Unfortunately, users report mixed experiences when trying to connect Android devices to their Mac using Kies but many problems have been ironed out in version 2.0 which now also supports Mountain Lion.

Apart from syncing, Samsung Kies for Mac also allows you to receive and install Firmware updates for your Samsung mobile and is regularly updated to be compatible with the latest Samsung mobile releases. Most importantly, Samsung Kies for Mac works for transferring and managing contacts and calendar events between your mobile device and Mac.

If you're a Microsoft Office user, Samsung Kies also allows you to synchronize your Microsoft Outlook content on your computer with a Samsung mobile device. It's also very useful as a backup solution because it can backup data localized data on mobile device including bookmarks, settings (such as general settings, Wi-Fi lists) alarms, contacts, music, videos, or photos. Note that it does not backup DRM protected multimedia.

Samsung Kies for Mac is an essential tool for any Mac user with Samsung Android devices although you may experience bugs or connection issues with some devices.

Download Samsung Kies for Mac 2.0.0.13023_10_1 in Softonic

It allows you to synchronize and share photos, videos, music and documents between multiple computers. All you have to do is create an account use the Drobbox for Mac client to create the folder on your Mac. Once you've created an account, you get 2GB of space for free. You have to associate one or more computers to your account and put your data online dragging or copying them into the Dropbox for Mac folder created by the program. Your data is automatically synchronized with your online account, and therefore accessible to all Macs on your network.

Alternatively, you can access files from any Web browser and download the files hosted onto your account. A public folder lets you share files with other people, whether or not they registered with the service offered by Dropbox. The problem is that since Dropbox for Mac synchronizes with your files, it slows down your system considerably and dropping files into it can be painfully slow. Also, it should be easier to find e-mail links that you can link to to send files to friends out side of the Dropbox network.

Dropbox for Mac is a great idea in theory but in reality, it works quite slowly although it's useful for the sharing of really big files.

Download Dropbox for Mac 2.0.26 in Softonic

It presents a more organized way to manage your Twitter account in a three-column interface that gives you far more space to breathe. You can divide columns into different categories such as tweets, direct messages, replies and search results. To Tweet a new message, just click on the all-important 'Tweet' button and type away.

TweetDeck allows you to follow any number of Twitter and Facebook accounts you run in one columned application. The biggest change in recent versions of TweetDeck is that it no longer installs through Adobe AIR, making getting started that little bit faster.

The appearance of TweetDeck is largely unchanged. It's clean and easy to understand, and still probably the best app for using multiple accounts. The default setting features a Home feed of updates from all your accounts together. Then there is the @Me feed, which shows all interactions with you on Twitter or Facebook. Finally there is an Inbox for Direct Messages in Twitter. You can add to any of these from a selection of things like Lists or Tweets, and remove any of them too.

Among its many other features are the possibility to arrange your feeds with customizable columns, focus on specific tweets with powerful filters, schedule tweets and monitor and manage multiple accounts. Of course, it also supports URL shortening.

Overall, TweetDeck is a great application for those who like to organize their tweeting in a bigger window or need to manage multiple accounts.

Download TweetDeck by Twitter 3.0.2 in Softonic

Download Airmail 1.0.3 in Softonic

Download Keeper 6.1 in Softonic

This beta version does not change the fundamental basics of the game. However there are some fun new additions to the game and some aesthetic improvements. For example, villages now have MPCs, lilly-pads have been added to water which can be collected and the netherworld has randomly generated strongholds. Other minor elements have been reintroduced, such as roses, or subtly changed such as the way snow now collects on top of ice.

If you're not sure how to play Minecraft or are a newcomer to the game, we recommend you check our beginners guide and read the full review of the stable version. Also, note that to install this beta version, you simply need to put the downloaded file in folder where you have hosted your game data within AppData. To play Minecraft, you need to download a license from the developer site.

Minecraft beta is a must for all hardcore fans of the game.

Download Minecraft pre-release 1.6 13w24a in Softonic

Slick 3D presentation

Lacks a wider network search feature

Brings your family tree to life

Download MacFamilyTree 7.0.1 in Softonic

Makes it easy to manage apps in OS X

Quit and monitor resource usage

Also, rather than show what percentage of your CPU an app is using, System Lens indicates whether an application is using a low, medium or high percentage of your Mac's resources. This is great for those that want a simple overview of resource usage although power users will miss the ability to see exactly how much certain apps are hogging your system.

Very simple to use

Simple and effective resource tool

Download System Lens 2.0 in Softonic

Stunning high resolution weather images

Reliable but rigid

Brings weather to life

Download Clear Day 2.0 in Softonic

VLC media player is the most successful free open source multimedia player out there with over 500 million downloads according to the developers. In particular, VLC media player is a great alternative to , iTunes, and RealPlayer. It's lightweight, fast, easy to use and most importantly, plays almost anything.

Note that versions of VLC media player compatible with Mac OS X 10.1 to 10.6 are available. The main download link is version 2 for the 64 bit Intel version compatible with OS X 10.5 and above. However, you can find VLC Player for OS X 10.4.11 Intel Macs here. There is not, and there will never be, a version of VLC media player for Mac OS 9 say the developers.

It's been two and a half years since version 1.0 was released and version 2 ("Twoflower") brings a new interface, faster decoding, support for more formats and the ability to play HD and BluRay. It still remains however the most stable, flexible and lightweight audio and video player around today. While other media players will play unusual formats after downloading a codec, or simply refuse to play things, VLC media player handles tons of formats, from MPEG to FLV and RMBV files. Version 2 has seen some important additions too such as support for 10 bit codes plus multi-threaded decoding for H.264, MPEG-4/Xvid and WebM.

Also useful is the fact that you can use VLC media player to preview files you are downloading since it plays incomplete parts of video files. VLC media player is not just for video playback however. It also offers superb integration with video channel streaming services such as Channels.com giving you access to channels such as ESPN, Reuters and National Geographic. Just right-click or CMD-click on the playlist, select Services Discovery and Channels.com. Channels.com will then appear in your VLC media player playlist. Click on it to reveal the the different categories of channels available. Click on the category you want and a drop down list of all available channels appears in VLC media player. Just click on the channel you want to watch and streaming should begin almost immediately.

VLC media player also has great hotkey support and if you take the time to learn the shortcuts so it can be controlled without touching your mouse. If you're watching DVDs or video files through it, this is not an issue. For music, it plays more or less any file and features an equalizer and playlist creation. VLC media player isn't as intuitive as iTunes as a media manager, but it's a much more flexible player in terms of file formats. You can even use VLC to convert your files, and on top of all the formats and physical media it will play, many streaming protocols and TV capture cards are supported.

VLC media player makes it easy to add subtitles to your video files too - just add the SRT file to the folder where your video is kept, and it will automatically play with subtitles.

Finally, the interface has been somewhat improved in version 2 on Mac. In fact, the Mac interface is now considerably slicker than on Windows with a single window for everything. However, it's only available in 2 colors: Lion grey and QTX black. There are also new extensions support and better Lion integration. The preferences menu is still comprehensive without being overwhelming, and there is extensive documentation online.

Don't forget to check out some of our blog posts such as VLC media player v KMPlayer, How to rotate a video with VLC media player, How to sync audio with video in VLC media player and How to use subtitles with VLC media player.

There's very little to fault with VLC media player. It's a superb lightweight media player that will successfully play the most stubborn files where other players fail.

Download VLC media player 2.0.7 in Softonic

Microsoft states that this update fixes critical issues and also helps to improve security. It includes fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer's memory with malicious code. For more information about this update, please visit the Microsoft Web site.

Applies to: Office 2011, Office 2011 Home and Business Edition, Word 2011, Excel 2011, PowerPoint 2011, Outlook 2011, Office for Mac Standard 2011 Edition, Microsoft Office for Mac Home & Student 2011, and Microsoft Office for Mac Academic 2011.

Security update for Office for Mac 2011 is a vital security fix for Office.

Download Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 Update 14.3.5 in Softonic

Adobe Lightroom for Mac allows both professional and advanced photographers to import, store, organize, edit and export thousands of pictures from one uncluttered interface. You can create sets and collections to store your pictures and add tags to every individual photo. The timeline view at the bottom is a great way to quickly browse through pictures.

Editing tools are located on the right of the Adobe Lightroom for Mac interface. The Library section works wonders to adjust things like white balance, exposure or vibrancy quickly. For advanced editing you'll have to go to the Develop section though. This is where you'll be able to correct details, camera calibration, split toning and more. AAdobe Lightroom for Mac lets you create virtual copies so you can edit elements without affecting the original.

Adobe's photo management tool also includes a section to create your own slideshow, including transitions and overlays. Although it creates nice slideshows it feels a bit counter-intuitive. We also liked how in-depth the print settings were, letting you adjust things like margins or print resolution very precisely. The last section allows you to optimize your photos for the web and create a flash gallery and a postcard viewer among others. It includes integration with sites such as Faceback and Flickr although not Picasa and iPhoto.

Thanks to an excellent structure, advanced editing tools and features to print, publish to web and create a slideshow, Adobe Lightroom for Mac is one of the best photo management programs out there.

Download Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for Mac 5 in Softonic

With Skype you can call other Skype users absolutely free wherever they are in the world thanks to P2P technology. Skype brings together the main functions of talk, chat, video, file sharing and screen sharing in one main window. In the latest release, by default your contacts list is on the left with the other basic functions in the main part of the program window making it more streamlined and slicker than previous releases.

New in Skype 5 is the ability to video conference with up to ten participants. Group conferencing has also been made easier thanks to the redesigned call window which means that all distractions (such as other conversations) are minimized and only the names of participants displayed. However, although you can video chat with one contact for free, group video conferencing is now a premium feature which you have to pay for,

Skype features a new contacts list sorted by category and you can add favorites to the top of the list. Searching for them has also been made easier by integrating them with your Mac address book. You can also now rename contacts so that you're not stuck with their default username. Finally, accessing Skype is now easier thanks to a mini Skype control bar that sits on top of any web pages, documents or photos you've got open although some may find this a bit intrusive.

Although the latest Skype adds many improvements, some people may miss the smaller and more discreet interface of Skype 2.8. There is a feeling that the developers have gone a bit over the top in expanding Skype and "hiding" certain features and it will take users of the old version some getting used to. The fact that video conferencing is now a premium feature will also annoy many faithful users.

Finally, most recently Skype was taken over by Microsoft which has led to further integration with Microsoft services among other things. You can now sign into Skype with your Microsoft Live account details for example and chat to MSN contacts online using Skype. There's also been considerable integration with Facebook allowing you to chat and communicate with Facebook contacts from Skype.

The new Skype brings video conferencing and a more intelligent user interface that once you've adapted to, should make Skype an even better way to keep in touch while you're away. However, those that don't like the interface changes will be less than impressed and can still download version 2.8.

Download Skype 6.5.0.443 in Softonic

We've already given you a lowdown on the most important changes in Mountain Lion most of which are features taken from iOS. Here we will take a more in depth look at the features OS X 10.8.2 Mountain Lion has to offer.

A universal share button has been added to Safari's URL bar for reading later, add to bookmarks, e-mail, or Twitter. Facebook sharing has also been integrated into OS X 10.8.2 Mountain Lion, as anticipated.

Password Tabs allows you to see passwords saved in Safari.

Omnibar is an added feature to Google Chrome in Mountain Lion. It integrates the address bar and search box including Google searches, favorites and history.

Messages replaces iChat. Lion users can try the beta version of Messages which is the same as iMessage on iOS but the final stable version only works on Mountain Lion. Amongst other things, Messages offers unlimited free iMessages, video conferencing with Facetime and photo/file sending.

Time Machine now allows you to select more than one hard drive to save backups. Time Machine can now also run in PowerNap mode, which allows the operating system to update itself while the computer is sleeping.

Software updates are now fully integrated with the Mac App Store and can be downloaded directly.

Game Center is the same as on iOS. Gaming is becoming increasingly important on OS X and Game Center allows you to download games, play against friends and save your progress. AirPlay will allow Mac and iOS users to play against one another. You can also share your scores on Facebook, Twitter, Mail, or Messages in OS X 10.8.2 Mountain Lion. Additional integration with Facebook includes being able to "like" individual games and challenge friends to beat your high scores.

iCloud Synchronization is far more extensive in Mountain Lion than Lion where synchronization is limited to favorites and history. Mountain Lion extends the capabilities of Mountain Lion allowing the synchronization of documents too. iCloud will also sync settings, tabs, and bookmarks between Mac and iOS devices.

Mail. Contacts and Calender are all in sync thanks to iCloud in Mountain Lion and you can now configure it Microsoft Exchange, Gmail and Yahoo!, Twitter, Flickr, Vimeo and AOL accounts. In addition, your Facebook friends' contact information and profile pictures will now appear in Contacts as well.

Other surprises in Mountain Lion

- The screensaver now includes the option to create iPhoto style presentations

- Screen Sharing allows you to easily share your screen with other Mountain Lion users.

- Printing has been simplified.

- Searching for words in the dictionary is simpler. Three clicks have been replaced by one.

- Launchpad and Dashboard include a search tool, making launching apps quicker.

- Mail includes a Safari style search tool but ditches support for RSS feeds.

- X11 goes the same way as Java: you have to install it separately.

- AirPlay now support mirroring to an AppleTV with up to 1080p resolution but only stereo sound. Users can now give presentations or watch video on a TV from their Macs using AirPlay.

Final thoughts

The last major change to OS X was OS X 10.5 Leopard. It was followed by a faster and more subtly improved Snow Leopard 10.6. OS X 10.7 Lion was then released in summer 2011 with most major changes related to how you control OS X via a Trackpad to create a more iOS experience. Everything then points towards the fact that Apple are likely to release a new OS X once a year, the same as iOS for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with OS X moving closer and closer to iOS with each release. Considering that the price of each OS X update has come down too, it’s foreseeable that future versions of OS X will be downloaded for free like iOS.

Naturally, this increasing move towards iOS will delight those that love using their iPhone and iPad. Those that prefer their mobile device and Mac to be treated as mainly separate user experiences, may not be so enthusiastic but Mountain Lion provides some great new functionality and is well worth the upgrade from Lion.

Download OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.4 in Softonic

Express Dictate is a simple but very effective dictation tool for Macs that allows you to record and send voice notes in seconds. Express Dictate works exactly like a dictaphone. You can add brief labels and notes to dictations so that you know what they're about and you can even import recordings made on a portable dictaphone by virtue of the Express Dictate 'Dock' feature.

Express Dictate records in WAV, MP3, or DCT formats and you can perform basic editing of your recordings without damaging the original, which is always archived. Another interesting feature is that, if you purchase the complete app, you also get a foot pedal which will assist secretaries in taking down dictations. Perhaps most usefully, there's a an inbuilt sender that allows you to instantly send recordings by email or FTP. This is ideal for those who want to send something more personal than just an email to friends and family.

Overall, Express Dictate is an excellent tool. The price tag may put some people off but if you're serious about dictation, you can't go far wrong with it.

Download Express Dictate for Mac 5.64 in Softonic

Please note that version 6 is now available for Safari but it can only be obtained by running software update in OS X 10.8. This download is for the last directly downloadable version 5.1.7.

Version 5 sees some exciting introductions such as a new Reader icon for easier reading in one page, faster page load times and vastly improved HTML5 support. All of the previous features in Safari, such as tabs on top for easier page management and Cover Flow to flip through your bookmarked sites iTunes style have been retained too.

If you're new to Safari, the first thing you'll notice is how clean it feels compared to many other browsers. There are no annoying toolbars or plugins installed and the result of this is that Safari looks trim and loads pages very quickly. The other benefit is that maximum space is given to the contents of your page rather than a chunky browser.

In the previous version of Safari, Apple introduced Top Sites which is one of the most impressive aspects of Safari. It shows a panoramic thumbnail view of your most visited sites in one screen. Just click on the window you want to visit that site. This certainly looks cool, although its day-to-day usefulness is questionable. It is a good way of tracking which sites you visit most frequently though and you can lock your favorite sites to one single position so that you'll always know where it is when you open Safari. Sites with a star in the corner denote those with new content.

Meanwhile Cover Flow lets you browse through your bookmarks presenting full page views of the sites as they looked the last time you browsed them. The principle is based on flipping through albums in iTunes. Again, this looks cool although usually, I don't really care what the site looked like the last time I visited it - I just want to get there as quickly as possible. What I do like is the History Search - just type a word and Safari throws up every single page it has cached with that word on - very useful when you can't remember where the hell you saw the name of that person or game.

Other handy features in Safari include Tabs on Top which makes it a little easier to access and open your tabs at the very top of Safari. You can even drag and drop tabs into another Safari window. Speed has always been of the essence in Safari and Apple have stepped up the pace with an enhanced Nitro engine which it claims executes Javascript 25% faster than the last version. It's certainly damn quick and I'm mighty impressed at how fast it's loading my favorite sites such as YouTube and the BBC (and Softonic of course!).

In this latest version of Safari, the most notable feature is the new Reader which allows you to view all of your content on one page although there is no way to change the font. There's also a new Bing search option for Safari's search field, in addition to Google and Yahoo! HTML5 support has been improved meaning you can now view HTML5 video in full screen plus HTML5 Geolocation features are now available to Safari users. Navigating in Safari has also been made much easier due to a more predictive URL bar which actually searches cached webpages for keywords and archiving of exactly when you viewed certain pages is more precise and refined.

In addition to these changes, all the standard features in Safari remain. By clicking on the RSS tag in the URL bar, you can get a view of all the posts in a feed, which you can present chronologically and get a detailed or a title view. There will be inevitably some programs and plugins - such as 1Password - that don't work with this new version of Safari but these issues will quickly be ironed out by the developers of respective software.

I love the look and speed of Safari but the lack of plugins available compared to Firefox and general instability issues mean that it's still going to be a while before Apple can lure me over to their browser.

Download Safari 6.0.5 in Softonic