Thunderbird is Mozilla's award winning and free solution to manage your mail more efficiently. And there are many advantages of switching to it too. Unlike Mail for example, it can handle virtual identities and create on-the-fly addresses and it's widely regarded as having one of the best spam filters out there. The fact that like Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird can be beefed up with all manner of extensions makes it an extremely competitive mail client. It's also now much faster and more stable than before due to the new Gecko 5 engine.

Getting going

Setting up Mozilla Thunderbird is painless. You can quickly import your mail and contacts from your Outlook or Mail account and set up POP3, IMAP or SMTP accounts in a flash. To stay well organized, Mozilla Thunderbird offers filters to deliver your mail into separate folders and inboxes. And of course, there's a built-in spell checker to make sure that your mails are professionally crafted.

What makes Mozilla Thunderbird slightly more unusual is the fact that it comes with an integrated RSS reader. Nowadays, this is a little outdated because many people use a separate application - or even Firefox itself - to follow RSS feeds but it may be useful if you only want to mail and follow RSS feeds at the same time when composing mails.

Searching your mail

The search tool in Thunderbird is excellent and searches happen in real time as you type. Search results are displayed in a separate tab. Tabs in general are a very big part of Thunderbird and like Firefox, you can have multiple messages open in separate tabs. This is a fantastic feature of Thunderbird although does tempt you to have too many mails open at once. Archiving is also another handy feature for those that don't want to delete messages but want to clear space in their inbox.

So what about security? You might think an open-source mail client would inherently be less secure than a paid one but Thunderbird is surprisingly secure with a fairly bulletproof spam filter. The reason being is that Thunderbird is regularly updated and crafted by volunteers who's main interest is making a better product rather than profiting from an end-product. Security updates are regular but small so as not to slow-down Thunderbird.

Exchange support

One of the biggest selling points of Mozilla Thunderbird is that it offers Microsoft Exchange support, meaning it will appeal to Office users who previously discounted it.

On the downside, the app is lacking some finesse in certain areas. Thunderbird still doesn't have conversation style email views like in Gmail (although an extension to do this can be downloaded separately) and there aren't many options for managing attachments and photos. There's also no calendar but again, this can be downloaded separately in the form of "Lightning".

Overall, Thunderbird is an excellent free alternative to Microsoft Outlook.

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Download Mozilla Thunderbird 10.0.1 in Softonic

As well as a multi clipboard, you get a year planner, a graphics editor and a picture browser thrown in. Clips which are Web addresses work as bookmarks. Clips which are phone numbers will dial via your modem. Clips which are files on your PC work as shortcuts to them. It will remove email indentation chevrons from text. It will word wrap fixed line length text (Including the repair of hyphenated words) It even pastes text into old DOS programs! The list of uses for this software just goes on and on.

Clips are presented in spread sheet format. You can see up to 500 cells (clips) at a time. Each cell displays the clip title and moving the mouse over a title displays the contents (Text or graphic)

Spartan is not aimed at any particular user. Anyone who spends more than a few minutes a day at his PC will benefit from Spartan's time saving fearures.

Download Spartan Multi Clipboard 7.15.00 in Softonic

Design elementsIDpack ID card software integrates powerful editing tools to crop, resize and transform images. Harmonize your design with the latest "Image Editor" feature allowing you to adjust the brightness & contrast levels, color levels, and other advanced filters.

Tune your pictures to perfection with the "Picture Filter" feature to adjust the brightness & contrast levels and RGB color levels for clear and crisp ID card photos.

Integrate conditional objects, color coding, and data triggered objects, and other endless possibilities. DatabaseIDpack Business will fetch data from your Microsoft Access or ODBC databases through a user-friendly data management interface.

Integrate IDpack with your company database for fast and reliable results. Printing and OutputIDPack prints on plastic ID cards, Paper badges, DYMO labels and other labels.

Batch print single or double-sided ID cards, employee ID cards, event passes, student ID cards, membership cards, loyalty cards and more. Desktop printing is easy as 1-2-3, with more than 1000 built in Avery label formats, plus 40 DYMO LabelWriter formats.

SecurityIDpack Business has the most comprehensive security features from basic password protection to advanced user rights management. The administrator can easily manage user privileges from the design to printing processes.

IDpack gives you the power to encode ID cards and ID badges with barcodes (24 symbologies) and ID photos. IDpack Business is about handing you the power to design, secure and produce ID cards and ID badges at a mouse click.

Download IDpack Business 9 in Softonic

If you're tired of the Windows native image viewer and want to use another tool to browse through your photos, look no further. We found it for you: FastPictureViewer.

FastPictureViewer is a fast, straightforward photo viewer that lets you scan the contents of a whole photo folder in a very easy way. You can move along pictures with many different key combinations (arrow keys, + and – keys, page up and page down keys) and also the mouse wheel. Plus the mouse buttons can be customized to quickly zoom in a photo.

FastPictureViewer works only with JPG and HD photo formats, and also supports XMP ratings which are compatible with popular photo tools like Adobe Lightroom.

That said, don't expect to find many other features in this program. FastPictureViewer doesn't include all the bells and whistles you could expect from an image viewer. I would say FastPictureViewer is especially addressed to users who just need a tool to quickly review photos and pick those which need further editing.

The program features a sleek, dark interface with a minimalistic design that contributes to put all the attention on the photo itself.

FastPictureViewer is an attractive, easy photo viewer that's mainly focused on browsing large picture collections and doesn't include any extra tools like the ones you find in similar apps.

Download FastPictureViewer Professional 1.6.226 in Softonic

With a name like My Notes Keeper, it's not too hard to guess what this program is intended for. The developer, however, has ambitious plans for the little application and lists a whole world of other uses for the tool, from e-book to outlining application, making My Notes Keeper nothing if not flexible.

The My Notes Keeper interface is unlikely to cause you any major problems. It is very intuitive and can be managed much like Microsoft Word, even down to the skins. The general idea is that you add notes in the large, word processor-like area, customizing them to your liking with all the usual fonts, colors and formatting. They are then displayed as a modifiable tree diagram, where parent and child tasks, color-coding and easy moving make your notes extremely easy to organize and view.

My Notes Keeper has an impressive range of features and configuration options, the majority of which are designed to help you get as much detail as possible into each note. You can add links and images, attach documents, import data, export the notes and print and structure your trees as desired. It is this range of flexibility and content which makes the program so versatile. Although the developer's suggestion that you can use it as a photo album is probably stretching a little, it would be perfect for any kind of research, especially if the notes could be typed up directly in the program.

If organized notes and information is central to your task, you're probably going to like My Notes Keeper. It makes it very easy to see the relationship between different areas of information and once the note has been written, it is easy to change, move or erase it, which means it is perfect for research, which is likely to change and develop over time. My Notes Keeper is quite detailed, and while some will appreciate the depth this adds to their work, many others just won't need such a wealth of extra information.

My Notes Keeper is perfect for research where displaying detailed, related information is key to the task.

Download My Notes Keeper 2.7 beta 8 in Softonic

Photoscape is an amazing free photo editor. It includes so many filters, tools and special effects you'll find it hard to believe it's actually free.

Photoscape includes just about everything you need to view, optimize, edit, print and have fun with your photos. In fact, it's so complete that many would call it a free Photoshop alternative. Sure, it's not quite up to the level of Photoshop, but it's truly a great alternative to Adobe's big shot - and it makes photo editing a lot more fun!

One of the first striking elements in Photoscape is its uncommon interface design. From the program's main window you can choose what you want to do: view pictures, optimize those that didn't come out so well, print several photos on a single page collage-style or perhaps add any of the dozens of filters and special effects included in the program.

Other extra tools featured in Photoscape are a file renamer, a color picker, a screen capture tool and even a RAW converter.

There's really nothing negative to say about Photoscape. Just download it, test it, love it and keep it forever. It's free!

Download Photoscape 3.6 in Softonic

Organize your photos

The all-new Google Picasa keeps the same interface structure of previous versions, but features new enriching options to manage, edit, and show off your photos in an even more comfortable way, both offline and online – thanks to the Picasa Web Album syncing tool.

Picasa displays all your indexed photos in a handy folder structure. You can let the program scan the whole drive in search for pictures or select specific directories. A double click on any image will display it in full screen and let you access to a handful of basic editing tools: cropping, straightening, adjusting color and light or fixing red eye, among others.

New features

The latest version of Picasa includes a couple of exciting new features: facial recognition and geo-tagging. The first one means that Picasa can now scan your photo library, recognize and extract people's faces, and finally let you add a name to them. The process takes a while to get started – loads of faces to tag and names to write down – but if you go to the Unnamed tag under the People album, you'll be able to add new names and faces in batches and get the job done much quicker. As for the geo-tagging function, it's now easier to use thanks to the embedding of Google Maps in Picasa: simply select the photos you want to geotag, open Google Maps by clicking on the 'Places' button, navigate to the appropriate location and click OK.

We especially like Picasa's Photo Viewer, which you can configure to replace the original Windows default image viewer. It offers more tools and displays photos on a much nicer interface when viewing them directly in Windows Explorer, so when Picasa asks you if you want to use it, don't hesitate!

But Picasa is not only about viewing and fixing images. You can also give free rein to your imagination with its tools to create posters, collages, screensavers and even movies. The greatest thing about these tools is not only the fact that they give you the ability to create something unique and original with your photos; it's also that they're surprisingly easy to use, and don't require any tech abilities or photo editing skills at all.

Conclusion

The all-new Picasa has successfully completed what seemed a difficult task: improving a software app that was already very good.

Download Picasa 3.9.1.535 in Softonic

If you''re looking for a wintry theme for your PC, this may be the one for you. As it's an official Windows theme, installing it couldn't be easier. There are no system modifications here - simply unpack the Snowflakes and Frost themepack and your Windows 7 personalization window will pop up with the theme already installed.

From here, you can browse through Snowflakes and Frost's wallpapers, tweak the frosty window color and pick the sounds and screensaver. Unfortunately, Snowflakes and Frost doesn't come with special sounds or screensavers - you can just choose from ones you already have installed on your system.

The Snowflakes and Frost wallpapers are great though - high definition, crystal clear photos of icicles and snowflakes in close up. Their intricate patterns and variety of silvery blues make beautiful wallpapers that are very easy to see your icons on, an important point to bear in mind. They also tone perfectly with the custom window color Microsoft has picked for this theme.

Lack of screensaver aside, Snowflakes and Frost is a beautiful winter theme for your Windows 7 PC.

Download Snowflakes and Frost Windows 7 theme in Softonic

This tool lets you create an image from scratch or edit one of your images in an intuitive interface. The program is easy enough to use like any other Paint-like application, but also has some powerful features that you normally don't find in other free graphic editors.

Among the features included in RealWorld Paint you'll find support for layers and masks – just like Photoshop - and a bunch of special effects and filters, image blending, support for gradients and shadows and more, besides the basic drawing and retouching tools. RealWorld Paint may not offer the same array of options you find in professional graphic suites, but it's still a surprising selection of tools for a free editor.

RealWorld Paint has also support for scanners and lets you import images from the clipboard or take a snapshot of your desktop to start working on it.

RealWorld Paint is a free image editor with support for layers, masks and various effects that lets you can create your own drawings and also edit photos.

Download RealWorld Paint 2011.1 in Softonic

Thanks to iCloud, synchronization between Apple devices is easier than ever. If you have a Windows PC and want a similar level of ease file sharing and data storage, you're going to want to install iCloud Control Panel.

iCloud Control Panel lets you synchronize videos, photos and more from your Apple mobile device or tablet and lets you transfer it onto your Windows PC the same way it would if you owned a Mac. In addition to the obvious stored media, you can also transfer documents, emails, contacts and your calendar to your PC.

The setup for iCloud Control Panel is simple. Either register for an account with iCloud or access your credentials on Apple and select the services you want to activate. For browser-based services, iCloud Control Panel requires Internet Explorer 8 or higher or Safari. You'll also need to have Microsoft Outlook 2007 or later if you want to sync emails, notes, contacts or your calendar.

With iCloud Control Panel, you no longer need to own a Mac to enjoy Apple's cloud-based storage in all its glory.

Download iCloud Control Panel for Windows 1.0.1 in Softonic

If you need something more powerful than Microsoft Paint but not as complex as Photoshop, Paint.NET is what you're looking for.

This nicely designed image editor features the simple interface everyone loves to have in applications, but at the same time offers a surprisingly wide array of tools and options you would only expect to find in large graphic suites.

Paint.NET lets you work on several images simultaneously, has support for layers, keeps an action history that lets you undo any changes, and includes a variety of drawing tools (brushes, geometrical shapes). You'll also find several special filters and effects that can turn your image into an oil painting or a pencil drawing in just one click.

That said, don't expect Paint.NET to be some kind of free Photoshop alternative. If you use the Adobe app to work on your images, you'll surely miss many tools in Paint.NET. For everyone else though, this is a perfect tool for daily simple image editing.

Paint.NET sits somewhere between a basic editor and a complex graphic suite, featuring a nicely designed interface and a bunch of handy tools for quick photo optimization and retouching.

Download Paint.NET 3.5.10 in Softonic

The seven images contained in the Windows 8 Wallpaper Pack include relaxing landscapes and vibrant nature close-ups, available in two resolutions: 1920x1200 and 1600x1500. They’re all high-quality photos that will look fabulous on your monitor.

For those who can’t wait until Windows 8 hits the shelves, Windows 8 Wallpaper Pack is a good way to start. And if you feel brave enough, you can also try the Developer Preview!

With the Windows 8 Wallpaper Pack you can enjoy the official Windows 8 wallpapers on your current desktop.

Download Windows 8 Wallpaper Pack in Softonic

JPEG IFilter extends the services capabilities to index the JPEG files (extensions JPG, JPEG, JPE, JFIF) and to perform content search for them.

JPEG IFilter is a software component that provides benefits together with other Windows applications. With AimAtFile Fast File Search the IFilter helps you quickly find photos in your home collection.

With Microsoft Indexing Service under Internet Information Server or with SharePoint Portal the IFilter lets you provide your site or portal visitors with a powerful search for image files.

There are several standards that determine methods of storing text information in the image files: EXIF, IPTC/NAA, XMP. The IFilter is EXIF standard compliant.

Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) is a Japan Electronic Industry Development Association (JEIDA) standard. It is supported by the most of digital cameras manufactures and it is supported by Windows XP.

The JPEG files summary properties that you can edit in Windows Explorer are stored in the EXIF format.

Download JPEG IFilter Workstation in Softonic

JPEG IFilter extends the services capabilities to index the JPEG files (extensions JPG, JPEG, JPE, JFIF) and to perform content search for them.

JPEG IFilter is a software component that provides benefits together with other Windows applications. With AimAtFile Fast File Search the IFilter helps you quickly find photos in your home collection.

With Microsoft Indexing Service under Internet Information Server or with SharePoint Portal the IFilter lets you provide your site or portal visitors with a powerful search for image files.

There are several standards that determine methods of storing text information in the image files: EXIF, IPTC/NAA, XMP. The IFilter is EXIF standard compliant.

Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) is a Japan Electronic Industry Development Association (JEIDA) standard. It is supported by the most of digital cameras manufactures and it is supported by Windows XP.

The JPEG files summary properties that you can edit in Windows Explorer are stored in the EXIF format.

Download JPEG IFilter Server in Softonic

With SyncCell one mouse-click puts your appointments, meetings, and other data on your RAZR or other Motorola cellular phone. Never be without your important information again!

You can sync your phone with multiple Outlook folders or even with multiple computers! It's Outlook 2007 and Vista compatible! Your cellular phone can be your personal assistant and SyncCell can turn your RAZR or other Motorola phone into a powerful business tool.

Now you can have all of your important information with you on your RAZR cell phone! SyncCell is the only Motorola synchronization solution trusted by demanding business professionals!

With SyncCell you never have to wonder what time your appointment is because with one click all that information can be at your fingertips on your cellular phone.

You don't have to pay the high prices for a PDA or Smartphone when all you really need is SyncCell. With the Backup and Restore features, you never have to worry about losing your contacts.

When no other Internet connection is available, SyncCell provides an easy way to connect to the Internet, send text messages, or send emails in even the most remote locations.

The Internet, email, and text message features create versatile and powerful business tools. SyncCell's convenient file manager lets you simply drag-n-drop to download photos / videos / ringtones / MP3's.

SyncCell is also Bluetooth Compatible! Sync Wirelessly with Bluetooth USB Adapter! SyncCell has won multiple industry awards and has been rated as both the Best-In-Class and as a Best Buy!

Free Upgrades For One Year! Why PAY for a PDA when SyncCell is all you need? See for yourself why our customers say SyncCell is the only one we trust!

Integrated support for Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, Outlook Express, Vista Contacts, Vista Calendar, GMail Contacts, Google Calendar, Thunderbird, Lightning, Sunbird.

Download SyncCell for Motorola in Softonic

Mezzmo is easy to set up and use. Mezzmo automatically finds and organizes all your music, movies and photos on your computer. Import music, movies, photos and playlists from your iPhone, iPod, Audio CDs, iTunes, Windows Media Player and WinAmp.

Mezzmo transcodes music, movies and photos on-the-fly so they play perfectly on your DLNA-enabled device. Multi-threaded technology and support for the latest Dual Core, Quad Core or higher PC systems gives you fast transcoding and super-fast streaming.

Media format support includes all popular video file formats, music file formats and image file formats. You can even connect and stream to multiple devices at the same time!

Install Mezzmo onto your PC today and start streaming music, movies and photos to all your DLNA-enabled devices in your home!

Download Mezzmo in Softonic

You won't notice that Versomatic is installed -- until you need to retrieve a lost version of a file. Use your favorite application to develop new ideas, collaborate, brainstorm, make changes and save, knowing that all your steps can be quickly retraced.

Versomatic works with any type of file including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, DTP, CAD, HTML, TXT, C++, JPG photos. (you get the picture).

Once installed, there is nothing you need to do for Versomatic to do its thing. If you know how to save files and right - click a mouse you are ready to go.

If you know how to save files and right - click a mouse you are ready to go.

Download Versomatic in Softonic

Microsoft Live SkyDrive is a free 25GB online virtual drive you can access for free with your Windows Live ID. It enables you to upload and share photos, videos and documents, either in public folders – accessible by anyone – or private folders than only you can see. And with this little app called SDExplorer Base, managing your stuff on SkyDrive is now easier than ever.

SDExplorer Base adds a new drive to the 'My PC' window, enabling you to access your files and folders with just a single click. Once logged in to Microsoft SkyDrive Live, you'll be able to manage your data as if it was stored right on your local computer.

SDExplorer Base lets you perform all basic file management actions, such as creating and deleting folders, renaming items, and also copying folders and files to and from SkyDrive. Being the Base version, however, there are some things you won’t be able to do with SDEplorer Base, like moving files and folders within SkyDrive, or changing the sharing mode.

Note that all these actions in SDExplorer Base may take a bit longer than usual because it's all being done online. Other than that, SDEplorer Base works really well. It'll feel just as if your hard drive suddenly found an extra 25 GB!

If you use Microsoft Live Skydrive to host files online, you'll love SDExplorer Base: a small handy app that lets you manage your online data as if it was stored on your local drive!

Download SDExplorer Base 3.0.0.476 in Softonic

These days there are so many more things you can do with your photographs than just putting them in albums, which are then stored in the loft. Software such as Microsoft AutoCollage allows you to get more creative with your images.

It may look very simple when you first launch the application, but actually, a lot of research and development has gone into Microsoft AutoCollage. The project is an advanced computer vision and imaging program that gathers a selection of your photos and knits them together seamlessly to produce eye-catching collages.

The level of automation in Microsoft AutoCollage means that you don't really have to lift a finger. You just select the folder you want the program to collect the photos from, choose how many images you want incorporated into the collage using the slider, then click 'Create'. You can then save, email or even set the picture as your background wallpaper, directly from within AutoCollage.

The technology in Microsoft AutoCollage is certainly very impressive, particularly the face detection element, which automatically picks out peoples heads, allowing you to draw attention to these. If anything though, I felt AutoCollage was a little too hands-off as there are no real image editing tools for you to refine your collages yourself, or add text, frames, etc. What's more, there were a few bugs that cropped up in testing, such as when setting the image as a desktop in XP.

Microsoft AutoCollage is a powerful collage-rendering tool, it's just a shame it doesn't give you more control over the finished output.

Download Microsoft AutoCollage 2008 1.1 in Softonic

Equally suitable for personal or business use, WinPIM uses an Outlook-like interface to organize your contacts, calendar, tasks, diary, notes and email. The whole program is highly customizable, meaning that you can change almost any aspect of its physical appearance to make sure it suits your needs. Configuration options are also extensive. Best of all, WinPIM is password protected.

Although it does its job well, WinPIM doesn't really offer the average user anything that can't be found in programs such as Microsoft Outlook. Where it does excel, however, is in the volume of extra information that can be added to each field, with the ability to attach notes, photos, files and other documents to almost every function. There are also multiple fields within each entry. Everything is importable and exportable, making it very unlikely that you won't be able to add the information and details you need.

WinPIM has some nice touches, like a solid search function and a section that easily converts time zones and area codes. This is great for users who want to keep extremely detailed records.

WinPIM is an efficient personal organizer that is especially useful for users who need to record lots of supplementary information.

Download WinPIM 11.31.3230 in Softonic