Santa's present for Mac

Flutter Away

Google Chrome

Google’s game changing browser Chrome for Mac combines sophisticated technology with a simple UI, to create a faster, safer and easier browsing experience. Google’s rapid and continuous development cycle ensures Chrome for Mac continues to close in on Safari's dominant position in the Mac browser market.SpeedWe thought Firefox was good but Chrome not only beats it for speed, it also takes less strain on Mac CPU. Which means not only will your browsing be quicker, but so too will other applications you're running at the same time. Google Chrome launches extremely quickly, runs applications at speed thanks to a powerful JavaScript engine and loads pages rapidly using the WebKit open source rendering engine. Add to this quicker search and navigation options from the simplified UI and you have a browser that is damn hard to beat on speed.Clean, simple UIWhile this was a revolutionary area for PC users, Mac users were already used to slimline looking browsers thanks to Safari. We think Chrome improved on this further though - the simple UI hasn’t changed much since the beta launch in 2008. Google focused on trimming down unnecessary toolbar space to maximise browsing real estate. The browser is made up of 3 rows of tools, the top layer horizontally stacks automatically adjusting tabs, next to a simple new tabs icon and the standard minimize, expand & close windows controls. The middle row includes 3 navigation controls (Back, Forward & Stop/Refresh), a URL box which also allows direct Google web searching and a star bookmarking icon. Extensions and browser settings icons line up to the right of the URL box. The third row is made up of bookmark folders and installed apps. Easily overlooked now, this clean UI was a breath of fresh air compared to the overcrowded toolbars of popular browsers pre-2008.PrivacyAnother hugely popular feature, Incognito mode allows you to browse privately by disabling history recording, reducing traceable breadcrumbs and removing tracking cookies on shutdown. Chrome’s settings also allow you to customize regular browsing privacy preferences.SecurityChrome’s Sandboxing prevents malware automatically installing on your Mac or affecting other browser tabs. Chrome also has Safe Browsing technology built in with malware and phishing protection that warns you if you encounter a website suspected of containing malicious software/activity. Regular automatic updates ensure security features are up to date and effective.CustomizationA vast selection of apps, extensions, themes and settings make your browsing experience unique to you. Improve productivity, security, navigation speed, pretty much anything you can think of with apps and extensions from the Google Chrome Store. Install themes created by top artists or make your own using mychrometheme.com. Sign in with your Google Account to back up your contacts, preferences, history as well as access all your Google tools with a single login.In case you are looking for an alternative, you may want to try Avast Secure Browser.The program provider has restricted distribution of older versions of this product. FileHippo apologises for any inconvenience caused.

iTunes for Mac

iTunes is a free application for Mac and PC. It plays all your digital music and video. It syncs content to your iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. And it's an entertainment superstore that stays open 24/7. Organize your music into playlists Edit file information Record compact discs Copy files to an iPod or other digital audio player Purchase music and videos on the Internet through the built-in iTunes store Run a visualizer to display graphical effects in time to the music Encode music into a number of different audio formats.

VMWare Fusion Pro

VMware Fusion Pro allows anyone run Windows and hundreds of other operating systems on a Mac, without rebooting. The app is simple enough for new users, and yet powerful enough for IT professionals, developers, and businesses. Key Features include: MacOS Sierra-Ready VMware Fusion Pro lets you launch virtual machines on Macs with MacOS 10.12 Sierra, or safely test the new macOS in a sandbox. Built for Windows 10 Full support for running Windows 10 as a virtual machine on your Mac. Flexible App Interaction Unity mode hides the Windows desktop so you can run Windows apps as if they were Mac apps; launching directly from Dock, Spotlight or Launchpad and viewable in Exposé, Spaces and Mission Control. Easily interact with Windows apps using Mac shortcuts and intuitive gestures. Snapshots With VMware Fusion Pro you can use Snapshots to create a ‘rollback point’ to revert to on-the-fly. System Requirements: 64-bit capable Intel® Mac (Compatible with Core 2 Duo, Xeon, i3, i5, i7 processors or better).Minimum 4GB of RAM.750MB free disk space for VMware Fusion and at least 5GB for each virtual machine. Operating system installation media (disk or disk image) for virtual machines. Recommended graphics hardware for Windows DirectX 10 or OpenGL 3.3 includes NVIDIA 8600M or better and ATI 2600 or better. Host Operating Systems: Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks. Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite. Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan. MacOS 10.12 Sierra. Guest Operating Systems include: Windows 10 Windows 8.X. Windows 7. Windows XP. Mac OS 10.12 Sierra. Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan. Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite. Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks. Ubuntu. RedHat. SUSE. Debian. CentOS. VMware Fusion Pro has been touted as being one of the best virtual machine monitors on macOS. It provides agility, productivity and security every day. The app is extremely easy to navigate by users of all levels of expertise.

VirtualDJ

Antomix Productions (Free)

VLC media player

VLC Media Player is the most popular and robust multi format, free media player available. Its popularity has been aided by compatibility and codec issues which render competitor media players like QuickTime, itunes and RealPlayer useless to many popular video and music file formats. The easy, basic UI and huge array of customization options mean few free media players can match VLC. Flexibility VLC plays almost any video or music file format you can find. At its launch this was a revolution compared to the default media players most people were using that often crashed or displayed “codecs missing” error messages when trying to play media files. VLC can play MPEG, AVI, RMBV, FLV, QuickTime, WMV, MP4 and a shed load of other media file formats. For a full list of compatible file formats please click here. Not only can VLC Media Player handle loads of different formats, VLC can also playback partial or incomplete media files so you can preview downloads before they finish. Easy to Use VLC’s UI is definitely a case of function over format. The basic look does however make the player extremely easy to use. Simply drag and drop files to play or open them using files and folders then use the classic media navigation buttons to play, pause, stop, skip, edit playback speed, change the volume, brightness, etc. A huge variety of skins and customization options mean the standard appearance shouldn’t be enough to prevent you choosing VLC as your default media player. Advanced Options Don’t let VLC Media Player’s simple interface fool you, within the playback, audio, video, tools and view tabs are a huge variety of player options. You can play with synchronization settings including a graphic equalizer with multiple pre-sets, overlays, special effects, AtmoLight video effects, audio spatializer and customizable range compression settings. You can even add subtitles to videos by adding the SRT file to the video’s folder. Summary VLC Media Player is quite simply the most versatile, stable and high quality free media player available. It has rightly dominated the free media player market for over 10 years now and looks like it may for another 10 thanks to the constant development and improvement by VideoLAN Org.

WhatsApp Messenger for Mac

WhatsApp for Mac is a renowned messaging service that has been around for some time now. Although you can use it on the web, WhatsApp for Mac has launched a desktop app for both Windows and Mac OS X platforms. This new desktop version of the app will be great for some users, as it no longer needs to take up space in your web browser. The new app basically works as an extension of your phone; it mirrors messages and conversations from your device. Using the desktop version of the app comes with advantages including proper native desktop notifications and better keyboard shortcuts. You simply need WhatsApp installed and working on your phone and Mac OS X 10.9 or later. Using the desktop version on your Mac is easy; as soon as you have downloaded and installed the app, you simply need to scan the QR code on the screen with your phone using WhatsApp (Open WhatsApp, click Menu and select WhatsApp Web). Then, as soon as it has been recognised, the desktop app will be linked with your account. It is worth noting that since the desktop app uses your mobile device to sync messages, it would probably be best to ensure that it is connected to Wi-Fi to avoid excessive data usage. Looking for the Windows version of WhatsApp for Mac? Download Here

BlueStacks App Player

BlueStacks App Player for Mac is a great tool for allowing you to run your favorite mobile apps/games in full screen in your browser using a Mac. BlueStacks App Player for Mac Key Features Fully customizable environment. Support for multiple OS configurations. Google Play integration. Once installed, BlueStacks App Player for Mac can be configured to work with your choice of popular social media platforms i.e. Facebook or Twitter. As the environment runs Android apps, you can configure BlueStacks App Player for Mac to work with your Google Play account, so you can access all your favourtite apps and games! The user interface of BlueStacks App Player for Mac can be totally configured to suit your needs. Additionally, it is capable of integrating with the custom software experiences which are designed and developed by Apple. You can enjoy a full Android environment through BlueStacks App Player for Mac, or if you choose, you can just install Android app icons directly onto the Mac desktop. BlueStacks App Player for Mac supports multiple languages. Looking for the Windows version of BlueStacks App Player? Download Here

iMovie

Apple iMovie allows you to create stunning HD movies and Hollywood-style trailers. You can browse your video library and easily share your favourite videos. Videos can be imported from external devices and then easily tweaked, re-arranged and edited before you share them or burn them to a DVD. Features include: Option to sort events in the sidebar by date Change the font, size, and color of new titles Double-click a transition in the timeline to adjust its duration Crop and rotate clips in events Add speed effects using the Adjustments Bar Option to smoothly transition in and out of speed effects

uTorrent for Mac

uTorrent is one of the world's most popular torrent clients. It's full of useful features such as scheduling, bandwidth prioritization and compatibility with BitComet-Mainline DHT. uTorrent also supports peer exchange and the Protocol Encryption joint specification (compatible with Vuze / Azureus 2.4.0.0 and above and BitComet 0.63 and above). Unlike many other torrent clients available, uTorrent does not eat away at valuable system resources; in fact, the program typically runs on approx. 6MB of memory. uTorrent is contained within a single executable file, smaller than 1 MB. Features include: BitTorrent Labs icon to the status bar Help menu items for bundle and BitTorrent Labs Change logging in settings to remove OpenX Keyboard shortcut to refresh ads now Overlay image when "i" is hovered over Custom PDD Teredo Tunneling / IPv6 support UPnP support for all versions of Windows Peer exchange Protocol Encryption The customization options for icons, toolbar graphics and status icon replacements are vast, you can even create your own. uTorrent incorporates localization support and has language support; therefore it will automatically change to your system language. The uTorrent software was designed to use only minimal resources, yet still offering the functionality comparable to larger BitTorrent clients. uTorrent is very user-friendly; the program updates are not scheduled and are only released when thoroughly tested. This product is available for all major releases of OS X. µTorrent provides high quality service in a tiny package.

TeamViewer for Mac

TeamViewer for Mac is a useful tool for Mac users looking to share desktop access with others over the internet. Formerly a tool used primarily by technicians to fix issues on host computers, TeamViewer is now used by millions of users to share screens, access remote computers, train and even conduct virtual meetings. TeamViewer connects to any Mac or server around the world within a few seconds. You can remote control your partner's Mac as if you were sitting right in front of it. Features: Control computers remotely via the internet Record your session and save it as a video file for playback Online meetings Drag & Drop files Multi-Monitor support.

ManyCam

Use your webcam with many applications simultaneously. Use Skype, MSN, Ustream, and many other webcam and audio applications at the same time. You can also do the same with virtual audio sound driver. Add amazing microphone audio effects to your broadcast. Use voice changer technology to disguise your voice for a screencast voice over, make people laugh, or use it to trick your friends and family. ManyCam is also able to make your microphone & headset audio quality sound better than most normal audio drivers. Draw over your video window. Use built in image editing software to draw over or add text to your live video broadcast. Draw over your video while in Skype, Youtube, or any other video software. Just add ManyCam as your video source for any app! Screencast your desktop Record your desktop and save the video to your hard drive. You can also screencast live to live video chat services like Ustream, Justin.tv, Skype, and more. Use ManyCam as your video source on Youtube to record a video of your desktop. Picture in Picture Broadcast "pnp" or picture in picture video with ManyCam. Screencast your desktop while showing yourself in a smaller video window within that window. Picture in picture is useful for video demonstrations on webcam and live shows. Turn your computer into live news studio with ManyCam's pnp feature. Switch between different video sources. Go to the ManyCam Studio Pro tab to quickly switch between video sources. ManyCam Studio Pro allows up to 6 video sources and the ability to cut or slowly transition between different sources. Use the ManyCam pull-down menu in the source window to add another camera, still image, photo snapshot, a pre-recorded video, and even a desktop screencast as your video source. Turn your computer into a Pro live video production studio with ManyCam. Create your own custom webcam effects. Make custom webcam face effects, eye effects, mouth effects, hair effects and any other type of webcam graphic. Share the custom effect with the rest of the ManyCam community or keep it for yourself.

XAMPP for Mac

XAMPP for Mac is an easy to install Apache distribution for Mac OS X, Windows, Linux and Solaris. The package includes the Apache web server, MySQL, PHP, Perl, a FTP server and phpMyAdmin. XAMPP for Mac has been designed to be the easiest way to install and run a development server. There are numerous other WAMP packages available, but XAMPP for Mac is one of the most complete on offer. In addition to Apache, MySQL, and PHP, XAMPP includes other really useful tools such as the phpMyAdmin database administration tool, FileZilla FTP server, Mercury mail server, Perl programming language, and JSP server Tomcat. In the XAMPP for Mac control panel you can configure the above services with ease. It can also install an administration site as the home page of the server; from which you can undertake all manner of administrative tasks, such as checking the server status and security, launch tools like phpMyAdmin and Webalizer analytics. You can also view PHP demos which can be of use for those developers who are just starting out. Overall, XAMPP for Mac is a great tool for anyone looking to get a full development server up and running within quick time constraints. The only issue that we can see, is that because it is so easy to setup, it doesn't have the security features for this to be used as a production server. However, if you really need to make the server Web accessible, then you can do so, albeit against the advice of the Apache Friends development team. Looking for the Windows version of XAMPP for Mac? Download Here