If you have to decompress files regularly, especially image files, you may find Zipeg interesting. It's definitely one of the nicest image decompressors I've used in a while and best of all, there's no registration or payment required.

The key feature of this program is a cool preview function which allows you to see what you are going to decompress before you do it. This is great if you can't remember what's in a file or are suspicious about its contents. It supports a huge variety of archive formats including:
ZIP, RAR, ARJ, LHA/LZH, 7z, TAR, GZ, TGZ, BZIP2, CPIO, RPM, ISO, CHM, Z, CBR, CBZ, WAR and EAR.

You can extract/unzip items simply by dragging them and the interface is remarkably easy to use and good looking. It can process archives in the background whilst you work, sorts content of folders by name, size or date and automatically checks for the latest updates.

This is one of the best image compression utilities out there although the thumbnails can take some time to appear when you select a file.

Download Zipeg 2.4.0.922 in Softonic

Many Windows users stay with the standard applications included in the operating system for their most common tasks, like managing files with the integrated File Explorer. However, there are alternative file managers that can also help you to do the job – and sometimes even better than Windows Explorer! Total Commander is one of them.

First of all, be warned that Total Commander is intended for medium to advanced users, and especially for those who like working mainly via keyboard shortcuts. It's not that Total Commander can't be used with your mouse; it's just that it's optimized to be keyboard-controlled.

Total Commander doesn't have what we could describe as an eye-catching design. In fact, it looks pretty dull. It does, however, support three possible views (Full, Brief and Tree) and also uses a double-pane interface, which seem to be quite a common characteristic among other alternative file managers.

This double pane allows you to perform file management tasks like moving and copying in a much more comfortable way. But Total Commander has other aces up its sleeve. It includes extra integrated applications like an FTP client, a ZIP viewer, a renaming tool, a disk space analyzer and a file synchronizer. Another great tool I found to be especially interesting is one that allows you to control, manage and edit file associations so they're not suddenly messed up by a program that you just installed.

Like we said before, Total Commander is intended to be used mainly with your keyboard. This is why it offers handy shortcuts for common tasks like viewing, editing, copying, moving or deleting files. But if you find it hard to abandon your mouse, don't worry: you can use the icons on the program's toolbar as shortcuts for Notepad, Wordpad and the Control Panel, and also add your own shortcuts to your favorite applications via the Configuration > Button bar menu. In fact, Total Commander has such an exhaustive configuration menu that you'll be able to tweak every single detail of the program.

In all, Total Commander is an excellent application that could almost be described as a professional file manager for the advanced user. If you prefer more simple apps then you’d better stick to Windows Explorer.

Download Total Commander 7.04a in Softonic

Miranda IM is a multi protocol instant messenger client. It is designed to be resource efficient and easy to use. It uses very little memory and requires no installation. Just unzip and run! This also makes it ideal for users that want to run their messenger client from a removable storage such as a USB memory stick.

The powerful plugin system makes Miranda IM extremely flexible. Only the most basic features are built in, but there are currently more than 350 plugins available for download that allow users to extend the functionality in Miranda IM. Plugins can be installed to add support for ICQ, AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, Gadu-Gadu, Tlen, Netsend and other protocols.

Download Miranda IM 0.8.0 Test 90 in Softonic

Adding a watermark is probably the best way to protect your online photos. It wont' stop people from using them, but at least they'll have your name on them wherever they go.

You can easily apply watermarks to your photos with Fast Watermark. The program doesn't require installation, so just unzip the contents of the file into any folder and you're good to go. Fast Watermark's interface has two main areas: one to design the watermark in itself and the other one to select the pictures you want to apply it to. The whole process is really easy and shouldn't take you more than a couple of minutes.

That said, the truth is that Fast Watermarks lacks certain options you find in other similar applications: for example, you can only use text (and not graphics). Also, there is no support for transparency effects or shadows. Finally, I didn't like the wat Fast Watermark handles images: it doesn't have a zoom tool and doesn't resize images properly either.

Fast Watermark is a quick, simple tool that enables you to add a watermark to your photos, but lacks some advanced tools you find in similar programs.

Download Fast Watermark 1.1 in Softonic

Backups are increasingly important in an age of huge hard drives and large amounts of data that if lost, could be disasterous.

You can automate backups of your important data, files and folders to be saved immediately into ZIP format. The advantage of this is that you don't need any special software to unzip backups - simply use WinZip or WinRAR. Alternatively, the program supports the backing up of files to a remote location via FTP or options to Email it to your mail server. You can schedule backups so you don't need to worry about remembering to backup your more important data. The danger of this is that if the backup fails, you may not be made aware of the problem. Fortunately, the program e-mails you if this happens so you don't have to worry about bad or half done backups. You can change the date and time of filenames for archiving plus also copy files and directories using wildcards on schedule. This is useful if you need to specifiy a specific date for a backup that has to be performed on the same date or day every week or month.

Scheduled backups and compressed output files that can be opened in any ZIP application, JaBack is a solid backup solution.

Download JaBack 8.04 in Softonic

PDF (Portable Document Format) is now one of the most ubiquitous document formats on the net. The problem is that Adobe Reader is the only tool to read it and it's both bulky and slow.

Foxit PDF Reader on the other hand is light and quick. The proof is in the pudding for starters - compare Foxit's installation file is only of just 2.2 MB against Acrobat's 20.8 MB and you can see why it opens documents in a snap. The key is that it doesn't have all those annoying splash-up screens, endless credits lists and plugins.

The program's interface been designed with ease of use in mind. You have several toolbars available, which you can show or hide at your will and which give you access to all the available utilities: zoom, text selection, image snapshot, search tool, rotation or full screen view, among others. There is a small ad in the upper right corner, but you can deactivate it by going to the View menu and deselecting the Advertisement option. One added bonus is that you can annotate PDF documents in several ways by highlighting text fragments, underlining them, strike them out or even add personal comments.

If you want a small, fast, stable and functional alternative to Adobe Reader, then look no further

Download Foxit Reader 2.3.2923 in Softonic

If you're tired of being bugged by WinZip to upgrade or register and don't mind using something slightly different, then ALZip is an excellent solution.

AlZip is compatible with all ZIP and compressed file types and best of all, it's completely free for home use so there's no annoying nag screen or usage period to worry about. But much more than that, AlZip allows you to choose which program you want to open a certain file with rather than autoselect one for you or open it as generic Windows file. It's also a good option for unzipping files that have been downloaded from eMule or other P2P networks because it scans them for malware or viruses before opening them. The one thing that strikes you about this program though is how easy it is to use - you're grandma could probably unzip files with this program easily. It takes you through the unzipping process gently and doesn't hide decompressed files in some inconvenient location like some programs do. It also doesn't require any plugins or add ons to enhance its functionality or deal with certain file times - it's all in the program anyway. The latest release is ultra fast and they've implemented a new update and restore option for repeated tasks.

For a comprehensive, easy to use and powerful decompression tool, ALZip is all you need to banish those zipper blues.

Download ALZip 7.0 in Softonic

Different file types are usually associated to different applications, which means they're opened with a specific program when you double click on them.

But in case you didn't know, you can change these associations by right clicking on any file and selecting the "Open with" option. What's more, OpenWithView now lets you customize the list of applications that appears on that window. This comes in very handy if Windows displays way too many apps or when you want to get rid of a program you don't use that often.

Using OpenWithView is a cinch: simply unzip the file, launch the program and select the items in the list that you don't want to appear in the Open with menu. Changes are saved automatically. Unfortunately you can only remove apps that are already on the list (no support to add new ones). Also, if I could add any ideas to the program's wishlist, they would be having the possibility to select the applications that appear on top of the list and customize the app list according to the file's extension.

OpenWithView lets you easily customize the list of applications that appear in the "Open with" menu when you right click on any file.

Download OpenWithView 1.00 in Softonic

If there's one word to define Kumoon, that's originality. This bizarre game mixes elements from puzzles with a first-person shooter where your main character is a chick.

Yes, you didn't misread it. One of those sweet, cute yellow chicks you see in cartoon movies. Beware though: this chick is armed to the teeth and willing to make his way along the 39 levels included in the game by clearing rooms one after the other. To clear rooms, you must knock down all the red cubes in it with the help of your weapons (revolver, shotgun or bazooka).

But easy as it sounds, Kumoon is certainly a fiddly game because the more bullets you use in clearing the room, the more negative points you get – and therefore the more unlikely you are to finish it successfully. The trick then is to clear the room with the fewest bullets possible, as well as using multiplying factors such as bouncing bullets on walls before actually hitting the red cubes.

Kumoon is certainly a very original game, with easy gameplay and very well done physics. Plus it doesn't require installation: simply unzip and play, and before you realize you'll be hooked on the little cute bazooka-chick!

Kumoon may not be the latest state-of-the-art game but it sure is an entertaining, fun game with many levels to challenge your strategic skills.

Download Kumoon 1.2 in Softonic

It's been a while since anything came along that could possibly rival WinZIP or WinRAR in terms of speed and compression/decompression power but ZipItFree gives them a good run for their money.

Apart from anything else, the best thing to start off with is by stating this is completely free - no annoying registrations or fees to pay. It's also now fully functional with Vista with an appropriate modern and stylish interface that gives you the feel that you're dealing with a quality piece of software. The key selling point of this program however is the way it compresses files using what the developers call the "Black Hole" method which provides very high compression ratios and ultra fast decompression. The other major selling point is what they call the ZipV2 encryption algorithm which they describe as "by far the most secure encryption for archiving (hundreds of times more secure than even the leading AES encryption)".

How secure this format is is debatable but the fact is that it's certainly one of the less utilised compression ratios that should mean it's less liable to attack. Apart from the fact that it handles multiple formats with ease, what's also nice is that you can leave comments on your archives describing what the archive contains so you don't have to go to the hassle of unzipping it all.

For a free, stylish and powerful alternative to WinZIP and WinRAR, ZipItFree is one of the most impressive efforts out there.

Download ZipItFree 1.80 in Softonic

BitZipper is an advanced data compression tool for Windows that enables you to unzip 18 different compression and encoding formats with superior ease-of-use.

With BitZipper you can:

• Unzip almost any compressed file (18 formats)
• Protect data with strong AES 256-bit encryption
• Create 8 different types of compressed files
• Browse archives in Windows Explorer style
• Extract and test multiple archives at once
• Backup data using reusable backup configurations
• Get help from an easy-to-use Wizard interface
• Work with WinZip 9.0, WinRAR and WinACE files
• Get free lifetime updates

Download BitZipper 5.0.3 in Softonic

Windows Notepad is useful for jotting down short notes, but it's certainly quite limited in functions. So what about using another notepad to replace it?

Minipad2 can be an excellent replacement for the standard notepad – and a complementing app too. It includes many extra tools that the Windows tool can only dream of, such as a tabbed interface, special calculator pages to perform basic maths calculations, support for memos, extended Clipboard functionality and a completely customizable interface where you can change font, background color and also select the buttons that are to be displayed on the program's toolbar.

Minipad2 doesn't require installation, which means it doesn't write anything in Windows Registry either. It's also very light on system resources. The program's status is saved as is (with all your opened tabs and notes) and displayed again when you run the program later on, something that comes in very handy when saving notes between sessions.

If you're looking for a cheap, fast, simple and fully features Notepad replacement, minipad2 is an excellent choice. No installation required and many interesting extra tools included!

Download MiniPad2 2.3.2 in Softonic

Sniff out wasted space with one of the best duplicate file finders available. Space Hound eliminates duplicate and unused files that are cluttering up your hard drive and causing problems.

This will make your operations faster because your system doesn't have to look through thousands of unnecessary files to find the ones you need. Now, much more than a duplicate File finder... Space Hound 32 is an education about the files on your computer. Uncludes File & Directory Management, Zip & Unzip, file Viewers, Hex viewer, icon Viewer, more. Several primary displays guide you in identifying files which are duplicated, obsolete, and even help find files which may have been forgotten. Space Hound 32 provides the tools to assist you in determining which files fall into these categories.

Download Space Hound 4.0.1977 in Softonic

Since its launch about a year ago, Windows Vista has been widely criticized for several reasons: security restrictions, poor usability, lack of actual new features when compared to XP…

But what nobody complained about was the cool eye-candy included in Microsoft's new operating system, such as the 3D system to switch between active applications. What's more, this particular Vista feature has been turned into a software tool that enables you to enjoy that same 3D window switcher in Windows XP.

WinFlip is very easy to use. Simply unzip the file (no installation required), launch the program and you're ready to go. If you want to use it instead of the standard Alt+Tab, press the Windows key+Tab combination. All your active apps and opened windows will be displayed in an attractive 3D environment, where you can flip among them by pressing Tab repeatedly or choose a certain window by pressing the key associated with it.

WinFlip worked fine during our tests, although sometimes the content of some of the windows turned to complete white or complete black while flipping through them. I guess it's just a matter of further development.

WinFlip is an easy, simple - and above all, very cheap - way to have the 3D Flip function in Windows XP.

Download WinFlip 0.42 in Softonic

Computers have turned out to be excellent tools to learn new languages, as you can tell from the many different educational tools you can find for this pupose.

Practiquemos (Spanish for "let's practice") is one of them. This tool comes with a basic menu of exercises covering different areas of the Spanish language, but the good thing is that you can freely download more exercises from the developer's webpage, or even create your own sets. This means that you could use Practiquemos to practive just about any subject.

The program doesn't include any theory. It simply plays the current test question after question, rewarding you with extra points if there's an extra difficulty. You can go over the exercises as many times as you need, depending on your language skills.

Now, the negative side: Practiquemos needs a lot of work on its interface: design is fine but usability is terrible. You can't resize windows properly without losing track of certain buttons. What's more, the program has a strange tendency to resize itself with every new question. Also, be aware that in those exercises where you're required to fill in the gaps, you must copy the whole sentence just as it appears, including the missing word. Otherwise it will count as a mistake.

Practiquemos is certainly a nice approach to computer-assisted language learning. However, it still needs a lot of work on its interface and usability.

Download Practiquemos 1.0 in Softonic

Sometimes simple is better, and MP3 Fox is a good example of it. This easy tool enables you to rename MP3 files according to the data stored in their ID3 tags or a customizable naming pattern defined by yourself.

The program doesn't require installation. Simply unzip the files to any folder and you're ready to use it. You can drag and drop MP3 folders and files onto its interface and then select the rename option you prefer among three different possibilities. Also, the program can apply upper case to the first letter in all words, remove numbers and replace certain text strings, among other options. During our tests, the renaming process hardly took more than a few seconds and results were excellent.

The great thing about MP3 Fox is that you can make a preview before actually applying the changes. The downside to it is that annoying message that appears every time you rename files, asking you if you're really sure. But I guess that's a tiny flaw that I can accept in such a simple, great program.

Easily rename your MP3 files according to their ID3 tags.

Download MP3 Fox 2008 4.11 in Softonic

Looking around for a cool screensaver? Filigree might just be the one for you. This screensaver shows blue translucent lines weaving and intertwining together. The lines grow and fill up your screen infinitely until you decide to move your mouse and display your desktop again.

Filigree is a bit tricky to install. After unzipping the file, you'll have to place the src file where you're sure not to erase it. Best is to find the file where you store all of your other screensavers. To activate it just double click the icon. Filigree lets you configure a number of parameters like glow, speed or symmetry. We recommend taking a few seconds to adjust them to the animation you feel most comfortable with.

Filigree is a highly original screensaver that we recommend you install on your computer.

Download Filigree 1.1 0b0 in Softonic

AstroView is the program you use to view a shared computer. Once downloaded unstuff or unzip the program and launch it. You will see one screen with buttons "View", "Diconnect", "Options", and "Statistics" along with a line which shows you if you are currently connected or not. Each of the buttons has an equivalent in the menubar. Statistics shows you the amount of used memory, how much data has been sent and read on the current connection and average connection speeds.

Options lets you set some security features and a slow connection option. Disconnect breaks down the current connection. Start brings up another window which allows you to view and control a shared desktop supplying the IP or DNS address, port number, computer name and password. Also available from the "View" menu is the "Sound Settings..." menuitem which allows you to start Voice over IP and pause the display and use of the remote desktop.

Download AstroView 1.83 in Softonic

LClock empowers Windows standard clock with a nicer look and an easier-to-use calendar that also features a basic alarm system.

Once installed, LClock enables you to change the clock's appearance with a high level of detail, besides replacing the old calendar system with a new calendar that you can check out with a single click on the clock. Calendar reminders show up in a pop-up window when triggered and can be scheduled to be repeated at different intervals.

The calendar can be also customized with skins, although the skin management system is poorly implemented: you simply unzip the skin archive to the program's folder, overwriting all previous files and therefore making it very uncomfortable to change from one skin to another.

With LClock you can have a better clock and calendar application in your Windows system.

Download LClock 1.62b in Softonic

Although Internet speeds are getting quicker and email providers are offering more mailbox storage space, it's still no excuse for bombarding people with huge attachments. Yes, I know it's much easier to just dump the original file you want to send into the message, but programs like WinZip Companion mean you don't have to do this. The application allows you to zip and unzip files within Outlook with the greatest of ease.

WinZip Companion delivers several useful tools for helping you achieve smaller file sizes. The plug-in, which works exactly like the popular WinZip utility, provides a handy interface for compressing files directly before they are sent. It can bundle several different files into a single attachment, making things a lot easier for both you and the recepient of the email.

It's also very secure, because the software boasts built-in 256-Bit encryption. This means you can apply passwords to attachments so that they can only be opened by those who are authorised to do so. You can also opt to exclude certain file formats from compression if you so desire.

If you're an Outlook user and you send and receive attachments regularly then you can't afford to be without this program, as it will dramatically speed up transfer times and save precious space in your mailbox

Download WinZip Companion 2.0 in Softonic