All of your purchases are available to stream and you can also download them locally and have the files auto imported into iTunes or Windows Media Player.

Simple streaming and local playback

Since the focus of Amazon Cloud Player for PC is to access your purchases of CDs, vinyl, and mp3s, having an Amazon account is required. Depending on how many albums or singles you've purchased, they will be loaded automatically into the app.

You can also designate a local folder to upload music into the player so your local library of music is accessible from the cloud. Amazon Cloud Player for PC also has the ability to create playlists and download your albums from the cloud to a local folder.

Designed for simplicity, there aren't many options, though you can manually adjust the size of the cache for streaming playback and restore removed music with a click.

It doesn't have access to the Amazon MP3 store directly from the app. Instead, it opens a new tab in a web browser.

Very easy to use

One of the best parts of Amazon Cloud Player for PC is that it's very easy to use. You are given all your albums in an easy-to-see grid layout by default, but you can change it to a list view to see individual songs.

If you start typing anywhere in the Amazon Cloud Player for PC window, it will automatically start searching for relevant songs or artists.

Downloading songs is simple. You drag-and-drop the album or songs into a small window on the right and the app starts downloading the songs.

Overall, Amazon Cloud Player for PC is a streamlined program for listening to music bought through Amazon.

Meant for simple playback

The design of Amazon Cloud Player for PC is meant for simplicity. You can play music, download songs from your Amazon account, and define local folders.

What you can't do it change streaming audio quality or change the theme. The black background highlights the album covers, but if you are missing the album cover from music, then you only have a generic album icon.

There is also no equalizer or presets in Amazon Cloud Player for PC, so you have little control over the sound of your music.

Great for Amazon users

If you buy a lot of music through Amazon, then Amazon Cloud Player for PC is perfect for you. It allows you to easily download all your purchased music and offers simple playback that will satisfy most users.

The lack of advanced options is disappointing, but is great for people who just want to listen to their collection through streaming or local means.

Download Amazon Cloud Player for PC 1.0.0.303.1.0.140-20130510 in Softonic

Download Superbird Browser 27.0 in Softonic

One of the most eye-catching ways to share your photos with family and friends is turning them into a video slideshow. And with Ashampoo Slideshow Studio HD this task is fun and easy!

Ashampoo Slideshow Studio HD doesn't require any special video editing skills. Simply select the photos you want to include in the slideshow and the program will display them in a timeline. The app also includes a built-in player that lets you preview the slideshow before actually producing it.

You can can drag and drop the photos in Ashampoo Slideshow Studio HD to rearrange them in your preferred order, and also preview the selected image on top of the interface. Ashampoo Slideshow Studio HD lets you use your favorite song as background music, add subtitles – with a wide variety in theme designs – and insert nice transition effects between photos as well. Once the slideshow is done, the program can export it to several different formats, including DVD and YouTube-compatible format.

Ashampoo Slideshow Studio HD is clearly oriented at the average user, as you can tell from its ease of use and lack of advanced features. Those of you with higher video editing skills will probably miss having more options to tweak.

Ashampoo Slideshow Studio HD is the perfect tool for quickly creating a video slideshow with your photos – especially if you're not a video editing expert.

Download Ashampoo Slideshow Studio HD 2.2.0.5 in Softonic

Do you spend a lot of time writing on your PC? For many people, Microsoft Word is the default application for writing text, but it has many more features than most people need. Focus Writer is a lightweight basic text writer, designed to be free of the distractions of complex word processing applications. In fullscreen mode, there are no toolbars of windows, just a background and your text - so it can help people writing who need to concentrate

Focus Writer can be windowed or full screen, and the ribbon of buttons at the top appears when you mouse over the area. Its basic features include a find tool - you can search for a word in your text and replace it. The themes button allows you to create custom themes, with your own background, font and so on. In preferences you can turn on auto save and also set goals for the day - by time or number of words, useful for professional writers. Rolling the cursor over the bottom of the window brings up another ribbon, with basic file information - title, word count, percentage of daily goal and the time.

If you need complex formatting, or to add images or tables to your work, this in not the right kind of application Focus Writer is solely for text, and nothing else which may suit writers, but will probably be too limited for many people. It doesn't feature a spell checker, either. Despite this, if you need a distraction free writing program, Focus Writer works very well, and its customization tools are really good.

Focus Writer will helps to create a quiet atmosphere on your computer, perfect for writing without distractions.

Download FocusWriter 1.4.3 in Softonic

It's very fast and easy to use. It has a 1CLICK2ALL approach. The complete design you can change by creating extreemly simple your personal themes or you can select one of the buildin themes. The languages incorperated.

All windows users that needs to have a quick access to there programs, documents and internet pages.

Download Gomigo Light 1.1 in Softonic

Merry Christmas Windows Theme is a perfect desktop theme for the holidays, with the variety of wallpapers and their quality we never get bored of it.

Special for Christmas lovers and those who enjoy to decorate their computer desktop.

Download Merry Christmas Windows Theme 1 in Softonic

Overview

Opera 12 keeps the general design and functionality of the highly-praised Opera 11, but adds convenient improved features like themes, web cam access and hardware acceleration. As for the the interface, Opera 12 features a slightly cleaner GUI with a focus on webpages instead of buttons and menus. Overall, Opera 12 isn't a huge change compared to the last version, but it has been improved with some nice new features.

Innovations and speed

The big innovation in the last version of Opera was extensions and while the choice of browser enhancements is still fairly limited, when you install or uninstall add-ons, you don't have to restart your browser. They are also sandboxed, so if one crashes, your browser won't. Opera 12 runs just as quickly as Google Chrome (the developer claims it's even faster) and the rendering engine has been tweaked slightly to offer an even faster browsing experience.

Visual Tabs and Tab Stacking is useful if you often have too many open, and there are now visual mouse gestures. These are well implemented, and accessed by holding the right mouse button which brings up a translucent guide to mouse gestures. This is a great introduction for people who've never used gestures, and hopefully allows for greater use in the future.

There's still an integrated mail client, which continues Opera's move towards doing everything you need in one application. The newest features or improvements of note are themes and web cam access. The most notable improvement has been to Speed Dial which instead of simply giving easy access to your favorite sites, now allows you to embed your Speed Dial with dynamic information - in other words, web apps within Opera. Meanwhile Password Syncing allows you to sync passwords across machines and devices - just sign-up for an account and Opera does the rest. There have also been some HTML5 improvements for developers such as Session History, Navigation and the W3C File API.

Conclusions

Opera 12 is a definite improvement on Opera 11 although the changes aren't revolutionary. However, if you're looking for a new browser, this is probably the most innovative currently on the market and is well worth installing.

Download Opera 12.15 in Softonic

Once a relatively complicated application, Rainmeter developers have increasingly striven to make the meter's interface more user friendly. This trend started with the 1.0 release and continues now that 2.0 is available. In fact, Rainmeter can do some pretty cool things to your windows desktop, and it's easier than ever now to apply new settings.

Rainmeter now comes pre-installed with a theme called "Enigma", which is a great example of how cool your desktop can look. You can add clocks, calendars, and RSS, as well as a whole range of system monitors. And that's just the beginning. Virtually everything on Rainmeter is customizable, and there are scores of other themes you can download for free to give your desktop a really personal feel.

Enigma has been included specifically because it makes your desktop into a really functional space. You can move different meter windows around on a whim, edit their skins relatively easily, tweak the transparency, and even make them disappear completely. As a way of freshening your desktop, Rainmeter is absolutely fantastic.

While Rainmeter has improved its user friendliness substantially, beginners can still easily get lost in the configuration options and settings. There's really not much reason to mess around with them at all though, unless you want to create your own look. Adding new skins is now much easier and doesn't require coding, although if you want a challenge the option to personalize with your own code is still available.

Rainmeter shows how easy it is to personalize Windows and quite effortlessly revolutionize its looks.

Download Rainmeter 2.5 in Softonic

The data in Magic Desktop is not really included in the program, but downloaded from the Internet. The download can take a while depending on your connection and also on the number of items you’ve selected, and can sometimes delay the program’s startup. Also, bear in mind that the program will automatically restart your computer upon installation – no option for a later restart.

In general terms, Magic Desktop is very easy to use. All you need to do is select whatever you want to install – a theme, a wallpaper, a new set of icons - and the program will download and install them in a few minutes.

Besides customizing your desktop, Magic Desktop also lets you create special personal packs (called “suits”) by combining the different icons, cursors, themes and wallpapers included in the program.

With Magic Desktop you can easily customize your Windows desktop in just a few minutes with new wallpapers, themes and more.

Download Magic Desktop 5.1.4 in Softonic

Mac OS X Lion Skin Pack does an excellent job of emulating the look of Lion OS X. This includes windows, folders, Trash can and even the Dock. Of course, it doesn't include the functionality of Lion - you can't use Spaces for example or such things as Finder and Spotlight but the overall look is quite impressive.

If you want to give Windows an OS X makeover, then Mac OS X Lion Skin Pack will impress your friends.

Download Mac OS X Lion Skin Pack for Windows 7 13 in Softonic

If you can’t wait to have Windows 8 – at least in appearance - 8 Skin Pack is the perfect desktop theme for you. It customizes the start-up screen, wallpaper and taskbar, as well as the aspect of Explorer windows.

The best thing about 8 Skin Pack is its incredible ease of use. To install the theme, just run the EXE file contained in the ZIP archive. The program even patches the uxtheme.dll file automatically – a necessary requirement to use third-party themes. Likewise, if you want to remove it, simply go to the program’s list in the Control Panel and click Uninstall.

On the downside, 8 Skin Pack requires a system reboot in order to be able to use it.

With 8 Skin Pack you can already start enjoying Windows 8 – even if still have to wait for Microsoft’s new operating system for a few months.

Download 8 Skin Pack for Windows 7 11 in Softonic

Windows 8 Transformation Pack give you the look and feel of Windows 8 on older
Windows versions. The Metro design, themes, wallpapers, icons, sounds and other features can all be yours with this excellent free theme pack.

Features

Windows 8 Transformation Pack automatically installs several design changes and programs. The freeware comes with an imitation of the new Modern style and adjusts menus, cursors, screensavers and system sounds to emulate Windows' 8th version. You can also configure individual elements of Windows 8 Transformation Pack via the wizard.

Usability

Windows 8 Transformation Pack adds pizazz with its own Modern apps. By clicking on the tile store, you can manage programs and play mini updates or add extra apps. Standard elements include apps like Clock, Calendar, system settings, Gmail, Hotmail, Twitter, Facebook, Internet Explorer, Music and Photo Gallery.

Quality

Windows 8 Transformation Pack is a worthy successor to the popular Seven Transformation Pack. This early version of Windows 8 is a pretty impressive mimic. If Seven Translation Pack is anything to go by, as Windows 8 gets more advanced, so too will Windows 8 Transformation Pack, so keep an eye out for even more updates.

Conclusion

If you want a taste of Windows 8 on XP, Vista or Windows 7, download Windows 8 Transformation Pack asap!

Download Windows 8 Transformation Pack 7.0 (8TP) in Softonic

Thunderbird is Mozilla's award winning and free solution to manage your mail more efficiently. And there are many advantages of switching to it too. Unlike Mail for example, it can handle virtual identities and create on-the-fly addresses and it's widely regarded as having one of the best spam filters out there. Most recently, it's been updated with a slick tabbed interface to make managing your e-mail easier.

The fact that like Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird can be beefed up with all manner of extensions makes it an extremely competitive mail client. It's also now much faster and more stable than before due to the Gecko 5 engine.

Getting going

Setting up Mozilla Thunderbird is painless. You can quickly import your mail and contacts from your Outlook or Mail account and set up POP3, IMAP or SMTP accounts in a flash. To stay well organized, Mozilla Thunderbird offers filters to deliver your mail into separate folders and inboxes. And of course, there's a built-in spell checker to make sure that your mails are professionally crafted.

What makes Mozilla Thunderbird slightly more unusual is the fact that it comes with an integrated RSS reader. Nowadays, this is a little outdated because many people use a separate application - or even Firefox itself - to follow RSS feeds but it may be useful if you only want to mail and follow RSS feeds at the same time when composing mails.

Searching your mail

The search tool in Thunderbird is excellent and searches happen in real time as you type. Search results are displayed in a separate tab. Tabs in general are a very big part of Thunderbird and like Firefox, you can have multiple messages open in separate tabs. This is a fantastic feature of Thunderbird although does tempt you to have too many mails open at once. Archiving is also another handy feature for those that don't want to delete messages but want to clear space in their inbox.

So what about security? You might think an open-source mail client would inherently be less secure than a paid one but Thunderbird is surprisingly secure with a fairly bulletproof spam filter. The reason being is that Thunderbird is regularly updated and crafted by volunteers who's main interest is making a better product rather than profiting from an end-product. Security updates are regular but small so as not to slow-down Thunderbird.

Exchange support

One of the biggest selling points of Mozilla Thunderbird is that it offers Microsoft Exchange support, meaning it will appeal to Office users who previously discounted it.

On the downside, the app is lacking some finesse in certain areas. Thunderbird still doesn't have conversation style email views like in Gmail (although an extension to do this can be downloaded separately) and there aren't many options for managing attachments and photos. There's also no calendar but again, this can be downloaded separately in the form of "Lightning".

Overall, Thunderbird is an excellent free alternative to Microsoft Outlook.

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Download Mozilla Thunderbird 17.0.4 (en-US) in Softonic

Using the program is a pleasant experience - at the most basic level, add the files you want to compress/decompress using the file explorer on the right and chose the action you want from the main toolbar or by right clicking. The PeaZip interface is fresh and easy-to-use with a few built-in themes to spice things up.

Right-clicking on a file or folder and choosing Add to archive or Browse path with PeaZip will also provide direct access to the program's factions. The compression/decompression process is very quick and smooth, and there are impressive advanced options for users who want to get a little more technical.

Among the best of these advanced PeaZip features are the encryption/password options, compression variables, and the File tools, which allow you to split files, join them and even view the checksum files. PeaZip really impressed us - it's a top-class program that performs at a really high level, and is a worthy rival to apps such as WinZip or 7Zip.

PeaZip is a fantastic program for all your compressing/decompressing needs.

Download PeaZip 4.9.1 in Softonic

This software provides the user with instant download and automatic installation of Windows 7 and Windows 8 games themes. Because it provides access to over 30 themes it spares the user the hassle of looking for themes online. This themepack also contains themes that works for both Windows 7 and Windows 8.

This software is meant for enthusiast and ardent players of the most popular games who likes to customize their desktops with themes of their favorite games.

Download Windows Themes Game Pack 1 1 in Softonic

SMTPing comes with a basic template that shows about 38 groups with up to 5 nodes each on a 1280x960 pixel screen. This template, on a 2560x1440 WQHD flat panel has proven to be enough to show up to 330 nodes in 90 groups at full screen with no zoom-out! But that's not all! you can see the line quality for a certain group to see the intermittence/falls within the last 24 hours. Want to see details for a single node? no big deal. As simple as clicking over a node, you'll see how many failures have been detected during the last significant periods, from actual hour to previous week! SMTPing comes with a basic template, but more are added on a regular basis and made available for you to download.

SMTPing is fully configurable. It has a UI scheme selector that enhances the template-based themes subsystem, making it look better than average monitoring tools. Themes can be either simple or complex, and they can be downloaded and installed in a very easy way. The Dashboard can be shared over the LAN/WAN, allowing you to let important people see how the network behaves in real time.

Ideal for Network Administrators, Infrastructure Managers, Tech Support Department Staff or Network Operation Center Staff.

Download SMTPing 1.0.0.12 in Softonic

The same gameplay is the same in this version where you fire the Angry Birds at pigs, but this time the birds are characters from the Star Wars Rebellion and the Empire is played by the evil pigs. The levels take a lot of influence from the movies so Force powers exist and settings are easily recognizable in Angry Birds Star Wars for Windows 8.

But Angry Birds Star Wars for Windows 8 is still the same game that Angry Birds always presents with a different overall theme. You will not be surprised at what the game presents and it is more nostalgic for fans who get to see the Star Wars universe mixed with the Angry Birds universe.

Angry Birds Star Wars for Windows 8 is a great game for Star Wars and Angry Birds fans alike.

Download Angry Birds Star Wars for Windows 8 in Softonic

QQ Messenger may not sound familiar, but it's the most popular IM client in China.

When you think about IM clients, the first names that come to your head are Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and the likes. But have you ever heard of QQ Messenger?

With more than one billion registered accounts, QQ Messenger is now more than just a simple IM client: it's a whole social phenomenon that millions of people use on a daily basis, and an essential part of their lives.

The truth is that QQ Messenger is not that different from other IM clients you may have used. There are the typical contacts list – which you can organize by groups - support for voice and video chats, smileys, nudges, ability to send photos and share files (with support for pause/resume!), and other utilities we're used to finding in IM clients. There's one important difference however: in QQ Messenger you hardly find any ads!

Besides the traditional IM tools, QQ Messenger also includes some not-so-common features. You'll be able to capture an area of your screen or record a short video clip on the spot, and share both of them instantly with your contacts. Another area where QQ Messenger stands out is personalization. You can customize almost anything, from choosing a skin for the interface to selecting the font for your messages. The program also includes a wide selection of avatars and personal pictures to choose from, but if you don't like any of them, simply upload one from your hard drive. The only thing that didn't work for us was downloading more themes from the Web.

QQ Messenger is mainly a tool for chat, but it can also be used to help your friends or customers thanks to its integrated Remote assistance tool: a basic remote control app that grants you access to your friend's desktop and enables you to help them with any computer issue.

In general terms, QQ Messenger surprised us for various reasons: first, it features a nicely designed interface with cute buttons and icons, which is hard to find in IM clients; second, it has interesting extra features that make it a complete communication tool; and third, it's amazing how such a popular program with more than a billion users is still known by so few people over here!

On the downside, I have to admit that QQ Messenger was a bit unreliable when trying to add contacts - which, by the way, are identified with numbers, like good old ICQ. Not a very user-friendly method, I'd say. Other than that, QQ Messenger is a great IM cilent that is definitely worth trying out.

QQ Messenger, the most widely used IM client in China, has now an international version that may help it become even more popular!

Download QQ Messenger International 1.6 in Softonic

There are already several great Twitter clients out for Windows 8 such as Tweetro and MetroTwit. Where Fantweestic! for Windows 8 tries to differentiate itself is in its ability to quickly and easily follow your favorite sports teams.

Another unique feature of Fantweestic! for Windows 8 is its themes. When you first start the app, you're given a list of popular teams or other things that you can "fan." You can then easily add the a stream of the team's Twitter updates to your home page.

Fantweestic! for Windows 8 is a full featured Twitter client with access to your DMs, profile, and photos. You have the option to view links in the sidebar but this experience is terrible. Web pages will be crammed into the sidebar, forcing you to scroll a lot. You can omit this option and just visit links in your default browser. This isn't ideal either. It would be nice if Fantweestic! for Windows 8 adjusted the sidebar automatically to fill up a majority of the screen.

While it's great that Fantweestic! for Windows 8 lets you follow your favorite teams and brands easily, you're most likely already following them. The themes would be cool but they're very basic, only modifying the colors of the app.

Overall, Fantweestic! for Windows 8 is a lackluster Twitter client that has a few unique features but doesn't provide as good of a Twitter experience as its competitors.

Download Fantweestic! for Windows 8 1.0.0.1 in Softonic

Fast forward six years and Sega finally published Aliens: Colonial Marines. But like most movie tie-in games, it fails to capture the theme and tone of the source material. Aliens: Colonial Marines' story takes place after James Cameron's 1986 movie, explaining what happened on the colony after Ripley and the first squad of Marines came and lost their encounter with the xenomorphs.

While it was expected that the game would have a very 1980s tone, Aliens: Colonial Marines takes it to a new level with bizarre writing, lack of character development, and a lack of polish.

Gameplay

As with all first-person shooters, nailing down the controls is very important. Aliens: Colonial Marines presents average controls where you spend more time trying to aim even the simplest shot to kill an Alien. Moving through the copy/paste environments feels like sliding over ice. There is no sense of urgency or reason to quickly complete objectives.

Selecting different weapons in Aliens: Colonial Marines is easy when switching from one of the two primary weapons, but changing your loadout takes a lot more time because you have to hold the weapon switch button, move the joystick to choose the new weapon and then release weapon switch. At this point you should have the new weapon selected, but half the time, Aliens: Colonial Marines does not recognize the change.

Throwing grenades results in the most basic of animations and doesn't satisfy, feeling more like throwing rocks into a river. Other weapons like the shotgun are unbalanced and you spend more time just trying to find the right weapon that you can "deal with" rather than favor. The upgrade points you earn in the game by completing levels allow you to upgrade weapons and parts, but every weapon feels either over or under powered.

The Alien AI is among the worst for any game. They sprint towards you, jumping occasionally, or mindlessly running around the level. Areas where you should be able to attack them are not available, so you are stuck watching them crawl around until they eventual attack.

Essentially, Aliens: Colonial Marines has a huge lack of polish. Everything feels incomplete and missing key features to accurately create the Aliens experience.

Graphics and Sound

Aliens: Colonial Marines is barely passable as a PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 game, even more when considering Aliens: Colonial Marines runs on the hopelessly outdated DirectX 9.0c. The game presents some of the most boring environments and even though it's heavily influenced by the movie, it still feels boring somehow. The expected lighting effects are non-existent, favoring either a pitch-black room or a barely lit cone of light from a flashlight.

Character models are laughable and while secondary characters have distinct features, they are easily forgettable. The source material takes little prominence with the Marines in their armor only having a passing resemblance to the movie. The detail available to create individual characters was not applied.

Aliens are among the worst looking. The character models look like the skins were pasted on without any definition to the character. Even when close, they look bland and covered with green moss rather than the H.R. Giger insect designs they were based on. It is sad to watch the Aliens because they have a very distinct look that was not used to the full potential in Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Sound in Aliens: Colonial Marines also has issues. While the game does feature original sound files from the movie for weapons and effects, the rest of the game sounds even more artificial. The environmental sound attempts to create tension, but become laughable because it feels so forced. The story pushes a specific tone, which goes out the window very quickly. The game mixes classic movie sound effects with a very strangely mixed audio track made for Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Even though Aliens: Colonial Marines contains voice acting, a lot of the lines are so haphazardly recorded they never sound serious. Even considering Aliens: Colonial Marines is bridging a 1980s movie, it still comes across as lacking.

Multiplayer

The biggest draw for multiplayer is the ability to play as one of the types of Aliens. Beyond that, the multiplayer in Aliens: Colonial Marines feels like an average selection of team deathmatch or goal-based missions. More than anything, the different modes do not present a big challenge other than one side always trying to kill the other. Controlling an Alien is even more difficult than controlling a Marine with imprecise attacks that result in many deaths. Even the various Aliens do not make the experience that fulfilling.

Aliens: Colonial Marines' multiplayer feels like a tacked-on addition to the game, more of a requirement than a fully thought-out mode for the game. It is disappointing because having a well developed multiplayer was one of the better selling points.

Misused license

Considering how long Aliens: Colonial Marines was in development, the end result should have been much better than what was released. Aliens: Colonial Marines looks nothing like it was presented as and feels like a last generation game rather than the fully realized game that was promised.

The gameplay is average at best and the graphics lack the shine that Gearbox originally presented. Given all the bugs and problems of Aliens: Colonial Marines, it will be a long time before another Aliens game is given the green light.

Playing Aliens: Colonial Marines creates the realization that something went wrong during development.

Download Aliens: Colonial Marines in Softonic