Download Skype 5.8 for Mac Updated

Download Skype 5.8 for Mac

There's something exciting about ownership a new piece of software, unwrapping the packaging and slipping the disc into your Mac ready to install your new goodies. And, of course, the new Mac App Store has made the process of obtaining new software by a digital download just a few unproblematic mouse clicks.

Whichever method y'all prefer, the biggest drawback is the money yous have to hand over. Forking out for your goods is a necessary evil, and the price of things is usually a good indicator of its quality. Simply the skillful news is it's not always that way, especially when it comes to Mac software.

As we volition show y'all, there are many apps available for gratuitous that have all the shine and advanced features you would expect from a premium paid-for version, only without the nasty toll tag. There are apps that will clean upward your hard drive or organise your twenty-four hour period-to-day activities. Some even work on your iPhone and iPad, as well.

We've presented the best ones below – they're all really fantastic and, best of all, they're all free.

A number of these applications, while withal swell as a free version, also have more fully featured pro versions. So if you really enjoy ane, you tin can consider spending the extra money.

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All-time gratis Mac media tools

1. Boxee Online

TV channels put a lot of their content online for complimentary, but you usually have to get to their websites to find out what's available. Not with Boxee.

This app lets you lot scan through episodes of shows from sources such every bit YouTube, among many others. It besides pulls in media from your Mac. The interface tin be controlled via the keyboard, an Apple tree remote or the gratuitous Boxee app available for iPhone, iPad and iPod impact.

It's a doddle to navigate, enabling yous to quickly find sports, movies, music or photos to bask on your computer. For amusement on your Mac, Boxee is difficult to beat.

2. Vuze

BitTorrent clients have received a bad rap over the years for enabling users to download copyrighted material for costless. Vuze is no different in this respect. That said, downloading via BitTorrent is not illegal and, should you be accessing legal material, you're fine.

Even better than that, Vuze volition act as a media histrion for most formats and even convert files for playback on your devices, including iPads and games consoles. You tin can fifty-fifty stream video from Vuze via Wi-Fi to compatible devices such as the Xbox 360, making it more of an platonic media viewing solution than a nuisance to society.

3. Flip4Mac

There's been little beloved lost between Apple tree and Microsoft over the years, and the same extends to their media formats. The dreaded .WMV (Windows Media Video) file is the scourge of the Mac OS X operating organisation and will not run natively in QuickTime.

Fortunately, the free Flip4Mac software will eradicate this headache and, one time installed, lets you forget about formats and bask the video you are after. The WMV player also allows for Windows Media files to play back in Safari likewise to help you bask a more complete browsing experience. A must-have install to alleviate format folly.

4. HandBrake

Those looking to bring their movie drove into the mod globe should certainly consider HandBrake for all their ripping needs. This unproblematic app tin grab a picture from DVD and encode it into a variety of formats for playback on your Mac, iPhone or iPad.

Those with the new Apple TV volition also be able to create compatible files from their movie discs and add together them to iTunes without having to fiddle around with DVD players and tons of cases. The app can even retain the affiliate choice features and subtitles of your original disc.

While ripping a DVD to your Mac can take some time (and please respect copyright) if handled right, the upshot makes accessing your entertainment a nifty deal easier. The latest version of HandBrake introduces a live preview feature that allows you lot to check the quality of your rip before committing to hours of encoding besides. You tin can also utilize HandBrake to convert video files into different formats.

5. Spotify

Spotify came from out of nowhere and took the music lovers of Europe by tempest. This is streaming music washed right. This service is complimentary to those who can handle an advert every three songs or so. It offers a catalogue of more than ten million songs of all genres, which stream instantly through the Spotify app.

It can too link to your iTunes library and then all of your favourite tracks are in one place. You can log in from multiple Macs using your Spotify account, create playlists, share music with friends and more than.

I of our favourite features is the innovative collaborative playlist, where your friends can add tracks over the internet for y'all to listen to. If you wish, you can pay to upgrade Spotify to a premium account, at which bespeak you become advertizement-gratuitous.

And for £9.99 per calendar month you tin even take the same service on your iPhone with music stored for offline playback.

6. VLC

VLC is ane of those apps you can turn to if QuickTime and other media-playing apps won't piece of work with a media format you desire to use. Initially, you might wonder why you'll ever demand this app, simply if you lot ever stray beyond the bounds of the iTunes Shop and download video from another online source, you lot're more than probable to encounter a problem – that is, it's not playing properly in iTunes or QuickTime.

Converting the video with HandBrake is always an option, but, to exist honest, using VLC is simply quicker. The app can handle DVD playback as well as more than obscure formats that crop upwardly from time to fourth dimension.

Files that are missing pieces or broken can still be played in VLC to the all-time of its power and it provides a wealth of codecs to aid your Mac handle all kinds of media file formats.

VLC is an application that every Mac user should have installed for when their media won't behave.

Social apps for Mac

vii. AddressBookSync

The Address Book app on your Mac is corking for organising contacts and syncing them to your iPhone. Still, the problem is with and then many contacts held, continually adding data and profile pictures can become a time-consuming chore.

AddressBookSync is an ingenious tool that connects to your Facebook account to pull in your friends' birthday info as well as images from their accounts into your Mac's Accost Volume. This is particularly handy for iPhone users with images appearing on screen when a contact is calling.

8. Adium

The chances are you have an account for more than one instant messaging customer. With so many bachelor from iChat to Windows Messenger through Google Chat and Yahoo! it's not surprising.

So, do yous leave all of these clients open and consuming memory or do you find an all-in-1 solution? If you want the latter, Adium is your app.

Uniform with more IM clients than you probably knew existed, Adium combines all your accounts into ane piece of cake-to-use solution so yous tin can keep in touch with all your contacts regardless of the service they are using.

9. Twitter

This is the official Twitter app for Mac. Information technology was launched at the same fourth dimension as the new Mac App Store, and rapidly became the most popular download there. To become it you'll need to take the Mac App Store installed (which means you'll need to be running Bone Ten 10.half-dozen and have installed the latest organisation updates).

Unlike other Twitter clients, Twitter offers a very Os X-friendly environs without skimping on the features you lot need to enjoy your 140-character fix.

A specially great feature is that you tin view all tweets in a conversation simply by double-clicking on the main tweet. Y'all tin likewise search for trending topics and use multiple accounts within the same app.

Composing a new tweet is now fabricated far easier with the Compose window that floats outside the interface, fix for yous to type your thoughts. If you desire to add an epitome to your tweet simply drag and drib it into the new tweet window.

You tin select which image hosting service you use from the Preferences pane, and also which URL-shortening service the Twitter app will use. You lot can also go the official Twitter app for iPad and iPhone to complete your Twitter experience wherever you are in the world.

10. Skype

Skype isn't a new service only the way information technology has developed over the years keeps it incredibly useful. The premise is simple, with an internet connectedness and a copy of the costless software installed, you tin can talk to anyone on Skype via audio or video chat. And y'all can even bandy files, create briefing calls or only chat via instant messaging.

For an additional fee, you can add voicemail to your business relationship and even call mobiles and landlines if you lot wish.

Handy utilities

11. Evernote

Whatever you're doing in life there are things you need to remember, be they pictures, notes, websites or sounds. Evernote provides a place to store your ideas, plans and reminders.

Using cloud-based storage, the Mac app syncs with your iPhone and iPad, likewise as any other computer to keep your notes close to manus whenever you need them. Unique search features allow you to dig out anything yous've stored and it can even recognise handwritten docs.

This app not only organises your notes, photos, screenshots and more, merely yous tin can add custom tags to make things easier to search.

12. r-name

Take you e'er had a bunch of files in a folder and then discovered y'all need to rename each one? For a renaming task that comprises more ten files or more it tin can become a very ho-hum and repetitive task.

And that's where r-proper name comes in. It's a simple, free app that allows files and folders to be dropped in and renamed in any way y'all require. Platonic for photos or telly serial, this app volition salvage a keen deal of time.

thirteen. Burn

While information technology's easy to fire a CD or DVD from within Mac Bone 10, Burn brings simplicity, as well as advanced options to the task. For example, information technology allows you to ready which file organisation your disc volition use and then Windows owners tin admission files.

Information technology tin create sound CDs and MP3 discs, and caters for DVD, VideoCD and DivX discs. An Inspector tool allows you to modify settings on your disc such every bit file permissions, dates and the icon.

fourteen. Carbon Re-create Cloner

Everyone talks about bankroll up their reckoner files, merely how many of us are committed to doing it properly?

Carbon Copy Cloner makes it easy to support your organisation but to move it to some other Mac or larger difficult drive without having to reinstall the OS. It even offers incremental backups, which only updates files that have changed since you terminal ran the software.

Considering this is a complimentary awarding, it'due south an accented powerhouse for any Mac user who wants security for their system and flexibility for their hardware.