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  <title><![CDATA[skins windows media player for Windows - Softonic Search]]></title>
  <description><![CDATA[Download skins windows media player for Windows - Free subscription and downloads for your favorite programs]]></description>
  <link>http://en.softonic.com/</link>
  <language>en-US</language>
  <pubdate>Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:14:50 +0100</pubdate>
  <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
  <image>
   <url>http://en.softonic.com/images/softonic_xml.gif</url>
   <title>Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic</title>
   <link>http://en.softonic.com/</link>
  </image>
  <item>
   <title><![CDATA[FoxyTunes Extension 3.0.4.1]]></title>
   <link>http://foxytunes-extension.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/37000/37385/2_foxytunes-2.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>One of the best Firefox extensions you'll find, FoxyTunes lets you control any media player from your browser.</p>
<p>FoxyTunes is really the ideal add-on if you listen to your music all the time and are tired of switching back and forth between your browser and your media player. The extension fits discreetly at the bottom of your browser window, and includes all the basic playback buttons. You can also have it appear as a floating window, called FoxyTunes Mini. Advanced users will also enjoy being able to control it via keyboard shortcuts. </p>
<p>What makes FoxyTunes such an exceptional add-on though is its customizability. Not only can you add all sorts of skins, but you can also associate with any of the most popular media player, including online services like Last.FM, Pandora or Rhapsody Online. And since Yahoo! has acquired FoxyTunes you'll also now get fresh content from  Yahoo! News and Yahoo! Music related to the music you're playing.</p>
<p>Via FoxyTunes Planet, which opens up in a new browser window, you can get search for any track, album or artist and get all sorts of content such as video, articles or audio from your results.</p>
<p><b>Despite the volume slider not being very precise, FoxyTunes is the ultimate Firefox extension for music lovers. It works with any player and also displays additional content on the music you're playing.</b></p><p>Download <a title="FoxyTunes Extension 3.0.4.1" href="http://foxytunes-extension.en.softonic.com"><strong>FoxyTunes Extension 3.0.4.1</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://foxytunes-extension.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">37385</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[VLC Media Player 0.8.6i with Softonic Toolbar]]></title>
   <link>http://vlc-media-player.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/25000/25339/2_windows-wxwin-playlist.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>There was a time when video files all conformed to some basic requirements and could be played without protest using any media software. As technologies change and licensing becomes more restrictive and specific, simply playing a video file has now become a challenge and thanks to the plethora of obscure proprietary formats now available, finding a media player that works for the majority has become more hassle than it’s worth. Thankfully the open source community have come up with a solution in the form of VLC, otherwise know as VideoLAN.</p>
<p>This cross platform player doesn't strike as particularly good-looking when put side by side with Windows Media Player or Winamp, but you'll appreciate its far superior usability within moments. Its power can be demonstrated with any video files you happen to be downloading, which can be played in whatever form they exist, be it an actual video format or an unclassified temporary one. As you preview a video, it will skip the parts that have yet to be downloaded and let you see the rest – Media Player in comparison, can't preview files in this way.</p>
<p>Apart from playing incomplete videos, because lets face it not many people want to do that anyway, VLC has support for a huge range of video formats. If it doesn't recognize the file type it will try playing it anyway often successfully or if it's an encrypted file it will display the scrambled video in its raw form. The interface is stripped down to the bare bones, with the apparent objective of making it as unobtrusive as possible. With superb hotkey support, you can do practically everything you want without touching your mouse.</p>
<p>Put simply, VLC is a video player that doesn't stray in to other areas. There is only one alternative skin available, but all it will take is one look and you'll quickly be switching back to the default. </p>
<p>This free player should appeal to true cinephiles who want as little distraction as possible from their viewing experience. Being open source it's free to use and thanks to a small file size and a friendly installation process, we would recommend it to absolutely everyone as their "backup" or "catch-all" video player.</p><p>Download <a title="VLC Media Player 0.8.6i with Softonic Toolbar" href="http://vlc-media-player.en.softonic.com"><strong>VLC Media Player 0.8.6i with Softonic Toolbar</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://vlc-media-player.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">25339</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[KMPlayer 2.9.3.1444 Beta]]></title>
   <link>http://kmplayer.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/47000/47650/2_kmplay1.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>Choosing a multimedia player used to be a real no-brainer. However, during recent times the raft of new features and updates added to classic media players like Winamp, Windows Media Player, and even iTunes have left the apps increasingly bloated. Far from being the slick, well-oiled machines they once were, these programs have been stuffed with so much that they are in danger of ending up like a sluggish, overweight athlete still holding on to past glories.</p>
<p>For those looking for a fresh alternative to these ballooning apps, The KM Player could be your ticket. The application has a small desktop footprint and its minimalist interface, somewhat akin to the original Winamp 5, means that access and playback are quick and hassle-free. Like Winamp, the interface is fully skinable, and there are some nice aesthetic touches, such as the changing of colour on the player with every new track. There are all sorts of options to help you pimp your player, such as visualizations, plug-ins and playback options, but the beauty of KM Player is that these are turned on at your request rather than being forced upon you at the outset.</p>
<p>The application handles both audio and video, and supports a wide range of different formats, meaning that once installed, you should never need to touch another player. Video playback is particularly impressive thanks to the range of processing tools available that allow you to sharpen, change picture properties, apply filters and even make video captures from within the program.</p><p>Download <a title="KMPlayer 2.9.3.1444 Beta" href="http://kmplayer.en.softonic.com"><strong>KMPlayer 2.9.3.1444 Beta</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://kmplayer.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">47650</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[BSPlayer Free 2.28.964]]></title>
   <link>http://bsplayer.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/16000/16261/2_bsplayer01.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>Sometimes I prefer watching movies and TV series on the computer rather than doing it on the couch. The image quality in my PC monitor is better and I can handle more formats than just DVD.</p>
<p>Of course, I need a good video player in order to enjoy my favorite movies at their most, and my choice is no other than BSPlayer. This great video player features anything you need to watch movies or any other kind of video on your PC. It supports all popular video formats (and audio as well, in case you were wondering) and though its basic interface is not really the nicest one I've seen, you can easily customize it with skins.</p>
<p>BSPlayer supports video subtitles, takes screenshots of movie currently playing, lets you create bookmarks and chapters to move along videos more easily and has also support for plug-ins. I especially liked the way you can control playback, either by using keyboard shortcuts or simply your mouse: one click to stop the video, two clicks to go full screen, mouse wheel to raise or low the volume…</p>
<p>The only thing I didn't like was the fact that, being a free version, you're obliged to install an adware element on your PC that displays ads from time to time while you're browsing the way. It's a safe app that doesn't compromise your privacy, but still it's not my cup of tea. I guess it's just the price you have to pay for having such a great video player for free.</p>
<p><b>BSPlayer lets you enjoy your favorite movies on the PC with a wide range of features (subtitles, screenshots, bookmarks and more) provided you're willing to accept some ads on your desktop.</b></p><p>Download <a title="BSPlayer Free 2.28.964" href="http://bsplayer.en.softonic.com"><strong>BSPlayer Free 2.28.964</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://bsplayer.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">16261</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[Spider Player 2.3.5]]></title>
   <link>http://spider-player.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/51000/51827/2_spiderplayer2.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>According to some happy users, Spider Player is so good that it could even rival Winamp in the popularity stakes for basic players one day. It's certainly a very good looking player and not only that, it makes life easy where listening to music is concerned.</p>
<p>The look is obviously a key part for the developers and they've even included a "tuning" bar in the skin which allows you to change the tone of it according to the mood you are in. As with Winamp, I like the fact that you can also divide-up the player as you like. For example, when you open it, the main playback window, equaliser and playlist are all joined together. But you can split these up as you like and place them in various parts of your desktop for easy access. To control playback, you can simply drag and drop the status bar and it responds very quickly. There's also a pitchshifter, echo and reverb bar to play with.</p>
<p>One nice added little extra us that Spider Player also has a built-in ID3 tag editor and CD ripper that can burn in MP3, WAV, OGG and WMA formats. Once minimised, the player also sits neatly in your system tray so it's well integrated into your OS. This is one of the best Mp3 players I've tried outside of Winamp although it lacks the plugins of the former.</p><p>Download <a title="Spider Player 2.3.5" href="http://spider-player.en.softonic.com"><strong>Spider Player 2.3.5</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
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   <pubdate>Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">51827</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[PowerDVD 8.0.1730]]></title>
   <link>http://powerdvd.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/16000/16247/2_power1.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>Far from being just office workhorses, computers are also thought of as complete entertainment systems that you can use to chat with friends, play videogames or watch movies. Regarding this last option, there's a wide range of DVD players out there, but we'll focus our attention on one of them: Power DVD. </p>
<p>The program's installation process is very quick. It includes Google Toolbar as an add-on but you can decline its installation if you're not interested. Once launched, you gain access to its main interface which, to be honest, is not especially nice: a close-up of a girl wearing weird sunglasses is not the kind of thing you expect to see on the screen when opening a DVD player. It would look much better with some abstract design or just the program logo instead. Anyway, configuration settings allow you to customize this interface with skins but there are no skins included. At least you can change the color scheme by clicking on the display.</p>
<p>Power DVD is generally very easy to use. All the buttons on the player panel have tooltips to give you hints about their usage. Also, most of their functions can be performed with the mouse or the keyboard (using the hotkey displayed in the tooltip). When playing a movie in full screen mode, the panel hides automatically and shows only if you move the mouse. Still, you can access all the program's functions through a comprehensive context menu by right-clicking anywhere on the image.</p>
<p>As for the playing functions, the movie flows very smoothly even when you move the window around or play it in full screen mode. Sound can be configured in different ways, depending on your hardware means (from headphones to an 8-speaker surround system) in order to obtain the best possible sound quality. During our tests, we also found some interesting tools: one offers the possibility to change playing speed and therefore obtain slow or fast motion images; another one lets you take snapshots of your favourite scenes in the movie, according to the settings in Configuration – Player – Advanced - Snapshot; and finally a tool called "Say it again" with which you can repeat certain dialogues over and over again. This may be useful for foreign language students or movie fans who like to learn certain script lines by heart.</p>
<p>Power DVD is then a perfect solution for your all DVD playing needs. It may seem quite simple at first sight but after all, you don't need much more apart from "play" and "pause" to happily watch a movie on your PC. And in case you want to know more about the program and their developers, have a look at <a href="http://www.insidetonic.com/cyberlink%e2%80%99s-vision-for-optical-media/">our interview</a> with Dr. Jau Huang, Cyberlink's founder.</p><p>Download <a title="PowerDVD 8.0.1730" href="http://powerdvd.en.softonic.com"><strong>PowerDVD 8.0.1730</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://powerdvd.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">16247</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[BSPlayer Pro 2.28 build 964]]></title>
   <link>http://bsplayer-pro.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/37000/37062/2_bsplayer_about1.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>Since bursting onto the internet in 2000, BSPlayer has been downloaded over 60 million times according to its developers. The aim of the player is to "enable users to focus on watching the movie instead of dealing with poor computer capabilities or running around looking for a proper settings and codecs." For those that have had problems with mainstream media players on offer, BSPlayer may prove a useful alternative. </p>
<p>It supports all kinds of media including avi, mpeg, asf, wmv, mp3, etc but also specializes in DivX playback. Many users report that DivX files that wouldn’t work on other players, did in BS Player. One of the major drawbacks with many media players is resource hogging but BSPlayer consumes no more than many audio players and start-up is pleasantly fast. Because it does not use much of the processing power, its more suited to those users with slower machines that are not looking for too many fancy features.  </p>
<p>BSPlayer also comes bundled with BSMediaLibrary which can manage all your multimedia content and enables you to create your own playlists. It also has a multitude of skins available for download, many designed by other devoted users.</p>
<p>The major drawback with BSPlayer is the concealed menu which appears and disappears when you wave the mouse over it. This becomes increasingly annoying if you are listening to something whilst using another application. However, loading subtitles is easy and dragging and dropping files into the screen to open files means you can avoid the annoying menu. You also have a small graphic equaliser and can load the player with other codecs that you might need.</p>
<p>Overall, definitely worth trying for anyone who has had problems with DivX files or are tired of bulky mainstream offerings.</p><p>Download <a title="BSPlayer Pro 2.28 build 964" href="http://bsplayer-pro.en.softonic.com"><strong>BSPlayer Pro 2.28 build 964</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
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   <pubdate>Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">37062</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[Vista Customization Pack 3.6]]></title>
   <link>http://vista-customization-pack.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/42000/42812/2_vista3.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>If you’ve had enough bad experiences upgrading your Microsoft products, you’re too poor to upgrade to Vista or you just refuse on principle, you can always customise Windows XP to make it look like Vista. The Windows Vista customisation pack gives you all the flashy features of Vista without having to shell-out a few hundred dollars for the original. It’s certainly proved a hit with Softonic users so far who have made this pack one of the site’s most popular downloads. </p>
<p>The pack includes a booty of Vista features including transparency of the windows, 3D Vista style icons, mouse cursors, boot screen, login screen, and a whole host of Vista themes to name a few. After installing the pack, you’ll be asked to restart, when you’ll find that your system has been through an impressive transformation although the fact that Windows Vista isn’t actually that radically different from XP, shouldn’t be held against this pack.  </p>
<p>Amongst the major differences you will notice are some jazzy changes to your systems icons, skins and toolbars as well as new enhancements to your desktop such as a dock bar or if you prefer, a totally different system tray clock. Transfer file progress dialogs are transformed with swanky new 3D graphics and the sounds scheme has been beefed up to blow you out of your chair. Microsoft certainly spent lots of time designing these features. It was recently reported that they spent a year and a half just coming up with the start-up music alone. </p>
<p>Other changes include Windows Media Player which also receives a facelift although nothing worth getting excited about. The colours have been changed to a metallic-blue and the drop down menus have been replaced by an invisible menu which pops up when the mouse is waved over it. However, this feature actually becomes increasingly annoying with regular use and is best deactivated.</p>
<p>Whilst initially impressive, after a while these changes can cause problems. Users have reported that the new schemes not only slows down their PC’s but also cause it to crash randomly. It can also be a pain whenever there’s a problem with your PC. Since you are running a somewhat modified version of XP, normal troubleshooting guides may not work. You’ll subsequently have to uninstall the pack to make sure that it isn’t causing the problem. Fortunately however, the pack comes with an uninstaller that makes reverting back to XP simple although in time honoured Windows style, you’ll have to restart the computer.</p>
<p>For anyone who doesn’t add or remove programs regularly, we’d recommend this pack as it does an impressive job at emulating the $200+ Vista look. However, for those that make regular changes to their PC, the pack can end up being more hassle than its worth as the changes made can conflict with interfaces of other programs.</p><p>Download <a title="Vista Customization Pack 3.6" href="http://vista-customization-pack.en.softonic.com"><strong>Vista Customization Pack 3.6</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
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   <pubdate>Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">42812</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[Teen Spirit 0.93]]></title>
   <link>http://teen-spirit.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/51000/51427/2_moloko.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>With more and more multimedia content filling your hard drive, it’s increasingly important to have some way of managing it all. Teen Spirit is an all-in-one media player and organizer that aims to do exactly this with a focus on usability. A highly user-friendly interface and one click access to album information make this a great application, particularly for music lovers.</p>
<p>If you use Windows Media Player to manage your audiovisual collection then you’ll certainly find Teen Spirit a breath of fresh air. Although the look is not quite so slick and polished, the system for obtaining extra information about a track, album or artist is far better. Teen Spirit works by assigning tags to your music files which are then used to search for the appropriate lyrics and other associated information from several databases including All Music, Net Covers and of course, Google. By casting the net so wide, Teen Spirit tends to return much more extensive results than Windows Media Player. However, be careful with the tags. If they are not specific enough, Teen Spirit tends to retrieve completely the wrong information. Another useful feature is that it stores all this information locally so that you don’t need an internet connection to view album info once you’ve retrieved it for the first time.</p>
<p>You can create multiple music collections by simply adding the folder paths that contain your MP3 files, search through your collections and sort the file list in several ways. Teen Spirit also keeps track of the files you play, lets you review statistics and generates a personal hitlist based on which songs you listen to most. You can also do all the other usual things such as rename files, create playlists and edit ID3 tags. However, you can’t customise the interface in any significant way – there are no new skins for example – and you can’t drag and drop music from one playlist to another very easily. Teen Spirit also lacks an equaliser of any kind although the developers say they are working on a DJ function which will hopefully incorporate one.</p>
<p>However, Teen Spirit performs far less impressively with video files. There’s no info retrieval feature for these and the playing controls are limited. In fact, we found that although it clearly separates your videos from your music, you’re probably better using an external application with more features for video playback.</p>
<p>Teen Spirit is a great application for those who have huge music collections and feel their current music player doesn’t give them enough album info or doesn’t organise files very well. Seeing the right album covers and reading the artist bios really brings your music alive so even if you’re happy with your current music player, you might find you get more out of your collection with Teen Spirit.</p><p>Download <a title="Teen Spirit 0.93" href="http://teen-spirit.en.softonic.com"><strong>Teen Spirit 0.93</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
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   <pubdate>Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">51427</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[DivX For Windows 6.8]]></title>
   <link>http://divx-for-windows.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/16000/16053/2_divxplayer.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>If you’re a regular PC user and haven’t heard of DivX yet, then you’ve probably had your head in the sand for the past couple of years. It’s basically a highly compressed film format that turns the size of an average DVD from something like 5GB to just 700MB.</p>
<p>DivX for Windows is the official release from the DivX company, and offers everything you need to watch such films. The pack includes the all-important DivX Codec plus DivX Player, DivX Web Player and the Stage6 Content Uploader Utility for those who plan to rip and upload DVDs or other videos to the net. It also includes a 15-day trial of the DivX Converter and the DivX Pro Codec. All these components are free and include no adware although during the installation, you are offered the chance to install the Google toolbar.</p>
<p>The player itself is sleek and easy to use. It’s got all the standard functions of a DVD player plus the option of different skins from the DivX website. If you want to create your own DivX content, the converter allows the creation of video resolutions up to and including 1920 x 1080 High Definition in either interlaced or progressive-scan. It also supports advanced DVD features such as scene selection menus, subtitles and alternate audio tracks. It includes a download manager that allows you to download several videos at once, pause and resume downloads and playback video. Those that do their downloading of DivX films from P2P apps won’t use this much but others will find it more useful. The latest release of DivX Player also includes an uploader which enables you to easily publish media to the Stage6 media community website. </p>
<p>There’s little to criticise in DivX for Windows except for the converter. It can be particularly useful if you are trying to burn a downloaded DivX film onto a DVD to play on a standalone DVD player. Watching DivX files on your PC is usually not a problem but some people have issues when watching them on a standalone DVD Player. The converter solves this by taking any video file and producing a perfectly clean DivX film at the end of it. However, this feature is painfully slow and takes hours to complete just one film. Bearing in mind that you also have to pay for it after the 15-day trial period has expired, you’ll soon be looking for other converters to use such as BPS Video converter or VSO ConvertX.</p>
<p>Overall, this is an excellent DivX player and since it’s released by the official DivX company, you’ll have no worries about dodgy codecs ruining playback on your PC.</p><p>Download <a title="DivX For Windows 6.8" href="http://divx-for-windows.en.softonic.com"><strong>DivX For Windows 6.8</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
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   <pubdate>Wed, 05 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">16053</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[FF Player 0.97]]></title>
   <link>http://ff-player.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/66000/66338/2_Untitled_19.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>My favourite media player has always been VLC but I have to say, FF Player gives it a run for it's money. It plays all kinds of audio and video files quickly and with stability. It isn't packed with advanced features but as long as you've got DirectX codecs installed, it plays a remarkably wide range of formats.</p>
<p>To use it, you simply drag and drop the files you want to play into the playlist. Both the playlist and the video screen can be dragged to the size you want with an attractive slider.  The overall feel of the player is very sleek although unfortunately, there are no extra skins that you can add to it. </p>
<p><b>A super simple little player that can handle almost anything and won't let you down.</b></p><p>Download <a title="FF Player 0.97" href="http://ff-player.en.softonic.com"><strong>FF Player 0.97</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
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   <pubdate>Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">66338</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[Yahoo! Messenger 9.0.0.907 Beta]]></title>
   <link>http://yahoo-messenger.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/66000/66424/2_10.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>Yahoo! Messenger has long been one of the world's most popular IM clients, mainly because Yahoo! itself is such a large presence in the realms of web-mail, communities and so on. It now sits comfortably in second place to Windows Live Messenger in terms of user-base.</p>
<p>Among the new features in Yahoo! Messenger 9, the emphasis is very much on looks rather than functions. For example, the brand new IMVironment feature (which completely customises your chat windows) looks pretty impressive at first until you realise that nearly all of them are simply complex advertisements or marketing campaigns from firms like Gatorade and Kleenex. Improvements to the way contacts' images are displayed, as well as new photo-sharing via the excellent Flickr are welcome additions but even they can't dispel the bad smell emanating from IMVironment.</p>
<p>New emoticons have been added to this latest version of Yahoo! Messenger, as have new skins for the main window. To me, these represent fairly minor aesthetic changes rather than important new functionalities, and as such aren't enough of a reason to upgrade. More handy features like improved handling of PC to PC calls, MP3 voicemail, and better integration with Yahoo! sites have also been included but again, none except for the Flickr tool seems really useful. Really, this Beta feels as if it's about matching Live Messenger for features and not much more.</p>
<p>Yahoo! Messenger probably isn't aimed at users like me who prize usability and simplicity above bright colours and lots of advertising. If you like the sound of branding every chat window you use with Kleenex or Axe deodorant then Yahoo! Messenger 9 Beta is for you. If you'd rather use a simple, elegant and uncluttered chat interface, switch to <a href="http://google-talk.en.softonic.com/">Google Talk</a> and you'll never look back.</p>
<p><b>A bloated, brightly coloured IM client packed with advertising and not much more.</b></p><p>Download <a title="Yahoo! Messenger 9.0.0.907 Beta" href="http://yahoo-messenger.en.softonic.com"><strong>Yahoo! Messenger 9.0.0.907 Beta</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://yahoo-messenger.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">66424</guid>
  </item>
  <item>
   <title><![CDATA[AIMP WMP-11 Light Skin 1.2]]></title>
   <link>http://aimp-wmp-11-light.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/63000/63373/2_w2.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>If AIMP is your favourite media player but you prefer the appearance of Windows Media Player, then you're in luck because with this skin, you can enjoy the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>Simply unpack the installation file and double click - AIMP will automatically open it as your new skin. </p>
<p>You can select from 6 colours - red, orange, blue, violet, green and aqua-marine.</p><p>Download <a title="AIMP WMP-11 Light Skin 1.2" href="http://aimp-wmp-11-light.en.softonic.com"><strong>AIMP WMP-11 Light Skin 1.2</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://aimp-wmp-11-light.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Mon, 18 Jun 2007 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">63373</guid>
  </item>
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   <title><![CDATA[Cistone Media Burner 3.1]]></title>
   <link>http://cistone-media-burner.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/63000/63342/2_clone.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>Cistone Media Burner is a powerful CD/DVD burning engine. It has an elegant UI skin and is easy to use.</p>
<p>The setup file is small and installation takes a matter of seconds. The player features full drag and drop support, an embeded windows explorer and the option to create ISO/UDF image files.</p>
<p>You can also burn data files to CD/DVD plus burn MP3 and WMA to CD/DVD. Alternatively, you can also burn DVD-Video files to DVD movie.</p><p>Download <a title="Cistone Media Burner 3.1" href="http://cistone-media-burner.en.softonic.com"><strong>Cistone Media Burner 3.1</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://cistone-media-burner.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">63342</guid>
  </item>
  <item>
   <title><![CDATA[XPepius  3.1.0.708]]></title>
   <link>http://xpepius.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/45000/45303/2_xpepius4.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>XPepius is a toolkit for tweaking, optimizing, tuning and cleaning Windows XP. It helps you increase performance and manage your system using a variety of tweaks and utilities. The program offers a series of handy tools, including a Start-Up Manager, Uninstaller, Cleanup Center, Disk Cleanup, and Designer XP. </p>
<p>Features of the app:
<ul>
<li>Tweak System, Windows, Explorer, Start menu, Desktop, Files, Drives, &amp; Control Panel</li>
<li>Tweaks to Enhance your security and privacy</li>
<li>Tweaks for Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player and Microsoft Office</li>
<li>Tool to edit registered application paths (program aliases)</li>
<li>Tool to prevent users from running specified applications</li>
<li>Startup Manager to add, delete, enable/disable and edit startup programs</li>
<li>Uninstaller to easilymanage removal of programs</li>
<li>Clean temp files, histories, logs and other tracks created by Windows and the web</li>
<li>Disk Cleanup utility to find and remove temporary and junk files from disk</li>
<li>Designer XP to enable new visual styles for older applications and softwares</li>
<li>Skinned, user-friendly and full commented interface</li>
</ul></p><p>Download <a title="XPepius  3.1.0.708" href="http://xpepius.en.softonic.com"><strong>XPepius  3.1.0.708</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://xpepius.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Tue, 29 May 2007 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">45303</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[Desktop Sidebar 1.05.116 Beta]]></title>
   <link>http://desktop-sidebar.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/25000/25839/2_25839.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>If you've ever thought there must be a better way to organise Windows, then you might find Desktop Sidebar the answer you’ve been waiting for. Desktop Sidebar is a simple but powerful toolbar that integrates with Windows main features, Outlook and offers a whole lot more. If you’ve not been impressed by Yahoo! Widget Engine or Google Toolbar, then it’s definitely worth a try.</p>
<p>One of Desktop Sidebar’s strongest features is its integration with Outlook. It provides instant shortcuts to email overviews, previews, notes and calendar entries. It also provides customisable news headline feeds, access to search engines and even Windows Media Player/Winamp controls. It’s particularly useful if you’ve got several email accounts, as you can set it up to check multiple IMAP and POP accounts including Hotmail. You may find yourself saving a lot of time with this feature alone although unfortunately, it does not seem to support integration with Thunderbird as yet.</p>
<p>Other pre-installed components include the stats bar which shows how much RAM and CPU throughput your PC is experiencing at any one time. This can however get increasingly annoying as the status bars shoot up and down but it can easily be deactivated in the ‘Settings’ tab. Desktop Toolbar need not be intrusive either - it can be displayed permanently on your desktop or set to auto-hide itself when not in use.</p>
<p>To install more components, you can visit the developer website where you’ll find one for just about everything. However, we found that it crashed on more than one occasion when trying to add some of these new components. Amongst the most popular and useful components are the ‘IP address’ plugin which displays a whole realm of connection statistics and ‘Virtual Desktop Panel’ which allows you to switch between 4 desktop backgrounds at any one time. For those who want to keep track of the latest headlines, the news component is a useful add-on although by default, it's aimed at a US audience. However, you can add RSS feeds from whichever news sources are more local to you.</p>
<p>On the downside, we found that Desktop Sidebar does tend to consume around 20% of your CPU resources which is quite a lot for such a small app. However, if you use it to check your mail accounts and news reports, you save memory by reducing the number of browser tabs you need open. There are lots of great skins, although it seems the components have peaked at around 70 with not many new recent additions.</p>
<p>In summary, Desktop Sidebar doesn’t offer that much more than the Google Toolbar in terms of ease-of-use and features. However, it certainly offers more email checking options than most similar utilities and has a pretty big choice of components to choose from. If you’re a real toolbar/widget junkie and especially if you use Outlook a lot, then you’ll probably find this app increases your productivity.</p><p>Download <a title="Desktop Sidebar 1.05.116 Beta" href="http://desktop-sidebar.en.softonic.com"><strong>Desktop Sidebar 1.05.116 Beta</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://desktop-sidebar.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Fri, 27 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">25839</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[AVS DVD Player 2.2.8.110]]></title>
   <link>http://avs-dvd-player.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/47000/47742/2_avsdvd1.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>While the audio technology behind DVDs and computer speaker systems has improved greatly over the last few years, the applications designed to play DVDs on your PC are often less advanced. AVS DVD Player has been designed with this factor in mind. It aims to ensure that you get the maximum benefit from any surround sound or multi-channel soundtracks that your films have.</p>
<p>AVS DVD’s interface is typical enough, although it does include a handy shortcut button which lets you burn the file you are watching to a DVD. The program also distinguishes itself with an inbuilt set of codecs that will play most files, meaning you don’t have to trawl the internet for the right decoder just when you want to watch a movie. AVS is really flexible, supporting all the regular DVD and DivX formats but also Real Media, Quicktime and 3GP (mobile video) formats. It’s sound processing where AVS really excels, however, and if you’ve got a decent set of surround sound speakers, you’ll really notice the difference. AVS DVD includes a surround equaliser which distributes sound according to your setup. Currently, this multi-channel surround sound feature supports 3.1, 5.1 and 7.1 speaker configurations.</p>
<p>There is a price to pay, however, for this emphasis on sound. Unfortunately, AVS DVD player is hindered by several basic flaws. Firstly, it’s very heavy on resources. Even if you own a machine with a high-end processor and graphics card, you’ll notice that AVS hogs your CPU power, so it’s advisable to close absolutely every other application to prevent your system from becoming unstable. One technical drawback is that it does not de-interlace images. This means that if you’re watching torrents or DivX files taken from TV shows, you could experience poor image quality, especially around the borders of the screen. This is due to the image resolution in TV broadcasts which operate at a lower frequency than those made for DVD.</p>
<p>Another annoying problem is that you can’t make the playback controls stay visible on the screen in full playback mode. You end up having to return to a smaller viewing window to control the film you are watching. This is not an issue if you just plan on watching a film from start to finish but it is if you plan to stop and start it a lot. One other minor issue is the lack of extra skins available. The black default skin looks great and there are a few more to choose from but nowhere near as many as other players such as WinDVD.</p>
<p>For a totally free DVD Player, AVS is not a bad product and it certainly looks good. However, as many users report, the developers seem to have focused too much on design and sound features than the bread and butter of usability. Nevertheless, if you’ve got a serious sound system or want to feel the full thrilling sound of your films, it’s certainly worth a try.</p><p>Download <a title="AVS DVD Player 2.2.8.110" href="http://avs-dvd-player.en.softonic.com"><strong>AVS DVD Player 2.2.8.110</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://avs-dvd-player.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">47742</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[WinCustomize Browser 2.01]]></title>
   <link>http://wincustomize-browser.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/35000/35840/2_wincustomize.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>The WinCustomize browser allows you to instantly access thousands of skins, icons, themes, wallpapers and more right from an easy to use program. Not only can you access them, but the browser can directly apply them to your computer without having to interact with the underlying software. Apply your wallpapers and Windows media player skins and WindowBlinds skins directly from the WinCustomize skin browser.</p><p>Download <a title="WinCustomize Browser 2.01" href="http://wincustomize-browser.en.softonic.com"><strong>WinCustomize Browser 2.01</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://wincustomize-browser.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">35840</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[MyToolkit 2.1.0.0]]></title>
   <link>http://mytoolkit.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/41000/41614/2_mytoolkit1.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>MyToolkit is a simple program to:<br />Add/remove theme support to/from programs that have not it. For example, if you add theme support to "...\System32\mmc.exe" and then open your "Computer Management" console, it will look full-skinned. Note that some old programs may fail to start or display graphical errors when skinned; if this occurs remove theme support.</p>
<p>Set the desired priority to all running processes (also system ones). For example, you can run "Windows Media Player" at high priority without having to change it manually from "Task Manager" every time "Windows Media Player" starts. Note that setting to realtime the priority of an heavy process may cause system to hang-up.</p>
<p>Replace in-use or system files. For example, you can replace "notepad.exe" with the executable of another editor. Please note that replace system files is dangerous. Do it at your own risk.</p><p>Download <a title="MyToolkit 2.1.0.0" href="http://mytoolkit.en.softonic.com"><strong>MyToolkit 2.1.0.0</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://mytoolkit.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Thu, 14 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">41614</guid>
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   <title><![CDATA[Pioneer Navigation AVIC-N2]]></title>
   <link>http://pioneer-navigation-avic-n2.en.softonic.com</link>
   <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/35000/35577/2_mediaplayer.jpg" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0px 5px 5px;" /> <p>This classy skin for Windows Media Player replicates the appearance of a GPS navigation system. The skin is full of functionality including buttons to control player functions, a screen for displaying visualizations and videos, and is true to to the original Pioneer device in its design.</p><p>Download <a title="Pioneer Navigation AVIC-N2" href="http://pioneer-navigation-avic-n2.en.softonic.com"><strong>Pioneer Navigation AVIC-N2</strong></a> in <a title="Free software downloads and reviews - Softonic" href="http://en.softonic.com/">Softonic</a></p>]]></description>
   <comments>http://pioneer-navigation-avic-n2.en.softonic.com/comments</comments>
   <pubdate>Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0100</pubdate>
   <guid isPermaLink="false">35577</guid>
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