PTLens is an excellent application to correct or add distortion to your pictures.

You'll be able to apply a fish eye effect, modify perspective, chromatic aberation and vignetting. PTLens also lets you correct barrel-pincushion distortion on a wide range of camera models. It doesn't seem to allow you to add new models though. Adding effects is really easy thanks to sliders and you can immediately see the changes in the preview. You can also simply disable an effect you don't want by unselecting it.

The program's interface does feel a little clunky, and you wonder why the directory is on the right, instead of next to the preview. We appreciate that a Photoshop plugin for PTLens comes in the installer though, as many photographers prefer working straight in Photoshop. The plugin will work exactly as the standalone application.

Despite the slightly unintuitive interface, PTLens is an excellent tool for correcting image distortion. Recommended for any serious photographer!

Download PTLens 8.7.4 in Softonic

Spyware is the most common computer security menace; it impacts more than 80% of all PCs and recent reports show that estimate is probably low. CounterSpy protects your computer from spyware, adware, Trojans and other malware threats. It's the choice of IT Pros and a favorite of technology editors around the globe.

One of the most powerful features of CounterSpy is the History Cleaner which erases the trails you leave on your computer as you surf the Internet. It also features a PC Explorer that allows you to view and modify computer security and Internet browser settings that are normally difficult to change.

Finally, it also has a great Secure File Eraser that ensures the complete elimination of all files you want removed from your computer. Completely removes all traces of any document, image, music, movie, or application you choose.

Download CounterSpy 3.1.2315 in Softonic

If you're a big fan of Wordpad but wish it was a little more advanced, then without doubt, TextPipe is for you.

With TextPipe you can specify all your text processing needs through one application rather than having to remember and manage several text editors, command line tools, custom scripts and Word and Excel macros. In a nutshell, TextPipe basically makes it fast and easy to convert, transform and re-form data in text files including HTML and XML documents. Probably the most outstanding feature of TextPipe is that it is very fast and can handle files of unlimited size. TextPipe is also remarkably efficient at handling multiple tasks simultaneously. The advantage of this is that you only need to learn how to use one tool rather than several to do multiple tasks. For those that have invested a lot of money or are planning to invest a lot of money in an editor, it's also a much cheaper solution. If the developers claims are right, it certainly packs an impressive punch when it comes to making corrections. They report that in a recent speed trial, TextPipe made the same number of changes to a document in seconds that took MS Word hours.

A very powerful all in one text editor, cleansing and conversion tool although it will only come into it's own if you're dealing with very large documents and tasks.

Download TextPipe Pro 8.1.8 in Softonic

Onlineeye optimizes PC Internet performance. The real-time Graphic Analyzer separately measures download and upload speed/time. A zoomable and printable graph shows 24 hours of speed history, allowing you to see what Internet activity took place when you were away from the computer. The active taskbar icon graphs the current speed. The networkmonitor shows every internetactivity of your DSL connection and lets you unmask spyware.

Download Onlineeye Pro 2.2.1 in Softonic

HTML-Optimizer speeds up your web site by optimizing both HTML and script code on your web pages. It helps you stay organized by creating a duplicate site folder for the optimized files. An added benefit is that it leaves your original files untouched.

The program features Smart Handling which means that only those pages that have changed are processed. Besides optimizing, the program can also check for dangling tags, missing attributes and broken links and convert special characters. You should use your original web folder for editing and use the duplicate web folder for uploading.

Download HTML-Optimizer Pro 5.4 in Softonic

With so many movies watched on computers these days, sitting around the telly to watch a film or a show is becoming a thing of the past. If you want to reclaim your DVD player then Smart DVD Creator is a decent solution. The program lets you turn virtually any video into a DVD, VCD or SVCD and, as a result, transport your movies from the computer to the living room.

The application is a doddle to use since you only need to load a video, select the format which you want to save it as (not only DVD, VCD and SVCD but also AVI, MPEG, WMV or RM) then choose the quality of the outputted file. Selecting the quality of the video is done through a simple slider and the resulting video can be previewed easily via a pane on the Smart DVD Creator interface. There are lots of other adjustments you can make to the output file, making this a great tool for both beginners and seasoned DVD authors.

Download Smart DVD Creator Pro 2.6.0 in Softonic

HTML-Optimizer Pro speeds up your web site by optimizing both HTML and script code of your web pages. It helps you keep organized by creating a duplicate site folder for the optimized files. An added benefit is that it leaves your original files untouched.

The application checks your web pages for dangling tags, missing attributes and broken links. The program also features Smart Handling which means that only the pages that you changed are processed.

Download HTML-Optimizer 9.9 in Softonic

With this software you can burn CD-R, CD-RW DVD+R/RW DVD-R/RW discs. It offers the following main features:

• Writes all kind of mediums apart from double-layer DVD (follows in next version)
• Burn audio-CDs with and without gaps between tracks
• Burn on the fly / Burn-proof
• Supports most IDE, USB, Firewire and SCSI drives
• Rip Audio-CDs to harddrive, obtain track-information (ID3-tags) from Internet
• Burn and create ISO-files
• Customizeable with many settings
• Data verification after burn, create bootable discs
• Bin/nrg->ISO converter, simple cover printing and much more

Download CDBurnerXP Pro 4.2.1.919 in Softonic

Limewire, one of the world’s most popular peer-to-peer filesharing applications, has received a lawsuit from the RIAA, who are demanding $115 million in damages, claiming the application promotes the infringement of copyright. Similar applications like Grokster and Kazaa have been forced to go legal and there is speculation as to just how long Limewire will resist until they have to buckle and pay up. The existence of the popular P2P application is not under threat, but if you haven’t given it a try yet, here’s just what makes it a standout program.

In terms of file sharing, Limewire is the cream of the crop, offering the essential peer-to- peer tools in what is probably the friendliest interface of applications in its class. Beginners will appreciate the search bar, which allows you to select the type of file you’re looking for, video, image, audio, program or file. Limewire has a “what’s new” button to check out what popular files users have recently exchanged. We also enjoyed the direct connect option. If you know the IP address of one of your friends, type it in the box and Limewire will browse that user’s files. This is a quick way of sharing files with someone else and can come in handy when working on a project and exchanging documents. The only little snag we have with direct connect is that it doesn’t let you enter the username, much simpler than looking for your friend’s IP address.

Downloading with Limewire is very intuitive. After you’ve searched and found the file you are looking for, double-click on it to start the downloading process. The speed of your download depends firstly on the quality of your connection (broadband is a minimum), if you’ve correctly opened your router’s ports and whether you’re downloading a popular file or not. We would like to point out the effort that Limewire takes to make itself accessible to beginners. Not only does a tip pop up every time you launch the application, the help option also leads you to Limewire’s support centre, FAQs and a forum to get in contact with other users.

The lawsuit carried out by the RIAA is all the more surprising because of the measures Limewire takes to keep you in the realms of legality. If you decide to download Limewire from its website, you will first have to agree you will not use it for copyright infringement. When you’re configuring the application, you can set content filters, to avoid downloading files that copyright owners do not want you to share. To avoid embarrassing situations, make sure you tick the “block adult content” box, which will filter out any pornographic files from your searches.

The best way of checking the quality of the audio or video you’re downloading is via Limewire’s mini player. It’s fairly basic and to par with the players you find in similar filesharing applications, but we appreciated the way it was integrated in the application.

If there’s one thing that we’re still expecting from the Limewire team, it’s that it finally decides to jump on the BitTorrent bandwagon. Torrents are the way forward when it comes to peer to peer file sharing because of the speed, the security and freshness of downloads. Large files like movies or complete seasons of TV series are much easier to download via BitTorrent. We were also annoyed by the “buy the PRO version” window that popped up every time we started Limewire.

For its wealth of possibilities and huge base of users, (more than 4 million simultaneously on the Gnutella network) we encourage you to give Limewire a test drive. Because of the controversial nature of the application, you should always make sure that you aren’t using Limewire for illegal activities like copyright infringement. However don’t be scared off by the legality issue. Limewire, like most P2P applications is one of the most exciting possibilities that the internet gives us. It would be a shame not to give it a try. You should also check out Frostwire, the not-for-profit project of the Limewire development team.

Download LimeWire Basic 4.18.6 in Softonic

AllWebMenus is a DHMTL menu/Javascript menu builder for web navigation that requires absolutely no DHTML or Javascript experience. It creates any cross-browser, pop-up or drop-down web menu that works alike in all browsers supporting DHTML held by all popular platforms (PC, MAC, Unix).

DHTML/JavaScript menus are designed with a tree-like approach. Users can tailor their menus by using the Properties Pane or by choosing from a series of predefined themes from the Theme Gallery. The menu can be either vertical or horizontal (pop-up or drop-down menu), it can be movable, stay visible while scrolling, contain static or animated images, borders, colors, and much more. Once everything is set, you can use the Link Menu to Web Page command to link the menu to your Web page in a fast and easy manner.

AllWebMenus offers:

• New ready-to-use Themes
• Optimized Style Editor
• Creation and saving of customized Themes
• Free Dreamweaver extension and NetObjects Fusion component
• Import FrontPage Navigation Structures
• Support for .JPG, .GIF and .PNG image files.
• UNDO/REDO function
• Right-to-Left language support (Arabic, Hebrew, etc.)
• Non-English font support
• Optimized menu building process with separate javascripts for different browsers
• Use menus over flash objects, form elements, applets and iframes
• Use multiple menus in the same page
• Create popup, hidden, horizontal and vertical menus
• Free Sitemap generator based on the menu structure
• Specify optional Javascript Commands

Download AllWebMenus Pro 5.1.742 in Softonic

Librarian Pro is a very flexible application to organize all your books, movies, games or whatever you wish to keep a list of. Although the program still feels quite unstable (importing or exporting didn't work properly for me), we'll let that go for now as the program is still a pre-release. What makes Librarian Pro interesting is how easy it is to view your list and create new smart collections.

You can customize the layout of lists you export and send them to the web or to your iPod. Librarian can also import elements from mulitple sources, like borrowers from your Address Book or item information from a number of sites. You can view your Amazon cart from the application and even retrieve things like album covers.

Librarian Pro is a great program to keep updated lists of your favorite items and always be aware of who's borrowed what from you.

Download Librarian Pro 1.3.3 in Softonic

Don't be fooled by the name - Alarm Clock Pro is much more than just a flashy way of getting you out of bed on time.

Alarm Clock Pro is a fully functional organizer and scheduler that aims to ensure you never miss an important date again. As a wake-up alarm, it allows you to configure the tone as anything from an internet radio station to an MP3 and even a movie or daily task. If you don't have your PC in your bedroom that's no problem either - Alarm Clock Pro can be configured to send wake-up text messages to your cell phone.

An alternative use for the application is to have it periodically check your webcam and automatically send security screenshots to your e-mail address. This way, you can use your PC as a closed circuit TV monitoring device. In addition, you can program it to randomize the iTunes playlist, remind you of holidays and special occasions, perform system tasks, automatically send out birthday cards, text message your daily task list to a cell phone, amongst other things.

One slightly unusual aspect of Alarm Clock Pro is the ability to speak inspirational quotes at random moments throughout the day. This can be programmed to occur at virtually any specific time interval set by yourself to keep you going through the day.

An attractive interface combined with an array of different uses make Alarm Clock Pro one of the best alarm clocks around - it's just a shame it's not free.

Download Alarm Clock Pro 8.4.7 in Softonic

If you spend a lot of time away from your computer or need access to all your email accounts while traveling then Reach-a-Mail is a great solution.

When you're on the move, you may not always have access to your webmail or at least, access may be slow. And if you are traveling to a destination where Internet connectivity is poor then, you'll need some way of accessing your old e-mails. The only way to do this is to take them with you which is exactly what Reach-a-Mail allows you to do. In a nutshell, Reach-a-Mail is an ultra compact mail client which allows you to compress and take your mail and address book with you on a USB stick. If you're internet connection is working, you can also check new mail but if not, it can save all your e-mails for offline viewing before you set-off on your travels. This includes e-mail to multiple accounts so it's a great tool if you're running a small business or private project on a budget but have to move around a lot.

Reach-a-Mail installs easily on USB flash memory stick, allowing you to store your address book and any important correspondence you might need for day-to-day tasks. In the free version, you are plagued with ads but this Pro version is completely ad free and also includes a small RSS reader. You may be better sticking to your regular reader though as it doesn't seem to import feeds easily but it's the mail client that impresses most anyway.

Ideal for travelers and business people on the move, Reach-a-Mail is a small, portable and easy to use solution for those moments when you don't have online access to your e-mail and contacts.

Download Reach-a-Mail Pro 3.51 in Softonic

There's nothing more annoying than downloading or ripping a film and then reaslising you don't have th right codecs to play it.

Or worse, the codecs that you have are corrupt and don't playback properly. If you've found yourself in this situation then m5Studio Codec is a neat little package which brings together most of the most important codecs you'll need. m5Studio Codec includes all the major codecs you'll need to make sure that you'll never have problems playing a film again.

Among the codecs included in m5Studio Codec are DivX or XviD, Ogg Vorbis or Cinepak or AC3 plus some some lesser known ones such as CoreAVC and Fraunhoffer IIS. Installation is simply a matter of double clicking EXE file and you've got a few configuration controls to control exactly how you want the codecs to perform.

m5Studio Codec is a useful codec package that will be able to playback most of the major formats that you can download or rip films to.

Download m5Studio Codec 8.3a in Softonic

EssentialPIM Portable (both Free and Pro) is U3 compliant and works straight from your removable media, whether it's a USB flash drive, compact flash card, or even a good old floppy.

Benefits:

• Plug and run EPIM. All your settings are stored on the removable media
• All your data is saved in one single *.epim file, which can be stored on the same removable medium
• All data is strongly encrypted. The portable edition uses industry standard Rijndael, 128 bit key (same as the desktop edition)
• No traces are left whatsoever on the system you are using
• Directories for backup and temp files can be setup on your home computer

Technical differences from the desktop version:

• All settings are stored only on the removable drive
• *.ini and *.epim files are stored in the Portable EPIM'S program folder by default
• Optional autorun of Portable EPIM can be selected when the removable media is inserted
• Automatic association/dissociation with Portable EPIM's *.epim files on any PC
• Creating shortcuts to Portable EPIM from within the program on any PC

Download EssentialPIM Portable Free 2.71 in Softonic

There's nothing more heartbreaking than losing a large amount of data whether it be photos, music or videos.

Disk Doctors Digital Media Recovery is a comprehensive tool for recovering any kind of digital media from a wide range of mediums including external drives, USB sticks and camera memory sticks. There's absolutely no guarantee Disk Doctors Digital Media Recovery can recover lost data 100% of the time but it simply depends on how thoroughly deleted the data has been from your medium although it can even help in cases of formatted drives.

Disk Doctors Digital Media Recovery simply requires you to browse to the medium that's damaged and quickly locates and restores deleted or lost photos, music and video files. Disk Doctors Digital Media Recovery is particularly attuned to recovering data from memory cards particularly Compact Flash Cards (CF), Smart Media Cards, Secure Digital Cards (SD), Multi-Media Cards (MMC), XD Picture Cards (XD) Micro Drives and Sony Memory Sticks (Duo, Pro).

Disk Doctors Digital Media Recovery can now recover data to CD or DVD and allows you to preview certain files before they are recovered.

Disk Doctors Digital Media Recovery is definitely worth trying if you've lost data especially on camera photos storage cards.

Download Disk Doctors Digital Media Recovery 1.0.0 in Softonic

If you fancy designing a new website for yourself, then turn back now, Twisted Brush has not been developed to give clean crisp graphics, and will frustrate you unless you use it for what it was designed for, art. Having established that this is a program for drawing, it follows that the most natural way to sketch anything and in turn to use this software effectively is with a pen and a drawing tablet.

When the program starts, you’re assaulted by the quick-start guide that is designed to gently introduce you to the features. In reality it’s a bunch of screenshots crammed with info bubbles that contain un-detailed information and no links to find out more. That said, how many people stop to read welcome screens anyway?

A lot of effort was put into making TwistedBrush a realistic substitute for actual painting and when you start working with the various brushes you see just how well they interact with the colors to create a convincing portrait. Undoubtedly the greatest strength of this program is the vast selection of brush types and styles that are available to use. From simple fine pens, to wet oil brushes, to progressive 3D designs, you’ll find them all. The beauty of each brush is that they can be used quickly and easily, with stunning effects.

You will also find support for all the major image file formats, including TIFF, PSD, JPG, GIF, and PNG and there is an option to create a script, either to record the steps taken in the painting process, to insert a message, or to insert random dabs of paint, something that doesn’t quite seem to add to the functionality (although any Dadaists out there may disagree about that).

While getting to grips with the program, it seemed that there was one feature that had been unforgettably forgotten, the select tool. After using Photoshop for so long, this seems like a key tool in any imaging software that the TwistedBrush developers have overlooked. Alternatively it could be the very omission of the select tool that sets this program apart with the production process being more of an evolution rather than a construction.

TwistedBrush is a quality painting application that, judging from its interface and features, is aimed at anyone with a drawing tablet. There are tons of great brushes to experiment with but for anyone relying on the lowly mouse and the lack of a selection tool, it may become very frustrating, very quickly.

Download TwistedBrush Pro Studio 15.51 in Softonic

RemoveIT is a free trojan, adware and spyware scanner that searches and destroys dangerous viruses, trojans and spyware.

However, the effectiveness of it is open to debate. The developers claim that it's so good, it "locates and removes many new dangerous files including spyware, malware, virus, worms, trojans and adware that other popular AV programs do not find." This program therefore is NOT a real-time scanner - it's based on cleaning-up after something has installed itself on your PC rather than real-time protection which I always think is a dangerous approach.

There's nothing flashy about this program - the interface is based on Windows Explorer shell which also includes a slightly more advanced and expanded version of Windows Task Manager (to stop and block illegal processes) and the same with a Service Manager which gives you an overview of the services and program currently running on your PC. With these tools, you have more control over what runs on your PC both during startup and day-to-day operation. The Services Manager is recommended for beginners as you can see clearly the actual names of the programs running while the Process Manager only shows those files that are running as parts of programs and as a result, you may shut something down that you didn't mean to.

For a free and light malware scanner, this is a solid program although it does not seem to detect anything that other scanners (such as Ad-Aware) can't so it's maybe not as effective as the developers claim.

Download RemoveIT Pro 4 SE 25.7.2008 in Softonic

River Past Screen Recorder is River Past's award winning screen video recorder. It is the fastest screen video recorder on the market, with a speed comparable to TechSmith's Camtesia Studio, and way better than any other similar software we have tested.

Capture AVI video from the full screen, a window, a rectangle region, or a defined area around the cursor. Decide whether you want the cursor image to be included. You can even record audio into the AVI, from the microphone, line-in, or speakers. River Past Screen Recorder Pro allows you to record to WMV files using Microsoft's Windows Media Screen codec, which is specialized in producing high quality and small screen videos.

Download River Past Screen Recorder 7.7.11 in Softonic

High speed Internet connections are quite common now but that doesn’t mean we don’t sometimes need some help when it comes to downloading game demos, videos, MP3 collections and other big files. So, even if you’re enjoying the fastest router in the neighborhood, take a look at Internet Download Manager, because it really has a lot to offer.

This excellent app will take care of all your downloads from the moment you install it on your PC. You can add new download tasks from the program’s interface but the usual thing is to let it capture the links. This means that every time you click on a certain file type (which can be specified through configuration options), IDM will handle the download for itself rather than letting the browser do the job. It’s a really handy option because everything is automatic: no changing from one app to another, no copying and pasting links, just no hassle at all. Also, it works with all major web browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera.

Once IDM captures the link, you can either start to download the file right away or add it to a download list for later, which can be a good alternative if you need all of your bandwidth for the moment and plan to leave the computer on during the night. Downloads can be classified into custom categories right before starting them and can also be resumed if the connection is lost or broken for some reason.

As regards download speeds, Internet Download Manager does meet expectations, although it all depends on your Internet access. That is, don’t expect to download at the speed of light if you’re still using one of those old-fashioned 56K modems. Anyhow, IDM achieves quite satisfying download rates as a result of establishing multiple thread connections to servers. Also, it displays a small window with some interesting information about the download process: transfer rate, data downloaded so far, time left and a neat progress bar for each thread.

The program’s configuration menu displays a wide range of functions and tools devoted to handling your downloads, such as checking files for viruses directly from IDM with your own antivirus system or limiting the amount of bandwidth used by the program. There’s also support for server authentication and proxy, FTP and HTTPS servers.

The fact of the matter is, we couldn’t really find anything wrong with Internet Download Manager. It does its job and does it pretty well, so even if your Internet connection speed is far beyond the usual limits, you should definitely give it a try.

Download Internet Download Manager 5.14.3 in Softonic