Checking multiple e-mail accounts can be a pain - it's not easy to keep tabs on all the incoming mail that you're bombarded with everyday.

CheckMail is a powerful POP3 email checking program which notifies you when you have received new email. CheckMail allows you to check all your email accounts for new messages and preview or delete them before downloading them to your computer. This immediately makes CheckMail a great solution for those that are worried about downloading a virus onto their PC via e-mail.

You can delete unwanted and large emails directly from the CheckMail server without downloading them and you can compose and send new emails directly with CheckMail, or reply to or forward existing ones. If you've got different POP3 accounts - that is to say Windows Live Mail, Gmail, yahoo Mail etc, CheckMail supports multiple custom notifications and even filtering and much more. It has it's own virus filter which seems pretty solid although as mentioned, it can preview mail before you download it anyway so you'll have a good idea weather it's malicious or not from the start.

An excellent auto e-mail checking utility although don't be surprised if CheckMail lags behind your real e-mail client in telling you when you've got new messages.

Download CheckMail 5.0.4 in Softonic

Anyone with kids worries about what they might be exposed to on the Internet. To protect them you need to make sure you can monitor their usage of both the internet and the computer. Net Nanny is a parental control tool built to help you do this.

First things first, Net Nanny lets you block inconvenient material such as adult sites, violence or drug related websites. In all there are 31 categories of sensitive material that you can choose to block or not. Net Nanny also integrates Safe Search, a feature which works with most search engines like Yahoo! or Google.

Net Nanny also lets you set time restrictions and decide when your computer is blocked. You can also put limits on games played on internet by your kids.

The best way to use Net Nanny is probably to create profiles for each of your kids and set filters, different login types and passwords for each of them.

Net Nanny will also generate reports of login and usage and keep you aware of any attempts at accessing restricted material.

Although the installation is a little lengthy, Net Nanny will give you good control over what your children can access on your computer.

Download Net Nanny Parental Controls 5.6 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

PostSmile makes it easy to add fun and excitement to your email messages and web-forum postings. You can drag and drop images and animations, smileys and emoticons, text or HTML snippets, quotes and signatures into your email, message board or web-forum postings.

The program offers a wide variety of original artist-created smileys that are sure to leave no one indifferent. All smiley faces are divided into clear categories - Happy, Love, Sad, Communication, Other, Signatures, Famous Quotes, Love Quotes, Proverbs, Jokes and Compliments. But, you don't have to stop there! Our artists have created for you the world best Online Smileys Collection!

PostSmile works with the most popular email programs, including Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Thunderbird, IncrediMail, AOL Mail and many others that support HTML-based email. And also it works with Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail and other Internet Web-based email systems.

The program is easy to use, has an attractive and compact interface with images, animations, emoticons, "signatures" and text snippets organized into categories. You may change the appearance of the Smileycons program interface by using the different "skins" provided with the package.

Download PostSmile 6.8.1 in Softonic

There are plenty of special effects we can add to IM clients in the form of emoticons, avatars and pictures.

But webcams are generally restricted to nothing but the image you see. However, with WebcamMax Full, you can add all manner of special effects and images to webcam images to make your broadcasts and webcam sessions more interesting. WebcamMax adds videos, pictures and effects to virtual/real Webcams and broadcasts on messenger services.

You can add videos, screenshots, pictures, flash and effects to virtual or real Webcams and messengers including the most popular IM clients such as ICQ, AIM, MSN, Camfrog, Skype, Paltalk, Yahoo, ANYwebcam and Stickam. You can also add special motion effects (Frame, Transform, and Emotion) over your webcam image. If you find that the program doesn't offer you enough effects, you can also download up to 1500 more from the developer's website. Apart from having fun, this program can enhance your YouTube videos or blogcasts by changing the background or environment from where you are broadcasting from.

Perhaps the most useful feature however doesn't relate to effects at all and relates to PinP (Picture in Picture). So for example, you want to talk about a certain part in a film with a friend or discuss it in a review, WebcamMax Full allows you to choose an alternative source which plays in the corner of your webcam in a smaller screen while you talk.

An interesting webcam tool which can be used for fun or more serious pursuits like picture in picture to get the most out of your webcam.

Download WebcamMax Full 5.0.4.8 in Softonic

If you have all your online friends scattered across different IM networks, you need an IM client like Meebone.

With Meebone you can connect to multiple IM networks simultaneously, giving you the chance then to chat with your friends from Jabber, Meebo, MSN, AIM, Yahoo!, ICQ and Google Talk at the same time.

When you run Meebone you'll be asked to login to any of the supported networks. Then, if you want to join another network at the same time, click on the "Sign on" button at the bottom of the program's interface.

Meebone is actually an Adobe AIR desktop port of an online cross-platform IM client named Meebo. Maybe this is why its interface is not perfect yet and has some glitches, but we have to bear in mind that the program is still at a beta stage.

Meebone lets you chat with your online friends at any moment, no matter what IM network they use. The program is still in development though.

Download Meebone 0.1 Beta5 in Softonic

One of the biggest temptations when chatting on the Internet is playing a joke on the person you're talking to. And AV WebCam Morpher can be a really good help.

AV WebCam Morpher is especially designed for video chats. The program replaces your current webcam video signal with a fake video loop that shows a completely different person. This means that it'll be this character's face – and not yours – the one that will appear on the video window on whichever IM client you're using.

You can choose between different people in AV WebCam Morpher. Video loops are quite elaborate: people on them play a very credible role while pretending to be typing on a keyboard or looking at the screen. What's more, AV WebCam Morpher includes a smiley menu with which you can make them laugh, dance, grin and many other visual gestures that are part of body language.

AV WebCam Morpher is quite easy to set up, and is also compatible with popular IM clients such as Yahoo Messenger, Skype, Camfrog, PalTalk Messenger and Windows Live Messenger. On the downside, its interface could be greatly improved.

With AV WebCam Morpher you can play a funny joke on your video IM client pretending to be someone else.

Download AV Webcam Morpher 2.0.23 in Softonic

Miranda Portable brings all the functionality and features of the popular cross-network IM client Miranda right to your pocket.

This portable version can easily be installed in any USB memory device so that you always have a tool to chat with your online buddies, no matter which network they connect to or which computer you're using. Pocket-sized Miranda is light on resources, works fast and leaves no trace on the host system's Registry.

This IM client supports multiple networks, which means you'll be able to talk to people on ICQ, AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo! and even IRC. The program's interface and general design is honestly not the most brilliant I've seen, but the program is so handy and easy to use that it makes up for it.

Also, though Miranda Portable is quite a basic client, you can add loads of new features by means of plugins – just like the Firefox extensions, but for Miranda.

Save Miranda Portable in your USB memory stick and you'll be able to chat with your IM buddies anytime, anywhere.

Download Miranda IM Portable 0.7.8 in Softonic

One of the best Firefox extensions you'll find, FoxyTunes lets you control any media player from your browser.

FoxyTunes is really the ideal add-on if you listen to your music all the time and are tired of switching back and forth between your browser and your media player. The extension fits discreetly at the bottom of your browser window, and includes all the basic playback buttons. You can also have it appear as a floating window, called FoxyTunes Mini. Advanced users will also enjoy being able to control it via keyboard shortcuts.

What makes FoxyTunes such an exceptional add-on though is its customizability. Not only can you add all sorts of skins, but you can also associate with any of the most popular media player, including online services like Last.FM, Pandora or Rhapsody Online. And since Yahoo! has acquired FoxyTunes you'll also now get fresh content from Yahoo! News and Yahoo! Music related to the music you're playing.

Via FoxyTunes Planet, which opens up in a new browser window, you can get search for any track, album or artist and get all sorts of content such as video, articles or audio from your results.

Despite the volume slider not being very precise, FoxyTunes is the ultimate Firefox extension for music lovers. It works with any player and also displays additional content on the music you're playing.

Download FoxyTunes Extension 3.0.4.1 in Softonic

Taking video shots of your desktop is essential for those that are building tutorials or trying to help others in using a program.

The problem is that sometimes, the recording software can be often be complicated or difficult to use but Screen Video Recorder attempts to be one of those rare breeds that keeps everything to an absolute basic minimum. Although it only saves video captures in AVI or WMV format (which are not exactly the smallest formats to share via e-mail or upload etc) it compensates by making taking screen captures very easy indeed.

The interface consists of little more than small window that allows you to stop and start recordings with a few options to configure the audio codec you want to use, video codec, start a timer and a hotkey that you'd like to use to start and stop recordings. The region that's captured depends on which of the 5 options you've asked it to record - random region, window, full screen, fixed size and fixed region.

However, it not only covers screen activity but it can also record images from webcams attached to IM clients such as AIM, ICQ, MSN and Yahoo Messenger. It can also capture video from TV Cards, DVD's and just about any other video input device except video cameras.

A very simple screen video capture tool just about anyone can use for capturing screen activity, webcam chats and video in general.

Download Screen Video Recorder 1.5.33.0 in Softonic

This Firefox extension enables you to view online photos in a full screen slideshow with a single click. It displays images in a neat interface without having to browse multiple pages or click on several links to get to the photo itself. It's particularly useful when browsing images from a search query, online photo albums or specialized photo websites such as Flickr or Picasa Web Albums.

However this apparent utility is quickly pushed into the background due to the program's slowness. PicLens loads quite fast but takes ages to move along the thumbnail strip and show pictures in full screen. Besides it seems to use a generous portion of system resources, so in the end it may not be the most useful way to view web photos.

Download PicLens 1.7.1.3999 in Softonic

FireANT is an RSS video aggregator and media player that helps you keep up to date with the latest internet TV channels and programming.

With the FireANT Player, you can subscribe to any RSS 2.0 channel and automatically download fresh media content to watch and listen to. In this way, you don't need to keep checking your favourite channel - whether it be CNN or ESPN - to see whether there's anything you want to watch on as FireANT delivers it all to you in much the same way as Google Reader tracks your favourite blogs.

The other big draw of FireANT is that the media player is incredibly versatile - rivalling VLC Player in some respects - as it's able to play just about any format without the need for codecs including Quicktime, Windows Media, Flash, Real Media. FireANT can even sync downloaded files with portable media players such as iPod and Sony PSP.

In addition, FireANT player comes with an integrated Yahoo! Video Search function. When FireANT was originally released this was probably quite useful but now that Google is king, you probably won't find much use for it. You can also interact with video creators by sending comments to them based on their content although I'm sceptical as to whether this actually works properly.

A format free and fun way to keep track of your favourite programming, FireANT is maybe a bit dated now but better than having to keep checking channels for new content yourself.

Download FireANT Beta in Softonic

DownloaderXL downloads free historical stock, index and mutual fund data from Yahoo! Finance. Historical data is available from exchanges in the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, India and more.

DownloaderXL provides advanced charting capabilities, generating candlestick, bar, and line charts from downloaded data quickly and easily - just click the Chart icon and select your desired chart type.

The software can download data for a list of tickers, but is not optimized for this task. If you are interested in downloading data for tens or hundreds of tickers, we would recommend BulkQuotesXL, which is optimized for simultaneous downloads.

Download DownloaderXL 6.1.17 in Softonic

We've all been frustrated by losing online auctions at the last minute, but this program can help you steal in and get what you're after. AuctionSleuth incorporates eBay snipe tools, Yahoo snipe tools, Overstock.com snipe tools and auction search tools for the major auction sites eBay, eBay Motors, Yahoo and Overstock.com auctions.

AuctionSleuth includes both automated searching and sniping software to help you find and win auction bargains with very little effort. AuctionSleuth periodically searches auctions sites for items with key words and prices that meet your criteria and then lets you know when they are found.

Features include:

• Searches eBay, eBay Motors, Yahoo and Overstock.com auctions
• Bid sniping for eBay, eBay Motors, eBay Mature Audience, Yahoo sites and Overstock.com, with bid logic
• Bid Logic can be setup for each snipe bid
• Searches for two types of auctions, "Buy It Now" and "End of Auction" on eBay and Yahoo at the same time
• Can warn you with three different types of alarms (wave file, pop-up alarm or email) that one of your searches was met
• Up to 200 different auction searches can be configured and running simultaneously
• Incorporates a custom auction browser to ensure your normal web browsing isn't interrupted by AuctionsSleuth
• Print search results

Download AuctionSleuth 2.9.3 in Softonic

You've probably spent many hours pouring through the videos on YouTube and then the next day intended to go back and enjoy them again. However, often you either forget or simply find that it's been taken off due to a copyright violation. WebVideoCap solves this issue by prompting you to save FLV (Flash) video files every time you watch them.

Just enter your target URL and hit "Start Capture." When you've done browsing, you can see all your video files stored in the folder that you selected. WebVideoCap allows you to capture the video files of all the most popular video-sharing sites, including YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, iFilm, Metacafe, Putfile, and more.

For video fans and archivists, this is a simple but effective tool to make sure your videos are saved for good.

Download WebVideoCap 1.27 in Softonic

Pidgin (previously called Gaim) is a multi-protocol instant messaging client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. It is compatible with AIM (Oscar and TOC protocols), ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, and Zephyr networks. Pidgin users can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks simultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on AOL Instant Messenger, talking to a friend on Yahoo Messenger, and sitting in an IRC channel all at the same time. Pidgin supports many features of the various networks, such as file transfer (coming soon), away messages, typing notification, and MSN window closing notification.

It also goes beyond that and provides many unique features. A few popular features are Buddy Pounces, which give the ability to notify you, send a message, play a sound, or run a program when a specific buddy goes away, signs online, or returns from idle. Plugins, consist of text replacement, a buddy ticker, extended message notification, iconify on away, and more.

Download Pidgin 2.4.3 in Softonic

To get your content out to the largest audience and to make sure that they're continually updated, you'll need to use RSS feeds.

The thing is, if you've gone to all the effort of building your site in Dreamweaver and spend a large proportion of your time updating pages and posting content, then you're only using half the power at your disposal if you're not publishing an RSS Feed. By doing so, your content will get constantly republished (when updated) on sites such as Yahoo and Google News and reach audiences that use RSS agregators.

RSS DreamFeeder allows you to do exactly this directly from Dreamweaver's interface without you having to retype your content or having any RSS/XML coding knowledge. The program is a Dreamweaver-integrated search engine that looks through your website for new and updated content to include in your RSS feed. When you process the feed, any new or updated content will be extracted from your HTML or XHTML pages in the manner of your choosing and listed as entries within an RSS file. In addition to this, it also automatically generates links within your pages to the feeds it creates, both as alternative content headers (i.e. link tags) and as feed links.

The genius of this program is that it generates an RSS feed from a static website so even the most minor update can be launched to the world as an RSS feed. The disadvantage of this of course is that literally every change you make, even spelling corrections, are classified as "updates" although you can specify parameters for what the program should consider an update. A wizard takes you through setting up your initial feed but then you have advanced tabs for those that want more control over how their feeds are distributed.

If you built your website in Dreamweaver and have no RSS knowledge, then this an essential add-on to make sure your website reaches the largest possible audience.

Download RSS Dreamfeeder 2.2.0 in Softonic

Songbird plays the Web. Play any MP3 on the Web without leaving the page. Songbird can view Web pages as dynamic playlists that it can play, save, or automatically download every day.

Songbird plays your music too. Songbird has all the features you expect in a desktop media player. And Songbird constantly improves. Like Firefox, Songbird's features may be improved with user installed and contributed cross-platform extensions.

Soon, Web page authors will be able to publish playlists and transfer MP3s into Songbird to build digital music stores like eMusic, music subscription services like Yahoo! Music Unlimited, virtual jamming services like Ninjam, playlist sharing services like WebJay etc.

Download Songbird 0.6.1 in Softonic

Mail PassView allows you to view detailed information on each of the email accounts you have configured on your system. Mainly, it's used for the recovery of passwords although undoubtedly, some people will use it to crack passwords. The information it reveals includes details such as account name, name and e-mail server type of application you use, user name and password. You can save all this information in a text file or copy it to the Clipboard.

The program supports the most popular email clients such as Outlook Express, Microsoft Outlook 2000 and 2002, IncrediMail, Eudora and Group Mail Free. It also reveals passwords and info for IncrediMail, Eudora, Netscape 6.x/7.x, Mozilla Thunderbird, Group Mail Free, Yahoo! Mail & Hotmail/MSN Live Mail (If the password is saved in the applications.). It can even work for Gmail if the password is saved by the Gmail Notifier application, Google Desktop, or by Google Talk.

If you've lost your passwords or just want to snoop, it's worth a try but very hit and miss in it's effectiveness.

Download Mail PassView 1.44 in Softonic

Are you a real Softonic fan? If so, this toolbar has been especially developed for you.

The Softonic Toolbar brings the latest reviews, updates, blog posts and software apps published on Softonic right to your web browser. You'll be able to read all the new content published on the site with a single click and you'll always be up to date with the latest program versions and software news.

What's more, the Softonic Toolbar also features a series of online services, such as local weather forecast, an embedded search engine, an email notifier, a translation service powered by Babylon and a radio player with support for streaming radio stations, although you may need to download a separate plug-in to make it work properly. I found the email notifier particularly useful, as it supports multiple Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and POP3 accounts.

The Softonic Toolbar also includes a configuration menu where you can customize it by choosing the elements you want to be displayed.

A web browser toolbar that brings you all the best from the web: a variety of online services and all the latest news on Softonic and OnSoftware.

Please note: this version of the software works with Mozilla Firefox. To download the Softonic Toolbar for Internet Explorer, please click here.

Download Softonic Toolbar 1.5.41.0 for Firefox in Softonic