aMSN is an alternative to the classic MSN Messenger, with more features yet a much weaker interface. The chat client looks very similar to Microsoft's product yet differs on a number of points. aMSN developers have delved into the preferences menu, adding extra little features like event alerts and sounds, conferencing support or autoaway messages. Like with MSN Messenger you'll be able to transfer files and organize all your contacts into groups.

Audio/Video support is the number one function that users look for in IM clients nowadays, yet an area which aMSN doesn't particularly focus on. Webcam support is fairly weak and unstable, and instead of integrating into your chat window will open up in a new Quicktime window.

One of the biggest pet peeves of users with aMSN is the interface. It simply doesn't compare with more sleeker, more recent IM clients. To the developer's defense though you can download all sorts of skins from the program's website. Similarly it offers up a range of plugins, to customize your client to your liking. Chat addicts will also appreciate the animated emoticons on hand.

In terms of performance, you have to keep in mind that aMSN is still a Beta product, so still liable to some crashes and bugs. We did have some trouble when opening up new chat window and noticed that the client tended to use a lot of CPU.

In a few words, aMSN is a good alternative to MSN for users looking to add more plugins, skins and delve into the preferences menu.

Download aMSN Messenger 0.97.2 in Softonic

For a while now, computer users have been waking up to the real threats that exist while browsing the web. Every day, more turn their back on the established vulnerabilities of Internet Explorer and opt for the hottest open source project on the net, Mozilla’s Firefox. But there are plenty of alternatives that offer great features, and one of those is Avant Browser.

Based on Internet Explorer, Avant will import all your favorites automatically and also keep your settings intact. As such it makes a good alternative to the popular Firefox browser, which shuns all things IE, and may seem slightly too foreign from the conventions that many users have built up while using Microsoft’s browser. Although Avant Browser is based on the Internet Explorer engine, it doesn’t fall victim to the same security vulnerabilities (although no-one is claiming that it’s invulnerable), and while it’s at it, adds some great tools designed to enhance your browsing experience.

The Flash blocker is an effective way to keep memory usage of the browser to a minimum or to simply cut out those over-elaborate ads that invade and take over many web sites. To appeal to a wider audience, there are quick links that let you quickly translate pages to a wide selection of languages, or you can customize the look of the browser using the many skins that are included by default. Of course, no modern browser could claim to be complete without tabbed browsing and Avant really delivers the goods with a system that allows you to even reload tabs after you’ve closed them.

In fact, this browser has some of the best extras that we’ve seen to date, in particular the system whereby tabs can be resized like normal program windows letting you display multiple site windows side-by-side, within one browser window. There‘s also a useful toolbar item that displays tags describing the page that you’re on. Click on a tag and you open a list of site that result from a search using that tag or keyword; brilliant! And the piece de résistance is an automatic session saver that lets you open up all the sites you were browsing when you last closed the program.

Avant Browser is relatively unknown as a mainstream browser and as such is not restricted from experimenting and taking the best ideas from the big hitters, as well as adding its own nuggets to the mix. What you get is a very impressive selection of tools in a browser that will even run your Microsoft update without objections. Definitely worth consideration if you are thinking of changing browser.

Download Avant Browser 11.6.20 in Softonic

CallClerk allows you to see calling party info plus a tailored name and picture whenever your phone rings. A computerized voice announces calls, sends e-mails/blog updates, hangs up on unwanted calls, dials a number from the clipboard or a speed dial list, and sounds an old fashion bell ring. Printable directory & history log.

Features in CallClerk:

• Automatically hang up on unwanted callers
• Record your phone conversations
• Sends you an email to let you know you have received a call
• Replace your answering machine
• Send and receive faxes
• Automatically create and upload a web page listing your calls
• Pop up a Microsoft Outlook contact card for the caller
• Automatically link to an internet reverse phone number look-up service to find more information about your caller
• Automatically run other software programs when a call is received
• Make dialing an outgoing number a snap
• Let your computer work as a speaker phone
• Report incoming calls to other computers networked to yours
• Keep track of your calls
• Share your computer’s modem with other software applications
• Auto detect if your modem supports Caller ID

Download CallClerk 3.4.6 in Softonic

Live Messenger, previously known as MSN Messenger, was renamed as part of Microsoft's move towards the Live online community. So far, the most popular IM app in the world had already gone through a bunch of updates, but this new name also meant important changes that would somehow start a new period in Messenger's history.

Live Messenger includes some outstanding characteristics that are well worth a mention. Firstly, its all-new interface features a completely different design from traditional Windows applications, which you can also customize by choosing your own color scheme. In order to maintain this neatness, the menu bar has been hidden under a single top right corner button but this makes it a bit uncomfortable to browse through options. Luckily, the most common actions (send email, call a contact, access MSN Spaces and view shared folders) have been implemented as nice little buttons right under your username, so they're easy to access. Another thing we liked is that you can hide side tabs in the main interface window (right click on any of them and check the "Hide tabs" checkbox). However, there's apparently no way to hide the bottom ad.

Live Messenger offers plenty of emoticons and winks to cheer up your conversations with. You can expand both collections by easily adding new sets which you'll find by the hundred on the Internet. Customization possibilities include changing the chat window background or even adding a personal message to your nickname, but not creating custom status messages. At least this new version features the longed-for offline messaging tool, enabling you to leave a message to any of your contacts even if they're not online.

The two most important features in this new Messenger are the ability of sharing folders and making free PC-to-phone calls. As for the first one, it proves as a very handy way to share pictures, while the second feature allows you to save some pennies on your phone bill. However, this service is currently only available in certain countries (United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Finland, Belgium, Spain and Italy) and requires a subscription to the Verizon Web Calling system.

In any case, you can always make use of the PC-to-PC call feature, which provides excellent sound quality. In fact, we must say this feature has been pretty well implemented in Live Messenger. Its ease of use makes it a great alternative to written conversations: just click on the phone icon and your friend will instantly receive an invitation to answer the phone call on the chat window itself. A simple wizard will guide you through audio configuration and a couple of sliders enable you control the volume of your speakers (or headphones) and mic. You can still use the chat window while you talk, for instance to send a web link or a handwritten message.

Summing up, the main issue with Live Messenger is that it has taken it too much time to offer tools that were already found in other IM apps, such as the VoIP calls mentioned above. However, its attractive design plus the huge number of people who are already MSN Messenger users (and who will eventually upgrade their client) will probably help this Live version reach the top.

Download Windows Live Messenger 9.0.1407.1107 Beta 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 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. The program 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 it's 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 1.0.31.0 in Softonic

Paint.NET is an efficient, small, light photo editor with a minimalistic GUI. It's impressive how it can have so many tools in just 1.8MB of space and it uses less then 55 MB of RAM to run. Although it wouldn't be fair to compare it with Photoshop, it is true that many home users will find Paint.NET perfect for their needs and really easy to use.

Unfortunately, it limits you to edit only one image at a time and there are two major features missing: the magnetic lasso for the selection of objects in a picture and support for Twain-scanners/cameras. That said, the program is constantly updated and you can always find different ways to do things.

A very interesting feature is the possibility to install many different plug-ins that you can choose in the program's forum. You can for example install a shape3D tool, a pack of custom brushes, a motion sharpen plug-in and or silhouette tool.

Paint.NET is a very promising photo editor which is good enough for non professional users. Although it lacks some important functions and limits you to work on one picture at a time, it's useful enough for everyday use.

Download Paint.NET 3.31 in Softonic

Logon Loader allows you to simply and easily change your Windows XP startup screen without any specialist knowledge.

Simply download the startup screen that you'd like displayed when you start Windows and once set, the picture will be shown every time you start Windows XP. You can load as many pictures or images as you want so that when you want to change it, you can do so easily simply by selecting another picture. You can even program it to cycle through screens so that you've got a different picture every time you start Windows. If you're not sure if your images are the right resolution for the Windows XP start screen then you can easily preview how it will look before uploading it permanently into Login Loader. All you need to do this is a screen shot of the login screen you'd like to use.

This is a very simple way to personalize Windows XP and is so easy to use, it makes you wonder why Microsoft don't install it as standard with XP.

Download Logon Loader 3.0 in Softonic

Windows Live includes a pack of beta services that Microsoft has made available for downloading. One of these utilities is Windows Live Photo Gallery, which is included in Vista as the standard photo viewer.

This app enables you to organize your photo collection, see it as a slideshow, use it as a screensaver and even optimize them with a set of basic editing tools such as red eye removal, brightness and contrast adjustment or image crop, amongst others.

After a somewhat garbled installation, you'll find that the program itself is very easy to use. The interface follows the typical Microsoft's design for some other tools of theirs, like Windows Media Player.

However, there are some issues that make it clear why this program is still in beta. It seems that Windows Live Photo Gallery has trouble when rendering thumbnails and sometimes uses the default icon instead of the actual photo. Also, I found the optimization tools quite clunky and their results not really that rewarding.

Download Windows Live Photo Gallery 12.0.1308.1023 in Softonic

Copernic Desktop Search (CDS) brings the power of a sophisticated, yet easy-to-use search engine right to your PC and allows you instantly to search files, emails, and email attachments stored anywhere on your PC hard drive. It executes sub-second searching of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, Acrobat PDFs, and all popular music, picture and video formats. CDS also conducts a desktop search of your browser history, favorites, and contacts.

Keeping the index “fresh” is a key factor in any search experience, and CDS maintains the freshest search index in the industry. With Copernic's patent-pending “Instant Indexing™” technology, new and updated files are indexed the instant they are saved to disk (Windows XP/2000/NT only), and emails are indexed the instant they arrive (Outlook only). You can't get fresher than that!

CDS was designed to be the world's lightest and most efficient desktop search with respect to CPU utilization. Copernic's exclusive patent pending “Smart Indexing™” technology monitors user activity and indexes only during idle time, assuring that CDS will never slow down your computer.

CDS features an exclusive fault-tolerant desktop search index. This means that if, during the course of the year, your search index has grown to 50,000 documents, you won't wake up one morning and find that your entire index has been corrupted, or has crashed, forcing you to restart the whole indexing process from scratch. With Copernic's patent pending fault-tolerant technology, your entire PC will always be searchable whenever you want it to be.

CDS takes your search terms as you type and searches your entire hard drive. As you add more terms to your search, you see your search results narrowing down right before your eyes. As you scroll through the results list of files or emails, a preview is shown on the bottom of the screen. Just click “open” and the file or email opens using its original application. Nothing could be simpler!

Download Copernic Desktop Search 2.3 in Softonic

If you're not content with Windows Vista standard appearance and want to customize it in detail, this program is for you.

Vista Visual Master lets you do loads of changes to Microsoft's new operating system, mainly referring to its visual appearance and graphic design. Tweaks are organized in different categories to make them easier to find and apply. You'll find tools to customize desktop and system icons, change logon screen and boot picture and personalize the OEM information (that is, the PC owner's name) among others. There's also a special tool to patch Windows theme DLL file, in order to be able to use third-party visual themes. The program includes a restoration function as well, in case any tweak doesn't have the desired effect or you simply want to go back to the standard configuration.

What I didn't like about Vista Visual Master is the inclusion of links to other programs under the Vista Extras tab. I felt like they were trying to fool me, while I know this is clearly ads. But then again, at least they're hidden under a tab and don't disturb the program's functionality.

With Vista Visual Master you can customize every single aspect in Windows Vista, from logon screens to desktop icons, in just a couple clicks.

Download Vista Visual Master 1.0.2.0 in Softonic

When I was younger I used to spend hours hanging around in chat rooms and meeting new people from all over the world.

Today I've had the chance to chat again, but in a slightly different way. I've used Weblin, a very original software app that works together with your web browser, enabling you to chat with the people who are visiting the same webpage as you. Also, your chat personality is more than just a plain nickname: it's a fully animated avatar that walks around the bottom bar of your browser window.

At the beginning it may be difficult to find people to chat with, but you can start by the program's "topcloud": a list of the most populated webpages that you can access from Weblin's icon in the system tray. Following this method I soon met some nice people on Youtube and had a short chat with them. Conversations can be held via text balloons or standard chat window, but I wasn't sure which one to use. On the one hand balloons behave in a strange way, as the text you send is not erased and you have to delete it before writing again; on the other hand, the chat window takes way too much space and it doesn't let me read webpages properly.

After chatting for a while, I started browsing Weblin's website and I was surprised to discover a highly detailed customization menu for your personal profile and avatar, which can't be found on the program's settings. So once you've registered your account, be sure to visit the site and explore it for yourself.

Generally speaking, I found Weblin a very original chat app where you can have fun and make friends. On the downside, having a dozen avatars sitting on a certain webpage really disturbs your web browsing.

An original way to chat with other people in your web browser, although certainly difficult to combine with actual web browsing.

Download Weblin 2.7.9 in Softonic

We can customize our computer in many ways - by changing the screen, the colors of the windows, fonts, cursors etc. Now with Windowpaper XP, you can customize the bottom of your folders.

In Windows 98, this was a standard function although in Windows XP onwards, Microsoft seem to have mysteriously removed it. There, these developers have designed a tool which uses any picture of your choice as the background for a particular folder. It is very easy to use - simply select the folder you want to customize, choose the photo you want to place in it and you're done. You can undo any changes within the main program so you can experiment o your heart's content. You can use photos in the most common formats (BMP, JPG, GIF) and preview the results in real time on the program interface. Be warned however that it's best to use small resolution images and big ones can take ages to render and can actually slow your folders down. You can also modify all the folders within a folder by checking the "include subfolders" option so that you don't need to go through every single one separately.

A very nice little utility that performs a function that still should come as standard in Windows anyway. it's not essential but it makes your folders look much cooler.

Download Windowpaper XP 1.01 in Softonic

Privacy is such a key issue these days, yet we often neglect to think about just how exposed our movements are. Click on the Windows 'Start' menu then highlight 'Documents' - every file you've accessed recently. Now click Ctrl-H - a list of all the web sites you've visited today. Starting to get the picture? Thankfully there are lots of programs out there that can help you shield this information from prying eyes, and Privacy Guardian is one of the most comprehensive I've seen.

The application is a breeze to install and set up, and once running it cleans traces of your activity very thoroughly, including a file shredder to make sure that no one, but no one, sees that you were looking at that Spice Girls web site. Unfortunately there's no stealth mode within the program but Privacy Guardian makes up for this minor shortfall in other ways. For instance, it's the only tracks eraser I know of that can remove all MS Office history, and it has an automatic scheduler that performs clean-ups on startup or shutdown.

This is a highly user friendly application that lets you delete unwanted traces of PC and Net activity without a lot of hassle. Highly recommended.

Download Privacy Guardian 4.1.0.36 in Softonic

Image viewer, editor, and convertor. PMView supports saving and loading of more than 40 different file formats, including JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, and PhotoCD. Automatic thumbnailing, thumbnail image browsing, screen capture utility, TWAIN interface for scanners, image filtering, and more. User customizable QuickScripts allow PMView Pro to remember settings and make everyday conversion tasks simpler.

PMView allows for printing an image using multiple sheets of paper, enabling the user to print out a huge poster using standard letter sized paper and gluing the parts together. In addition PMView is faster, smaller, and lighter on system resources than other leading image viewers.

File formats that can be read:

• OS/2 Bitmap (BMP)
• Windows Bitmap (BMP)
• Windows Cursor (CUR)
• DCA/Intel DCX (DCX)
• Flexible Image Transport System (FITS)
• CCITT Group 3 Facsimile (G3)
• Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)
• OS/2 Icon (ICO)
• Windows Icon (ICO)
• Electronic Arts IFF (IFF)
• Digital Research GEM (IMG)
• JPEG File Interchange Format (JPG)
• OS/2 Boot Logo (LGO)
• MacPaint (MAC)
• Microsoft Paint (MSP)
• Kodak Photo-CD (PCD)
• ZSoft Paintbrush Format (PCX)
• PC Paint/Pictor Format (PIC)
• Bio-Rad PIC Image Format (PIC)
• Softimage Picture Format (PIC)
• PBMPlus Portable Bitmap (PBM)
• PBMPlus Portable Graymap (PGM)
• PBMPlus Portable Pixmap (PPM)
• PBMPlus Portable Anymap (PNM)
• Portable Network Graphics (PNG)
• Adobe Photoshop Document (PSD)
• OS/2 Pointer (PTR)
• Sun Raster (RAS)
• Compuserve RLE (RLE)
• Utah RLE (RLE)
• Structured Fax File (SFF)
• Seattle Filmworks (SFW)
• SGI Image File Format (SGI)
• PMView Slideshow File Format (SHW)
• Truevision Targa Format (TGA)
• Tagged Interchange File Format (TIF)
• WAP Bitmap Format (WBMP)
• WordPerfect Graphics (WPG)
• X Bitmap (XBM)
• X Pixmap (XPM)
• X Window Dump (XWD)

File formats that can be written:

• OS/2 Bitmap (BMP)
• Windows Bitmap (BMP)
• Windows Cursor (CUR)
• DCA/Intel DCX (DCX)
• Encapsulated Postscript (EPS)
• Flexible Image Transport System (FITS)
• CCITT Group 3 Facsimile (G3)
• Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)
• OS/2 Icon (ICO)
• Windows Icon (ICO)
• Electronic Arts IFF (IFF)
• Digital Research GEM (IMG)
• JPEG File Interchange Format (JPG)
• OS/2 Boot Logo (LGO)
• MacPaint (MAC)
• Microsoft Paint (MSP)
• ZSoft Paintbrush Format (PCX)
• PC Paint/Pictor Format (PIC)
• Softimage Picture Format (PIC)
• PBMPlus Portable Bitmap (PBM)
• PBMPlus Portable Graymap (PGM)
• PBMPlus Portable Pixmap (PPM)
• PBMPlus Portable Anymap (PNM)
• Portable Network Graphics (PNG)
• Adobe Photoshop Document (PSD)
• OS/2 Pointer (PTR)
• Sun Raster (RAS)
• Compuserve RLE (RLE)
• Utah RLE (RLE)
• SGI Image File Format (SGI)
• Structured Fax File (SFF)
• PMView Slideshow File Format (SHW)
• Truevision Targa Format (TGA)
• Tagged Interchange File Format (TIF)
• WAP Bitmap Format (WBMP)
• WordPerfect Graphics (WPG)
• X Bitmap (XBM)
• X Pixmap (XPM)
• X Window Dump (XWD)

Download PMView Pro 3.51 in Softonic

A complete paint program designed with a intuitive user interface that makes AvancePaint easy to learn and use. It’s powerful enough to suit the advanced user and yet simple enough to please the beginner. Open unlimited number photo's or pictures and unleash your artistic talents as you will discover the advanced and powerful but easy to use graphical options!
A complete set of 20 photo-realistic filters and more then 40 textures are included.

Take a look at what this program has to offer:

• Easy to use yet powerful
• All functions of Microsoft Paint
• Lots of powerful effects: darken, lighten, sharpen, soften, blur, blend, etc.
• Draw advanced Bezier curves and polygons!
• Powerful color settings
• Many pencil style brushes
• WYSWYG fonts
• Multiple undo levels
• Import images from Twain compatible devices

Download AvancePaint 2.0 in Softonic

Password protect your files and restrict other users from being able to start, see, change or delete them. File protection activates automatically according to the current user's identity and the timetable that is defined for it. You can disable Internet access, games and the other entertainment during the working time.

For example, from 9:00 AM till 17:00 PM the user "User" can use Microsoft Office only, but after 17:00 PM he can also play his games and see pictures while the user "Admin" has the full access at any time. You can define a timetable and a list of restricted files for each user individually as you like.

Need to keep your children off your files and the Internet? You can define time periods for your kids when they are able to use Internet, games or the other programs. Also, Access Administrator may protect files from casual or unauthorized removal. The program is reliably protected by the password. You will find the program interface very easy to negotiate. Excellent online help is available. Try our password and security tools.

Download Access Administrator 4.54 in Softonic

The Microsoft Windows Mobile Device Center enables you to set up new partnerships, synchronize content and manage music, pictures and video with Windows Mobile powered devices (Windows Mobile 2003 or later).

The Windows Mobile Device Center combines an efficient business-data synchronization platform with a compelling user experience. Windows Mobile Device Center helps you to quickly set up new partnerships, synchronize business-critical information such as e-mail, contacts and calendar appointments, easily manage your synchronization settings, and transfer business documents between your device and PC.

The Windows Mobile Device Center simplifies managing media between your Windows Mobile powered device and your PC. With the picture acquisition wizard, you can easily tag and transfer all of the pictures from your Windows Mobile powered device to your PC’s Windows Photo Gallery.

Download Windows Mobile Device Center 6.0 in Softonic

Hamad Darwish is a kuwaitian photographer who was chosen by the Microsoft’s MSX Design Group to shoot the pictures that would be included into Microsoft's new operating system as the default Vista wallpapers.

Hamad shot about 6,000 photos during the 12 days he was involved in the Vista project. He picked 15 of them to send to Microsoft and finally five of those were included in Vista. As for the remaining pictures, Hamad made a selection of his 22 favorites to create this wonderful wallpaper collection, ready to decorate your Vista desktop.

Download Windows Vista Desktop Wallpaper Pack in Softonic

Learn how to make your pictures look their best, organize them so you'll always find the right shot, and share them with friends and family.Whether you’re a beginner or skilled photographer, see how you can improve your pictures using the simple, powerful creative tools in Digital Image Suite Anniversary Edition.

Organize your photos

Organizing and finding photos is quicker and easier with improved file management and viewing – organize photos by date, by size, 5-star rating and more.

Editing and effects

Learn more about powerful tools for editing and enhancing your pictures, like panoramic stitching.

Share your memories

Share your pictures with the world - from a simple e-mail attachment, to a DVD slideshow with music and narration, see how you can show off your best work

Download Microsoft Digital Image Starter Edition 2006 11.1 in Softonic

Royale Noir is an almost exact copy of Royale except with a dark purplish tint. If Royale was day, Royale Noir is night. No doubt about it, this is a ‘dark’ theme. If you’re the sort of person who likes bright and vivid colors, stay away from this theme.

As W3bbo pointed out, there are quite definitely issues with this theme due to its incompleteness. The most obvious being, the “Start” button’s hover and active states are unchanged from Royale, inconsistent with the purple tint surrounding. However, there is even a color scheme for Office 2003 so it will not default to the blue Luna colors.

Looking at it from the big picture, Royale Noir is a welcomed alternative to the extremely small collection of verified-by-Microsoft XP themes. However being incomplete, it is not recommended for the general consumers. Enthusiasts are welcomed to try it to stand out from the crowd, but even still, you’ll feel right at home with the familiar Luna/Royale style.

Download Royale Noir XP theme in Softonic