The virtual wallet market is popular with software developers. Nearly all PDA users make use of some sort of virtual wallet program to store their credit card numbers, email passwords or other personal data. eWallet, already regarded by most as the leader in its field has improved on its already excellent reputation with version 4, a feature packed virtual wallet application which is near perfect.

Whatever information you want to keep safe, eWallet is designed to help you entering and retrieving your data with the least hassle possible. Like most virtual wallet programs, it includes a range of categories to choose from as well as a ‘custom’ category option. However, because eWallet’s range of categories is so expansive (check out the ‘internet settings’ option with space for IP addresses, default gateways and more), you may find that you never even need to create a custom category.

I've been playing Vice City on the PS2 a lot recently. What surprises me most is that even though it was released in 2002, the graphics and game play are still pretty impressive. The next version, GTA IV, will only be released on October 16, 2007, on Xbox first, and rumors already claim it will be an MMO, in what we can only imagine as a humongous gunfest.

There's still a couple of months to wait until this release and in the meantine I suggest going back to the original 1997 release, Grand Theft Auto. Although this game only had an overhead view and rather poor graphics you could wander freely around the city and pick your missions. There were no cut scenes and you accessed missions from ringing phone booths or by entering a car. You had to follow particular instructions which were liable to change at any given time. Like in recent releases, you could cruise around the city, but ramming other cars or killing policemen gave you a significant number of points. You could use police bribes (the police-badge stars in the latest version), go on killing frenzies (rampage) and pick a "Get outta jail" card to use when you were arrested. Essentially, the whole principal of the game was the same as it is now. Any true fan of the recent editions of GTA is guaranteed to find some enjoyment in good ol' Liberty City as it used to be in its first incarnation.

A game that has been able to recruit more than 8 million players in two years (according to Blizzard’s latest headlines) is definitely not to be taken lightly. World of Warcraft, the massive multiplayer role playing adventure is in the news again due to the launch on January 16th of its long-awaited expansion, known as The Burning Crusade.

If you’re a regular PC user and haven’t heard of DivX yet, then you’ve probably had your head in the sand for the past couple of years. It’s basically a highly compressed film format that turns the size of an average DVD from something like 5GB to just 700MB.

DivX for Windows is the official release from the DivX company, and offers everything you need to watch such films. The pack includes the all-important DivX Codec plus DivX Player, DivX Web Player and the Stage6 Content Uploader Utility for those who plan to rip and upload DVDs or other videos to the net. It also includes a 15-day trial of the DivX Converter and the DivX Pro Codec. All these components are free and include no adware although during the installation, you are offered the chance to install the Google toolbar.

Among the many features to be introduced with Windows Vista is a completely new interface for dealing with games on your PC. Games Explorer has been introduced to take account of the fact that games are, apparently, the second most common use for home PCs after web browsing. Locating all your games in one easy to find spot, Game Explorer includes a variety of data about each game including meta-info and box art.

For many people, the most important aspect of this useful new feature is Microsoft's introduction of parental controls over access to games. If the parental control system is activated, games rated by the ESRB above a certain threshold will be unavailable to kids using the computer. There's no doubt that this will appeal to many parents and families, though it remains unclear whether Microsoft have introduced the feature to protect the innocents or merely to cover their own backs from the likes of anti-gaming crusaders like Jack Thompson. Either way, most users will agree that this is a good option to include with Vista.

If you're somewhat turned-off by both the cost and features of Microsoft Office then how about giving an open-source office suite a try? OpenOffice is a project by Sun Microsystems which offers an attractive and intuitive alternative to the big boys.

It operates on multiple platforms in its native format and offers 6 components - Writer, Impress, Math, Draw, Calc and Base. The equivalents with MS Office are pretty obvious except "Impress", which is a powerful presentation program like MS Powerpoint, and "Base" which is an added extra and enables you to compile and manage complex databases.

Many users report that, apart from the obvious advantage that its free, OpenOffice makes the creation and maintenance of highly formatted or long documents easier than Microsoft products, especially Word. There are complaints, however, that interfaces for the respective components are not as well laid out as in MS Office. This is something that Sun have promised to remedy in later editions.

None of OpenOffice's components are as fully developed as MS Office - the grammar checker, for example, is nowhere near as good - although it is on the whole richer in features and generally more stable. OpenOffice, particularly Writer, is a worthy challenger to MS Word although the dominance of MS Office in the home and business market mean that it won't be taking its place quite yet. However, we mentioned a while back that some European governments are already implementing open source software and Internet News reports that as far back as 2004, the Israeli government shunned Microsoft in favour of OpenOffice. Watch this space.

If you're on this blog there's a good chance you know about alternative browsers like Firefox or Opera and that you probably even use them. You might know what tabs, extensions, session restore or pop-up blocking are but your web experience might not go farther than this. Here are some programs to improve your overall browsing experience:

1. ToolbarCop : Quickly uninstall all those unnecessary extensions
2. Ghostzilla : Browse undercover
3. Tor : Protect your privacy whenever you connect to the web
4. AI Roboform : Memorize passwords and form entries
5. DU Meter : Measure your bandwidth
6. Windows Live Writer : Desktop blogging
7. Bookmark Base : Export and carry your bookmarks
8. WikiReader : Open Wikipedia from anywhere
9. Quintura Search : A search query based on tag clouds
10. ted : Create your own schedule of TV series torrents

We tried to list all sorts of apps, from security to bookmarking, searching or blogging. If there's a program you use while browsing and that you really like, let us know!

Drag racing is all about jazzy tuned-up cars, the 'bling' attitude and adrenaline filled races on abandoned highways. Pimp the interior and exterior of your ride and boost your engine to compete with other revamped high powered vehicles. To be someone in drag racing, your ride needs to pack power and show some style.

Drag Racer emulates the tuning spirit. Your objective is to customize and improve your car as much as you can and win your races against all types of vehicles, from a Honda Civic to the Lamborghini Murcielago. Choose your car among more than 20 different constructors and customize it completely from the steering wheel to the seats and exhaust pipes. You can add wings and decals and give it a paint job. Win performance points to improve your ride in different categories like suspension, turbo, engine or ignition.

With society pushing us to be online and available in our every waking moment, it is hardly surprising that there are a plethora of instant messaging programs available for PDAs and mobile phones. IM+ offers connection to a wide range of networks without becoming too bloated or over-complex. The first thing we noticed after installing IM+ was the simplicity of its user interface. As soon as the program opens, you can get to work configuring your accounts. IM+ lets you access the popular MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, AOL (AIM), Jabber and Google Talk networks, meaning that whoever you need to stay in touch with, IM+ will be able to help you out.

On Windows applications featuring such a range of connectivity, it’s normal to see a complex list of options when the configuration process starts. IM+ simplifies the process of setting up your accounts, and beyond message alerts, contains practically no options to configure. This may put off more advanced users who enjoy tinkering with their accounts but we thought it was a good move on the part of Shape Services (IM+’s creators). The only problem we noticed when setting up our account details was that the ‘backspace’ key on our device’s touch screen keyboard didn’t work. This is of course a small issue, but it slowed us down when we made a mistake.

As one of the veterans of the P2P file-sharing world, eMule is still used by millions to exchange files over the Net. Although its return on searches is pretty impressive, we’ve always been a little disappointed by the speed at which the client transfers files, which is a tad sluggish compared with the likes of Ares and Limewire.

We’ve just come across a way you can inject a bit more pace into the old nag by changing the ‘Upload Limit’ option within the ‘Preferences’ menu. When you are downloading data, the client must send an 'ack' (acknowlegement) to the server. If your upload stream is running at your connection limit these 'acks' wont get back/will be slowed down so you won't be sent the next little bit. Setting the upload cap to about 70% to 90% of your total upload total capacity should improve download speed and ensure that the client doesn’t get clogged by sending unnecessary ‘ack’ data.

You've probably noticed by now the large number of good, free video players available. We've decided to compare contenders KMPlayer and VLC Media Player and see how they fare.

First off, let's look at the interface. KMPLayer is fully customizable and, like Winamp, allows you to open multiple windows for controls, playlist or equalizer. You can move these around and adjust them to your liking. VLC has a very basic and intuitive interface, but also supports a number of skins. Each program offers a basic menu and hotkeys, giving you quick access to the playback functions.

Compatibility with a great deal of video formats is what makes both of these video players extremely popular. However VLC Media Player probably has the edge here, because, Real video being an exception, it seems to cover all existing video files. It can also play incomplete videos and will try to play an unknown format in its raw form. Each player has a large array of audio and video filters to process and enhance your videos. However, KMPlayer adds a feature for effects like aspect ratio or colors, to improve playback quality, not available in VLC.

If the advent of Widgets (and now, Gadgets for Vista) has proven anything, it is that the customization and extensibility of popular applications represent a huge market: everyone seems to demand a slightly different experience from these ubiquitous, monolithic programs and operating systems. IE, the world's most popular web browser, has long been a base onto which toolbars, mods and skins have been tacked but Microsoft only seems to have embraced this market with the launch of its much-improved version 7.

The cunningly titled 'ieaddons.com' serves as a dedicated home for Internet Explorer add ons, from where users can download, review and purchase extensions for their browser (it's worth noting that many of the extensions here are for sale, in stark contrast to Mozilla's offering). Among our favourites are the astoundingly good FoxyTunes - which allows you to control most desktop media players from your browser window and the essential Google Toolbar which adds a lot of functionality to your IE.

While there are many more free extensions available for Mozilla browsers (such as Firefox), it's worth remembering that many of them are also available for Internet Explorer, where they'll work just as well. As something of an added bonus: Microsoft are offering a cash prize and trip to Mix07 in Las Vegas to the developer who creates the best IE add on before February 9th! Rumour has it that the Pussycat Dolls might be in attendance.

In most cases, privacy and security are crucial to maintaining a business afloat. Making sure you have the right application on your PC can avoid you the risk of information theft. East-Tec Eraser caters to users by offering all the tools to fully erase files and information from your computer.

The application is fitted with 3 essential file cleaning features, directly accessible from the quick start menu: protecting your privacy, erasing deleted files, or erasing specific files. Choosing the first option will thoroughly check your PC and remove all existing registry entries and cookies. A detailed progress bar makes the process speed and time spent on the task visible. You can also decide to configure automation options such as if your PC should shut down or restart after it has been wiped clean.

To coincide with the release of Sid Meier's Railroads, the original Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon (SMRT), straight from 1990, has now been made freely available in full. The game takes you back to the 19th century where you create your own transportation empire by building railroads, buying new trains and setting up connections between cities.

Those of you who are worried about compatibility: fear not. You won't have to access DOS to play the game because it features its very own DOS Box. Original gamers of SMRT, will fondly appreciate the minimalistic graphics, midi country music, pixelized area maps, but most of all, the crux of the whole series, managing your money and assets. You start off with a million dollars (of which you'll have to pay back $500,000) and must first choose a good location, build a station and then start laying tracks. You'll soon become familiar with all the varieties of locomotives, like the Norris, Crocodile or Ten-Wheeler. The game really starts to get addictive when you see your network of railroads reach more and more cities and your income start to rise. Depending on the level of difficulty you choose, you'll also come across rough competition and you'll have to protect your assets from truly aggressive entrepreneurs.

Even though the graphics don't compare to what you'll find in the latest release, Sid Meier's Railroads, the simulation aspect of Railroad Tycoon is as much thrilling now as it was 10 year ago. All aboard!

Security is one of the main concerns among computer users. This is why it’s important to count on reliable applications that can protect our system and data from potential dangers, especially when going online. Sometimes, free security apps are regarded as being less safe but you might change your mind after testing AVG Antivirus.

AVG is one of the handiest antivirus systems I’ve seen so far (and believe me, I’ve tested a few, including big shots like BitDefender, Panda and Kaspersky). Being a smaller application, AVG may not feature such a wide range of tools or utilities as the other antivirus programs do. However, it makes up for it by offering a neat, effective protection which stays silently minimized in your system tray and only activates when needed.