Tools, utilities, and drivers

In 2010, we began a year-end program to recognize the most popular software on Download.com. In 2011, we got a little crazy, recognizing the top 11 programs in Windows and Mac, as well as the top 11 programs in the top 11 software categories.

In 2012, we return to Earth with a more classic list of the top 10 most downloaded software programs in our 10 most popular categories for Windows and Mac. The total download count for this distinction is based on the period from January 1, 2012 to December 14, 2012. Congratulations to all of this year'… Read more

Apple today released another minor update to iOS 6 that promises to fix a Wi-Fi issue affecting its newest devices.

The software, which went out this morning to the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini, says simply that it "fixes a bug that could impact Wi-Fi." No additional features or security fixes are part of the update, according to the company's release notes.

The update comes just a day after Apple gave developers a fourth beta of iOS 6.1. That software, which is expected by the end of the year, or shortly thereafter, brings new boarding pass … Read more

Those of you bought a Mac in the latter portion of this year may want to check out a new Wi-Fi update from Apple.

Released yesterday, the Mac Wi-Fi Update 1.0 for "all late 2012 Mac systems" is meant to improve compatibility with devices that tap into your network's 5GHz band. The update specifically supports Macs running OS X 10.8.2, currently the latest version of OS X.

Users can download the update directly from their Macs through the Software Update option or by grabbing it from Apple.

The 5GHz band is found on dual-band … Read more

Released yesterday, Adblock Plus for Android offers a no-nonsense way to completely remove ads from your mobile computing experience. Simply download and install the app, and let it run behind the scenes. From there, you should notice that display ads, video ads, push notifications, and even many in-app ads are no more.

So far, I've seen AdBlock Plus kill ads on several Web sites, including Google, and within the ad-supported Pandora app. According to its developers, though, AdBlock Plus does not work when browsing with Firefox for Android, since Firefox does not support Android's system proxy settings.

Adblock … Read more

Apple's computers are not the cheapest in the world, but are highly desired and as a result many people purchase their Macs secondhand through auction sites like eBay and Craigslist. Unfortunately in most cases these systems are old enough that their warranties have expired, so if something goes wrong after your purchase you might need to spend more cash to have it fixed.

Under the circumstances, it is best to give any used Mac a thorough check before you decide to purchase it. (Obviously, it would be hard to do this for most online purchases.) I've covered this … Read more

If you're going to be buying (or receiving) a new iOS device over the holidays, you're going to want to grab the hottest apps to see what the App Store has to offer. But with close to 750,000 apps available, it can be a bit daunting to figure out which ones to choose.

To get you started, I put together a list of apps that include both all-time hits and up-and-coming new software. Each of these is available for iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, and give you a sampling of what your new iOS device can do.… Read more

Taking a screenshot in OS X is a popular option for capturing activity on your computer, whether for communicating instructions to people or documenting events that are happening on your system. Usually screenshots are taken when sitting at the local system, but if needed you can also do so remotely by several different means.

The easiest way to take a remote screenshot is by using the Screen Sharing service in OS X. By enabling this in the Sharing system preferences and then connecting to the remote system to view its screen, you are provided a couple of ways to take … Read more

The Internet is a pretty great resource for work or school, but it can also be an enormous distraction. timeStats is an extension for Google Chrome that allows you to see how you spend your online time. A few clicks will get you a chart distribution of your Internet activity; a couple more, and you can get even more detailed reports. The reports break down your daily/weekly/monthly activities with awesome pie charts and bar graphs showing what you did on which day. It can also show you other details such as the sites, domain zones, and time spent … Read more

I was going through the app listings the other day and came across LocalScope, a unique local search tool that helps you find things near your current location. Obviously, many people already use Google Maps (no current version for iOS) for this purpose, and the Yelp-powered Apple Maps gets better every day, but after looking at LocalScope (reviewed below), I went on a search for other apps that tailor their results just for what is right around your area.

This week's collection of apps is all about searching for services around your location. The first gives you tons of listings and a surprising bonus feature for finding your destination. The second offers a slick radial interface and tons of categories to pick from. The third is LocalScope, and uses social data to find places, videos, and images from people around your location.… Read more