Softonic > Mac > Latest releases

bbPress 1.0.1-Excellent WordPress-style forum creation platform

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

WordPress is the undisputed king of blogging platforms in my opinion. So I was very interested to hear that its developer's Automattic had brought out a similar platform for creating forums.

As you'd expect, bbPress is plain and simple to use and yet creates elegant results in a matter of minutes. No more stressing about forum database admin either - bbPress makes administering a forum as easy as maintaining comments on a WordPress blog. And of course, like WordPress, it's highly customizable with plenty of scope for add-ons and plug-ins.

The good news is that keeping bbPress open source and free is Automattic's number one priority, so there's little fear of nasty charges creeping in once you've got your forum up and running.

bbPress works on a template system very similar to that of WordPress. You can switch between themes in a few clicks. Of course, if you have any CSS knowledge, you can change the code and styles to your liking. If you've got a WordPress blog, bbPress forums integrate instantly, meaning you can add a forum to your blog very easily.

Unfortunately, at the moment bbPress is still quite limited by the lack of plugins and themes available. It reminds me of the early versions of WordPress, although judging by how far that's come, it won't be long before bbPress has a thriving community of users creating plug-ins.

At the moment, there's no way to integrate bbPress templates with your default WordPress blogs, though this will be addressed in future releases. If you want to see a bbPress forum in action, check out the WordPress.org and Technorati support forums, which are based on it.

You'd expect nothing but a quality product from the makers of WordPress and bbPress certainly doesn't disappoint. Despite being limited, like early releases of the blogging platform, bbPress is only going to get better.

Download bbPress 1.0.1 in Softonic

Ice Age 3 Demo-Join Sid and his friends in Dinosaurland

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

In the Ice Age 3 demo, enter the world of your favorite prehistoric characters as they come face to face with the dinosaurs.

The demo features three game modes. In Buck to the Rescue, you have to navigate your way through caves and up cliffs using your whip to help, and slide down vine and dinosaur routes avoiding falls and spikes. Egg Roll has you playing Sid, who has to protect an egg by rolling it carefully around the icy world. In Run Sid Run, control Sid as he runs towards the camera, with a T-Rex chasing him down.

Kids will no doubt love playing Ice Age 3. It's well presented, has lots of character voices, and it relatively easy to control. None of the levels in the demo are too challenging, but should provide some replay value to younger children. In this demo the levels end abruptly - you're only given a taste of each. But the Run Sid Run level is visually impressive, with the screen shaking as the T-Rex roars, and the vine-riding section or Buck to the rescue is also really fun.

As a demo it's nicely varied, and shows promise for the full game, which looks like being great fun for fans of Ice Age 3.

Download Ice Age 3 Demo in Softonic

UseNeXT 5.00-Download just about anything from Usenet

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Usenet used to be a complicated file-sharing network that only experts could understand. Then came along UseNeXT and blew the doors right open to anyone who's familiar with clients such as eMule and Limewire.

The difference being that UseNeXT is far more powerful in terms of the hits you'll find and the speed you can download them. UseNeXT provides anonymous and ad-free access to over 200 terabytes worth of MP3s, videos, games, pictures, and software. In addition, it's home to over 60,000 Usenet discussion boards and most importantly, the subscription system means it's legal and allows it to use it's own servers for super-fast downloads.

UseNeXT even comes with its own browser that can unpack and repair failed downloads as well as feature a built-in media player that allows you to preview files before they're downloaded. Using it is pretty easy. When you open the main interface, you have a list of 'Newsgroups' along the left-hand side where you'll find content organized by category. Beware if you're allowing minors to use it because there is a substantial amount of adult content, which you can choose to hide on first use.

Double clicking on any file will immediately take you to the download manager. Alternatively, you can use the search box to hunt for specific content. By clicking on the newsgroups, you can see the most popular download content by category in an instant.

For those who don't want to waste valuable bandwidth, there is also a 'Free Downloads' section that allows you to download content without reducing your monthly download limit. Finally, the latest version of UseNeXT features coverflow for spectacular viewing of multimedia content and images.

UseNeXT is an extremely impressive network that might not be free, but offers significantly more content and speed than free P2P clients.

Download UseNeXT 5.00 in Softonic

FUEL Demo-Free roaming arcade racing in a huge environment

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

FUEL is the latest driving game from Codemasters. Throwing you into a post-apocalyptic world, you have to race for your survival and to earn the game's currency - fuel.

The major achievement of FUEL is its enourmous 5,560 square miles world. It also features dynamic weather events that look spectacular as you fly over the wastelands. This demo lets you roam freely around a portion of the world, either in a Buggy or on a motorbike. You can also compete in a race on the bike.

While the scenery is immediately impressive, it seems to make the game very power hungry, and to run FUEL smoothly even on the lower detail setting, you'll need a high-end PC. The driving is very much arcade style, and you are free during a race to take whatever route you want between checkpoints. It's not the best driving experience ever - last year's PURE was faster and more enjoyable - but it's certainly the biggest. Control feels quite floaty - as if the vehicles aren't entirely on the ground.

If you enjoy the racing here, the full game sounds great, with more space to explore than in any other game. It's a big download for a demo, but driving fans will love messing around in the post apocalyptic hills and valleys of FUEL.

FUEL is a great concept, but is let down by a slightly weak driving experience.

Download FUEL Demo in Softonic

DéjàClick 1.4.0.0-Create super-bookmarks to save time!

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Do you have a web page routine you repeat upon every startup? You can set Firefox to open with various tabs already open, but with DéjàClick you can created complex routines that can be replayed at will.

Once installed in Firefox, all you have to do is hit the record button on the DéjàClick toolbar, reload your start page, then go through your routine. Hit 'Stop', and you'll have a recording of what you did, including passwords and so on. You can save this routine, which is encrypted and password protected for your security.

Next time you start Firefox, simple click 'Play', and your morning routine will play out in front of you automatically. It's quite weird, as it happens at the same speed you recorded it, so you will see login details being filled in as you typed them. In the options menu it's possible to speed playback time up, but not to speed it up so you go directly to your destination pages.

When you fist start using DéjàClick, there are too many annoying pop-ups asking for permissions and confirming actions. These make the process much less easy. However, after this annoying start, DéjàClick works quite well. Whether you like it or not depends on how comfortable you feel watching your routine happening automatically!

It feels unnatural, but can actually be a real time saver, as you can use it to automatically sign in to multiple pages and click through to destinations when you start up Firefox.

Download DéjàClick 1.4.0.0 in Softonic

Blobby Volley 2.0-Beach volleyball but with blobs

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Just when you thought there was nowhere to go for sports game developers, along comes Blobby Volley 2. As the name suggests, it's volleyball, but with blobs as players.

It sounds a bit silly - and it is - but Blobby Volley plays surprisingly well and the lack of tanned or bronzed bodies jumping around isn't missed one bit. The graphics are not exactly stunning - the volleyball pitch is static and the blobs are, well, blobs but it's the simple playability that appeals. It's a little bit like playing Pong! except obviously, the underlying concept is volleyball.

Configuring Blobby Volley 2 is quite a pain, mind you. For a start, I found it impossible to set the CPU as my opponent. It's easy to navigate the setup screens with the mouse or arrow keys but there seemed no way to change the player settings. In the end, I was faced with playing against myself which is fun for a short while but soon loses its appeal! The control keys are displayed in options and you can change these to what you want but I still had problems changing my opponent.

I decided to try and play a network game but no servers could be found. Although the 'Scan for servers' option is clearly visible in 'Network Game', clicking on it got me nowhere and eventually, Blobby Volley simply froze and crashed. In addition to this, some of the 'Do You Want To Quit?' messages were in German so it seems some of the program hasn't been translated properly. You can also host a game yourself, although this also proved unresponsive when clicked on.

Blobby Volley 2 is a fun game and is extremely easy to play but the developer could have done a better job at helping users configure the game.

Download Blobby Volley 2.0 in Softonic

Messenger Plus! Live 4.82.368-The most famous add-on for MSN Messenger, now for Live Messenger!

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Being one of the most widely used IM applications, MSN Messenger has always had a large base of users keen on developing plugins with which they could personalize their favorite chat client. Amateur programmers released plugins to discover who had erased you from their contact list, to start more than one MSN session, to log conversations... until MSN Plus! was launched.

MSN Plus! soon became the most popular MSN plug-in, collecting together all the extra options users could ask for into one program. Even now Plus! is still an excellent pack of tools which heavy Messenger users consider as essential and which certainly improves your IM experience. During all these years it has been able to adapt to every new Messenger version, including the name change and the new interface design. In fact, Plus! is now seamlessly integrated into Live Messenger: it launches with the program and the only way you can tell it's there it by two tiny buttons on the main interface.

When Plus was launched, its main feature was the ability to record "chat logs", that is, create text files with all your conversations. However, as this has been already included in the IM app itself, Plus! has had to widen its range of extra functions. These tools can be divided into two groups: those dedicated to chatting improvement and those devoted to contact management. As for the first group, you'll enjoy tabbed chat windows, support for custom text format (bold, italics, font, color) and the so-called quick messages, personal keyboard shortcuts you can assign to sentences or expressions used on a regular basis. The second group of tools allows you to create custom status messages, have your favourite contacts right on the Windows desktop (as an icon) and gather all kinds of stats about contacts, like the last time they logged on or whether they have recently changed their nickname, which I personally find kind of excessive, but hey, to each his own.

Besides all this, Live Messenger Plus still offers its popular chat log tool, which is said to be more powerful and flexible than the default function featured in Windows Messenger Live. Actually, it looks much better thanks to the use of HTML, the ability to record emoticons and winks and the possibility to customize its appearance with CSS formatting.

The list of improvements Plus brings to Windows Live Messenger doesn't end here. You can, for example, hide the application in the system tray under an almost invisible icon (in case you're chatting at work, something we completely disapprove of) or password protect access to the program, amongst others. The good thing though is that you can create your own extra functions, that is, if you know how to code scripts. Plus already features a nice bunch of them, allowing you to display the name of the song you're listening to, send screenshots, use sticky notes and other nice extras.

All in all, Live Messenger Plus is probably the only plug-in you'll ever need, especially if you like customizing every single detail of your Messenger.

Download Messenger Plus! Live 4.82.368 in Softonic

LenMus Phonascus 4.0-Create your own music scores

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Download LenMus Phonascus 4.0 in Softonic

Maxthon 2.5.2.7058-Powerful tabbed browser alternative to IE

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

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Last.fm Player 1.5.4.24567-Listen to free custom radio. It's fun, it's free, it's all about the music

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

With Last.fm, music fans have found a place to congregate and share musical tastes. The Last.fm player places the “social music revolution” onto your desktop, giving you access to thousands of tracks from all musical genres.

The beauty of the application is that it encourages you to find similar artists to the ones you’re accustomed to and also pushes you to interact with users who share the same tastes. Search results appear as a tag cloud, with the biggest elements being the most popular. With thousands of songs available on Last.fm, it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll listen to the same thing twice. The player is streaming and you’ll have to be connected to the internet and have a Last.fm account for it to work.

Although slightly bulky, the Last.fm player interface is sleek and accessible. We like the shiny control icons and the “now playing” window. This is where you’ll find all artist information like album cover, a small description of the artist, related tags and artists and top listeners. The menu bar on the left includes your recently played tracks, recently loved and recently banned, although to listen to these you’ll need to upgrade your Last.fm account (€2.50/month). The last 10 stations you’ve listened to are automatically saved in your history file.

The social experience is central to Last.fm and becomes pretty addictive. By listening to tracks you create a profile of yourself, the music you listen to and the artists you like. Last.fm then connects you to other users that have similar tastes, whom it calls neighbours. In the Last.fm player, you can connect to neighbours' stations and listen to their tunes. The lists of the friends you made on Last.fm will also appear in your player. If you have the Audioscrobbler plug-in installed, Last.fm can also track all the songs you play in your favourite desktop music app (like iTunes) and connect you with even more neighbours.

Most of us here at Softonic have Last.fm connected all day, simply because it doesn’t require you to have your own music library, it’s free and provides an endless flow of new tunes. In line with modern evolutions in online music, this web music application mixes streaming and social tools to give you an exciting music player. No music fan with access to Internet should be caught dead without it.

Download Last.fm Player 1.5.4.24567 in Softonic

Lightscreen Portable 1.0-Lightweight, easy to use screenshot tool

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

If you're looking for a quick, no-frills and lightweight program that lets you take screenshots, look no further. Lightscreen Portable is a tiny application that helps you capture your screen quickly and easily.

This portable version can be installed and run from a USB pendrive, and is a useful addition to your portable app arsenal. The first time you run Lightscreen Portable you can set it up in Options, which allows you to define a target directory for images, the format (PNG, JPG or BMP), auto-naming of images, plus setting of hotkeys to make it really fast to use.

The setup options are fantastic, meaning you can get Lightscreen Portable working exactly as you like. It will run in the System Tray, and all the functions can be activated with hotkeys if you want, so it's really unobtrusive. You can choose to capture the whole screen, a selected window or a particular area.

What tiny Lightscreen Portable doesn't have is an editor - you can choose image quality, but any actual editing has to be done in another program. However, this keeps Lightscreen small and light on resources.

Lightscreen Portable is a really well put together little screenshot application, offering a great mix of usability and stripped down functionality!

Download Lightscreen Portable 1.0 in Softonic

Lightscreen 1.0-Small and simple screenshot tool

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

If you're looking for a quick, no-frills and lightweight program that lets you take screenshots, look no further. Lightscreen is a tiny application that helps you capture your screen quickly and easily.

The first time you run Lightscreen you can set it up in Options, which allows you to define a target directory for images, the format (PNG, JPG or BMP), auto-naming of images, plus setting of hotkeys to make it really fast to use.

The setup options are fantastic, meaning you can get Lightscreen working exactly as you like. It will run in the System Tray, and all the functions can be activated with hotkeys if you want, so it's really unobtrusive. You can choose to capture the whole screen, a selected window or a particular area.

What tiny Lightscreen doesn't have is an editor - you can choose image quality, but any actual editing has to be done in another program. However, this keeps Lightscreen small and light on resources.

Lightscreen is a really well put together little screenshot application, offering a great mix of usability and stripped down functionality!

Download Lightscreen 1.0 in Softonic

AkelPad 4.2.5-Notepad with windows, plugins and more

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

AkelPad is a beefy alternative to Windows Notepad. It's an interesting little app that provides many practical improvements on the Windows version by enhancing editorial options.

When you install AkelPad, it offers three possibilities - you can install it as a completely new program, add it to Windows shell or to completely replace Windows Notepad. AkelPad then does everything that Notepad can but also includes features such as Multiwindows, Recent Archives, Shortcuts and Re-open closed document functions. You can also do simple things like change the color and size of the font and visualize the documents in various formats.

The coolest feature though is the ability to add plugins. These include syntax highlighting, auto-completion, script execution, keyboard macros and much more. Autocomplete is particularly useful as it saves a lot of time typing documents by predicting what you write beforehand. The latest version has added more power to AxelPad allowing you to edit files bigger than 64K and it allows you to preview files before you open them

AxelPad is a great substitute for notepad although you can get most of these features in an average word processor.

Download AkelPad 4.2.5 in Softonic

Safari 4.02-Apple's star browser comes to your PC

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Apple was wildly criticized when it launched Safari for Windows. That first version was so unstable and buggy it didn't cause the best of impressions.

But things have changed a lot since then, and today we see the release of a far more stable, robust and reliable Safari 4 Beta. The new version features the same minimalist gray interface most Mac users love – not me, sorry – but hides a few aces up it sleeve that make it really appealing, even for those of us who have a lifelong relationship with Firefox.

Thanks to the aforementioned minimalist interface, Safari 4 Beta can devote a lot of space to web page rendering – which, by the way, is still incredibly fast. During our tests we didn't have any problem with any site we visited, including JavaScript forms, embedded videos and other special web elements. Safari also includes some interesting tools such as spellchecker, support for zooming in and out, and even an incognito mode that enables you to browse the web without leaving any traces.

But that's not all. The new Safari 4 makes use of the well-known Cover Flow feature and uses it to display websites listed in your bookmarks or browsing history in a much nicer way. Besides, every time you open a new tab you get a special document called Top Sites with all your recently visited web pages.

On the downside, I still found problems with this new Safari: thumbnails in Top Sites didn't load until you visited the site, and the Cover Flow browsing system didn't work properly either. What's more, I even managed to make the browser crash when trying to import bookmarks from Firefox. Finally, I didn't find Safari that user-friendly, especially regarding tab management: they look really weird in the title bar, and it's difficult to drag them around because you need to click on a small top corner on the tab.

Safari has improved a lot in stability and reliability, and is still an amazingly fast browser. However, there are still a few details in this version that keep the program far from perfection.

Download Safari 4.02 in Softonic

FlashGot Plugin 1.1.9.8-Download from FireFox using your favorite manager

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

If there's one thing that Firefox has always lacked, it's a decent download manager but FlashGot gives more power to your favourite browser.

FlashGot is a free Mozilla Firefox (and Thunderbird) extension that ¡s designed for those who do a lot of downloading. It can handle large numbers of batch downloads with it's own intuitive download manager. This simple but powerful plugin can even handle batch downloads for many anonymous or redirected download link services such as anonym.to, tinyurl.com, moourl.com, anonymz.com, shorten.ws and tubeurl.com. This most recent version has been updated to support rapidly growing sites such as megaupload.com, rapidshare.com and depositfiles.com.

The one drawback is the constant update warnings. You'll find that frequently, when it comes to starting Firefox, FlashGot will prompt you for an update which is a bit annoying but a small price to pay for a great download manager. No more clicking multiple links and "Save as" - FlashGot simply scans the page for downloadable links and then you select which ones you need.

A much needed addition to Firefox although some users may find it an inferior choice to DownThemAll!

Download FlashGot Plugin 1.1.9.8 in Softonic

Pando 2.3.1.2-Easily send large files or folders using P2P

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

If you’ve ever had to publish, send or receive particularly large files sizes, you’ll know that it can throw up all kinds of problems – crashed servers, blocked inboxes and transfers that suddenly just hang-up. Pando aims to take the pain out of this process and according to the developers, 3 million people agree that it does exactly that.

Pando is based on a P2P network that enables you to send files of up to 1GB in size by e-mail or by publishing it to the web. It supports all multimedia file types including video, audio and photos meaning it’s great for people who deal with audio-visual files regularly.

For most users, the major benefit will be with e-mail attachments and the good news is, there's no need to change your existing e-mail client. Pando works by creating a torrent-like link file which you can then send in the body of your e-mail for the recipient to click on. There’s no need to be online when the recipient downloads the file and there’s no compression, FTP or dodgy web uploading applets to deal with. The reason you don’'t need to be online is because Pando sends files to its "super-node" servers, which means that there's always at least one "seeder" online at any given time. This seed is guaranteed for 14 days so even if you log off, your recipient can still view it. Obviously, the more people that share it too, the faster the download.

For those unfamiliar with FTP, Pando is fantastic since it works on the same principle as a Bittorrent client. Once the small interface is opened, you can drag and drop or select “add-file” to create a ".pando” file which you can then e-mail to whoever you want once it is uploaded.

The main drawback is that the recipient has to have Pando installed to receive the file. If you transfer files to someone regularly, this is not a problem but if it’'s just the odd file you want to send, then it could be a nuisance to ask someone to install it just to see your file. Be warned also that Pando cannot guarantee security although the developers assure that Pando has 256bit AES end-to-end encryption built in making it technically one of the most secure ways to transfers files online today. The only way that someone could realistically compromise your security however is by hacking into your e-mail account.

Whilst Pando is obviously open to abuse by sharing illegal files, most people go to the major Torrent sites to do that, meaning Pando is refreshingly free of any copyrighted material flying around and causing problems. Overall, it’'s a great solution for those unfamiliar with FTP who need to send big files regularly.

Download Pando 2.3.1.2 in Softonic

Tales of Monkey Island Launch of the Screaming Narwhal-The classic comedy swashbuckling adventurer returns

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Having built on the success of their episodic Sam & Max, StrongBad and Wallace and Grommit adventure games, Telltale Games have revived possibly the most revered adventure game title in videogame history - Monkey Island.

Tales of Monkey Island - Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, is the fist of five episodes, which bring the title into the 21st century with 3D cinematic graphics, excellent sound and great character animations. Playing Tales of Monkey Island is like being in an interactive cartoon. This new game keep the same mix of puzzles and humor to take you through the story.

Controls are helpfully introduced in game, although it may take newcomers a while for the puzzle solving to click. You have an inventory, can add things to it, and are able to combine things. You interact with things by clicking on them, and move by holding the left mouse button and dragging it around. This is perhaps the worst thing about this new game. Moving feels imprecise, and the static camera angles change depending on your position in an environment, which is disconcerting. It would have been much better to move by pointing and clicking.

Despite the awkward controls, the game is carried by its high production values and humor. Tales of Monkey Island - Launch of the Screaming Narwhal will certainly please fans, and while the demo is far too short, it's enough to let you know if adventure games are for you!

Bringing back such well-loved games is a brave move, but it looks like this new series of Monkey Island should push all the right buttons, and it's certainly a very good looking game.

Download Tales of Monkey Island Launch of the Screaming Narwhal in Softonic

File & Image Uploader 4.3.7-Upload files and photos to more than 70 hosting services

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

If you use any of the many free file hosting services available today, File & Image Uploader could be very useful for you.

File & Image Uploader helps you with your uploading tasks in the same way a download manager works for downloading files. It lets you create a queue of files to upload – either to the same hosting service or to different ones – and then upload them all with a single click.

You can add as many files to the queue as you want, in any format you want. File & Image Uploader works with more than a hundred free file hosting services, including the most popular ones like filefront.com, megaupload.com and rapidshare.com. The list also includes hosting sites that are focused on hosting photos (for example imageshack.us) and supports paid services that require username and password.

File & Image Uploader worked fine during our tests and uploaded all files with quite good speed rates. What I missed however was the possibility to check links once the files have been uploaded to the selected hosting site, just to make sure they've been properly uploaded.

With File & Image Uploader you can easily manage and speed up your uploads to many different free file hosting sites.

Download File & Image Uploader 4.3.7 in Softonic

Orbit Downloader 2.8.14-Comprehensive and powerful download manager

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Download managers are one of the most important component of any PC users' tool kit since so many e-mails contains attachments that need to be downloaded on a daily basis.

That's not forgetting files and music and anything else that your hard drive accumulates during the day as you click away. Most people have a browser integrated download manager but sometimes, its nice to have a separate application to do the job in case your browser crashes and your downloads disappear with it.

Orbit Downloader is a fast, lightweight and easy-to-use free download manager which is usually based on P2P and multi-source downloading technology. This means that downloading with Orbit Downloader is usually super fast. Orbit Downloader supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, MMS and RTSP protocols although its developers claim that it can increase speeds by up to 500% are a bit far fetched. However, you may experience increases in speed of up to two or even three times as much using Orbit Downloader depending on the file and host.

What's also impressive is that Orbit Downloader is super lightweight occupying a very minuscule amount of RAM which is important if you've got multiple downloads running at once. Orbit Downloader has also got a handy Flash capture tool which allows you to save Flash video files from YouTube and DailyMotion etc without the need to use a separate video downloader.

Fast, easy to use and very lightweight, Orbit Downloader is a competitive alternative to any browser-integrated download manager.

Download Orbit Downloader 2.8.14 in Softonic

Alarm Clock Pro 9.1-Much more than just an alarm clock

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Don't be fooled by the name - Alarm Clock Pro is much more than just a flashy way of getting you out of bed on time.

Alarm Clock Pro is a fully functional organizer and scheduler that aims to ensure you never miss an important date again. As a wake-up alarm, it allows you to configure the tone as anything from an Internet radio station to an MP3 and even a movie or daily task. If you don't have your PC in your bedroom that's no problem either - Alarm Clock Pro can be configured to send wake-up text messages to your cell phone.

An alternative use for the application is to have it periodically check your webcam and automatically send security screenshots to your email address. This way, you can use your PC as a closed-circuit TV monitoring device. In addition, you can program it to randomize the iTunes playlist, remind you of holidays and special occasions, perform system tasks, automatically send out birthday cards, text message your daily task list to a cell phone, amongst other things.

One slightly unusual aspect of Alarm Clock Pro is its ability to speak inspirational quotes at random moments throughout the day. This can be programmed to occur at virtually any specific time interval set by yourself to keep you going through the day.

It might sound a bit weird giving an Alarm Clock 'Pro' status but once you've seen everything Alarm Clock Pro can do, you'll understand why. You'll probably not find another alarm application that gives you so much control over how you use your system clock. There have been several bugs ironed out in this latest release but the downside is that for the first time, users are required to pay for Alarm Clock Pro. It's also worth adding that it's considerably inferior to the Mac version. It's clearly been designed for Mac originally as it requires QuickTime to even install and while all of the same functions are there, the Mac interface and usability is quite a but ahead.

An attractive interface combined with an array of different uses make Alarm Clock Pro one of the best alarm clocks around - it's just a shame it's not free anymore.

Download Alarm Clock Pro 9.1 in Softonic