In case you don't know, the 'Places Bar' is that left-side menu that appears on every Windows File Explorer window and that includes shortcuts to the most frequently used folders.

The problem is that you may not agree with what Windows considers to be a frequently used folder. If so, simply load Findexer on your system and you'll be able to customize this menu with shortcuts to your actual favorite folders.

Using the program is a bit tricky, as it doesn't have a proper graphical interface. You need to run the register.bat in order to load it on your system and then restart Windows File Explorer. Open any folder, click on View > Explorer Bar > Findexer and you'll be ready to use it. You can customize Findexer in many aspects, from the menu's appearance to the number of links displayed, including number of shortcuts, the order they appear and the icon and text font. Plus, adding new shortcuts is as easy as dragging and dropping them onto the Places Bar.

Though the idea behind Findexer is very good, there's one big drawback to the program: apparently you need to activate it (that is, go to View > Explorer bar > Findexer) every time you open a new window, even if you already activated it before on that same window.

Findexer lets you customize the Places Bar on Windows File Explorer, though unfortunately you have to manually enable it on every single window.

Download FindeXer 1.1.0.3 in Softonic

Windows Live Messenger, previously known as MSN Messenger, was renamed as part of Microsoft's move towards the Live online community. So far, the most popular IM app in the world had already gone through a bunch of updates, but this new name also meant important changes that would somehow start a new period in Messenger's history.

Windows Live Messenger includes some outstanding characteristics that are well worth a mention. Firstly, its all-new interface features a completely different design from traditional Windows applications, which you can also customize by choosing your own color scheme. In order to maintain this neatness, the menu bar has been hidden under a single top right corner button but this makes it a bit uncomfortable to browse through options. Luckily, the most common actions (send email, call a contact, access MSN Spaces and view shared folders) have been implemented as nice little buttons right under your username, so they're easy to access. Another thing we liked is that you can hide side tabs in the main interface window (right click on any of them and check the "Hide tabs" checkbox). However, there's apparently no way to hide the bottom ad.

Windows Live Messenger offers plenty of emoticons and winks to cheer up your conversations with. You can expand both collections by easily adding new sets which you'll find by the hundred on the Internet. Customization possibilities include changing the chat window background or even adding a personal message to your nickname, but not creating custom status messages. At least this new version features the longed-for offline messaging tool, enabling you to leave a message to any of your contacts even if they're not online.

The two most important features in this new Windows Live Messenger are the ability of sharing folders and making free PC-to-phone calls. As for the first one, it proves as a very handy way to share pictures, while the second feature allows you to save some pennies on your phone bill. However, this service is currently only available in certain countries (United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Finland, Belgium, Spain and Italy) and requires a subscription to the Verizon Web Calling system.

In any case, you can always make use of the PC-to-PC call feature, which provides excellent sound quality. In fact, we must say this feature has been pretty well implemented in Windows Live Messenger. Its ease of use makes it a great alternative to written conversations: just click on the phone icon and your friend will instantly receive an invitation to answer the phone call on the chat window itself. A simple wizard will guide you through audio configuration and a couple of sliders enable you control the volume of your speakers (or headphones) and mic. You can still use the chat window while you talk, for instance to send a web link or a handwritten message.

Summing up, the main issue with Windows Live Messenger is that it has taken it too much time to offer tools that were already found in other IM apps, such as the VoIP calls mentioned above. However, its attractive design plus the huge number of people who are already MSN Messenger users (and who will eventually upgrade their client) will probably help this Live version reach the top.

Download Windows Live Messenger 2009 14.0.5027.908 Beta in Softonic

Think about it: during a complete working day on your computer you hardly use more than three of four folders, always the same ones, to open and save your documents. Wouldn't it be a good idea then to always have those folders at hand?

With PlacesBar Editor you can easily customize the standard Windows Open/Save dialogs and add your most frequently used folders to the left-side pane (the so called Places bar). This means that you'll be able to access your folders in just one click, instead of having to browse the whole disk structure every time you want to open or save a file. In other words, your workflow will be faster, easier and more productive.

The program lets you choose system folders (Desktop, My PC, My Documents and so on) and also any other folder on your hard drive. There's also a special area for Office shortcuts which you can configure if you use any Office suite app. I liked the "Defaults" function that lets you revert changes very easily, and also the "Test" function that enables you to check how your new places bar will look like. Just one thing: remember to click on "Save" before testing the new places bar; otherwise the changes you've made won't show up.

With PlacesBar Editor you can customize Windows dialogs with your most frequently used folders, thus improving your workflow and making it more productive.

Download Melloware PlacesBar Editor 1.0.9.59 in Softonic

If you're a news junkie then you're probably constantly looking for new ways to keep up with the news.

FeedLiner deliver news headlines to your desktop in a constant stream. FeedLiner's info line can be switched on permanently or run in the so called "Hunting mode" which monitors the web until you change the presets to search for something else. It's an incredibly effective way to keep tabs on everything that's happening in the world of news, sport and entertainment without having to check RSS bookmarks or websites. If you want to know more about a headline running across FeedLiner, simply place the mouse cursor on it and you will see a brief summary. If you want to see the full text, just click on it and the original Web page will be automatically opened in Bizz Internet Cruiser which is FeedLiner's own internal tabbed browser. While it's not a bad browser, it would be much better if the tabs opened in the browser of your choice - such as IE or Firefox - but it's still readable.

If you always want to on top of the latest headlines and like to see all the news at once then Bizz Feedliner is a powerful product.

Download Bizz FeedLiner 4.11.013 in Softonic

If you're both a Firefox user and a soccer fan, then this plugin combines the best of both worlds into a great little plugin.

FootieFox allows you to keep up with the latest results and scorelines without changing a page or even leaving your desktop. Once installed, the plugin sits discreetly at the bottom of Firefox in the statusbar. You configure the plugin to follow the game of your choice and depending on this configuration, you will see the current score plus the logo of the clubs playing. On the right hand side, you'll also see a green arrow which accesses the main menu where you can subscribe to scorelines from the various leagues and choose to focus on one particular match if you prefer. Further details on the teams are accessible when right-clicking the team icons. If your country's league is not represented, the developers claim that they will endeavour to add it if you e-mail them with a request but it depends on whether they have an agreement with the league or whether you can provide details of a suitable website alternative. In fact, this is one of the major advances with this latest edition - more leagues - 190 to be precise from 90 countries. The developers have also teamed up with Kicker Online magazine in Germany for better info on teams and coverage of the German league.

A superb little plugin that does it's job efficiently and discreetly although you may find it a little slow on updating compared to some live score websites.

Download FootieFox Extension 2.0.8 in Softonic

Morpheus is one of those age old P2P applications and, with support for Gnutella, eDonkey, Bittorrent and many others, probably the most versatile you can find on the market. The new version aims to turn the P2P client into the ultimate multimedia application. Does it succeed?

Morpheus has gone through a complete facelift and the new version brings a newer interface. The window is divided into 4 tabs: search results, my files, podcasts and Morpheus online, giving you an idea of what it considers important. A pane on the left side allows you to create playlists or keep track of searches and videos – although strangely not music. Morpheus lets you also sync all your downloaded files to import them automatically to iTunes. Oddly enough, the chat tool is now hidden at the top of the interface, next to help and preferences.

Morpheus wants to appear as a multifaceted app, not just a simple P2P program. It includes an embedded browser, Morpheus Online, from which you can check-out the internet or find new files to share while you’re downloading. This is particularly useful when you’re looking for new podcasts. By clicking on the podcast page button in the podcasts tab, you will be taken to Morpheus’ own podcast library. While it’s not as star studded as the iTunes library, it’s full of varied and original content. The podcast tab is wisely divided into podcast and episodes, so you can browse through what you’ve downloaded. However we were quite confused by the whole podcast downloading procedure. The progress bar is hidden in the file window of the My Files tab. Why didn’t Morpheus leave this in the podcast section?

Morpheus has also beefed-up its security. You can now select your antivirus application to automatically scan downloaded files. The program also includes solid parental control so you can enter hazardous terms into the block list to avoid your kids searching for violent or pornographic material. You can also add a password to make sure you control who has access to Morpheus. The application also introduces UDP technology to improve the performance of downloads and allow secure file sharing between 2 firewall protected PCs.

This new version comes with many interesting enhancements, but not enough to get us overexcited. Add to that the many drawbacks we found in the application. The interface for example is way too clunky, and it’s safe to say that lies in the two large ads at the top and the bottom of the program (which disappear if you buy the Pro version). The “My Files” tab has an additional file window at the bottom, which adds to the confusion in the interface. The one click burning function is something we were eager to try out but was nowhere to be seen.

However hard Morpheus tries at integrating cool features like web browsing or podcasting, we figure the application should only be used for what it’s good at i.e.P2P downloading. The program gives access to all the P2P networks, even Bittorrent, and the new version introduces safer and quicker transfer thanks to UDP technology. The other extra features in the application like the library structure or web browser felt a bit awkward, and therefore failed at turning the program into a true multimedia application. Let’s hope Morpheus gets it right in the future.

Download Morpheus Basic 5.5.1 in Softonic

Those of us who work with the PC on a daily basis usually waste too much time browsing through the file structure in Windows just to find a given file or select the appropriate location to save a document.

Fortunately now there's Direct Folders: a simple yet highly functional tool that works as a Windows Explorer enhancement and lets you access your more frequently used folders from any standard file dialog in the system, and also from Windows Explorer itself. You can launch Direct Folders in several ways: from the program's icon on the System Tray or simply by left double clicking on any empty area in the desktop, Windows Explorer or any open/save file dialog.

The folder menu is easily customizable with your favorite folders in the program's settings menu. Plus, this same menu enables you to take advantage of other Direct Folders functions, such as enlarging file dialogs to make them easier to use and customizing the folders that appear on the places bar along the left side of Windows open/save file dialogs.

On the downside, the program still keeps some of its goodies for a pro version. In any case, this free version doesn't feel crippled at all and helps a lot when browsing your system's file structure.

With Direct Folders you can improve the way you work with Windows File Explorer in several ways: quick access for folders, larger file dialogs and customizable places bars.

Download Direct Folders 3.31 in Softonic

Checking webmail can be a real pain especially when you've got several accounts, the servers are always hanging and you have to flick between tabs.

Therefore, it's nice to know there's an easy way - let a Firefox extension do it for you. The great thing about this particular extension too is that it works right across the board with all the major web clients and more. The application sits in the Firefox status bar in the bottom right and when you have mail, an envelope will appear. Clicking on this status bar icon allows you to access the extension preferences or simply go straight to your waiting mail. In the extension preferences you can add and delete accounts including such services as daum.net, naver.com, empas.com and nate.com. You can also choose whether to activate audio or visual warnings. The worry I always have with these extensions however is when it comes to entering your username and password. Of course, the likelihood is that it will be kept safe but there is no guarantee it's not being sent to a third party. On the plus side, if your webmail is not supported, there's a good chance a user is developing a script for it so it really is very flexible and powerful.

A great webmail checker than works across several platforms and saves you valuable time checking your accounts.

Download WebMail Notifier 1.0.10 in Softonic

Chandler is an open source organizer which lets you create and save notes and organize them in your calendar.

Although at first I found the interface a little cluttered, it really seems to have everything you need. The quick entry section at the top, which you could mistake for a search bar, lets you create notes quickly. Detail on your notes is shown on the right side of the interface. Chandler also displays a calendar, which you can browse through to see notes for each day.

In place of tags, Chandler has what it calls collections. These work more or less the same way, however I've found them to be slightly less flexible.

Chandler allows you to easily import and export information, mostly as CSV files and you can share your notes with others, by using the Chandler Server and Hub Sharing Service.

One of the best features of Chandler is that you can customize it with any sort of plugins found on the website.

Despite a slightly cluttered interface, Chandler is a solid open source note taker and organizer.

Download Chandler 1.0 in Softonic

Adobe Photoshop is any serious photographer or graphic designer’s application of choice but you’ll have to cough up quite a lot of bills to get it. Another solution is to use Photofiltre, a lesser known and more basic yet free and solid image editing application.

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 after a short time,, you should be comfortable with 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 however.

Among all the image modification tools, we particularly liked 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 we found them 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.

While Photofiltre is miles away from the professional oriented Adobe Photoshop it’s an excellent free alternative. The program contains all the essential tools and options to edit and optimize pictures. It loads up very quickly and changes can be instantly previewed. Novice photographers or graphic designers can use it to cut their teeth on image editing before going on to more complex applications.

Download PhotoFiltre 6.3.1 in Softonic

SpyderBar is a desktop utility designed specifically to cater to you and your needs. With SpyderBar, no more browsing sites for hours just to get the information that you need. Get the latest news, sports, stocks, weather, and email all in one place, your desktop. SpyderBar also takes control of popular programs like Windows Media Player, Outlook, and Outlook Express with more improvements on the way.

Download SpyderBar 1.4.31 Beta in Softonic

With Flash video still the most popular format available on the Net, Softonic has loads of programs designed to help users download and convert FLV and SWF movies to a more usable format (such as AVI). Freez Flv to AVI/MPEG/WMV Converter tackles the conversion side of this operation, but unfortunately, it leaves a lot to be desired.

While the program is technically free, it constantly prompts and pesters users into visiting the developer's website, for no reason. The irritating 'There may be an update on our website' dialog box actually means nothing because this program isn't equipped with an update-checking service. For this reason, I've classified the software as 'Adware': true freeware doesn't pester the user like this.

The functionality of Freez Flv to AVI/MPEG/WMV Converter is limited to say the least. It allows you to convert any .FLV file to AVI, MPG or WMV and gives you some control over video encoding settings like frame rate and bit rate. Unfortunately, we found that choosing the wrong settings will result in not only a failure to convert the file correctly, but also Windows Explorer will crash: a pretty serious failing.

When we did manage to convert a file successfully, the end result was perfectly satisfactory. But given that we had the Explorer Shell (including the Start Menu and Task Bar) crash on us four times during testing, we cannot recommend use of this application. The program also doesn't include standard window menus or buttons, an irritating design choice.

Freez Flv to AVI/MPEG/WMV Converter is a poorly designed tool for converting popular video formats. When it works, it works well. But most of the time, it's liable to causing major system processes to crash. Not recommended.

Download Freez Flv to AVI/MPEG/WMV Converter 1.5 in Softonic

There are many screensavers ready for you to download, install and use, but it's much more fun to create one yourself, don't you think? Now you can do it very easily with 3D Pic Cube.

This screensaver displays a three-dimensional cube which you can customize with your own pictures, one for each side. The cube's size and speed can be adjusted by means of sliders.

3D Pic Cube is really easy to configure: simply select the six pictures you want to use. You have also the possibility to interact with the cube, moving it around with the help of your mouse. Just remember to say "no" to the browser bar and search tool offered during installation: you never know.

Download Acez 3D Pic Cube Screen Saver 1.2 in Softonic

Launchbar Commander is an alternative launch menu from which you can open applications and access your favourite files and folders.

It features a wide range of configuration options to customize both its appearance and functionality: you can choose which folders and apps are included in the menu or whether the launchbar should be displayed docked or not, among other possibilities. However, such a high level of customization requires some time and dedication.

Launchbar Commander allows you to have as many bars ("docks") as you wish, but just having two of them takes way too much screen space.

Download LaunchBar Commander 1.61.01 in Softonic

I can't really think of any other utility for a keylogger than spying on what somebody does on a computer, but maybe that's because I have a devious mind. I'm sure that a program like Revealer Keylogger must have other purposes, much more innocent than reading personal information.

In any case, this program works surprisingly well. Under a rather simple interface we find a tool that can hide itself (so that users don't notice they're being logged) and record absolutely everything, from a simple text document to the user-names and passwords (without asterisks) entered on any website.

Logs are saved in TXT files. The program includes other configuration options that remain inactive to encourage you to buy a pro version of the program. When logging, it disappears from the desktop and system tray, but still shows an active process in the Task Manager that more advanced users will easily spot.

Download Revealer Keylogger 1.3 in Softonic

Better JPEG edits your JPEG image files, offering the basic tools like crop, red eye or resize. The interface, with the left side explorer panel to search for your pictures and the top tool bar, makes everything easy to access. You can quickly add text comments to your jpegs. Better JPEG claims that all operations are lossless, meaning the quality of the image will stay the same no matter how much editing you do.

We were disappointed by the limited editing features. No contrast, sepia or greyscale features even those are often considered basic. You can send a jpeg via email but for that, you will have to make sure you have a MAPI email client. The application also crashed when we were browsing for pictures.

As the developer states in his description, JPEG is really only useful to quickly edit JPEG images. However, with most photo organisers, like Picasa, already offering more simple editing tools, Better JPEG turns out to be something of a lame duck.

Download Better JPEG 1.7.1.0 in Softonic

Twitter addicts have found the perfect browser companion in Twitbin. This Firefox extension lets you read and post items from a Firefox sidebar. You can view public or friend listings or choose only to choose D or @ messages. It's very easy to type your updates and Twitbin shows the character count as you type. Auto login avoids you having to reenter your password all the time and you can also set the extension to automatically refresh at specific intervals. Twitbin also features a refresh button you can use anytime.

We were a bit disappointed that Twitbin does not allow you to star or trash items. The side bar can also feel pretty crowded and it's a bit annoying how Twitbin limits the number of updates you can browse. We also found the application slow at times, particularly when logging in and fetching updates.

Still, Twitbin is the perfect way to catch up on updates without opening up the Twitter page in your browser.

Download TwitBin 1.0 in Softonic

A complete office solution for all your labeling and printing needs (label, bar code, photo id badge with magnetic stripe, envelope, CD label, and more). Print Studio provides a wide variety of powerful, yet easy to use tools (such as shapes, gradient, artistic text, layers and blending, watermark effect, and more). Whether you are looking for an addressing label software, a photo badge designer, a professional barcode labeler, or an artistic CD label maker; this one program includes everything you need.

Print Studio 2.0 includes 2500+ predefined templates for industry standard labels (including templates for CD/DVD, badges and most of Avery products), and 15+ industry standard bar codes.

Distinguishing features include:

• Double-sided printing
• Mail merging
• Print-time data feeding
• Serialized text
• Integrated database management tool
• Raster and vector graphics
• Dot matrix and thermal printer support

Download Print Studio 2E in Softonic

Streaming television apps get better as new versions are released and PPMate NetTV is an example of what these programs are evolving into. A friendly interface and a load of original features mean PPMate is one of the most solid P2P streaming apps out there.

It’s easy to navigate around the PPMate interface. The screen is divided into two tabs: the player and the menu. On the side, you have a scroll down menu from which you can select one of the 940 channels available to choose from, with all sorts of categories covered, like sports, news, movies, and TV series. Channels you have viewed will be saved in the "Favorites" list and you can use the search-as-you-type function to find a specific show. There’s also a ticker bar in the player view to remind you of upcoming programs, although unfortunately it appears in Chinese. We like how the main menu interface shows a thumbnail image of the program and you can select programs by clicking on the category tab. You have a little popularity marker next to each program. The more popular a show is, the better it will stream. You can also maximize your streaming quality configuring the XP TCP patch. Setting it to 256 or higher should guarantee you good streaming quality.

Apart from messy interfaces and dodgy streaming quality, I found early streaming TV apps to be very unfriendly to new users. PPMate thankfully launches a quick help window at the start, detailing the main functions accessible in the program, like channel list, player control panel or captions bar. This is really useful in helping you get acquainted with PPMate.

Thanks to the recording button included in the player bar, you can record any channel you’re watching. However, the “browse recording directory” button is not well configured and won’t take you to recorded files. You have to open up the PPMate folder yourself to take a look at what you’ve recorded.

We were also disappointed by the subscribe feature in PPMate. While it should be simple enough to select and save your favourite shows, clicking the subscribe button in tools only displays a blank “notify” window with no further instructions. Hopefully this will be corrected in the future.

Compared to other P2P streaming apps, PPMate offers a great interface and very good streaming quality. However, the new features like subscribe or record were not totally up to scratch. We were surprised to learn that the program only works with WMP 9 or 10, so if you have version 11 installed, you’ll have to downgrade. Also, while the program offers hundreds of channels to choose from, the majority of them are from Asian networks, meaning Westerners might not find what they want. Hopefully in future releases, there will be a wider variety to choose from.

Download PPMate NetTV 2.0.0.41 in Softonic

ThinkTanks is a tank combat game designed to be a blast for the new and experienced gamer alike with lighthearted, fast paced pandemonium. Either battling against brain-hungry bots in solo play or going head-to-head against others online, ThinkTanks has something for everyone. It offers different game modes.

Solo Play

You find yourself in a ThinkTank... just one of many brain slaves imprisoned by Alien Mind Control-- only you have managed to escape their brain rays. But the moment you are free, you are besieged on all sides by insane bot-tanks. You must destroy or be destroyed and keep on your toes at all times. Luckily you can collect powerups that give you wacky weapons to help you stay alive. As you progress through each level, the bot tanks get smarter, stronger and crazier as Alien Mind Control reprograms the bot tanks to match your wits. Your goal is to beat the bosses, then rescue your brain-brethren and continue the fight on other worlds.

Quickplay Battle Mode

Upon entering, you are immediately engaged by heavy artillery. This is no-holds-barred warfare and to the victor go the points. You can be catapulted or thrust in any direction by rolling over the boost and jump pads to escape attack or rush the enemy. The lush, green hills are scattered with bots on the warpath, bots choking in their own smoke, floating orbs with special powers and ammunition, boulders, trees, AND the dreaded pit of doom. The goal here is to keep your brain intact, and triumph over bots of every shape, size, speed and skill.

Scrum

You are cast into a veritable feeding frenzy of tanks. You need to simultaneously track the position of your tank relative to the scrum ball using your radarscope, while navigating your tank along the bumpy terrain. If you are quick enough to pick up the ball yourself, you must make a mad dash to the goal, evading the thirsty pack of mad bots heavy on your trail. You win by capturing the most scrum balls in the allotted time.

Both On-line BattleMode and Scrum games have team-play variants and online chat that allow players to play together cooperatively.

Download ThinkTanks 1.1 in Softonic