Changing the look of XP is something of a cottage industry and GelXP Desktop is another addition which gives Microsoft's most loved operating system a relaxed new look.

In reality GelXP doesn't make any huge differences to the use and feel of XP but rather smooths some of its rougher edges. There are two style variations to choose from - one in blue and two in black and as many XP themes tend to do, it minimizes the taskbar size so it's not so big and chunky as in the default XP.

Installation is very simple - just copy the contents of the ZIP file to the folder C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes and select GelXP as your default theme. It would have been nice to have seen something a bit more radical from this theme - the look it gives you is very slick although no more so than the Royale Theme for XP. It would have scored more highly if the developers had added something that genuinely improved the way you use XP rather than the look.

If you do get bored easily of your XP desktop, then GelXP can at least bring a fresh feel to your desktop.

Download GelXP 2.2 in Softonic

WinRAR for U3 is WinRAR adapted to the U3 smart drive computing platform. All you need is a U3 smart drive, and you can access WinRAR (including your profiles, AV-Code, themes, etc.) from any Windows 2000 or XP computer, anywhere.

No hassle – with a U3 smart drive, you minimize the hassle of managing multiple and shared computers. There’s no need to – because you can carry your personal PC-environment with you wherever you go. It’s easy to carry, easy to install, and completely secure. Once you remove the U3 smart drive from a PC, your software is removed, too – and no one else will have access to it.

Download WinRAR for U3 3.7.1.1 in Softonic

As one of the mainstays of the instant messaging world, Yahoo! has finally decided to drag itself onto the VOIP bandwagon with the launch of this Voice version of its popular client. As well as offering free PC-to-PC calls and cheap PC-to-phone (landline and mobile) calls, the program throws in all the usual over-the-top gadgetry and gimmicks we've come to associate with Yahoo! Messenger.

As we've seen before from programs that try to be all things to all people, there's always a danger that things can get a little out of hand for the user, and this is the territory that Yahoo is entering with this latest incarnation of its messenger. It's true that the voice facilities in the program are top-notch, delivering crystal-clear clarity for most calls to PCs and phones. It's also true that the application boasts a bevy of interesting and innovative features, such as the ability to play games and listen to online radio together, send animated, talking emoticons, and quickly share files and photos simply by dragging and dropping them into the chat window.

Although, in the main, these features are good for a laugh, we did have a couple of things that we'd like to raise if we ever met Mr Yahoo! Firstly, we like the games but they lack instructions, so sometimes it can take a while to figure out how to play them. Also many of the so-called 'Audibles,' which are essentially animated, talking emoticons, are a little vulgar to say the least, and not really suitable for anyone with a reputation to uphold.

There are plenty of ways to customize the client to suit your mood too. The main interface is fully skinable, and you can also change the way the chat window looks by selecting from dozens of themed 'IMvironments', which certainly helps to inject some variety into your chat experiences. You can also build your own avatar – a process which can take hours as you carefully select the right haircut, clothes, sunglasses and even breed of dog to have sitting at your side in your IM profile.

Individually, these features are both innovative and compelling, but ironically they combine to contribute to the downfall of Messenger for Voice. The fact is that all of these options serve to swamp the interface and if you have a lot of the features running at the same time it's often hard to find even the text window. While it's fun and novel at first, the messenger very quickly becomes an irritant more than anything. Our advice – stick with Skype.

Download Yahoo! Messenger with Voice 9.0.0.1912 in Softonic

REAPER (Rapid Environment for Audio Prototyping and Efficient Recording) is a powerful but sensible Windows application that lets you record, arrange, edit, and render multi-track waveform audio. REAPER provides an extensive set of features, but is a very small and lightweight application as the installer is less than 1 megabyte, and includes many effects and a sample project.

Basic features:

• Supports ASIO, Kernel Streaming, WaveOut, DirectSound for playback and recording
• Reads WAV, OGG, and MP3 files, records WAV files
• Lets you arrange any number of items in any number of tracks
• Supports audio processing plug-ins (DirectX and Jesusonic)
• Volume, pan controls and envelopes per track
• Multi-layer undo/redo support
• User creatable color themes

Advanced features:

• Unlimited bus support with collapsable bus views
• Item grouping
• Selection length granularity to ease in loop cutting
• An architecture that allows you to easily cut loops of many tracks simultaneously
• Support for plug-in generated media
• 64-bit floating point sample pipeline for high quality
• Advanced recording and monitoring options
• Options to build peaks for recorded files on the fly
• Controls for the user to specify where recorded files go
• Template support to make it easy to load a project template
• Input channel name aliasing

Download REAPER 2.55 in Softonic

If you liked Google Chrome's interface but prefer to use Firefox as your main web browser, Chromifox is exactly what you need.

Chromifox is a visual theme for Firefox that applies the Chrome appearance to the Mozilla browser. In other words, you'll get a minimalist design, slick layout and a thin cote of blue all over Firefox interface. The theme basically changes icons, tab appearance and the overall window color.

The new design does look good on Firefox, but after trying out Chrome I must say it doesn't feel like the real thing. Google Chrome still has that aura of cleanliness that apparently not even this visual theme can achieve.

In spite of not being a realistic Chrome clone, this visual theme still adds a slick, blue appearance to Firefox

Download Chromifox 1.0 in Softonic

K-Meleon is an extremely fast, customizable, lightweight web browser for the win32 (Windows) platform based on the Gecko layout engine (the rendering engine of Mozilla). K-Meleon is free, open source software released under the GNU General Public License.

Features:

• Choose your desired bookmarking system
• "Tabbed" browsing
• Mouse gestures
• Complete toolbar, menu, context menu, & keyboard shortcut customization
• Block popup windows
• Fast load time
• Easy web searching
• Themes & skins
• Macros

Download K-Meleon 1.5.0 in Softonic

I don't know about you, but I quickly grow tired of a Windows appearance. This is why I was happy to find MyColors, a simple theme manager with which you can completely customize the way Windows looks.

MyColors is another product from the Stardock company, which seems to have specialized in customizing software. MyColors features a sleek interface divided into several tabs, from which you can manage your themes, adjust the program's settings and select the wallpaper, among other options.

MyColors includes a few themes and allows you to easily download a few more from the Stardock website. Be aware though that only a few of them are free, while the most attractive ones are only available after paying 20 bucks.

The best thing about MyColors is how easy it is to install new themes. Simply click on the "Apply" button and wait for it to complete the process. Also, going back to Windows standard appearance is as easy as re-installing the Windows standard theme from MyColors.

If you'd like to give Windows a completely new look, you should give MyColors a go, although the theme selection is not precisely very wide.

Download MyColors in Softonic

So you’ve made the leap and installed the versatile internet browser, Firefox, but are you ready to trade in your Outlook Express for Mozilla’s open source mail application? Thunderbird is Mozilla’s award winning and free solution to manage your mail more efficiently.

Thunderbird woos users thanks to its flurry of options and the benefits of an open source application. Automatic updates ensure that you have the latest version of Thunderbird, preventing any security threats and offering you new features as soon as they’re available.

The biggest worry for users is switching from one mail application to another and losing precious information. With Thunderbird the switch is painless because you can quickly import your mail and contacts from your Outlook and set up your POP3 or IMAP account is a snap. To stay well organized we suggest that you take advantage of Thunderbird’s filters. While this option is nothing new to the experienced Outlook user, you’ll come to see that Thunderbird makes filters much more accessible, thanks to a simple selection of combinations and actions. Create distinct folders for your personal and professional mail and your newsletters and associate them with filters to avoid the hassle of constantly sorting your mail. Another feature we could single out is the integrated spell checker, a blessing if you send many emails and can’t be bothered to constantly verify your writing.

Although it isn’t visible right away, Thunderbird also features an RSS reader. Handy if you need to follow the news or specialist websites, this tool fits seamlessly into Thunderbird and you could almost forget that it is a mail application. Paste in the RSS feed from your favorite news source and the main messages window will reveal a list of all the latest feeds. The message pane is used as an integrated browser window to display the selected article.

Email is the number one source of viruses, that’s why Thunderbird offers various levels of message encryption, a spam filter and support for valid certificates. We found the spam filter particularly effective. Set it to “learn” mode, and it teaches itself to separate the valid email from the rest of the junk. You have to be mindful of this option though, because Thunderbird can become too restrictive and may decide on its own that one of your friends is suddenly persona non grata. Reviewing your junk folder every now and then should avoid you accidentally losing friends. Thunderbird also automatically turns off Javascript and by default does not load remote images, a good way to defuse the risk of viruses from dodgy emails.

Another known feature of the Mozilla line of products is customization. Just as with Firefox, Thunderbird can integrate a slew of extensions and add-ons to rev up your inbox. You can also add or remove icons from the actions pane, selecting the ones you use most frequently.

The one place where Thunderbird fails, and professionals will confirm this, is the failure to integrate Microsoft Exchange support. An essential tool in any work environment, the collaborative messaging software is sorely missed in Thunderbird and seriously limits its usefulness in offices. Furthermore, we can question why Mozilla included an RSS reader yet failed to incorporate a calendar, standard in most mail applications nowadays.

While the lack of proper business minded features will limit Thunderbird’s point in the workplace, the simplicity, customizability and security make it a number one choice for home users. If you’re worried about your safety on the Internet or are just looking for a more efficient way of handling your mail, Thunderbird is probably the best solution out there.

Download Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5.0.10 in Softonic

If you'd like to switch to Mac but haven't made up your mind yet, you can have a sneak peek at the operating system with the LeopardXP BricoPack.

LeopardXP BricoPack is a visual theme for Windows XP that completely transforms your old Microsoft OS into the brand new Apple system in just a couple of clicks. Unlike other visual themes that need certain libraries and drivers, or require you to install third-party apps on your own, LeopardXP BricoPack includes everything you need and is incredibly easy to install: click on the Next button a few times, wait for a while, restart and that's it.

LeopardXP BricoPack is obviously not like the real thing but it does quite a good job in trying to make Windows XP look like the Leopard OS. Not only does it install new skins, wallpapers and icons, but it also adds new functionalities such as a Mac OS style dock bar, a Spotlight clone (which by the way doesn't seem to work properly), a top toolbar and a similar file explorer. All of these are included in LeopardXP BricoPack as extra tools and you can choose not to install them. Also, LeopardXP works fine even in systems with low resources.

On the downside, there are still a few areas in which LeopardXP BricoPack could be improved: for example, there are some Windows icons that the theme doesn't replace and don't really fit in, like the Windows logon and switch off screens.

LeopardXP BricoPack is an attractive visual theme that completely transforms Windows XP into Mac OS Leopard. It includes everything you need and is extremely easy to install and uninstall.

Download LeopardXP Bricopack 1.0 in Softonic

Much as you'd be led to think otherwise following the massive rise of RSS, Usenet is still alive and kicking. This application is designed to make it quick and easy for you to read usenet feeds and access binary newsgroups.

Benefits of NewsMan include:

Clean, easy-to-use interface

Designed not only to be good-looking, but also to make browsing and downloading from Usenet easy and enjoyable. Comes with eight different Themes and is also designed to work well with third-party skinning programs like StyleXP and Windowblinds.

Full support for text and binary newsgroups

You can read text newsgroups effortlessly and store articles as long as you want in the database. NewsMan also fully supports binary newsgroups and decodes Mime, UUE and yEnc encoded messages in a separate background thread to minimize CPU usage.

Multiple Server Support

True multi-server support gives you the ability to download headers from your best, most complete news server and download articles from any servers that you have access to. Servers can be prioritized so that article bodies are downloaded from your least expensive server first. In addition, if you exclude a server from the priority list, Newsman treats it like a "private server" where headers and articles are processed only through that server.

Full support for NZB files

NZB files (www.newzbin.com ) save you time by allowing you to download binaries without retrieving headers. Newsman Pro gives you full support for NZB files by allowing you to import multiple files at once within the program. NZB messages are placed into a separate virtual group. You can also associate NZB files with Newsman Pro and Newsman will import them when you open the files in Windows Explorer.

Robust multi-threaded architecture

Downloading, header processing, attachment processing, Automation, Scheduled Tasks and Trash purging processing all happen in their own threads. Newsman can perform many tasks simultaneously allowing you to do several things at once.

Download Newsman Pro 2.7.0.9 in Softonic

HydraIRC is an open-source IRC client with an attractive and easy to use interface. It supports DCC Chat and File transfers, Connecting to multiple servers, Dockable Floating Tabbed Windows, Autohiding Windows, DLL Plugins, Channel Monitoring, Message Logs, Event Viewer, Themes, Color schemes, Buddy groups, Audible and Visual Notifications , Reg-Exp Highlighting, Favorites and much more.

Download HydraIRC 0.3.164 in Softonic

With more of us keeping sensitive data on our computers than ever before, the need to protect your data from the eyes of unwanted intruders is greater than ever. Of course, there are plenty of applications that allow you to encrypt your private data, but many of them come at a high price. Folder Vault is a relatively cheap alternative that blocks access to files, folders and archives through an interesting interface, which is completely styled around the theme of locking and protection.

Once installed, the program create a default protected folder called Folder Vault, to which any file on your PC can be added. One of the neat features of the software is that it can be run in Stealth mode, to avoid being detected and attacked. There are plenty of cool options locked within the app, such as the ability to auto-shutdown your machine after a designated number of failed password attempts. Handily the program includes a feature whereby once you enter a password, all of the files and folders within your protected folder become unblocked, saving you a lot of time.

I found the program was great for blocking files thanks to its powerful encryption algorithms. However, I was a little disappointed with the Hack Prevention and Automation modes, as these did not seem to work at all when I tried them.

Download Folder Vault 2.0.0.46 in Softonic

The Royale Theme is a slick black theme for Windows XP which originally leaked out of Microsoft and onto the web in 2005.

There's no way to know but it seems to have come out of the new version of Windows Media Centre that Microsoft developed for XP. The Royale theme is remarkably similar to XP's default "Luna" theme but is a much sleeker shade of black. If you are tired of the default theme then you'll surely find something that appeals in Royale. It's also a remarkably small download at 2MB so there's no need to worry that it's going to slow down your machine although it does take up slightly more RAM so if you're on a slow machine, you might want to think twice before installing it. The installation is very simple - simply download the theme and run the EXE and it will ask you automatically where you want to install it. If you choose C:\WINDOWS path the files will automatically be placed in the Resources Folder on your computer. Once it's installed, you'll still need to activate the theme by right-clicking on you desktop, selecting Properties, then Appearance and finally Windows and Buttons. Select the Media Center Style option and click apply and the screen may go black while the theme is applied.

If you're bored with XP's default theme, this is an excellent free way to spice up your desktop and Windows itself.

Download Royale Theme for Win XP in Softonic

I'm about to convert to Mac myself but if I wasn't, I would definitely use Mac OSX Tiger Theme 1.3 to at least feel like I'd converted.

The skins feature the classic Aqua and Graphite schemes and the newly introduced Platinum scheme which you can find in the System Preferences and Mail programs in Mac OS X 10.4. They've also included Brushed with over 20 substyles added for good measure. The Apple menu is unfortunately, not an exact copy of the original but it's pretty close. It's basically a stripped down Start Menu that has been made to look like the Apple menu in Mac OS X. In addition, there are also left and right handed titlebar buttons for those that want their PC to look like a Mac but at the same time keep their right handed Windows buttons. The look and feel is remarkably Apple although Windows keeps creeping through especially with it's annoying sounds sometimes to spoil the illusion. If you have any widgets installed, you may also find that they don't show with this installed.

A great skin for those that either can't afford a Mac or those that simply prefer the elegant Mac look and style.

Download Mac OS X Theme 1.3 in Softonic

If you've ever dreamed about working in a warehouse (and I know I have on many occasions), then the chances are you used to love playing Sokoban. Although, you probably didn't know it was called Sokoban, but it's the one where you have to push boxes in a straight line into a designated space.

Well, the game is still alive and kicking, and is widespread on mobile devices. Caisses is one of the more interesting clones I've come across though, and provides amazing depth considering it's a piece of freeware.

Your basic aim is the same old story - you're a warehouseman who must shuffle parcels around. You can only push the boxes in a straight line, and you can't push more than one box at a time. As a result, the gameplay is very addictive, but certainly not very original.

The best thing about Caisses is the fact that you can customise the game to the n-th degree. Not only can you choose from a bevy of cool backgrounds, but there are loads of game themes to choose from too. For instance, you can choose to play as Pac-Man, Zangeif, a nurse, or even the Linux penguin, and the objects you push change accordingly.

It gets pretty tough as you progress through the 500 levels, so it would've been nice to see some kind of hints feature, but the challenge of getting your head around the hundreds of puzzles is enough to keep you coming back for more.

The graphics aren't the best ever and because this version is ported from a mobile phone version, the game window is quite small.

Nevertheless, Caisses offers a fun way to test your brain during a break from your usual routine.

Download Caisses 1.21 in Softonic

Aero Fox is a theme for your Firefox browser which I am sure many of you will like. It adds a black, glossy style to your favourite browser, but apart from the main navigation bar and icons, it doesn’t change the way menus look.

This theme will probably look great with a Vista PC given the colours’ resemblance, but in computers with Windows XP installed, the blue bar at the bottom and at the top will not match at all.

What I also found strange is that when moving the cursor over an icon, instead of becoming brighter, as if you where ‘activating’ it, it becomes very dark, as if in some way you were switching it off – a counter-intuitive behaviour. Furthermore, if you have many bookmarks saved in your toolbar, you will have trouble finding the arrow which brings you to the links that don’t fit in the bar. That said, many users like it and it has become one of the most downloaded themes, so why not give it a try?

Aero Fox brings a black shiny look to your Firefox, and fits perfectly with Vista PC, but not necessarily with Windows XP’s bright blue style.

Download Aero Fox 1.0.5 in Softonic

Sometimes the standard Windows toolbar falls short of expectations and you start looking for a replacement toolbar that features more functionality and also looks better on your desktop.

This is precisely what you can get with Gizmo Toolbar, a fully customizable Windows toolbar alternative that gives you instant access to your favorite applications, documents or even websites. What's more, you can group several items together so they're all launched at the same time with just a single click.

The toolbar is completely customizable, from the place it's shown on the desktop when you hit the correspondent hotkey to the skin and layout used in its design, as well as the way it displays buttons for your personal shortcuts. There's certainly a ton of options to choose from, but there's also an important feature missing: apparently there's no support for drag-and-drop, which would definitely be the easiest way to add new shortcuts.

Gizmo Toolbar is part of a more complete suite, so when you're asked to install Gizmo Central don't thing you've got the wrong program. Simply go ahead and you'll install just the toolbar.

Gizmo Toolbar provides you with a complete, fully customizable attractive toolbar with which to replace the standard Windows toolbar and access more features.

Download Gizmo Toolbar 2.6 in Softonic

Anyway you can cut down on launching programs is valuable time saved during your working day.

XStart is one of the simplest program launchers you'll ever use that at the same time speeds up your launch time without being fussy to setup. XStart is a solid alternative to Windows Start Menu although due to improvements in Vista, it's probably more useful to XP users. The program provides a convenient access point to reach all of your favourite programs, shortcuts, folders, documents and websites. You can create custom groups which means you can create groups of programs that you use according to type e.g. work, social, media etc. There are a limited but attractive number of themes to choose from and you'll notice a distinct decrease in the amount of time it takes you to open and close programs. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that programs will always start quickly - if you've got too many temporary files or you haven't defragged your drive, you won't notice much difference.

If you're looking for an easy way to increase your productivity and program startup times, then XStart is limited but easy option.

Download XStart 2.4.1 in Softonic

Bring the mystery of Indiana Jones’ new adventure, the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, to your MSN messenger. This theme is based on the new film release and only works on Windows Live Messenger 8.5 (it also requires Messenger Plus! Live 4.60).

Strangely enough, when I tried to install the Plus! Add-on - required to add themes on messenger - the application asked me if I wanted to install advertisements on the messenger. Although it is stated as not being compulsory, and let me choose if I wanted them or not, the add-on didn’t work until I had them installed.

Looking at the theme itself, the graphics and resolution are very good and the main frame, where you have all your contacts, is transformed into a kind of temple entrance with Maya or Aztec style ornaments and of course the frightening gold skull which hides secrets and mysterious Soviet plots. In terms of usability though there are some downsides. With this setting in fact it will be more difficult to understand which contacts are online, and which are not.

Whether you like the adventures of Indiana Jones or, why not, just like archaeology, try this theme for Messenger and feel like you’re part of the latest adventure.

Download Indiana Jones 4 Messenger Skin 1.0.0 in Softonic

Personas for Firefox is a special extension that improves theme management for Firefox and makes it easier.

So far, applying a new theme to your favorite web browser implies searching for it on Google, downloading the correspondent file to your PC, installing it on Firefox and then restarting the browser in order to see the results. Personas makes this whole process much simpler: just install the extension and you'll see a tiny button on the lower left corner of your browser window. Then, every time you want to apply a new theme to Firefox, simply click on this button and select it from the context menu.

Personas for Firefox currently includes about fifty themes, but chances are there'll be more in the near future, especially if we take into account that this extension also makes theme designing and updating much easier. I guess we'll have to wait patiently as you can't add any new themes to the menu, but use only the ones that come shipped with the extension.

The included themes are classified into several categories (Firefox, Holidays, Nature, Scenery, Sports and others) for a more convenient browsing. Though some of them make menu bars really hard to read, many others give a nice touch of color to the browser window. Also, bear in mind that the themes only change the main window's appearance – icons and menus remain the same.

Despite the limitations of a first version, Personas for Firefox is a great extension to change your browser's appearance in just two clicks.

Download Personas for Firefox 1.0a1 in Softonic