Features of uTorrent

uTorrent includes everything you would expect from a complete, reliable torrent downloader: highly detailed stats, support for RSS feeds, automatic shutdown, download scheduler and more. There are a couple things that uTorrent is missing though: a full torrent search tool and a built-in player to preview your downloads.

uTorrent 3 lets you play media in streaming as you download, rate and comment torrent files, drag and drop files to share them, and disable the UDP tracker.

Ideal for all user levels

Since version 3 uTorrent has sported a totally redesigned interface: more usable, easier to use and a perfect match for uTorrent’s web interface.

Just like previous versions, uTorrent 3 is easy enough to use for everyone no matter what their level of computer expertise is, but it also includes dozens of configuration settings that will please the most tech-savvy users. Also, this new version includes several beginner-oriented guides to make sure everybody can make the most of it.

Light on system resources

After a quick installation process (although there are quite a few prompts to install browser add-ons etc) and a handy built-in speed test to make the initial setting much easier, uTorrent is ready. The program takes up minimal hard drive and PC resources, which enables you to have a good amount of torrents downloading and still be able to use your computer without any lag.

Conclusion

If you're searching for a reliable, fast and lightweight torrent client, look no further: uTorrent is what you need.

Download uTorrent (µTorrent) 3.3.0.29677 in Softonic

Features

After logging into your Google account, Picasa HD gives you access to all of the photo albums you've uploaded to Picasa. You can browse photos at your own pace, or use the slideshow feature, which adds transition effects between each of the shots.

Beyond being "just" a simple photo viewer, Picasa HD will also allow you to create and manage photo albums. You'll be able to add photos to albums and edit information about them (name, description, date, etc.) all without visiting the web version of Picasa.

Picasa HD will also allow you to delete photos, access and edit the information attached to images, zoom in on pictures and download them to your PC or tablet. Don't forget that there's also a full screen option, so you can get the most from your screen space.

Getting started

If you've got a touchscreen device, you can take advantage of its features to use the famous pinch-to-zoom or swipe though your images.

Appearance

Picasa HD definitely takes a back seat to your photos. It's simple and fuss-free, in order to show your images off to their best advantage. The majority of the interface is taken up by thumbnails of your images, allowing you to easily see the photos you are working with.

Conclusion

As Google doesn't currently offer an official app for Picasa on Windows 8, Picasa HD is the next best option for viewing the photos in your Picasa account on a tablet or hybrid device. It will allow you to view and edit information about your photos, as well as adding new images to your collection, all without having to visit Picasa online.

Download Picasa HD in Softonic

The Picasa for Windows 8 home screen is divided into 3 parts to access this content - Albums, Recent and Explore. When you look into the options, you'll see that you're able to view your images in slide shows, zoom in on photos, comment on them, view the exif data or share your pictures with a variety of other applications.

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Introduction

PhotoFiltre is a relatively small application and unlike Photoshop, will install and launch very quickly. The interface, loaded with all the features and options, can be confusing at first glance but you'll soon get used to it. The right side is composed of the shape and drawing tools and an optimizable color palette. The top bar has all the essential image editing and modification options. PhotoFiltre sadly doesn't let you customize the interface and choose your favorite tools.

Features

Among all the image modification tools, of particular usefulness is the quick contrast/hue and saturation buttons because you can check out the effects and immediately and easily correct the image if you're not satisfied with its quality. If you trust PhotoFiltre, you can also let it adjust these parameters automatically.

Like any self-respecting image editing application, PhotoFiltre includes the most widely used filters to transform your image, but if you need to make really significant changes, you'll find yourself limited. Furthermore, unlike Photoshop, PhotoFiltre doesn't include layers, making it more challenging to work on different elements of the image separately.

Like the excellent free image viewer Irfanview, PhotoFiltre covers the majority of image formats and can batch process and convert images rapidly. PhotoFiltre has five different zoom options yet they seem to be more or less similar. The magnifier is probably less precise than the drop down percentage pane, and the auto zoom adjusts the image’s size according to PhotoFiltre's window size.

The image explorer is located at the bottom of the screen, and if you set it according to your image file you'll be able to quickly preview all your pictures. However, if you work with multiple image files, it can quickly become confusing, as you’ll have to open up an explorer tree pane every time to look for your pictures.

PhotoFiltre contains all the essential tools and options to edit and optimize pictures.

Download PhotoFiltre 7.1.1 in Softonic

What's new in Picasa 3

The latest version of Picasa includes sharing on Google+, including sharing of name tags. You'll enjoy the range of new effects that have been added, allowing you to quickly make stylish changes to your photos. Side by side editing means you can keep an original copy of your photo for reference while you're making experiementing with effects and levels.

What's inside Picasa

Google Picasa features 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.

It includes Picasa 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!

How Picasa works

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.

The possibilities are endless

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 3.9.136.12 in Softonic

Full of features

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!

Easy to use

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.

Smart interface

One of the first striking elements in Photoscape is its uncommon interface design. The application is very striking and in many ways it's easier on the eye than Photoshop.

Conclusion

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 3.6.3 in Softonic

Delete Tracking-Cookies: Tracking-Cookies were invented to observe your surfing behavior. Cookies are small data spies that are stored on your computer while surfing. Cookies enable websites to track much information like how long you remain on a certain web page or what for links you click. Delete Google-Traces: Find and delete Flash cookies (also known as Super-Cookies), form data, surfing traces and data garbage of Google applications. Protect your Computer automatically: No need to delete surfing traces manually. The Google Radar is a small application that will permanently look out for Google traces and data garbage on your Computer. The Google Radar starts up with Windows and will keep your system clean automatically.

Google Desktop, Google Toolbar, Chrome, Picasa and Earth: Almost every Google application sends information back home. GoogleClean prevents Google applications from sending unnecessary personal information.

Many Google Applications collect Information about their users and send data back home. It is almost impossible to deactivate some of these spy features manually. With GoogleClean you can switch off those data transfers easily.

Download Google Clean 4 in Softonic

Chrome OS Linux is not related to Google Chrome OS and it's based on openSUSE, therefore it is very stable and open. Unlike Google Chrome OS, it runs on every x86-compatible PC, laptop or netbook and it does not require Internet access to run.

Chrome OS Linux is meant for all users, from beginners to nerds. It is very user friendly and has the user experience similar to Windows.

Download Chrome OS Linux 1.9.1077 in Softonic

Picasa may be the leading photo management app on PC but JetPhoto Studio is a nice alternative if you're looking for something different.

JetPhoto Studio doesn't really compare with the big boys but it does offer a greater degree of control and processing power over your images in certain areas. JetPhoto Studio will import pictures from your camera as soon as you connect it. Alternatively, you can browse to albums on your PC or allow JetPhotoStudio to perform a full scan of your system.

The main interface is well presented and allows you to browse photos by date. There is a set of basic editing tools which allows you to crop images and add a few effects such as sepia, black and white, image contrast, and auto enhancing. You can also batch resize your photos and protect them with a watermark. JetPhoto Studio also enables you to rate your own photos via a star system, as well as tag them. However, tags are not transferable from one album to another and you have to create a new one every new album you create.

One of the better aspects of JetPhoto Studio is the ability to create screensavers, wallpapers, slide-shows and Flash movies from your collections. Unfortunately, however, there ¡s very little control over the types of animations and speed of the transitions. Finally, it's worth adding that you send JetPhoto Studio images via SMS or infrared, to your friends’ mobiles, although this only works within the US. The developer has also recently added geo-tagging for GPS recognition in Google Earth. The best way to share your photos in online though and JetPhoto Studio makes this relatively easy via Flickr or the JetPhoto server.

Jet Photo Studio is a comprehensive photo management tool that's a bit bloated in areas but offers some interesting features.

Download JetPhoto Studio 4.11 in Softonic

There is so much software in the world today that it can be really hard to decide what you need and what you don't. Similar to LiberKey Ultimate, Google Pack comes with a load of interesting and useful apps essential for most PC users. Google Pack includes Google Chrome, Google Apps, Google Earth, Google Toolbar for IE, Norton Security Scan, Spyware Doctor, Google Desktop, Picasa, Google Photos Screensaver, Adobe Reader and Firefox with Google Toolbar.

Installation is a breeze and uses an attractive interface to manage it and subsequent updates. The Google Updater window - the tool left once you have installed all the programs in the pack - allows you to configure various update options, summarize past updates and view recent activity.

There is no doubt that many of the programs included in Google Pack are essential basics that will help a lot of people, especially new users who might not already have applications for preventing spyware or reading PDFs, for example. Google Pack also lets you select what to download before installing, as well as individually uninstalling programs if you later decide you don't want them.

On the downside, Google Pack takes a while to install and does not allow you to configure the installations, which means you get desktop icons and toolbars whether you want them or not. In Google's defense, you can modify this once the programs in question have been installed.

Google Pack is an easy-to-use program pack that's perfect for beginners.

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For example, PhotoRocket can import photos from Picasa or Windows Photo Viewer and send them directly to Facebook, Flickr, Google or Shutterfly. If you create a PhotoRocket account, you can also upload images directly to your web gallery and share them with others instantly. Alternatively, just drag photos to PhotoRocket in your Dock and it will instantly upload them ready for sharing.

One good thing about PhotoRocket is that there are no limits on the resolution of images. However, one rather concerning aspect is that the terms and conditions seem to state that you may lose copyright control of your images once they are uploaded.

Those who don't want to see their images stockpiled in a photo archive for commercial use by PhotoRocket may therefore prefer to send their images by more traditional methods such as email or uploading them directly to their favorite social networking sites.

PhotoRocket is a simple application that offers easy, resolution-unlimited photo sharing but may pose some copyright issues for some.

Download PhotoRocket 0.10.157 in Softonic

If you're a heavy Google user, you'll probably be willing to give apps that streamline a try. Integrated Gmail is a Firefox add-on that aims to do just this, combining the functionality of the browser and the variety Google apps to make using the suite as simple as possible.

Refreshingly, this add-on has a detailed options window, although at the time of testing the Integrated Gmail website was not up and running. The add-on comes with Gmail, Reader and Calendar as default, but you have the option remove or add any of the Google apps available, including Google Calendar, Reader, Notebook, Groups, Maps, Picasa, Sites, News, Portfolio, Custom URLs and Google Gadgets.

Integrated Gmail makes one big change and a few subtle tweaks to the user interface. When you open up your Gmail account, you'll notice that your chosen apps - in my case Reader, Mail and Calendar - appear nested to the right of the normal Gmail inbox menu. Integrated Gmail calls these nested headings 'frames'. If you expand any of the frames, you'll see the usual interface and be able to work as normal. You can move the frames around and modify which appear and where via the configuration option in Tools > Add-Ons > Integrated Gmail.

In your inbox, you'll notice a green arrow icon in the top right and bottom left of the window. Clicking these will expand the main interface right to the edge of the screen, temporarily minimizing the inbox options and top toolbar for maximum viewing space. Inside your inbox you'll notice that the option "This Frame" has been added to the context menu. From here you'll be able to control the behavior of each of these frames, from opening elements in new windows and reloading to bookmarking and printing.

Integrated Gmail is a little difficult to describe, so it's worth taking a close look at the screenshots or even giving it a trial run. It is very handy if you are a frequent user of Google Apps, as it eliminates the need for multiple tabs, and all in all seems like an excellent addition to Firefox.

Integrated Gmail provides the ultimate in Google Apps convenience.

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The goal with this application seems to be a replacement for various other programs you might use for one specific media type. Why use programs like iTunes, Picasa, and Windows Media Player when you only have to use ArcSoft MediaImpression which does all three? It certainly makes sense from the outset.

Once ArcSoft MediaImpression is installed, you are faced with buttons for music, pictures, video and all media. Clicking any of these opens a traditional pane with a folder tree on the left. In the picture segment you can perform basic edits, such as cutting, removing red eye and face-tagging. In the music and video segments you can listen to and watch any of your files, and reorganize them. You can also hit the easy archive button, which will save any selected files or folders to a CD.

If you want to print your pictures, you can order a variety of different products from ArcSoft MediaImpression, including mugs and books.

While it's potentially a good idea to have a single media application, the execution of ArcSoft MediaImpression is a bit weak. The photo editing options are not sufficient or comparable to competing programs like Adobe Photoshop Elements. ArcSoft MediaImpression's video player is similarly basic.

ArcSoft MediaImpression is a nice idea and a step in the right direction for an all-in-one media hub. Unfortunately, it still lacks some of the features and flexibility of most media players or photo editors.

Download ArcSoft MediaImpression 3.5.255.985 in Softonic

JShot is quite flexible since it can capture a rectangular area, a full screen or your clipboard content. However you can't "cut out" custom shapes or images. The Windows version allows you to capture active windows, taskbars, deskops, widget and widgets although the Mac version lacks these abilities.

Sharing is done via a variety of sources i.e. FTP, ImageShack, Skype, Twitter and Picasa. You can annotate your screengrabs with text and even see a history of your screenshots taken. To extend the capabilities of JShot, you can also download plugins from the developer site. You can do this by downloading them and installing them to "/home//.jshot/plugins/uploaders."

JShot is a solid tool and for a free, multi-platform solution there are few complaints. However, there is no way of extending it to take screencasts.

JShot is an interesting screenshot tool which will be enough for most people's needs.

Download JShot 1.4.0.1 in Softonic

Google Talk Password Recovery is incredibly simple to use, you just hit 'Start recovery', and any accounts that have been accessed on your system will have their passwords revealed. It also features an Asterisk Password Recovery, which reveals any passwords hidden behind asterisks.

While this application can be useful, and functions well, having it installed on your PC mean anyone can easily grab your passwords, so it much be used with caution.

Google Talk Password Recovery does exactly what it says, and works with Google Talk, Gmail Notifier, Google Desktop and Picasa.

Download Google Talk Password Recovery 1.3 in Softonic

FireUploader is particularly convenient when uploading lots of material, although you'll probably want to visit the target website anyway to review your pictures or videos. Uploading was correct but we did get some error messages when trying to delete files. Also, if you enter a wrong password you don't receive any warning, which can be quite confusing.

You can open the extension by clicking on the bottom right button, but if you open it from the Tools - FireUploader menu you'll get the program's interface integrated into a new tab with a much more complete and user-friendly appearance.

Download Firefox Universal Uploader (FireUploader) 0.4.5 in Softonic

There are several online storage solutions you can use to keep an online backup copy of your files. The problem is that none of them offer an efficient desktop client to manage online contents.

Gladinet can lend you a hand here, by providing you with an intuitive user interface for the most popular online file storage services: Google Picasa, Google Docs, Amazon S3 and Windows Live Skydrive. With Gladinet, these services will appear as one more drive on your system, with all your online contents organized into several folders and files.

Gladinet is very easy to use. All you have to do is select the service you want to mount as virtual drive on your system and fill in the necessary details – mainly just your username and password. From this moment on, the selected service will appear as one more folder on your system, making online contents much easier to manage.

Gladinet is still at beta stage so you may find some bugs while using it, though I must say it worked fine during our tests. Too bad it doesn't support more online storage solutions! Hopefully in future releases we'll see more added.

With Gladinet you can now handle all your files in online storage solutions in a much easier way, just as if they were folders on your hard drive.

Download Gladinet 1.4.232 in Softonic

A friend of mine who is a Mac user is always complaining about not being able to download full photo albums from Picasa. Well, I'm glad to tell her I just found the solution.

Of course, that doesn't mean this app is only intended for Mac users. If you use Windows but don't like Picasa you can also take advantage of this app.

You'll be able to download material both from public and private albums and select the right photos thanks to its convenient thumbnail preview.