In the past year we've highlighted hundreds of Windows apps aimed at making your life easier, boosting your computer productivity, and powering up your PC.

For those of you who weren't able to keep up, here's a look back at the most popular Windows downloads of 2008.

Keep in mind that this list is based on the popularity of posts we've published in 2008 only, regardless of the original release date of the app. Many were brand new this year, while others were solid updates to popular software. Here's the full run-down of the 12 most popular Windows downloads of 2008:

Firefox 3 Is Released, We Download

Firefox 3 was easily one of the biggest events in software in 2008 regardless of what platform you run. We may be well on the way to Firefox 3.1 now, but if you're looking to brush up on your Firefox 3 chops, be sure to check out the top 10 Firefox 3 features and our power user's guide to Firefox 3.

Mojo Downloads Music from Your Friends' iTunes Libraries Over the Internet

Mojo makes it easy to download music from your friends' iTunes libraries over the internet. Mojo comes in both free and premium flavors, but the free version offers plenty of functionality for the money. If you're just getting started with Mojo, check out our guide to using Mojo.

Free PDF to Word Doc Converter Does What It Sounds Like

It's easy to convert or print Microsoft Word documents to PDF, but what about when you want to go the other way around? The aptly named Free PDF to Word Doc Converter does exactly that. (Original post)

OurTunes Grabs Music from Shared iTunes Libraries

If the limitations on Mojo aren't for you, the open-source classic ourTunes—which downloads music from any shared iTunes library on your network—made a comeback earlier this year, as a new developer took up the reigns and continues to release updates. (Original post)

CCleaner Clears the Crap from Your PC

The popular PC colonic CCleaner (the first 'C' stands for Crap) pushed out a 2.0 release earlier this year and you were quick to update and enjoy the crap cleaning goodies. (Original post)

AVG Free Anti-Virus 2008

AVG Free Anti-Virus 2008 hit the streets in May, and the application that you voted the best antivirus applications for Windows was unsurprisingly popular. (Original post)

Windows Vista Service Pack 1

Microsoft released the first major service pack for Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (x64 version), in March, and you were eager to download and update to the latest and greatest from Redmond. (Original post)

Hotspot Shield Gets Around US-Only Blocks and Content Filtering

Looking to protect your browsing privacy or access US-only content from outside the US? HotSpot Shield received a lot of attention in '08 from users looking to do that and more. (Original post)

Quick Media Converter Easily Converts Media to Any Format

Quick Media Converter converts virtually any media file (audio or video) from one format to another. The application has an emphasis on simplicity: Just drag and drop a file you want to convert onto the app, click the icon of the device you're converting for, and let Quick Media Converter take care of the rest. (Original post)

DExposE2 Brings OS X's Expose to Windows

Freeware application DExposE2 is a clone of Mac OS X's Expose feature for Windows XP and Vista, providing an attractive, innovative interface for switching and managing windows in Windows. Check out the original post to see a video DExposE2 in action.

Dropbox Instantly Syncs Files Across the Internet

Instantaneous file syncing was huge in 2008, with free, cross-platform application Dropbox leading the pack. Dropbox boasts web-based version control, fast and instant syncs, and a dead-simple setup. Among other things, Dropbox makes for the perfect password syncer. (Original post)

Executor Challenges Launchy, Impresses

Open-source application Launchy has long been a favorite of savvy keyboarders looking for quick app launching in Windows, but a saucy newcomer called Executor hit the ground running when it was released earlier this year. Check out our original post for a more detailed rundown of what makes Executor so impressive.

Sharepod Frees Your iPod from iTunes

Want to free yourself from the shackles of iTunes but still want full functionality from your iPod? Sharepod is a lightweight iTunes alternative that runs directly from your iPod, so it's with you whenever and wherever you plug in your player. (Original post)

The beta version of Yahoo Mail is getting third-party applications like Xoopit, WordPress, Flixster, and Flickr—and other Yahoo products are also seeing upgrades, TechCrunch reports.

In what at first appears to be an answer to Gmail Labs, Yahoo Mail is getting third-party apps that let you do things like attach one of your Flickr images to a new messages easily. More interestingly, the new "social" Yahoo Mail will be able to prioritize your incoming email by the people with whom you have an established relationship. TechCrunch writes:

When you view your inbox, you can choose to view messages from just your “connections”, letting you filter out all of the email that ostensibly means less to you. Contacts (which includes everyone in your address book) are different than connections, which are suggested by Yahoo’s algorithm and explicitly identified by users. Invitations to connect are either generated by Yahoo’s algorithm or sent manually by your contacts. Connections appear to be like “friendships” on social networks like MySpace and Facebook, but Yahoo is insisting that the relationships will be used in a variety of ways not found on traditional social networks (such as this mail filtering).

Sounds pretty saucy. While I'm not yet seeing the updates, reportedly they are rolling out today on the new version of Y! Mail. The Yahoo homepage, Toolbar, My Yahoo, and Yahoo TV and Music are also seeing revamps, getting open API's for third-party developers, and social features.

Windows only: Ever wish you could save energy by not just sleeping, but automatically shutting down your PC when you're not using it and it's not doing anything? With free utility AllOff, you can.

AllOff monitors your mouse and keyboard usage in addition to CPU load. If you haven't used your mouse or keyboard and the CPU load is below a user-specified threshold for a certain amount of time, AllOff automatically initiates a system shutdown. The CPU monitoring functionality is perfect for those times you want to keep your computer on to finishing ripping or burning a DVD, for example, but don't want to keep your PC running all night once the process completes. Granted, this app does mirror some features already built into Windows, but if you'd like more control over automated shut down, it does the job nicely.

AllOff is a free download for non-commercial use, Windows only, requires a free registration. If you like the idea but you'd like a few more options for how the shut down handled or scheduled, check out previously mentioned WinOFF.

Getting Things Done enthusiast and Lifehacker reader Patrick Ng was inspired by Merlin Mann's hipster PDA but wanted to create a more comprehensive and personalized GTD tool. The result: mind.Depositor.

The small and attractive mind.Depositor is a GTD machine, complete with custom 4x6 index card templates with boxes for Next Actions, Projects, Wait for, and Someday/maybe tasks and a ton of additional custom tweaks. Be sure to check the bottom of the post for the full list of materials or head to the mind.Depositor Flickr set to get a closer look at the finished product.

• What's the best program to convert DVDs for my Xbox or iPhone?
• Do peculiar beeps or long rings mean anything when I place outgoing calls?
• How can I stop my Xbox from notifying me when friends login while I'm watching Netflix Watch Instantly?
• Any good program available that reads a scanned image and turn the words into actual digital text?