Are you worried about the security of the data you store on your PC? If so, start using Syncplicity and you'll always have a synchronized backup copy to hand.

Syncplicity is an online free storage service which includes a 2 GB virtual hard drive where you can keep a copy of all your important files (with a maximum size of 300 MB each, that is). This copy is updated in real time, meaning that if you change the contents of the folder on your local PC, these changes will be immediately synced with the Syncplicity virtual drive.

What I liked most about Syncplicity was its ease of use. The program can be configured in a couple of minutes, just by following the step-by-step wizard that runs the first time you launch it. Plus, you can set up Syncplicity to use with Facebook, Scribd and Google Docs.

On the downside, I missed having a built-in file manager, and therefore being able to check my synced files without having to open the web browser. Also, I found Syncplicity quite slow: it took me about an hour to sync a hundred photos, and my connection is not precisely a slow one. Oh well, I guess the trick is to leave the program working in the background and move on to something else.

If you're worried about the security of your files, keep them backed up and synced in real time with Syncplicity, an online storage tool with 2 GB of free space.

Download Syncplicity 2.0.3114 Beta in Softonic

Drive emulation has many advantages. You can use it to check the integrity of your disk image (e.g. ISO) files; you can avoid burning images to CDs loading them directly from your storage device; and by and large, loading times are slashed from what you could expect to get from your CD drive. DAEMON Tools has enjoyed a lot of support, being the number one choice for several years thanks to its light system footprint and distinct lack of strings attached. Unfortunately for the loyal DAEMON Tools users, things have changed a little in recent releases and more and more people are turning to Alcohol 120% as an alternative.

The problem lies in a small program called SaveNow, bundled with the DAEMON Tools Searchbar as an optional add-on for Internet Explorer. This spyware program has only become part of the most recent versions and can be avoided during the install process by de-selecting the option to include the Searchbar.

Controls for DAEMON Tools are dictated from the task bar, with a handy context menu that pops up when you click. Being a specific CD/DVD drive emulator, the options consist of choosing the number of virtual drives you want, where the image files for each virtual disk are located so that they can be mounted, and of course you can dismount images when you’ve finished with them.

With support for a wide range of formats, DAEMON Tools makes a good choice for users who travel frequently and would prefer to do so without lugging their CD and DVD library everywhere they go. It also makes a lot of sense for those who tend to scratch their CDs, because an initial backup will see them through unlimited uses without the danger of rendering the image unusable. Alternatively though, if you’re after a complete package with burning and ripping capabilities on top of the emulation, Alcohol 120% will be right up your street.

Download DAEMON Tools 4.30.0 in Softonic

When you first start up FxFoto it searches your entire hard drive for images and imports them into a handy thumbnail viewer. From there it’s as easy as a drag-and-drop operation to add pictures to your collage. You can also import you pictures directly from your scanner or digital camera.

If some of the pictures need a little tweaking, FxFoto provides you with all of the basic image adjustment controls and also has an impressive collection of filters which are all easily accessible from the well laid-out interface. You can add frames to individual pictures in your collage or to the entire creation.

FxFoto can also be used to make scrapbook pages and slide shows and has a great number of ways to publish your creations including, email, print, web sites and slide shows. This makes a brilliant for non-techy users or even small kids to use. There are a few more advanced photo management tools out there, but FxFoto provides a cheap alternative that is more than equal to most tasks.

Download FxFoto 6.0.070 in Softonic

SoftDisc is an image file creating/editing/managing tool. It also lets you emulate a virtual CD or directly burn a CD image file which is handy when, for example, you need a CD in use when playing a game.

The program lets you store disk information in ISO format. It allows you to record info on disk from local and network hard disk drives as well as removable media. What's more, once you have created an image file, you can modify it in any way you like.

SoftDisc integrates UltraISO, Daemon Tools and Nero in one making it an all-in-one solution for your CD/DVD images. It is capable of handling up to four virtual CD-ROM drives and is able to simulate various protected game CDs. The interface is nice, XP-ish and Explorer-like.

Download SoftDisc 3.02.320 in Softonic

Virtual CloneDrive works and behaves just like a physical DVD drive, although it only exists virtually. Image files generated with CloneDVD software can be “inserted” into the virtual drive from your harddisk or from a network drive and thus be used like a normal DVD.

Download Virtual CloneDrive 5.4.0.3 in Softonic

While Google Earth remains the undisputed navigational heavyweight master of global mapping, Microsoft have weighed in with a reasonable effort.

This beta version of Virtual Earth combines local search with maps and aerial photography. Microsoft have included satellite imagery with maps in its local search results for quite some time but with Virtual Earth, the display is focused primarily around maps and aerial views. You can zoom in and out of maps or images, and drag the images around within the display at leisure and the basic search interface is similar to MSN's local search with "what" and "where" forms to specify what you're searching for. In addition, text results for searches are displayed in floating popup windows on the left side of the display. Aerial photographs are overlaid with labels, showing street names, landmarks, and other features, even including directional arrows for one-way streets plus permalinks saves a screenshot of everything open in Virtual Earth, including the map view location and search results.

It may not be in the same class as Google Earth but this is one of Microsoft's better efforts it has to be said.

Download Microsoft Virtual Earth Beta in Softonic

There’s a plethora of music players to choose from, among which iTunes and Winamp usually have the upper hand. However, if you are curious enough, you might find that lesser known alternatives like MediaMonkey offer a reasonable amount of features and tools to organize and equally enjoy your music library.

MediaMonkey automatically scans your PC for all types of music formats. If you have playlists from other programs, it’s good to know that the application also adds m3u files, sparing you the pain of having to recreate them. The file explorer view on the left lets you easily navigate your music collection by categories like artist, genre or rating. You can convert tracks into any format you wish, depending on what size or quality of sound you’re looking for. MediaMonkey also lets you analyze and adjust the volume of tracks to increase your listening experience.

MediaMonkey has made its reputation on its advanced tagging management feature. Every time a track is added, the program will verify its tags. You can automatically fill in missing details with info from Amazon or Filename. The program can clean up your tags, move information into the correct categories and synchronize tags for selected tracks. You can also rename and move multiple files thanks to the auto-organize function. MediaMonkey also supports Winamp plugins and visualizations plus skins can be applied to spice up the interface.

If you want to make your own mix CDs, you’ll be happy to know that MediaMonkey rips and burns CDs and DVDs. Create a virtual CD of your favorite tracks and let MediaMonkey do its job. Budding DJs will enjoy the auto-DJ mode, which mixes tracks for you and the Party Mode, which blocks your configuration but lets anybody play their favorite tune. MediaMonkey’s versatility doesn’t stop there. The music manager also lets you synchronize with your portable music devices like your iPod or iRiver.

If you feel like completing your library with a couple of fresh albums you can browse sites like Amazon, Barnes and Noble or AllPosters and purchase tracks. However, unlike Songbird, where you can type in a URL, browse and save your favorite music blogs and sites, MediaMonkey only allows you to browse their selection of online stores.

We were disappointed with the web radio selection, which only features Shoutcast and Icecast, and were surprised to see no sign of podcasts anywhere in the application. However version 3.0 is planning on incorporating this to the application.

Despite these drawbacks, we recommend MediaMonkey to anybody looking for a solid alternative to iTunes or Winamp. This original music manager is more than capable of organizing a very large music library and offers advanced tagging management rarely seen in other music applications. While the browser and web radio are fairly limited, MediaMonkey allows you to rip your custom CDs and connects to most portable music devices. If you really take a liking to MediaMonkey, cough up a few bucks and upgrade to the Gold version, which will open up all of the program’s functionalities like finding missing tracks or creating auto (smart) playlists.

Download MediaMonkey 3.0.3.1183 in Softonic

Gizmo Central is a package of tools intended to make computer tasks easier and more comfortable to do. The program works as a main basic app to which you can add several plug-ins in order to obtain new functionalities. These plug-ins are chosen during the installation process and can be changed at any time by running the installation again.

According to the author, Gizmo is addressed to all kinds of users, but I think it's more suitable for advanced ones. Among the featured plug-ins you'll find a launch toolbar, a synchronization server, a database tool or a disc image manager, which are generally very useful but certainly not the kind of apps that beginners are looking for.

On top of that, Gizmo is not intuitive at all as regards program configuration, nor does it have support for dragging and dropping elements, which would have been especially useful for the toolbar plug-in.

Gizmo Central is a convenient pack of tools designed to help you perform very diverse tasks.

Download Gizmo Central 2.6 in Softonic

Converting video to DVD format is obviously essential if you want to watch any of your favourite films or clips stored on your hard drive on your DVD player.

The likelihood is, most of your videos are in various formats so you'll need someway of converting them all without requiring a different program for each different format. Sothink Movie DVD Maker is designed for those that want maximum flexibility in this regard allowing you to burn to DVD format files from a wide variety of sources including AVI, MPEG, internet clips and those recorded by DVC or webcam plus virtually any other format you can imagine. When adding clips to the GUI, you can play your source clips to check that it's the right video you were looking for. Conversions can be cancelled at any time so if it's taking too long, there's no problem but it would have been much better if the developers had allowed us to pause conversion for completion at a later stage. However, they have added an option to extract video files to a DVD folder so that you can burn your films to DVD at any other time.

With the ability to add subtitles as well, you can create some surprisingly professional results with Sothink DVD Maker and it supports just about any format out there.

Download Sothink DVD Movie Maker 1.0.70424 in Softonic

VMware Workstation is powerful desktop virtualization software for software developers/testers and IT professionals who want to streamline software development, testing and deployment in their enterprise.

VMware Workstation allows users to run multiple x86-based operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and NetWare, and their applications simultaneously on a single PC in fully networked, portable virtual machines — no hard drive partitioning or rebooting required.

VMware Workstation works by creating fully isolated, secure virtual machines that encapsulate an operating system and its applications. The VMware virtualization layer maps the physical hardware resources to the virtual machine's resources, so each virtual machine has its own CPU, memory, disks, and I/O devices, and is the full equivalent of a standard x86 machine. VMware Workstation installs onto the host operating system and provides broad hardware support by inheriting device support from the host.

Supported Operating Systems:

• Windows XP
• Windows 98
• Windows NT 4.0
• Windows .NET Server Beta
• Windows Me
• Windows 95
• Windows 3.1
• MS-DOS 6

Versions of Linux:

• Red Hat Linux
• SuSE Linux
• Mandrake-Linux
• Caldera Open Linux

Related Links:

• You will need the evaluation serial number to use the trial.
• User manual

Download VMware Workstation 6.0.4.93057 in Softonic

Virtual Machines are a handy way to avoid having to install real software on your PV that could damage or potentially affect the performance of your system.

VMware Player can be used by anyone to run virtual machines on a Windows or Linux PC enabling you to run a virtual machine shared by a colleague or friend. This can be useful if you need to to provide customer support or simulate a particular problem among several PC's at the same time. It's therefore an extremely secure way to test or run through scenarios that perhaps normally, you'd never dare do. This player allows you to use any virtual machine created by VMware Workstation, VMware Server or VMware ESX, as well as Microsoft virtual machines and Symantec LiveState Recovery disks. In addition, this means that you can use 32- and 64-bit Windows, Linux, NetWare, or Solaris x86 operating systems without rebooting or having to partition your hard drive. For anyone who doesn't want to lose valuable disk space to a second operating system, or jus doesn't know how to partition their drive, this is an excellent alternative.

A simple and secure way of testing software on your PC, VMware Player offers peace of mind and a straightforward way of running multiple operating systems.

Download VMware Player 2.0.4 in Softonic

Working as a bus driver doesn't sound like an exciting job to me; at least not exciting enough to be part of a game, where you usually play as soldier, detective, mafia member and the likes. But someone must disagree with me as now you can also pretend to be a bus driver in Bus Simulator 2008.

This game puts you behind the steering wheel of a traditional urban bus and challenges you to complete "missions", that is, complete any of the city routes that bus must follow. But the game is not only a driving simulator, meaning you'll have to take care of the business by deciding the price of tickets or renting the vehicle's ad spaces to make them more profitable.

Driving a bus is not as easy as it seems at first sight: not only you have to find your way in an unknown city (note you can open the map with the M key) but you also have to stop at every single bus stop in your route, open and close the doors and follow your way to the next one. Also, don't forget to respect road signs: I didn't stop for any red light (too much GTA IV is seriously affecting my driving style, luckily only the virtual one) and got fired in about 5 minutes.

Graphics in Bus Simulator 2008 are just fine; quite realistic, but certainly not the best ones I've seen. Physics is not very elaborate, especially when it comes to crashing against objects or other cars (hey, don't laugh at me: I'm not that bad at driving, I just have to test everything!). Other than that, it's just an original game that seems as exciting as driving a bus in real life.

The main feature in Bus Simulator 2008 is undoubtedly its originality; apart from that, it's just a standard driving simulator with some business management tools that may entertain you for a short while.

Download Bus Simulator 2008 Demo in Softonic

If you're looking for the traditional PC Formula 1 racing game, this is probably going to disappoint you: not because this is not good piece of software, but because it's not a game in the true meaning of that word.

SingTel Ultimate Race Simulator 2008 lets you experiment the sensations of driving a real Formula 1 car, at least as real as you can get it in your PC. You won't need to wear special fireproof clothes or cover your head with a helmet. Still, you'll have to get used to a highly difficult car that tends to go out of track on every single curve.

The simulator is meant to be as realistic as possible, meaning you won't have any help from the "game" like automatic gear system. It's all on your hands so it'll probably take you some time to learn to drive. But once you get the knack of it you'll be able to fully enjoy the experience of driving an F1 car.

As for the rest, SingTel Ultimate Race Simulator 2008 is quite a simple game, as it only features one car and one track (the Singapore Grand Prix circuit). The weirdest thing about this simulator is the start menu, which looks more like a standard Windows application than a game in itself.

SingTel Ultimate Race Simulator 2008 is not a racing game in the traditional style, but rather an F1 simulator that tries to be as faithful as possible to the real thing, though that makes it quite difficult to master.

Download SingTel Ultimate Race Simulator 2008 1.0.2 in Softonic

Linux is one of those things that most general PC users stay clear of because traditionally it has been viewed as intimidating to setup and use especially when it comes to installing external components.

However, did you know that you can enjoy all the benefits of a Linux environment without installing it courtesy of Ulteo? Ulteo is a virtual desktop that allows you to run Linux applications in a Windows environment. You’ll have to sign-up for an Ulteo account to synchronise data stored on your hard drive with Ulteo but once done, it’s a surprisingly powerful and useful way to run Linux without installing it. Ulteo comes preinstalled with all the major tools you need to work and surf the internet and is intended as a replacement for Windows. Amongst the packages you receive are Firefox, OpenOffice (that can now work with MS Office 2007 and 2008 documents), KPdf to deal with your PDF documents, Kopete (a cross-client instant messenger), Skype, Thunderbird, Enigmail, Gimp and Digikam to manage your pictures and Inkscape and Scribus to create great graphics and DTP projects. It’s a genuinely exciting package filled with open source applications that are easy to use and won’t bug you with ads or registration requests.

For anyone that divides their time regularly between Linux and Windows, this tool will speed up your productivity significantly.

Download Ulteo Virtual Desktop 20080514 Beta in Softonic

Transporter P2P is a decentralised file sharing application and messenger program, designed for use over local area networks, and the internet.

The program is nowhere near as heavily subscribed to as things like eMule but the advantaged is that it can support virtually unlimited file sizes. The program has also been designed with communication in mind. You can share folders and drives in a few clicks and
as each contact can have their own list of shared folders. Global shares can also be created, which all contacts can access. You can view who is browsing your shared folders, and even kick users while they are browsing your files. The program is also very secure so it's ideal for organisations that need to share data securely. When you transfer files by the IM, which can be any size, a status bar indicates how much is done and how long its going to take. Since the program has no central server, it's also extremely quick and there's no danger of anyone controlling what others can and can't download.

A nice P2P solution for organisations or groups that need to exchange large files but eMule users will find nothing of interest here.

Download Transporter P2P 6.0.2.0 in Softonic

WebDrive is more than an FTP Client. By connecting to WebDAV, FTP, or SFTP servers through a virtual drive, files are transferred by simply saving them to a drive letter. There's no need to run a separate FTP client interface. Unlike typical FTP clients, WebDrive lets you open and edit server based files without the additional download step.

WebDrive has built-in support for the industry standard SSL protocol. When used in conjunction with secure WebDAV, FTP or SFTP servers, WebDrive will open an encrypted tunnel between the client computer and the remote server; giving you secure transmission of critical data over the Internet. WebDrive can even be used as an alternative to a corporate VPN. Install the WebDrive client, and an SSL enabled server, and WebDrive can act as the VPN for your company, an efficient alternative to an expensive VPN or non-secure FTP client connections.

Features:

• SFTP support
• WebDAV support
• Firewall/Proxy server support
• SSL Support for secure file transfer
• FTP resume interrupted download
• File caching to enhance FTP Client performance
• S/KEY Password Encryption - MD4 & MD5 for supported FTP servers

Download WebDrive 8.0.1 in Softonic

When you need to keep a copy of any important file always at hand, you have basically two options: either you save it to a portable device (i.e. a USB memory stick) or you upload it to an online location.

Within this second option, you can easily use your own email address with Backup to Email, a simple tool that turns your mailbox into some sort of virtual drive that can hold a copy of important files with two important advantages: they're protected with your email password and they're always accessible via a simple web browser.

Backup to Email is very easy to use: you only have to fill in the program's configuration menu with your email details. From that moment on you'll get a new option in Windows Explorer context menu, with which you'll be able to backup files to your email account right away. Files will appear as attachments to single email messages on your mailbox, but note that if they're larger than 10 MB they'll be automatically split. Fortunately the program includes a merging tool with which you can bring them back to their original state.

With Backup to Email you can save a copy of your important documents right to your email inbox and have it always at hand.

Download Backup to Email 1.4.3. b24 in Softonic

If you're on the move constantly, then there's nothing quite like taking your desktop with you.

Ceedo Personal allows you to do this by reducing your desktop to fit on a USB stick. When you plug it into a USB port, it gives you instant access to your PC's desktop as if you were still at home. Your applications run from your portable drive based on your personal language and preferences but it uses resources from the host PC including such things as processing power, internet connection, printers etc. This makes it an excellent solution for anyone who is trying to make something work on a slower machine but isn't having any luck and needs to try it on something faster. At the end of your session, Ceedo Personal saves your work and application settings so that it's ready for your next usage. Note that once you remove your USB device, no trace of your work is left behind on the host PC so it's perfect for those that don't have access to one of their own PCs when they're on the move.

If you're not in a position to synchronize desktops or take your laptop with you, this is the next best thing.

Download Ceedo Personal 2.2.1.23 in Softonic

BestCrypt creates and supports encrypted virtual disks, which are visible as regular disks with corresponding drive letters (for example, D:, K:, Z:, i.e. with any drive letter that is not used by another system device).

The data stored on a BestCrypt disk is stored in the container file. A container is a file, so it is possible to backup a container, move or copy it to other disk (CD-ROM or network, for instance) and continue to access your encrypted data using BestCrypt.

Any free drive letter in the system may be used to mount and to open an encrypted file-container for access. When the virtual disk is opened, you can read and write data as if it were a conventional removable disk.

Download BestCrypt 8.04.2 in Softonic

Backing up your data with images has many advantages over straightforward file-to-foile backups.

For one they take up less space and two, they're often much easier to restore than conventional backups. A drive image Disk image file basically contains an exact copy of a hard drive, partition or logical disk and can be created on the fly. You can then restore these images at any time on a removal disk or to replace your corrupted, lost or damaged version. R-Drive Image does this fairly simply by creating a special bootable diskette to restore partitions. To restore only certain files, you only have to connect the image as a virtual disk (via a USB connection for example) and copy those files to their new location. For anyone that doesn't like Norton's drive image utility, this is a much easier to use and cheaper package. It's ideal for those that have suffered a major data loss Using R-Drive Image, you can completely and rapidly restore your system after heavy data loss caused by an operating system crash, virus attack or hardware failure. In addition, it's ideal for system administrators that need to setup large numbers of computers in one go.

A very powerful tool for administrators and those that want to be sure they don't waste valuable time if their operating system crashes.

Download R-Drive Image in Softonic