but if you are looking for an integral multimedia manager with plenty of options, J. River Media Center might be the program for you.

J. River Media Center provides options galore and great quality - what more can you ask for in a multimedia player?

Download J. River Media Center 16.0.181 in Softonic