Windows: The popular anti-spyware tool Ad-Aware has finally reached the open beta stage. The new Ad-Aware 2008 Beta features improved performance and stability, a better resource management and noticeably faster scans and updates. Download the open Beta and get a trial serial number to test a fully functioning Pro version for free during 42 days.

Mac: The big news today is Microsoft’s release of Messenger for Mac 7. The updated chat client now allows you to give nicknames to your contacts and offers Bonjour support to find connected users on your network. Corporate users are the better served though as they get detailed presence information and, most important audio and video support.

Symbian: Are you a fan of board games? Then make sure you check out Astraware Boardgames on your mobile phone. The pack includes classics such as Backgammon, Chess, Ludo, Checkers and Reversi. Each of the eight games comes with customizable rules and a range of difficulty level, so the fun keeps going for quite some time.

Ever felt that Outlook is not exactly the most helpful e-mail client when it comes to finding old attachments or sending group e-mails? If so, then get your hands on the excellent Xobni which has just been released as a public beta version. This is no average plugin either - it’s the result of 7 months closed beta testing and adds major new functionalities to Outlook.

Once installed, you’ll see the Xobni sidebar on the right of your Outlook interface. It creates a separate profile for every contact (with a little photo too if you want) in your contacts list where you can see data about your relationship statistics (how many e-mails you’ve exchanged including a ranking based on how frequently you contact them), related contacts, threaded conversations and attachments they’ve exchanged with you.

One particularly useful feature is a small graph at the top of the profile which shows you averages of the time of the day you most frequently exchange e-mails which gives you an idea of that person’s working time schedule (useful if you don’t work in the same office). In addition, it adds contact details automatically to your e-mails without even requiring any info from your Outlook contacts list. It does this by detecting phone numbers and e-mail addresses that people have sent you and then automatically creating a profile based on this data. On top of this, finding threaded e-mails and attachments is considerably easier than trawling for them through Outlook. In fact, searching in Xobni is a pleasure because it has its own search bar which instantly brings up contacts with contact details and your most recent conversations with them.

If you’re continually finding yourself frustrated with Outlook, then you might find that Xobni brings long overdue Gmail style functionality to the world’s most widely used desktop e-mail client.

You can download Xobni here and see it in action here:

The latest version of Google Earth has been released (Version 4.3) and features some nice new features including the option to watch the sunrise in selected locations. Just find a location you’d like to see and click the “sun” button in the toolbar. You’re then presented with a timeline graphic that you can just play or slide to watch the day as it starts.

The new release also features a few other tweaks such as improved navigational controls and 3D photo-realistic buildings in major cities. In this release, Google have also integrated the Street View function available in Google Maps which makes sense. All you have to do is click the camera icons and a view at street level will open in a seperate window. The navigational controls seem more responsive and they’ve added a useful “default to North” feature which allows you to reorientate yourself if you’ve been spinning around for a while.

On a slightly different note, Google Earth is a prime example of something I wrote about yesterday - products that are in perpetual beta phase. It’s now surely a few years since Google Earth was released and although they keep improving it, I see no reason why it’s still in beta!

Do you ever get the feeling that developers are sometimes stretching the truth somewhat when they claim their software is still in “beta phase”, in some cases, years after it was originally released? Are users just being rather sneakily used by developers as continual guinea pigs for their products with little for them to show for it in return?

There is no strict time limit for software in the beta testing but it’s generally agreed that it’s a limited time period where the program is open to a closed number of users or the wider public in order for them to report any bugs or problems that need fixing before the final version is released. However, as Tim O’Reilly argues, this concept is becoming increasingly stretched. So much so in fact, that a new term, “Perpetual beta”, is a more accurate term to describe the status of many newly released programs:

Users must be treated as co-developers, in a reflection of open source development practices (even if the software in question is unlikely to be released under an open source license.) The open source dictum, “release early and release often” in fact has morphed into an even more radical position, “the perpetual beta,” in which the product is developed in the open, with new features slipstreamed in on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis. It’s no accident that services such as Gmail, Google Maps, Flickr, del.icio.us, and the like may be expected to bear a “Beta” logo for years at a time.

As O’Reilly points out, it is often web based apps and especially newly emerging Web 2.0 applications that are being developed under this status. But this rather vague definition of beta wasn’t always like this. As Gary Barnett of developers Ovum explains in The Guardian, the grounds of beta testing were clearly understood:

It was a deal you did with a vendor. They would give you access to something for free, and a very low upgrade fee for the final version, in return for you being patient with them and taking time to report on any issues.

Nowadays it seems, there’s not much benefit to dedicated beta testers at all and Barnett claims that this is due to the grubby hands of marketing which has “hijacked” the term for its own agenda: Read the rest of this entry »

Are you sick of the Nokia Tune - or any other standard mobile phone ringtone? Then download ToneShop and start creating your own personalized ringtones right away! You can use your favorite MP3 songs (plus other audio formats) and create ringtones that are compatible with many different phone makes and models, including the iPhone.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for Mac is any photographer’s dream application come true. The application allows both professional and advanced photographers to import, store, organize, edit and export thousands of pictures from one uncluttered interface. Top of the range editing tools, multiple ways to view your images, and advanced printing, web publishing and slide show creation. What more could you ask for?

Fancy turning back the clock by playing a Super Nintendo classic on the train or the bus? Then download Zelda for your Java phone. This faithful remake sees you explore vast lands looking for objects, solving puzzles and defeating enemies. Be warned though, it’s highly addictive and guaranteed to make you miss your stop!

Mozilla have announced the release of the fourth beta version of the Firefox 3 browser. The fourth beta of the next major Firefox version offers over 900 bug fixes over Beta 3, including improvements in the download manager, full page zoom options, better integration with Vista, Mac OS X and Linux, and significant improvements in speed and memory usage.

The new Windows version can be downloaded from the Firefox beta page and the Mac version can be found here. Full details on all the changes and fixes can be found on the Firefox 3 Beta 4 Release Notes page. Developers should check the The Mozilla Developer News weblog’s announcement of Firefox 3 Beta 4 which includes links of interest.

Other added areas of improvement include an enhanced user interface, richer personalization throughout, improved platform features and performance improvements including the perennial memory leak problem that Firefox suffers from. Note that this beta 4 version is strictly for testing purposes and extensions used in your current version of Firefox may not yet be compatible with it.

Get ready to enter The Club, a secret organization that runs bloody competitions all over the world. Modern gladiators fight for survival in different locations, engaging in ruthless battles where you either kill or be killed. The game’s detailed graphics will get you so immersed into action that before you notice it, you’ll be blowing heads off.

Peggle Deluxe for Mac is an adaptation of the fun Bust-a-Move game, instead here you have to use your canon to shoot down orange pegs and bricks. Apart from the beautiful graphics and animations, it offers 55 different levels and 75 Master Challenges. You can watch your shots in instant replay and collect all sorts of bonuses and special weapons. Perfect for the weekend!

Getting bored of the ringtones on your Palm? Then get a load of RingCare Combo, an ringtone manager that lets you use MP3 and MIDI music as your incoming call tone. The software will allow you to assign unique tones to each contact, phone number, company name and/or contact category. RingCare also has partial support for Goodlink users.

Is it possible to have a music manager, media player, CD ripper and MP3 tagger, all in one? The answer is yes and its name is J. River Media Jukebox. This excellent media application features just about anything you need to enjoy your favorite music at its fullest, all under a sleek dark interface and at an unbeatable price: completely free!

iBank might just be the smartest finance organizer for Mac. This application not only integrates Apple features like iCal or CoverFlow perfectly, but it will also allow you to make all sorts of analysis and forecasts, manage your portfolio and connect to your online bank accounts. The interface is great to work with and all your financial data appears clearly. You can also generate all sorts of reports in graphs and charts.

What do you do when you want to watch DivX movies on your mobile phone? You install DivX Player Mobile, of course. The program lets you watch DivX, AVI or MPEG movies in the player window or in full-screen mode. Control elements such as Play, Pause, Stop, Fast Forward and Rewind, as well as the volume can be controlled easily via buttons or the stylus.

If you’re a frequent software downloader, then you’ll be aware of terms such as “Freeware”, “Shareware”, “Beta Version”, “Demo” etc. But do you really understand what they mean? Licenses are certainly nothing to be taken lightly as the the UK National Consumer Council recently highlighted in its claim that software licenses are “Misleading, burdensome and unbalanced”. They were in fact referring to big players such as Microsoft, Adobe and Symantec but the same questions could be asked of developers no matter how big or small.

In their study, “Who’s licence is it anyway?”, the NCC appeals to both the Office of Fair Trading and European Union to take action stating that:

Consumers can’t have a clue what they’re signing up to when some terms and conditions run to 10 or more pages. There’s a significant imbalance between the rights of the consumer and the rights of the holder.

It also adds its concern about the contract that users are bound to when they install a product:

Installation requires the user to agree to nonnegotiable terms set out in a licence agreement – the ‘terms and conditions’. These licence agreements are more like legal mandates than consumer options, raising concerns about the extent to which they favour the producer over the consumer.

With these concerns in mind, it’s worth knowing exactly what you are signing up for when you install a piece of software. Of course when you download something from Softonic, the license refers only to the commercial use of the product - is it a full version, can it be distributed freely, do you have to pay to use it etc. Here then is a lowdown to the meanings of the types of licenses you frequently encounter when downloading software:

Freeware - There is no exact accepted definition of this term but it generally refers to software than can be distributed freely (i.e. no need to pay the developer a licence fee) without modification. Note that despite the terms “free”, it does not necessarily mean that the program is free to download or use. Most software on Softonic falls under this category or Shareware.

Shareware - Software that can be distributed but requires the user to pay a licence fee to the developer. Usually the source code is not available so you can’t modify the software. Often you can download a demonstration version for free but are required to pay a licence to continue using it.

Demo - Solely a demonstration version of the software - usually for free and valid for a limited period of time - but not a full version. To access the full version, usually you have to pay a fee or download it separately.

Adware - Software that is usually completely free but also contains advertising to pay for it. The distribution rights depend on the developer. The good thing is it’s free to use but the obvious downside is that you may be plagued with adverts.

GPL/GNU - ‘General Public Licence’ - the most libertarian form of software you can download. It is totally free, the source code is readily available for you to modify and you can distribute it without a licence for free. A famous popular example of this kind of software is Linux.

BSD - ‘Berkley Software Distribution’, which is a Unix like operating system for which the licence is specifically named. Very similar to GPL/GNU although it offers total freedom of distribution and modification (even the licence can be modified to your own terms) whereas the former can occasionally impose limited restrictions based on the developers wants and requirements.

Beta Version - A program that’s still not complete and may be downloaded as a prototype. Developers usually allow you to download this for free and hope that you will report to them bugs and problems so they can fix them for the final release, but warn against Betas being used on essential computer systems - they are more liable to crash than final release editions. Rules on distribution and licensing depend on the developer.

Remember that if you are ever in doubt over the licensing status of a piece of software, it’s best to contact the developers directly to find out.

With Fluid you can access all your web apps like Gmail, Facebook from your desktop. Although the application might seem like a simplified browser, it uses up very little memory and can be faster than accessing these applications from your browser.

OmniPlan is yet another exquisitely well designed organisation tool from the experts at Omni. Aimed specifically at project management, OmniPlan includes all the functionality you need (think: task management, scheduling, resource allocation, visual timelines, data sharing, critical path management) and none of the rubbish you don’t need. It’s all wrapped up in a simple and clean user interface and it’s suitable for all sorts of different project management situations. This latest beta version (1.5 beta 2) includes improved date navigation, as well as various usability, stability and bug fixes.

A year or two ago, hardly anyone was really aware of VoIP (Voice over IP) telephone calls and the technology was very much the preserve of geeks. The revolution that Skype unleashed on an aging and overly self-satisfied telecoms industry was a long time coming and this little program truly has ushered in a new era of cheap global communication. The sign of a great program is its universal appeal, and Skype has that in spades.

But time waits for no software, and while Skype is certainly the market leader it is facing some stiff competition from feature-packed newcomers. So if you’ve had annoying disconnect issues with Skype, or you’d just like to try an alternative, be sure to take a look at Nick’s post on the topic.

On the games front, this week has been a particularly exciting one for fans of the Call of Duty series. The demo for Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare was released and we loved it. Check out the review, give the demo a spin and let us know what you think! If you’re of a more historical inclination, you may have dreamt of ruling a kingdom from a great castle. Who hasn’t? Well if that sounds like your idea of fun, Tony put together a list of the very best castle simulation games on Softonic.

If you’re something of a Photoshop addict, don’t miss Cyril’s latest post in our Photoshop tips series. It’s a collection of the best online sources for tips and tricks in the #1 graphics application, so if a tip’s worth knowing, you’ll find it there. Finally, if you’re sick of windows, why not give Ubuntu a go? They’ve just upgraded to their best looking, most user-friendly version yet… and with every new version, the reasons for staying with a non-free OS become fewer.

Stay tuned for next week’s Halloween Special!

Nokia Device Status is a diagnostic tool that lets you generate a report with detailed data both from your S60 and your PC. You can find out the operating system on your mobile phone, the exact model terminal, their IMEI code, the internal memory and expansion cards available, profiles and topics installed or the size of storage folders on your phone mobile.

Have you eve wondered what would have happened if History hadn’t evolved the way it has? Find out with Make History, a turn-based strategy game that lets you change History any way you want. Just pick up a nation and lead it through the previous years to WWII. Any decision you take in politics, diplomacy or military power will change the course of History forever!

There aren’t many days I wake up and wish I was an American. Only kidding guys, but really I never have. Until just now. When I saw what you lot are up to. Because while I’ve been stuck at my computer sending messages to weird women who can’t spell it seems that you’ve been chatting to each other in three minute webcam dates. And if you haven’t then you really should have been.

SpeedDate offers ‘real’ dating via your computer. Meaning when the face of your partner lifts the bile from your stomach you don’t even have to buy them a drink. Just close your eyes, talk and wait for the three minutes to run out. Then the date is over, the screen goes black and you choose if you want to ‘connect again’ to talk further. Some demos on here show guys really messing-up by talking about failed romances and how they don’t like to cook. Idiots. Girls don’t really like honesty. It seems now is the time for these webcam dating services with a number of competitors like WooMe trying to seize the market. However they are all based in America. To get more users SpeedDate is holding events in San Fransisco, but that means actually meeting people and who wants to do that?!