Download managers are one of the most important component of any PC users' tool kit since so many e-mails contains attachments that need to be downloaded on a daily basis.

That's not forgetting files and music and anything else that your hard drive accumulates during the day as you click away. Most people have a browser integrated download manager but sometimes, its nice to have a separate application to do the job in case your browser crashes and your downloads disappear with it.

Orbit Downloader is a fast, lightweight and easy-to-use free download manager which is usually based on P2P and multi-source downloading technology. This means that downloading with Orbit Downloader is usually super fast. Orbit Downloader supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, MMS and RTSP protocols although its developers claim that it can increase speeds by up to 500% are a bit far fetched. However, you may experience increases in speed of up to two or even three times as much using Orbit Downloader depending on the file and host.

What's also impressive is that Orbit Downloader is super lightweight occupying a very minuscule amount of RAM which is important if you've got multiple downloads running at once. Orbit Downloader has also got a handy Flash capture tool which allows you to save Flash video files from YouTube and DailyMotion etc without the need to use a separate video downloader.

Fast, easy to use and very lightweight, Orbit Downloader is a competitive alternative to any browser-integrated download manager.

Download Orbit Downloader 2.7.5 in Softonic

Fractal Forge is an application written in Delphi that lets you easily explore the branches of the Mandelbrot set. If you use Fractal Forge generated images you must acknowledge it. Features include:

• Export images, with JPG, PNG or BMP format
• Create and edit your favorite colors sequences or import
• Fractint Palettes
• Avi creations to document your fractal tours
• Print Poster-size image tiling smaller ones
• Julia and Orbits floating windows
• Post-processing graphic filters
• Wallpaper exports
• Several generating and coloring formulas coded in assembler
• Supports up to 4 CPU
• Print Poster-size image tiling smaller ones
• Full screen mode
• Help and tutorial included

Download Fractal Forge 2.8.2 in Softonic

SWF (short for Shockwave Flash) is a proprietary file format for multimedia and especially vector graphics. It is intended to be small enough for publication on the web and it is also often used for creating animated display graphics and menus for DVD movies, and television commercials. Unfortunately you can't just right-click and download this type of file. If you want to save them to your PC’s desktop or your mobile device, you need to find a way to save and convert them to a video file compatible with your favourite video playback software. Bare in mind that after the conversion process the output file's size will be much bigger, e.g. it’ll be more than 20 times bigger in a swf to mp4 conversion.

Magic swf2avi 2008 should simplify these operations, by checking the cache of your web-browser (IE, Opera or Firefox) and displaying all the swf files that your browser has saved while browsing. Sometimes website developers set meta tags which restrict SWF caching and in that case Magic swf2avi will hot help you in any way.

It’s a pity the application doesn’t provide you with an automatic tool to download SWF files, so sometimes you’ll need to use an additional program like Orbit Downloader. Magic swf2avi 2008 can convert SWF files in 38 formats, enough for nearly every device you might have, from MP3 player to mobile phones.

When the program manages to find swf files in your browser's cache, the whole process can be fairly quick. Unfortunately many videos are released in FLV format and not SWF and the program cannot convert them.

Download Magic Swf2Avi 5.0.8.408 in Softonic

If you're a big fan of the Solar System and staring into Space through your telescope, then you'll absolutely love OpenUniverse.

Open Universe is an exciting project that brings the Solar System to you - in realtime. Most similar programs simulate or recreate the solar system from static models but this program attempts to show you exactly what is going on at any one time. The program existing in a former state as Solar System Simulator (Ssystem) launched in 1997 and has expanded and advanced so much, that it's now come to encompass the entire universe. The word "Open" has been added to to encourage open source users to improve and enhance the project. This is a million times better than the Space Exploration option on Google Earth with highly detailed images of Earth and the planets. For example, you view the Earth from the Sun, zoom in and out and even zoom in on stars. It labels everything too so no more looking up in the sky and wondering what that constellation is. The graphics are not exactly brilliant - it's a bit block and some of the stars look like blobs of white ink. However as a learning tool, it's a brilliant little resource.

For space exploration fans and those that are trying to teach other about the Universe, OpenUniverse is an exciting and powerful project.

Download OpenUniverse 1.0 in Softonic

AstroGrav allows you to study how astronomical objects move and interact under the force of gravity. It features superb interactive 3D graphics which allow you to move around within an astronomical system that you are viewing, watching how it evolves with the passage of time.

A wide variety of sample files are provided, including Solar System, space mission, and abstract systems, enabling you to experiment with AstroGrav without having to go to the trouble of entering your own data. The comprehensive editing facilities allow you to either create your own astronomical systems, or to modify existing ones.

Quickly get to grips with the following concepts:

• Basic concepts of mass, position, velocity, acceleration, force, momentum, and energy
• Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion and Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation
• Many body systems and the n-body problem
• Orbits and Lagrange points
• Interchange of potential energy and kinetic energy in gravitational systems
• Projectiles and escape velocities
• Gravitational slingshots used in space missions

Download AstroGrav 1.6.1 in Softonic

3D Earth Screensaver is more than just a standard screensaver with some nice space imagery.

This screensaver makes you feel like you're flying through space. It presents you with an animated image of our planet as it floats in outer space, including also the Sun, the Moon and even the ISS orbiting around. Images are really beautiful: you can see reflections from sun beams on the surface of Earth, and also the city lights that begin to appear as darkness covers the planet.

3D Earth Screensaver includes two viewing modes: the demo mode, which simply acts as a screensaver and displays images, and the interactive mode, which enables you to actually interact with the screensaver. You can move from one point to another, zoom in or zoom out and learn more about our planet thanks to the screensaver's layers that include time zones, flags, borders and other details. Just one thing: don't expect to reach street level. This is not Google Earth.

On the downside, I didn't like having icons and text boxes displayed on the image in demo mode. I would have preferred to just have the gorgeous image of our blueish home: Earth.

It may not be as accurate as Google Earth, but 3D Earth Screensaver delivers beautiful images of our planet while you're away from your computer.

Download 3D Earth Screensaver 1.0 in Softonic

Have you ever wanted to take charge of a commercial airliner and fly around the world? Well X-Plane is about as close to the real thing as you’re ever going to get on your PC. Claiming to be the world’s “most comprehensive, powerful simulator” it’s so accurate that the US and Canadian aviation authorities have given it official approval to train pilots towards their commercial licence.

Of course, those guys are not sat behind a PC in their bedroom - their training is done in a $150,000 simulator - but what they see is exactly what you get on your PC. What’s more, you’re not limited to Earth – you can even fly around Mars!

Firstly, be warned. This is one MASSIVE program. Don’t be fooled by the 1.8MB file size in the game description – that’s just the installer. Once you’ve installed that, a very swanky download dialogue opens to download the other 1.3 gigabytes of the game. All those scenarios, vectored graphics and flight controls take up a lot of hardrive space. Depending on your bandwidth, you will be looking at hours, if not days to download the whole thing.

In this demo, you are limited to just one aircraft and five minutes of flight but in the full version, you can take control of props, jets, single- and multi-engine airplanes, as well as gliders, helicopters and VTOLs such as the V-22 Osprey and AV8-B Harrier. It also offers subsonic and supersonic flight dynamics, sporting aircraft from the Bell 206 Jet-Ranger helicopter and Cessna 172 light plane to the supersonic Concorde and Mach-3 XB-70 Valkyrie. In all, about 40 aircraft spanning the aviation industry (and history) with several hundred more which can be freely downloaded from the internet. There’s even a plane builder option which allows you to build your own model.

You can pretty much fly to any location around the world and choose from over 18,000 airports to test your landing and take-off skills. You can even test your mettle on aircraft carriers, helipads, frigates that pitch and roll in the waves, and oil rigs. It naturally features the whole range of weather conditions you might face and the plane reacts realistically to them. The graphics are vector based so they’re not exactly brilliant but they’re what you’d expect from a simulator .

The biggest problem you’ll have is working out how on earth to get started. The controls are incredibly complex to mirror a real commercial airliner. I spent the best part of 10 minutes just sat on the runway trying to work out how to start the engines whilst Air Traffic Control went crazy at me. You are prompted with a few guidelines at how to get rolling (such as “hit spacebar to release the breaks”) although you’re not told how to start the engines.

There are so many switches and dials in the cockpit that there’s no knowing what to hit without studying the huge flight manual in detail. In the end, the best I managed was to race around the airport before crashing into and destroying a control tower, killing all on board. For those that do have more patience, they need merely move the mouse cursor to the top of the screen where a drop down menu will present access to preferences, instructions, control configuration and many other options.

For those that just want to fly free as a bird and admire the scenery, X-Plane is not for you. For those that want the challenge of mastering a real airliner or are training for a professional licence, it’s the best programme out there and will have you absorbed for hours.

Download X-Plane 8.63 in Softonic

Experience the most beautiful, open ended space simulation game ever created for PC. Discover unknown space, trade and fight your way through the galaxy - it is up to you to become one of the most famous or dreaded pilots in all known space.

Trade exotic goods, destroy ships and buildings, explore unknown anomalies, visit orbital stations and distant places and travel with jump gates Earn money and experience points to upgrade your ship and strengthen your character

This is what this game features:

• Choose between 9 professions, amongst others spy, scientist, headhunter, doctor, policeman or adventurer
• Engage in trade, exploration, fight, quest solving and diplomacy while developing your ship individually
• Discover the Galaxy using 15 different spacecrafts with unique characteristics
• A immersive Universe: 46 star systems and 10 civilizations throughout Milky Way galaxy
• Squad tactics: recruit and command up to 3 wingmen to form your own fleet
• You have complete freedom in movement and choice. SpaceForce2 is a complete non-linear game
• Over 2000 thrilling Missions
• Stunning Graphics, nevertheless good performance even on average PCs

Download Space Force - Rogue Universe Demo in Softonic

Combining game play ideas from several classics, Rhombis is a brain teasing puzzler that's full of orbital fun. Using realistic physic effects and a lot of power-ups, your aim is to collect all dollar diamonds on the playing field.

But you will have to think outside the box to solve these brain teasers, as each of the levels plays a little bit differently. With 16 stages, consisting of 80 challenging levels, and 3 difficulty modes, Rhombis will ensure hours of addictive fun!

Download Rhombis in Softonic

November 13th, 2493. Location: Trench system Valles Marineris, Mars - 72 hours ago the orbital satellite lost any contact to the colony MRS1. Since then, everlasting dust storms prevent satellite based bio-scan of the region. First details indicate an enormous disaster.

The International Community of States reacts surprisingly rapidly and arranges a crisis committee, consisting of politicians, military forces and delegates from leading trade and industrie concerns. 30 minutes after the incident first measures were arranged: "SS Callisto", supply spaceship, being on the way to Jupiter hastily leaves its planned route. 48 hours later it reaches the orbit of Mars.

Although depth scanners of the ship penetrate and reach upper layers of the underground Mars station, weak energy- and bio-signals provide rather an unclarified picture. In spite of some security considerations of the military, crisis committee decides to involve civil escort security of the supply ship in the mission.

Gunship Apocalypse, armed only with minimal weapons breaks into the atmosphere and takes course towards underground tunnels of the colony. It's mission: evacuation of eventual survivors and investigation of the near circumstances.

Download Gunship Apocalypse in Softonic

The idea of Tasty Planet is simple. You control a tiny ball of grey goo which eats everything around it. The more it eats, the bigger it gets! It was created as a bathroom cleaner. The grey goo was only supposed to eat dirt and bacteria - cleaning your bathroom automatically. Instead it eats everything: dirt, bacteria, bugs, fish, mice, cats, dogs, cars, trees, houses... Everything! Soon the entire planet will be eaten by this crazy ball of goo. Fortunately you're on the goo side.

Tasty Planet plays like a 2d version of the console hit Katamari Damacy. There are three different game modes to choose from: normal, time attack, and endurance. Normal mode is easy-going fun. Time attack pits you against the clock to see how fast you can eat the level. Endurance mode is a tribute to the original growth game Shark Shark.

Enjoy some great tunes as you eat up everything in your path. Happy jazz is the perfect genre of music to accompany your worldly feast. Along with the music are a ton of hilarious sound effects. Everyone knows what eating a ladybug sounds like, but have you ever wondered what eating a blimp sounds like? No? Regardless, soon you'll know.

Once you're done eating everything on earth you'll have to look elsewhere for food. Launch into orbit where there are plenty of tasty things to eat like meteoroids, satellites and astronauts. After eating all that you'll have to travel even further into deep space where a limitless galactic buffet awaits you. Well... even the universe has limits.

Download Tasty Planet 1.0.1 in Softonic

You are the last of your kind. Bred for combat, built for war. You will fight on foot, in vehicles, in the air and beneath the surface of a mysterious alien ring orbiting in the depths of space. Halo Zero is a 2D fan game, based on a story before Halo 1, with the Reach battle. This fan game is only for PC users who have Windows. A GeForce video card is better to play!

Download Halo Zero 1.8.3 in Softonic

Our Sun is like a grain from at least 200 billion stars orbiting around the center of our enormous "cosmic island" so-called Galaxy or Milky Way. When you look through binocular or a telescope, it is seen to be composed of vast numbers of individual, faint stars. It is actually the disk of our own galaxy - seen from our perspective (within the disk), the flat lens-shape of the Galaxy appears to surround us. There are also two tiny galaxies called Magellanic Clouds orbiting around Milky Way.

But what if we leave our Solar System and the Galaxy on fantastic space ship and look back to our Space Island? What should we see? It's impossible to verify, but we can imagine and simulate this fascinating space view using latest astronomical knowledges about The Galaxy.

This screensaver is an attempt to make such simulation as close to reality as possible, using modern 3D technologies. (You can also adjust simulation quality, speed and complexity through screensaver settings dialog).

Download Galaxy 3D Space Tour 1.1 in Softonic

As planets rotate on their orbits, you must choose the most profitable trajectory. But beware: to win the millions of billions of dollars you deserve you'll have to make sure the planets prosper as well in this definitive space trading game.

In Orbital Trader each of the planets can only build one good type. This is where you and your only interplanetary spaceship in the system come in to make a killing profit. Getting rich is easier than ever in Orbital Trader. Buying low and selling high is guaranteed - since each planet will only sell the one good it is producing and will pay well for all the others.

Getting rich fast is where the challenge is at. You'll have to navigate with much skill so you can visit as many planets as possible in the shortest amount of time. And if you think that only the expensive goods will be worth trading, think again. Maybe you won't get rich by trading food and medicine, but if you do the planetary populations will grow fast and you'll watch your profits explode.

Don't think trading is all there is to the game. You'll have to upgrade your ship until it becomes a huge transport vessel. You'll race to complete very profitable special transport missions. You'll have to stop a deadly virus from ravaging the system. You'll need to make the best of the special events that occur on planets:

Download Orbital Trader 1.0.5 in Softonic

Desktop Orbiter provides administrators the richest possible set of features for protecting and managing multiple computers, all from a centralized location. The application of choice for creating secure environments in a fast and reliable way.

Desktop Orbiter enables system administrators to create safe and productive environments for students or workers, supervise and manage machines without leaving the chair and stop users from wasting time and resources.

Download Desktop Orbiter 4.2 in Softonic

Prey tells the story of Tommy, a Cherokee garage mechanic stuck on a reservation going nowhere. Abducted along with his people to a menacing mothership orbiting Earth, he sets out to save himself and his girlfriend and eventually his planet.

In Prey, players enter a living spaceship which enslaves alien races and devours humans for lunch. A unique twist on the first person shooter genre, Prey features such innovations as the ability to walk on walls, manipulate gravity and perform a "spirit walk" by leaving your physical body behind.

Download Prey Demo in Softonic

Prey tells the story of Tommy, a Cherokee garage mechanic stuck on a reservation going nowhere. His life changes when another-worldly crisis forces him to awaken spiritual powers from his long-forgotten birthright. Abducted along with his people to a menacing alien mother ship orbiting Earth, he sets out to save himself, his girlfriend and eventually his planet. In Prey, gamers enter an unpredictable world where nothing can be taken for granted.

Features:

• Built on an enhanced Doom 3 engine, the most impressive 3D engine used in a released game
• Portal technology adds a new dimension to gameplay, allowing enemies to appear out of thin air and create new and completely original puzzles and gameplay styles
• Several never-before-seen gameplay elements such as Spirit Walking, Wall Walking, and Deathwalk
• Highly organic, living environment that itself can attack Tommy
• A deep, emotional story of love and sacrifice
• Tommy has a sidekick, a spiritual hawk that can help him fight enemies and decipher the alien language of the living ship
• Multiplayer game support that takes advantage of the unique gameplay styles in Prey

Download Prey 'Super' Trailer in Softonic

Solar System 3D Simulator is a FREE software application that generates a realistic solar system model and planets in 3 Dimension on the PC using advanced physics formulas. It can display the planets and their orbits, the sun and the moon.

The nine planets including planet earth and their detailed physical & chemical information and image pictures is also displayed including solar power, solar energy and solar eclipse details. The graphical output is in high-resolution 3D full color format and the orbit view can be adjusted and the orbits tilted & rotated to any angle. The speed of the solar system can also be varied.

The Solar System model is useful for learning about the physics of the universe, astronomy, science projects & science experiments interactively for both adults and kids. Students of Elementary, Middle and High School can use it for science fair projects ideas, physics help, science news & creating science articles.

The software is easy to use with a fully Windows based interface. The program has a fully graphical menu oriented interface designed for ease of use. The Solar System 3D software has been designed for fast setup and interactivity with excellent high quality visual output. The software runs on all Windows Operating Systems.

Download Solar System 3D Simulator 3.0 in Softonic

Integral Scientist Periodic Table is designed for professional chemists, educators, and students. The most complete program related to periodic table so far! The most important features are:

• Data for 112 discovered and 6 theoretical elements
• Six interactive periodic table styles: Modern, Bayley, Extended, Octet, Electron, Quantum 3D
• Instant selection of an element and update of data.
• Five detailed information screens: General, Physical, Chemical, Nuclear, Energy
• 98 element property & information fields
• 32 data fields display multiple values.
• Graphical display of shells and orbitals
• Comparison graphing of multiple properties
• Property searching on multiple values
• Element selection from any data screen
• Searching by name, symbol or number
• Custom design of printed reports

Download ISPT Integral Scientist Periodic Table 3.12 in Softonic

Here is a remake of a true classic, spawning from the days of the Spectrum and Commodore 64, originally created by Hewson Software.

The idea of the game is to get through the five levels of the space pirates base in a strict time limit (about 5 minutes per level) recovering 1500 points worth of cargo on each level (you can find it lying around or get it by killing the little aliens that spawn in most of the rooms). It doesn't really matter if you manage to get the 1500 on each level, but if you do it's worth some bonus points and an extra life at the end of the level. Given how chocka' with enemies the game is, those extra lives will come in handy.

The game is played from a side-on perspective with a flip-screen display that prevents you from going back on yourself. You can upgrade your ship with an orbital mace that kills pretty much anything, a rear firing laser gun and an orbital ship which fires when you do.

Download Cybernoid 2 The Revenge 1001 in Softonic