There are many necessary evils in this life including queues, rain, and, perhaps most annoyingly for computer users, RealPlayer.

The latter of the three has traditionally been cursed for its slow buffering times and the fact that it comes rammed with all manner of obnoxious advertising and intrusive web links. Unfortunately the application has always been the only tool available to play streaming media files in the rather arcane RAM format, in which many sites still insist on encoding their video and audio in. Luckily, there’s a saviour around these days, in the shape of Real Alternative, which is designed to play these files with less hassle.

The program is a streamlined advertising-free application designed to easily play most media content, including RealAudio (.ra .rpm), RealMedia (.rm .ram .rmvb .rpx .smi .smil), RealText (.rt), and ReadPix (.rp) formats, along with as non-Real media content such as MP3s, MPEGs, AVIs, QuickTime movies, and CD/DVD content. You can also use the program to stream media embedded in web pages.

In terms of performance, Real Alternative beats the pants off RealPlayer, and for that matter, Windows Media Player, playing all the files we tested smoothly and virtually instantaneously. The app contains enough features to keep more serious users happy, including the useful ability to bookmark favorite files, adjust volume in the window, track progress of the file, and more. Although not as quite as fully loaded with tools as its more established rivals, we can live without all manner of channel guides and visualizations in exchange for a much slicker playback experience.

There are some areas where Real Alternative falls down, such as its inability to handle .smi files or its lack of support for CDDB look-ups. But if you’re looking for something that will play audio and video quickly and without interruption, you can’t fault Real Alternative. There are programs, such as KMPlayer, which also offer superior playback quality, but Real Alternative excels in the way it handles streaming media, making it a worthwhile addition to your PC’s arsenal of programs.

Download Real Alternative 1.8.2 in Softonic

RealPlayer is so ubiquitous that the really is no getting away from it even though it's widely criticised as being too commercial and too bloated. However, you can't avoid the fact that it's an essential piece of software if you're surfing the internet regularly.

It is indeed bloated, intrusive but RealPlayer has alot of functionality - it can do a hell of a lot from streaming radio and video to burning CD's but it's often slow and cumbersome. One of the most annoying aspects is that it takes simply ages to start whether streaming a clip or just opening a standalone video file. This is because all of the hundreds of extensions and plugins that come preinstalled with it. There are also too many clicks and mouse movements required just to switch to a full-screen playback mode when viewing a clip on a web page.

In saying this, Realplayer isn't bad at all. It's comparable to Windows Media Player 10 as they both have some impressive ways of organising your music and for me the best feature is the CD burner which is one of the easiest burners I've ever used.

Like it or loathe it, as proprietors of the Real networks codecs, RealPlayer is here to stay for a long time to come

Download RealPlayer 11.0.0.442 in Softonic

With the recorder you can directly digitize recordings of music cassette tapes, streaming Internet audio, vinyl LPs, videos, and meetings directly to your computer's hard disk, creating popular mp3 or wave sound files on the fly.

Perfect Sound Recorder can record from any sound card input line, from microphone, line-in, cassettes, LPs, to CD, DVD, your home stereo or an MD player. What's more, it can record sound played by other programs (e.g. RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, Quick Time, WinAmp) including live Internet broadcasts.

Download Perfect Sound Recorder 6.6 in Softonic

Airfoil is one of those standout applications you come across sometimes.

What it does is allow you to send any audio from your computer via wireless to any other computer (PC or Mac), Apple TV or Airport Express. It works with any application that plays music in your computer.

Syncing is both easy and fast. The clear GUI will list up all the devices that you can sync to, and all you have to do is activate them and set the volume and equalizer. That means you can pretty much listen to your music anywhere. Rogue Amoeba have really succeeded in making a program which is efficient, useful and very easy to use.

The download also includes Airfoil Speakers, which basically turns any PC or Mac into an Airport Express unit which can then receive audio from the Airfoil of another computer.

On the help side, the Rogue Amoeba team is known to offer great support and respond quickly to user queries.

Naturally though, if your wireless connection is poor, then Airfoil will perform poorly, so make sure your WiFi is well set.

Airfoil is a smart and intuitive program, to sync music wirelessly to any computer, Airport Express or Apple TV.

Download Airfoil 2.5 in Softonic

AD Sound Recorder is a sound recording program that can record any sounds to WAV or MP3 from Microphone, CD, internet, as well as from music played by Windows Media Player, WinAmp, RealPlayer etc.

Real-time visual monitoring of a sound waveform lets you check a selected sound source and adjust the volume on the fly to avoid sound clipping. AD Sound Recorder has a built-in player and ID3 TAGs editor.

Download AD Sound Recorder 3.6.3 in Softonic

Ever wanted to create a DVD from one of your video files? DVDforger is a DVD authoring application which creates DVDs from almost any kind of video file as long as the right video codecs are installed.

DVDforger supports multiple titles with multiple audio tracks, subtitles and a simple menu. In essence, it's basically a GUI for a set of free tools including AviSynth, HC Encoder, Aften and DVDauthor. At the end of the process, you should have a DVD complete with menus and separate chapters.

One big advantage of this program is that, to avoid copying huge files, it's not necessary to directly record the film onto a disc as you can simply store it as an image ISO. Another big plus is that it comes preconfigures for conversion of various formats so you don't need to waste precious time setting it up. However, although it claims to support all formats, you may find yourself having trouble working with Quicktime and Realplayer files and there may be others.

Download DVDforger 0.6.1 Alpha in Softonic

Allok converters are focused on RealMedia formats so that you can easily convert them to other formats that are compatible with most common DVD players. Allok RM RMVB to AVI MPEG DVD Converter is a powerful RealMedia converter, compatible with many formats, including DVD. However, for DVD's, it creates the standard VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS files that makeup a standard DVD but you'll need to use another application to actually burn the DVD.

There are several options available before conversion which relate to the screen size, the resolution and the audio in terms of the number of photograms per second. In addition, it supports different AVI codecs such as DivX, Xvid or MPEG-4 and even files that are bigger than 2GB. Perhaps the biggest bonus is that it can convert RealMedia files without the need to install RealPlayer.

Overall, this is an efficient and remarkably fast converter that will turn your RealPlayer videos into DVD's within minutes.

Download Allok RM RMVB to AVI MPEG DVD Converter 2.2.0807 in Softonic

Although MP3s offer fantastic audio quality, it is actually possible to enhance them other than by increasing the bitrate they are recorded at. DFX Audio Enhancer gives your digital music files more vibrancy and enhances your music listening experience by improving the sound quality of MP3, Windows Media, Internet radio and other music files.

The developers claims that with DFX, you can transform the sound of your PC into that of an expensive stereo system 'placed in a perfectly designed listening environment'. In reality however, the application seems to add nothing more than a bit more body to your music although it does allow you to control stereo depth renew stereo depth, boost your audio levels and produce a deep, rich bass sound.

DFX supports Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, J. River Media Center, Musicmatch Jukebox, Winamp and Yahoo! Music Jukebox. However, the fact that it does not support iTunes is a glaring omission but will hopefully be resolved in future releases.

Download DFX Audio Enhancer 8.35 in Softonic

There seems to be no end to the stream of audio software being released for playing music and organising your collection but if you actually happen to be involved in the creative process you may notice a distinct lack of variety in the tools on offer. Sure Pro Tools does it all but not everyone is willing to fork out hundreds or even thousands of dollars for the required breakout box and other associated hardware. For those with a slight interest in audio editing and who would like to get a taste for what is involved, Digital Audio Editor proves to be a great platform, both thanks to the basic set of editing tools it offers and its pleasant, easy-to-use interface.

On getting started you can open any audio file you have saved or record a track from a CD or for example, your favourite internet radio station. Once you’ve chosen the sample rate and made a recording, you are given a visualisation of the wave form on both the left and right stereo channels. On a very basic level, you can simply select chunks of audio and manipulate them as you want; cutting, pasting, copying or mixing. Luckily, for those who like to experiment, you can set the level of undos available anywhere between one and one thousand meaning that even if you make a complete mess you can still get back to the original sample. However, if you do go into detailed editing beware that the trial version doesn't allow you to save files.

Of course, it features all the tools you'd expect to help you fade in and out, normalize samples, convert sample rates and add delay effects among others. However, when choosing an effect to add, there is no way to preview how it will sound which compares poorly to Sound Forge, another quality audio editor that lets you hear a short clip of the audio with the effect applied. In the case of Digital Audio Editor, this could well lead to a lot of time wasted waiting for effects to load and then going back again to adjust them to perfection.

All considered, Digital Audio Editor warrants its price tag of $40 (considering the professional solution will set you back $300), especially for users who have simple editing work to do such as cleaning up a podcast or correcting the sound levels of a mixed track. However if you are intent on doing some serious editing work then you would be better served by the pricier but more complete Sound Forge. As such, this makes a great option for beginners, hobbyists or anyone who's just curious.

Download Digital Audio Editor 7.8.2.13 in Softonic

Some players come loaded with too many features and too many codecs - not MPCStar. MPCStar is a universal video player that can play most formats of films downloaded from the internet. MPCStar has been developed using open source libraries, so it's highly customisable if you have any programming knowledge. One of the best features however is a pop-up blocker which prevents pop-ups appearing that sometimes come loaded with films.

To ensure smooth playback and not get weighed down with too many codecs, MPCStar contains only the major codecs including Media Player Classic, FFDshow Codec Pack,
RealPlayer Codecs, ActiveX controls, QuickTime Codecs and DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter). The only problem is that these codecs are regularly updated and there appears to be no automatic update function but overall, this is one of the simplest and most powerful players I've tried since VLC player.

Download MPCStar 1.9 in Softonic

Color7 Music Editor is a visual audio editor and recorder software solution, which supports many advanced and powerful operations with audio data.

You can use Color7 Music Editor to record your own music, voice, or other audio, edit it, mix it with other audio or musical parts, add effects like Reverb, Chorus, and Echo, and master it so that you can burn it to a CD, post it on the World Wide Web, or e-mail it.

What you can do:

• Open, create, and save audio files in any of the supported formats (can also save any portion of a loaded file to disk as a new file)
• Display audio data waveform (Zoom Full, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Zoom Vertical)
• Record audio data from a microphone or any other available input device (You can record audio from DVD/VCD/CD Player, tapes and LP's, MP3 Player, RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, web page, internet conversation, internet news, internet radio station and more)
• Edit audio files visually (Cut, Copy, Delete Selection, Delete Silence, Paste, Paste From File, Mix, Mix From File)
• Apply various effects (Amplify, Compressor, Delay, Equalize, Fade In and Fade Out, Flanger, Invert, Normalize, Phaser, Reverb, Reverse, Silence, Shrink, Stretch, etc.)
• Apply different filters to any selected portion of audio files (BandPass Filter, FFT Filter, HighPass Filter, HighShelf Filter,LowPass Filter, LowShelf Filter, Notch Filter)
• Convert an audio file from one format to another
• Use marker to locate the selected part or special part of the audio data
• Add and edit extra information to your audio files (Album, Artist, Comments, Copyright, Genre, Title, Year)

Download Color7 Music Editor 6.2.9 in Softonic

In most cases, privacy and security are crucial to maintaining a business afloat. Making sure you have the right application on your PC can avoid you the risk of information theft. East-Tec Eraser caters to users by offering all the necessary tools to fully erase files and information from your computer.

The application is fitted with 3 essential file cleaning features, directly accessible from the quick start menu: protecting your privacy, erasing deleted files, or erasing specific files. Choosing the first option will thoroughly check your PC and remove all existing registry entries and cookies. A detailed progress bar makes the process speed and time spent on the task visible. You can also decide to configure automation options such as if your PC should shut down or restart after it has been wiped clean.

If you choose to erase deleted files you can wipe your unused space and existing files and also scramble all file properties as an extra security precaution. East Tec offers up to 13 different file wiping methods, like German VSITR or AFSSI-5020, some of which are specific to normal drives and other methods which also work with compressed drives. The program also informs you of which methods stop software and hardware recovery tools. You will be able to set priority settings such as a password or permission settings.

Other important features appear as tabs at the top of the East Tec Eraser interface. You can recycle bin files, completely erase emails, wipe your entire drive or schedule regular cleaning procedures in a few clicks; however the application lacks a recovery feature to recuperate files you might have accidentally trashed.

East Tec Eraser is a very specific type of program that should satisfy any user who is worried about his privacy. If you want to make sure that confidential or unwanted information is fully erased from your PC, then East Tec Eraser is a professional and effective solution that should do the trick.

Download East-Tec Eraser 2007 8.5 in Softonic

System & Internet Washer protects your privacy by cleaning up all the tracks of your Internet and computer activities. The tool is integrated with IE and it can erase the browser cache, history, cookies, typed URLs, autocomplete list and so on in one click. You can also set the tool to automatically erase those tracks when you quit IE or quit Windows.

The tool is also featured to erase the disk free space and has the open plugin support. With the plugin support, System & Internet Washer now supports to erase the tracks left by any applications. We currently offer more than 30 plugins which supports the most popular programs such as MS Office, WinZip, UltraEdit, RealPlayer, Media Player...

Beside the ability to erase the tracks of your Internet and computer activities, the tool also has an integrated, small, configurable and intelligent Ad window and popup blocker.

The product supports IE, MSN, Netscape/Mozilla/FireFox, AOL and Opera browsers.

Download System & Internet Washer 4.16 Pro in Softonic

Have you ever listened to a radio broadcast or Realplayer stream and wanted to capture it for replay later? Well RM to Mp3 Converter is just what you need to do the job quickly and efficiently.

The converter features hi-performance multithreaded buffered RM-converting & encoding plus flexible converting speeds. Converting from real format to Mp3 is particularly fast.

It also features free drag and drop features plus the option to configure the Mp3 encoder with custom settings. To get the job done quickly, it also supports batch converting so get your Real clips out and turn them into Mp3's now!

Download Easy RM to MP3 Converter 2.7.3.700 in Softonic

The Google Pack is like a first aid kit for your PC: it’s small, tidy and filled with all the essentials. So what’s inside? The Firefox web browser, Ad Aware SE Personal and Norton Antivirus for protection, Adobe Reader for your PDF files, Picasa for your pictures, Google Earth to span the globe, Google Desktop to organize your files and a Google Screensaver. The Google Pack is an excellent selection of solid and essential software, half of which are from Google itself, which any new PC users should get his hands on.

First time users will appreciate the smooth download process, and a friendly interface. Once started, the Google Pack will check your computer to see if you already have any of the applications and if not will install them. The download progress bar at the top lets you know how far you are in the installation process. The application also shows the download size of each program, just in case you’re worried about the space on your PC. If you’re not sure what a program is for, roll your mouse over the title and a tooltip (or small description) will appear. Once you’re done with the pack, you can let it sit discreetly in your system tray, and call it up whenever you need it.

The Google Pack is also a Google Updater, and will regularly check that the installed applications are up to date. Beginners will be glad to know that there’s a link to the help page for every program and that you can easily uninstall each application. Another cool thing is access to more software (like Skype, RealPlayer, or Google Talk) from a link in the “installed software” tab. However one can’t help but wonder why Google didn’t just include all that software in the Google Pack. It might mean that more applications will be available in the future.

We were a bit annoyed to find out that the Google Pack installs Firefox with the Google Toolbar, a plug-in which is not completely necessary. Another irritating thing is how the Pack automatically installs all programs instead of letting you choose individual components. There’s also no refresh button to check for new updates or to reinstall software you’ve erased.

Google Pack is intended for new PC users and, although it blatantly stuffs a good number of Google applications in there, you have to recognize that all the programs it offers are top notch. Don’t waste your time on the net finding the right apps for your PC, let Google Pack set you up.

Download Google Pack 1.1.489.24609 in Softonic

All Editor provides you over 20 effects to make your music sounds cool and larruping. With All Editor, you can directly modify the envelope of your music, view their spectrum graph, mix from other songs.The enhanced multi clipboard make the exchanges between songs more faster and convenient. The powerful undo/redo engine actives your image without worrying about mistake.The built-in recorder help your to record any sound of your computer such as streaming audio from internet,games,realplayer etc.With All Editor,you can record and save directly to MP3/WMA/OGG/VQF/WAV files.With schedule support,you can make All Editor automatically startup to record your favorite program.

Download All Editor 2.4.3 in Softonic

Alive WMA MP3 Recorder records any audio source from your computer into MP3, WAV, WMA, OGG, and VOX files. With Alive WMA MP3 Recorder you can record sound from microphone, line-in, streaming audio from the Internet, or music played by WinAMP, Windows Media Player, Quick Time, RealPlayer, Power DVD, VCD, Flash, Games, etc..

Alive WMA MP3 Recorder allows you to record sound without running out of memory as long as there's enough disk space. Alive WMA MP3 Recorder have simple and intuitive interface. Sound quality of the recordings remains excellent. Alive WMA MP3 Recorder integrates the complete set of record volume control for your convenience.

Download Alive WMA MP3 Recorder 2.6.3.6 in Softonic

Internet Tracks Washer (formerly called Windows Tracks Washer) protects your privacy by cleaning up the tracks of your activities on your PC and the Internet. With simply one click, Internet Tracks Washer allows you to erase Window's temp folder, search history, run history, open/save history, recent documents, your browser's cache, cookies, history, typed URLs, and much more.

Internet Tracks Washer's powerful plugins manager makes it easy to erase the tracks of third-party applications, such as playlist of Realplayer, recent used files of Microsoft Office, search history of Google Toolbar etc. You can set up Internet Tracks Washer to delete files completely to protect them from being recovered by others.

Feature List:

Easy-to-use

One mouse click launches the "Wash Now" function, cleaning in the background.

Protect Privacy

Wash away your online and offline tracks to protect your privacy.

Boost performance

Remove unneeded files to recover hard disk space and speed up system performance.

Cookie keeper

Save valuable cookies to maintain your preferred Internet settings and log-ins.

Custom wash items

Simply click and assign your personal set of files, drivers, or registry entries for cleaning.

Automatic cleaning

Schedule automatic cleaning cycles at specified intervals, during start-up or shut-down.

Plugins Manager

Erase the tracks of third-party applications, such as playlist of Realplayer, recent used files of Microsoft Office, search history of Google Toolbar etc.

Security Wash

Completely overwrite files with random characters making them unrecoverable by file recovery utilities.

Download Internet Tracks Washer 9.00 in Softonic

Real7ime Converter (R7C) is a converter of any RealPlayer(tm) streaming medias (video and sound) to AVI/WAV/MP3 format. It is a realtime converter because it does not manage Real Time Streaming Protocol(tm) (RTSP) directly so the needed time to convert a media will be greater or equal to the time of the media.

Download Real7ime Converter 1.1 in Softonic

3D MP3 Sound Recorder (Audio Playback Recorder) is a sound recorder software. It comes complete with a 3D interface that allows you to create digital files from any audio that can be played through your computer’s sound card, regardless of the audio source.

This allows recording from external microphones, the line-in jack, the computer CD drive, Internet radio stations, movies, games, etc. These files may be saved in WAV or MP3 format, as desired.

Files are created ‘on-the-fly’, in real time and no temporary files are created. The files are easily played back on common applications such as RealPlayer, WinAmp, Media Player, etc. without problem. The program also includes its own WAV/MP3 player for immediate validation of recorded files.

Download 3D MP3 Sound Recorder (Audio Playback Recorder) 3.92 in Softonic