My sister, who actually works in a bank, is always saying that she would love to be a truck driver and travel all over Europe. I guess she's the kind of person that would love to play Euro Truck Simulator.

This driving simulator puts you behind the wheel of a powerful truck and entrusts you with several different missions. These usually consist on taking cargo from one place to another and getting paid for the delivery. Saving enough money you will eventually be able to buy better and faster trucks to be able to work more and earn more money.

I find the main idea in Euro Truck Simulator is quite original. We're somewhat used to car, motorbike and even airplane driving simulators, but not that much to trucks. Also, the game features excellent, highly realistic graphics.

So far, so good. The problem is that Euro Truck Simulator becomes a boring game quite easily. I don't know if it was due to the repetitive sound of the engine, the slowness of my driving or the lack of real action, I started feeling sleepy shortly after starting to play. Maybe if you could play your own music on the truck's radio, or get into some more action by delivering illegal stuff and occasionally being chased by the cops, Euro Truck Simulator would be more exciting. Also, I didn't like the fact that I can't choose the UK as the starting country for my career as truck driver!

Euro Truck Simulator is a pretty original game, with especially outstanding graphics, but which gets boring quite easily.

Download Euro Truck Simulator 1.00 in Softonic

StationRipper is an application designed to let you record Internet Radio broadcasts. Users on broadband connections regularly report 3,000-6,000 new songs can be downloaded every 24 hours with the registered version. It allows you to do the following:

• Record shoutcast audio, video streams, and podcasts
• Records up to 600 streams at one time
• Buy the music you are ripping
• Integrate with iTunes - auto-generate iTunes playlists of songs recorded
• Lets you easily find stations to record
• Keeps a list of the music and stations you've recorded
• Listen to any station being recorded with a single mouse click
• Ignore songs under a certain size
• Auto-record whatever was being recorded the last time you ran StationRipper

Download StationRipper 2.90 in Softonic

Online TV Player lets you watch 850+ free Internet TV and listen 1500+ free online radio stations on your PC. It allows watcher to watch directly into TV without having to experience the annoyances of a Web site (like slow-loading pages and pop-up ads).

No additional equipment required. Online TV Player support both Windows Media and Real Video. You can play most of stream formats in one program. It can set the screen window to any size that you want. It supports full-screen mode too.

Download Online TV Player 4.6 in Softonic

Listen to music, watch videos, tune in to radio, burn CDs and more from one convenient player! AMP is an application that works outside of the AOL client, and can be used to play audio and video content on your computer when you are not connected to the Internet.

Download AOL Media Player 0.6.1.7 Beta in Softonic

Are you a real Softonic fan? If so, this toolbar has been especially developed for you.

The Softonic Toolbar brings the latest reviews, updates, blog posts and software apps published on Softonic right to your web browser. You'll be able to read all the new content published on the site with a single click and you'll always be up to date with the latest program versions and software news.

What's more, this toolbar also features a series of online services, such as local weather forecast, an embedded search engine, an email notifier, a translation service powered by Babylon and a radio player with support for streaming radio stations, although you may need to download a separate plug-in to make it work properly. I found the email notifier particularly useful, as it supports multiple Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and POP3 accounts.

The Softonic Toolbar also includes a configuration menu where you can customize it by choosing the elements you want to be displayed.

A web browser toolbar that brings you all the best from the web: a variety of online services and all the latest news on Softonic and insideTonic.

Download Softonic Toolbar in Softonic

For all those in agreement with the French government that proprietary formats are damaging to the legitimate spread of digital music, then Tunebite will be right up your street. Proprietary music is essentially locked, so it can only be played using a particular brand of player. This software can be used to make any music playable on whatever portable devices you have or to burn your own music CD. It works by creating a playlist in the file’s native player, (Media Player for WMA, iTunes for M4B, M4P) playing the list and recording each track as an unprotected file. It could be seen as the modern equivalent of recording radio onto cassette, although Tunebite will automatically separate the different tracks.

The installation of this program is a bit tongue-in-cheek with a notice to say that you may see a warning during the process, swiftly followed by a pop-up warning letting you know that a particular driver hasn’t been registered with Microsoft. Following the advice of the previous notice and ignoring the warning dialog lets you finish the process. You are then taken to the configuration wizard where you complete six steps to choose what file format you want to record in.

The interface is so intuitive that when you first open the program you should have no doubt as to how to get recording. The three main elements of the interface are clearly marked as the “songs to record” window, the “recorded songs” window and an unmistakable “GO!” button in the centre. To get started you can either drag and drop your music files or use the “add file” or “add folder” buttons within the program. From there, it’s a simple matter of clicking the “GO!” button and letting Tunebite go to work.

Because the files are protected, they must be played through their own player, for example iTunes, and recorded in real-time. During our test, we happened to have another audio player in use as the recording began and as a result, the unprotected file was an incomprehensible mix of two tracks. This also means that if Tunebite is making a recording, you shouldn’t use your computer for other tasks such as browsing the net since every click sound that plays when you hit a link or even the Start Menu button will be recorded as well. With recording taking place in real-time you should plan for times when you won’t be using the computer, especially if you have a large music collection.

Tunebite is a solution to a problem that many music lovers face as control over their digital content becomes tighter and more restrictive. Protected tracks that have been paid for can easily be copied to any MP3 player or burned to CD for use in regular stereos. Admittedly, the method for recording is not ideal for everybody, but used properly, the results will be of the highest standard possible today.

Download Tunebite 5.1.120 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

Free Sound Recorder is a program designed for all your sound recording needs whether it be from the radio or your own voice.

Free Sound Recorder records voices, streaming audio broadcasts, sound effects, music and pretty much any audio device that's attached to your PC. Unfortunately, you only have a limited number of output formats to choose from in Free Sound Recorder - namely MP3, WAV or WMA) although that's enough for most people's needs.

There aren't many editing options in Free Sound Recorder after you've finished recording so bear in mind you'll need a decent editor afterwards if you plan to do further work with your recordings. You can however add some moderate effects to voice recordings although these add up to nothing more than a bit of distortion. The Free Sound Recorder editor features simple tools for cutting and pasting clips together which is easy to use although after 30 days, this aspect expires.

Free Sound Recorder is a very easy to use audio recorder and simple editor that will suffice for most people's audio capturing needs.

Download Free Sound Recorder 7.3.1 in Softonic

Esmas Player is a truly multimedia application that provides the user with almost any tool they may need to enjoy image, music and video files on the computer.

The program's interface is suspiciously similar to that of iTunes, which makes us wonder why is it that developers weren't able to come up with a more original design. Similarities to iTunes don't end here, though: as you'll see, you can organize your library, play your favorite songs, edit tags, listen to podcasts, synchronize contents with your portable music device and even buy music online. Some people may find this resemblance somewhat uncomfortable – like a cheap imitation – but it's also a way to make the program look familiar and be easy to use from the very beginning.

Leaving comparisons aside, Esmas Player goes a step forward and also enables you to organize photos and videos, and also features extended functionality such as a disc burner, a DVD player and support for online TV channels and radio stations. During our tests, however, I had the impression that some of its functions were not properly implemented or at least not as easy to use as I expected. Also, though the program's language can be set to English, both the installer and documentation haven't been translated from Spanish yet.

In all, Esmas Player works fine as an all-in-one multimedia organizer, but it still needs some improvements in usability – as well as adding the necessary distance between iTunes and itself in order to avoid odious comparisons.

Download Esmas Player 11026 in Softonic

ProgDVB is a piece of software which allows you to watch SAT-Television and listen to Radio channels directly from satellite by using DVB-PCI cards with hardware decoders on the board, SAT-dish, and personal x86-compatible computers. ProgDVB has options for working with network broadcasting and Audio/Video recording of the stream to different digital-media formats.

Download ProgDVB 5.15.7 in Softonic

Nero is a mammoth multimedia solution that does just about everything from CD and DVD burning to audio and video editing. This latest version is a bit of a disappointment as it doesn't really bring anything drastically new from version 7. The main improvements are an updated design and reinforced security. Let’s look around at the features available in Nero 8.

This latest version is Windows Vista certified and if you have Microsoft’s latest OS installed you’ll be able to enjoy the Nero sidebar gadget and sleek, clear Vista interface, such as the “Glass” window for StartSmart. Nero Home, the multimedia manager with a DVD menu-like interface, has been slightly improved. Apart from handling all your photos, videos and songs it can also play radio stations and, if you have a TV card set up, play and record TV stations. Furthermore, Nero can stream content to your brand new Xbox 360.

The StartSmart interface is your gateway to all the Nero tools. You can select the individual applications from the left sided menu or choose the file you want to work with (data, audio, photo and video or backup) from the main menu. It’s best to choose the disc type, CD or DVD from the drop-down menu at the top to get the most relevant possibilities. Even though StartSmart gives quick access to all the Nero applications, we found the whole interface too small and cluttered. The window can’t be resized and you need to scroll through to find the tools you need. RSS feeds added to version 8 feel a bit clumsy. They don't show items in a proper feed list and only seem to link back to the Nero help and support pages.

Before it became a full multimedia suite though, Nero was renowned for its burning tools, essentially due to its flagship program, Nero Burning ROM. With it, you can adjust the disc type, set restrictions and control the writing speed. SecurDisc technology has also been added in the latest version to encrypt your CDs or DVDs. If you don’t want to get bogged down in the details, use Nero Express instead to burn your project and design your own disc cover quickly.

Another of the classic Nero apps that has been improved is Nero Showtime. This DVD player boasts support for HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, and will save you from upgrading when these formats become the norm. Just use Nero InfoTool beforehand to check if your system can handle these new formats. The program has also seen the introduction of AVCHD playback and authoring technology used in camcorder videos. Support for Windows Media Format DRM is also part of the deal and you can encode videos to play on your iPod, mobile or PlayStation Portable (PSP) thanks to Nero Recode.

Nero’s strength lies in the wealth of multimedia tools it offers to users. You can do just about everything from managing your media to burning CDs and DVDs or editing and watching high quality videos. The latest release has added a number of significant improvements to handle all the latest technological advances like Windows Vista, iPods or the Xbox 360.

Ironically, Nero´s power also contributes to its downfall. Nero packs so many applications into one package that it’s very easy for the common user to get lost in the menus. The size of the suite(600 MBs) and its draining of PC resources also means that you’ll need a high-spec PC to run it smoothly.

It's a bit surprising that Nero decided to jump to version 8 as there's nothing really that new in this latest outing. Once more, Nero will cater to those users looking for a full multimedia suite and not worried about eating up their PC's resources.

Download Nero 8.3.6.0 in Softonic

Have you ever wanted to record audio for a radio broadcast, phone call or media player but couldn't be bothered fiddling with complicated software to do so?

If that's the case, then Meda MP3 Recorder is a useful solution for those that want to record Mp3 audio outputs. Meda MP3 Recorder can record form just about any type of source including internet broadcasts, video games or media players such as Windows Media Player, Real Player, Quick Time, Winamp and more.

Even more useful, Meda MP3 Recorder can also record conversations you have on VoIP software such as Skype and any other audio input that comes through your microphone jack, CD player and other audio from your sound card. The name Meda "MP3" Recorder is a bit misleading because it doesn't just save MP3 audio - it can save just about anything but unfortunately, only in MP3 format although for most people, this is the best format to save audio in anyway.

Meda MP3 Recorder also doesn't rely on you starting the recording on time. Meda MP3 Recorder has a useful Auto detect control tool which can auto start , auto stop, auto pause and auto restart according to when the audio kicks in.

A versatile and simple to use audio recorder, Meda MP3 Recorder is not really for professionals but for those that need a simple and flexible audio recorder.

Download Meda MP3 Recorder 1.5 in Softonic

Radio technicians can now prepare for their radio exams with Elmer. The program has two test levels, technician and general. You can view your exam and question history anytime and even grade your exam before you've finished it to make sure you've got the right answer.

The questions are fairly technical but we were disappointed by a number of issues. There's not startup window to guide you and all the help is found only in PDF files. We couldn't check if the tests are really up to date and, although Elmer provides extra technical figures it lacks any explanation. Similarly, the program doesn't ever explain the right answer for questions.

Even though the interface is pretty sparse and the application lacks any real guidance, it will at least provide some sort of help to radio experts looking to prepare for their exams.

Download Elmer 7.5 in Softonic

Online Live lets you watch 3645+ free Internet TV, on demand videos and listen free online radio stations. The live television channels database is the biggest worldwide. No additional equipment required. Online TV Player supports Windows Media Player. You can play most stream formats in this program.

Download OnlineLive 6.3.41 in Softonic

anyTV lets you play TV channels and radio stations that stream their contents on the Internet. The program features a huge list of channels from hundreds of countries around the world.

The list is divided into TV channels, radio stations and videos, the latter being presumably videos from web pages about the most diverse topics. Lists can be filtered according to several topics and also arranged by rating, bitrate or genre. In spite of that, sometimes the channel list is difficult to manage especially when it's too long. One feature I missed, for example, is being able to jump to a certain part of the list by pressing its first letter on the keyboard.

anyTV looks very promising: a nice interface, hundreds of TV channels to watch and radio stations to listen to, a Favorites system, the possibility to rate channels… unfortunately while testing the program we found way too many channels that didn't work well or didn't even load at all. And what's worse, the program didn't show up any error message to let us know if we were missing any codec or other necessary component.

Watch streaming TV channels on your computer without any additional hardware.

Download anyTV 2.20 in Softonic

DFX enhances your music listening experience by improving the sound quality of MP3, Windows Media, Internet radio and other music files. With DFX you can transform the sound of your PC into that of an expensive stereo system placed in a perfectly designed listening environment.

One important factor contributing to the exceptional sound quality is the fact that DFX performs all audio processing with 32-bit floating point precision, yielding truly professional audio quality. Since Internet audio playback systems currently only support 16-bit audio playback, as a final processing step DFX carefully re-dithers the audio signal to the final 16-bit resolution using Power Technology's proprietary high quality dithering technology. Re-dithering allows a dynamic range in the playback signal that actually exceeds the theoretical limit of a 16-bit playback system.

Download DFX (WinAmp 2 & 5) 8.36 in Softonic

Crawler Radio & MP3 Player is a refreshing new way to enjoy music. It lets you not only listen to music stored on your computer, but also make your own recordings from Internet radio streams

You can choose between the simple Mp3 Player or the Radio Tuner which has a list of presets or you can add your own favourite radio streams. You can then save them on your computer and listen to them whenever you want which is really useful if you don't have time to listen to a program or are working. You can even schedule recordings so that even if you're not at your PC, it will record the stream automatically - simple as setting your VCR. The Mp3 player allows the easy creation of playlists and drag and dropping of Mp3's saved on your hard drive into tje player. The player has obviously been designed with a wide range of users in mind - it's simple enough for beginners to use but it also has advanced features if you look deep enough. I also like the fact that you can easily toggle between the Mp3 Player and Radio & Recorder as well as minimise both so they don't occupy your desktop.

A really nice Mp3 player and a superb radio recorder that means you'll never miss another radio show.

Download Crawler Radio & MP3 Player 1.0.5.76 in Softonic

Audials One is designed as downloader and converter for music that, via it's subscription fee, allows you to download and copy music without fear of infringing copyright laws

The program tries to help you discover the kind of music you will like Simply select the music genre that you're into and click on "Start". The music is all copyright free because it has been recorded from over 15,000 internet radio stations that the program is affiliated to. If you don't find the kind of music you're looking for among the 100,000 artists listed in the MusicFinder database of regularly-played music, you can use the Audials One Internet meta-search engine to locate and download the MP3s you want. Whatsmore, the program comes bundled with a limited audio, video & DRM converter plus a simple CD & DVD burner to burn your favourite tracks. The converter is especially useful for recording music onto mobile devices with around 30 different formats supported. The aim to is to allow you to play your music, audio books and videos on mobile phones, MP3 players, MP4 players, PDAs, PSPs, auto radios and Apple iPods. In addition, there's direct access to podcasts from the community of listeners plus ID3 tagging options to organise your library.

This is a solid music program for those that want to download and share music legally although inevitably, the full subscription fee may put some people off.

Download Audials One Music Video Loader & Converter 2.1.35709 in Softonic

If you're tired of always watching the same channels in your TV set, why not try channels from other countries that stream content on the Internet?

This is precisely what you can do with PCShowBuzz, an Internet TV tuner that allows you to watch hundreds of TV channels from all over the world. Channels are classified by country and also by genre, so it's easy to find something interesting to watch. There's also a button for radio stations, but apparently this function is currently not working. The program features some advanced tools as well, such as a bookmark manager to save your favorite channels and the ability to schedule channels for playback or recording (with a third-party tool).

As for other similar tools, image quality depends on several factors: your Internet connection, your computer specs and also the channel's features. Generally speaking PCShowBuzz worked fine during our tests, though I found it a bit annoying having to wait until the whole buffering was finished in order to start playing a channel.

PCShowBuzz lets you watch online TV channels from many different countries and genres right in your computer.

Download PCShowBuzz 1.20 in Softonic

Alarms - you either love 'em or you hate 'em depending on what it means. If it means getting up for work, then chances are it's not your favourite sound but it doesn't have to be as painful as an annoying high pitched tone.

Citrus Alarm Clock is a simple but elegant alarm clock designed for those that want to wake up in style via their PC. It's much more advanced than a normal alarm clock and it gives you many more options over how you'd like to wake-up. The program is operated via a simple interface which allows you to set as many different alarms as you like using your existing media player. It therefore supports as many media formats as your player does which makes it pretty flexible in what tone, music or noise you choose to wake up to. You can even wake up to visual images of you want by setting it to play your TV Tuner or favourite show saved on your hard drive.

So that whatever you choose doesn't wake you too harshly, it features a gentle fade-in function to wake you up gently or you can choose to listen to it into your sleep up to a certain time when it will automatically mute until it starts again when you have to wake up. In this latest version, the developer had added a number of cool new features too including a snooze feature and a much more attractive and intuitive GUI.

Simple to use, powerful and completely free, this program could make those early starts just that little bit less painful.

Download Citrus Alarm Clock 2.0 in Softonic