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Every computer user needs a basic text editor for Readme files and simple note-taking capabilities. That's why Windows comes with Notepad and Mac OS X comes with TextEdit. However, if you want a program that is useful for more than just looking at Readme files, you need to look elsewhere. The best type of text editors come with numerous features and work great for writing quick notes, keeping a journal, coding Web sites, and pasting excerpts from the Web when aggregating research for a project.

While Notepad and TextEdit are useful in their own right, if I want added … Read more

Killer Download is a new feature on Download.com in which we'll present a new program each week. Most will be free, but some might be good enough that paying a low registration fee is well worth the cost. If you find you have a better option than the software featured, let us know in the comments!

What method do you use to get the news? For a long time, I used my Web browser and grabbed bookmarks when I found good news sites. But before long those bookmarks multiplied, making it difficult to find particular sites; I realized I had to find a way to organize them all. The most obvious method was to continue with a regular Internet browser and put similar sites into folders, calling them "News" and "Blogs" and "Software," or whatever category fit the bill. This method worked fairly well, but I never knew when any of the sites updated without actually going to the site and checking. Naturally, all sites don't update according to a schedule, so I quickly figured out that I needed to try something else.… Read more

CD sales are falling fast, but CDs are still the way most people listen to music. Digital downloads are supposed to be the future.

The music industry is stuck somewhere in the middle. Amid all the uncertainty, Disney is due to announce a hybrid approach on Wednesday, one that weds the old with the new.

A spokeswoman for Disney's Hollywood Records was tight-lipped, but did say the new offering will combine a physical disc with a downloadable element.

Why not? At this point, nothing seems to work for the record labels, although the idea of packaging discs and downloads … Read more

Have your heard Rihanna yet? She of "Umbrella" fame, her hit collab with Jay-Z that's been all over the charts, radio, and Web lately. You can stream it for free on Download Music--and this week she's also the star of our ongoing Best New Music video report, a collaboration with our buddies over at CNET TV. Watch and listen as Anngie Dehoyos gives the lowdown on what makes the song so gosh-darn great. Then catch Peter Gavin's take on indie heroes Blonde Redhead and my own shakedown on the haunting new album from Charlotte … Read more

If there's one thing Power Downloader has learned while working with computers and software, it's that there will inevitably be problems. With new viruses and new strains of spyware set loose onto the Web every day, Power knows he needs to stay on top of updates and the latest definitions for his programs. But even with the best protection available, occasionally something can sneak through Power's defenses, leaving his computer unusable.

To make sure he's prepared for the worst, Power Downloader keeps a bootable CD with a variety of programs meant to troubleshoot an otherwise unusable … Read more

After two days of timing and comparing the iPhone's download speed between AT&T's EDGE network and Wi-Fi, our CNET Lab has just released its official results.

EDGE averaged a download time of 15.69 minutes for a 9.4MB file, while Wi-Fi required a mere 1.18 minutes. In the end, our test results indicate that the iPhone's Wi-Fi connection is about 13 times faster than using EDGE.

Tests were run at different points throughout the day to account for changes in network bandwidth, and the iPhone was reformatted after each download to ensure that … Read more

Not that we at Download Music have actually acquired an iPhone yet, but we have been nagging our friends of friends of Apple to score us a freebie. In the meantime, we've been digging through our free MP3 collection to figure out which tracks would, in the event one does land on our desk, get iPhone honors first. We put together playlists which feature a mix of our favorite up-and-coming and popular artists such as Death Cab for Cutie, Jill Scott, Spoon, Daft Punk and many more. Stream now (while you work), then visit the artist pages to download … Read more

The iPhone hype has either reached a high point or totally jumped the shark, depending on your personal opinion. Playboy.com just announced that it has launched its official iPhone effort, which it calls "iPlayboy."

We'll just say that it sure gives "touch screen" a whole new meaning.

Playboy's virtual goodie bag for the iPhone consists of 12 "sexy non-nude wallpapers" for the sleek Apple handset, a special photo album with another dozen photos of Playmates, an episode of Playboy's Sirius Satellite Radio show, and a video customized for the iPhone'… Read more

Recently, when Power Downloader was deeply immersed in a particular case, he got a phone call from Candace Clicks. She wasn't very happy with Power because he had completely missed their lunch date. After trying to calm the situation and rescheduling for a nice dinner at Candace's favorite restaurant, Power decided that he might need a little help with keeping track of appointments.… Read more