Getting a video out has always been one of the best ways to while away an evening at home. However, these days few people choose to trudge down to the video store, preferring to download a movie, or plunder the near-infinite archives on popular video sharing sites such as YouTube and Google Video. Until recently it's been impossible to obtain movies from these sites without having to stream them online. However, Vdownloader is one of a number of programs changing that, allowing you to download these videos to your computer in AVI or MPEG format.

Essentially what this means is that you don't need to wait an age for popular videos to start streaming and can keep your favourites on your hard drive to watch at any time. This application does the job as simply as you could wish for. The executable makes a very small footprint and although the interface is very barren, it makes it easy to grab videos from YouTube, Google Video, Grinvi or DailyMotion very quickly. Basically all you need to do is copy and paste the link to the video into the box provided and hit ‘download'. Alternatively, you can browse the sites themselves by selecting the portal of your choice from the drop-down menu.

In one sense, the sparseness of the interface is an advantage, as it keeps things as clean and simple as possible. In another respect we were left wanting for extra features and options to help us peruse and download the videos we want. Practically the only setting you can tweak is the via the format dialog, allowing you to specify the format of the saved video (AVI or MPEG), the size of the video and the audio bitrate. We feel that the addition of a built-in video search tool or some video compression utilities would have lifted the program from being a good program to a great one.

Add to the fact that you can't download embedded movies like the ones you find on the front page of Google Video and you can't help feel frustrated that VDownloader doesn't do quite as much as it perhaps could. Having said this, the app is still in the early stages of development and the fact that it is so lightweight makes it prefect for those who want to grab video content with the minimum of fuss.

Download VDownloader 0.74 in Softonic

Creating customized DVD movies is a piece of cake with Droppix DVD Maker. The program takes care of everything so that you only have to worry about enjoying your favorite videos from the couch.

You can use any video files stored in your local drive (the program supports the most popular formats) or import videos right away from famous video websites like Youtube, Daily Motion or Google Video with just a single click. Droppix DVD Maker also includes several ready-to-use menu templates you can use to create personalized DVD menus, though the method to change them is not very well implemented (a double click on the current menu image would be much more intuitive than having to open the program's settings menu).

Another drawback to Droppix DVD Maker is the fact that you can't preview the video before converting and recording it to the actual disc, while other similar tools usually include a built-in player. At least the conversion process is easy and quite fast too.

Droppix DVD Maker lets you create customized DVD movies in a very easy way, but lacks some handy features found in other similar tools.

Download Droppix DVD Maker 1.5.0 in Softonic

Video is becoming an increasingly important element in multimedia creations, which means you need powerful tools to work with it in proper conditions.

CyberLink PowerDirector is probably your best option when choosing a decent video application. This program lets you create stunning video composition featuring videoclips, images, transition effects, clipart, text layers and of course, a personalized background soundtrack.

As complicated as it seems, the truth is that CyberLink PowerDirector is really easy to use. The main working area follows the standard interface design in video editors, which include a media library window to browse your multimedia library, a timeline to drag and drop elements for your creation and a preview window to check how everything looks when put all together.

CyberLink PowerDirector features all the necessary tools for the whole creative process, from assisting you in with the very first step (capturing video from several different sources) to adding the final touches to your creation (a totally customizable DVD-style menu).

When you’re done, you can save your video as a streaming file, write it back to the videotape or even upload it to Youtube straight away. The program also allows you to record the video on a CD or DVD.

CyberLink PowerDirector is the perfect combination of powerful features with an appealing, easy-to-use interface that will please power users and beginners alike.

Download PowerDirector 7.0.1829 Ultra in Softonic

Video is becoming an increasingly important element in multimedia creations, which means you need powerful tools to work with it in proper conditions.

CyberLink PowerDirector is probably your best option when choosing a video editor. This program lets you create stunning video compositions featuring videoclips, images, transition effects, clipart, text layers and, of course, a personalized background soundtrack.

As complicated as it seems, the truth is that CyberLink PowerDirector is really easy to use. The main working area follows the standard interface design in video editors, including a media library window to browse your multimedia collection, a timeline to drag and drop elements for your creation and a preview window to check how everything looks when put all together.

CyberLink PowerDirector features all the necessary tools for the whole creative process, from assisting you in with the very first step (capturing video from several different sources) to adding the final touches to your creation (a totally customizable DVD-style menu).

When you’re done, you can save your video as a streaming file, write it back to the videotape or even upload it to YouTube straight away. The program also allows you to record the video on a CD or DVD.

CyberLink PowerDirector is the perfect combination of powerful features with an appealing, easy-to-use interface that will please power users and beginners alike.

Download CyberLink PowerDirector 7.0.1915 Deluxe in Softonic

Have you ever been in a situation where you've viewed a video on YouTube and you know that it must have been cached on your hard drive somewhere but you can't find it?

If so, then you need VideoCacheView which can find cached FLV files from video sites such as YouTube and DailyMotion. VideoCacheView automatically scans your Internet Explorer or Firefox cache and finds all video files that are currently stored in it. It makes it easy to copy the cached video files into another folder so you can play or watch them whenever you want.

If your movie player can play FLV files it will play the video directly from your browser's cache. Alternatively, you can simply copy and paste the files into another folder so that they're easier to locate without VideoCacheView in the future. However, it's still hard to find the clips that you want because in your cache they've all got similar generic names.

VideoCacheView is a great way to find all those FLV files that you thought were lost forever on your hard drive.

Download VideoCacheView 1.21 in Softonic

VSO ConvertXtoDVD is an attractively designed and easy-to-use video burner that gives you the power to convert and burn a huge range of formats.

VSO ConvertXtoDVD can handle just about any format you throw at it including AVI, WMV, MKV, YouTube, OGM, MPEG and Quicktime. So instead of having to watch your downloaded films and videos on your PC, you can watch them in the comfort of your lounge on your DVD Player. VSO ConvertXtoDVD goes much further than just mere DVD creation though because it helps you create and author DVD menus.

It offers the possibility to add background video, image or audio and even have chapter and audio/subtitle menus. If you do want to add subtitles, it supports most of the major formats including SRT, .SUB/ID and .SSA and VSO CovertXtoDVD gives you control over color and font selection, and supports tags like italic, bold and the ability to toggle them on or off with DVD player remote control. The encoder makes a decent job of converting videos in terms of the output quality although it is slightly slow - estimate about 1 hour for conversion of a full movie.

A powerful and easy way to get your favourite movies and video clips onto DVD and give them an extra touch of class with a menu.

Download VSO ConvertXtoDVD 3.2.1.55 in Softonic

You've probably spent many hours pouring through the videos on YouTube and then the next day intended to go back and enjoy them again. However, often you either forget or simply find that it's been taken off due to a copyright violation. WebVideoCap solves this issue by prompting you to save FLV (Flash) video files every time you watch them.

Just enter your target URL and hit "Start Capture." When you've done browsing, you can see all your video files stored in the folder that you selected. WebVideoCap allows you to capture the video files of all the most popular video-sharing sites, including YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, iFilm, Metacafe, Putfile, and more.

For video fans and archivists, this is a simple but effective tool to make sure your videos are saved for good.

Download WebVideoCap 1.33 in Softonic

Download managers are one of the most important component of any PC users' tool kit since so many e-mails contains attachments that need to be downloaded on a daily basis.

That's not forgetting files and music and anything else that your hard drive accumulates during the day as you click away. Most people have a browser integrated download manager but sometimes, its nice to have a separate application to do the job in case your browser crashes and your downloads disappear with it.

Orbit Downloader is a fast, lightweight and easy-to-use free download manager which is usually based on P2P and multi-source downloading technology. This means that downloading with Orbit Downloader is usually super fast. Orbit Downloader supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, MMS and RTSP protocols although its developers claim that it can increase speeds by up to 500% are a bit far fetched. However, you may experience increases in speed of up to two or even three times as much using Orbit Downloader depending on the file and host.

What's also impressive is that Orbit Downloader is super lightweight occupying a very minuscule amount of RAM which is important if you've got multiple downloads running at once. Orbit Downloader has also got a handy Flash capture tool which allows you to save Flash video files from YouTube and DailyMotion etc without the need to use a separate video downloader.

Fast, easy to use and very lightweight, Orbit Downloader is a competitive alternative to any browser-integrated download manager.

Download Orbit Downloader 2.7.6 in Softonic

Many people spend hours on Youtube and other similar sites watching online videos. But wouldn't it be better to download them to your PC and watch them any time you like?

xVideoServiceThief is precisely the tool you need. This smart app lets you download online videos from more than fifty video sharing sites and convert them straight away from FLV to other popular video formats including AVI, WMV, MPEG, 3GP and MP4 (iPod-compatible format).

xVideoServiceThief is extremely easy to use. Just copy and paste the video URL from your favorite video site and it'll be added to the download list. You can then start downloading it right away or collect a few videos to download them all at the same time later on. This is quite convenient, as you can leave xVideoServiceThief working in the background while you keep on working on something else, and you'll get a notice window as soon as the download process is finished.

Like I said before, xVideoServiceThief supports more than fifty video sharing sites and allows you to block inappropriate content if necessary. The program also features a handy drag-and-drop window where you can directly paste the video URL. It would be even nicer if it recognized URL addresses when copied to the Clipboard though.

With xVideoServiceThief you can easily download and convert online videos from pretty much every video sharing site you know.

Download xVideoServiceThief 1.8.2 Alpha in Softonic

Flock is a browser for blogging and social network addicts. Based on the Mozilla infrastructure, it offers many features found in Firefox like tabbed browsing, quick RSS feed aggregation and customizable toolbars. Thanks to the web clipboard, you can copy any image or text you find on the net. Favorite links can be saved with tags and you can customize your own world, where you showcase your favorite sites, feeds and media. This brings us to one of the main features of Flock, the media bar, placed at the top of the browser. This tool lets you search and view any sort of media from sites like YouTube, Facebook or Flickr.

However the real strength of Flock comes in its social networking integration. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Xanga, Magnolia and more can be opened up from the "accounts and services" sidebar. Thanks to the people sidebar, you'll be able to quickly see all your friends from your different networks. Flock also offers up a blog editor, from which you can write up all your posts. News junkies will also like the RSS reader, also accessible from the sidebar.

While we were impressed with all the major improvements found in this new release of Flock, we felt that the sidebar was probably a bit overused. RSS feeds, social networks, favorites, and the web clipboard all open up in the sidebar, meaning you can't have them on all at once. The blog editor is a nice touch, but it's a shame that it doesn't allow you to upload images to your blog.

If your high on social networks, Flock is definitely the browser for you.

Download Flock 1.2.5 in Softonic

Have you ever wanted to search for and download your favourite videos without using your browser? Free FLV Converter lets you automatically access sites such as YouTube, DailyMotion, Google and Metacafé without opening anything else.

You can search by keyword and preview each video found in the rather basic interface and also download them in FLV format. After that, you can convert the files to AVI, IPod, IPhone, 3GP or PSP format. It also works vice versa and if the files in question are already in FLV format, it can convert to DivX, Xvid, MPEG, DVD and AVI with automatic HTML embed links. This means you can paste them into your website or blog to share instantly with the world. If you don't require these functions, the program interface still provides a convenient search platform because you can browse and watch videos at the same time. With just one click, you can download the video you are previewing. For ease of use, it allows you to create a download list of videos you want to save. Once it's complete, you can just leave the program to download the videos whilst you get on with something else although unfortunately, it still doesn't support batch downloading.

A very useful application for those who are not content with only having videos on the Internet but also want them on their hard drive but don't want to visit each video content site seperately.

Download Free FLV Converter 5.6 in Softonic

When I was younger I used to spend hours hanging around in chat rooms and meeting new people from all over the world.

Today I've had the chance to chat again, but in a slightly different way. I've used Weblin, a very original software app that works together with your web browser, enabling you to chat with the people who are visiting the same webpage as you. Also, your chat personality is more than just a plain nickname: it's a fully animated avatar that walks around the bottom bar of your browser window.

At the beginning it may be difficult to find people to chat with, but you can start by the program's "topcloud": a list of the most populated webpages that you can access from Weblin's icon in the system tray. Following this method I soon met some nice people on Youtube and had a short chat with them. Conversations can be held via text balloons or standard chat window, but I wasn't sure which one to use. On the one hand balloons behave in a strange way, as the text you send is not erased and you have to delete it before writing again; on the other hand, the chat window takes way too much space and it doesn't let me read webpages properly.

After chatting for a while, I started browsing Weblin's website and I was surprised to discover a highly detailed customization menu for your personal profile and avatar, which can't be found on the program's settings. So once you've registered your account, be sure to visit the site and explore it for yourself.

Generally speaking, I found Weblin a very original chat app where you can have fun and make friends. On the downside, having a dozen avatars sitting on a certain webpage really disturbs your web browsing.

An original way to chat with other people in your web browser, although certainly difficult to combine with actual web browsing.

Download Weblin 2.8.2.1 in Softonic

With so many devices to watch your programs on, it would sometimes be useful to have one universal interface through which to watch them all. Veoh Player provides exactly this enabling you to watch full-screen, DVD-quality videos on your computer, portable device, or TV.

Amongst it's many features, you can create your own library of video content, subscribe to video series, channels, or publishers similar to a virtual TiVo or SkyPlus system. You can also download and save videos from Veoh and from thousands of other websites including YouTube and Google Video.

Finding something to watch is quite easy - there's a TV-style guide or you can search via keywords or a remote control. Possibly the best feature of this program is that it 'learns' what you like to watch and recommends programs accordingly.

The downside of it is that it's designed specifically for the American market so options such as the Home Delivery service are redundant for users in other parts of the world. However, if you're a big fan of American TV series, you'll appreciate the fact that you can watch full-length episodes from ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX.

Download VeohTV 3.9.8.1077 in Softonic

Ares Tube is a multi-video downloader that comes with a built-in browser and allows you to save clips from YouTube, Google Video, MySpace, Blip TV, DailyMotion, Metacafe and many more sites that support FLV files.

Ares Tube automatically converts to IPOD, MP4 and MPEG so you can watch films on your iPod or external device. Alternatively, you can export downloaded videos automatically to iTunes. Simply surf to YouTube and Ares Tube will automatically prompt you to convert and import the file directly into iTunes.

When you connect your iPod , Ares Tube will automatically prompt you whether you want to transfer your converted files to your device. Note, however, that you'll have to install the .NET framework to use it, although if it's not installed the first time you use Ares Tube, you will be redirected to it.

Ares Tube is a great way to download FLV files from multiple sites without having to worry about which particular one it is.

Download Ares Tube 3.2 in Softonic

With TubeTilla you can easily download your favorite YouTube videos and convert them to MP3 and MP4 format in three easy steps.

TubeTilla converts YouTube videos to WMV, MP4, and MP3. You can then play these formats on your PSP, iPod, iPhone, Zune and with Windows Media Player. To use it just copy the link of the video into TubeTilla interface and the program then automatically converts everything to Mp3, WMV or Mp4 format.

For some reason however, the developer has not allowed users to convert to formats other than these, such as AVI or MPG. Previous versions of TubeTilla were subject to frequent bugs and crashes, but in this latest version it's much more stable. The big plus of this app of course is that it automatically converts as it downloads so it saves you a lot of time when your clips is on your hard drive.

TubeTilla is a solid attempt at an integrated YouTube downloader and converter in one although it could do with a few more conversion formats adding.

Download TubeTilla 3.0 in Softonic

If you want to download and convert videos from YouTube without having to spend ages doing so, look no further than this no-nonsense software. YouTube Catcher allows you to do everything (i.e. the downloading and conversion) from within the same window. All you need to do is input the link to the video and select the format you want to convert to and YouTube Catcher does the business for you - at a very quick pace to boot.

Rather handily, the program can also be used as a standalone file converter, letting you take a FLV file and transform it into a different format using a similar process. The program also dishes up a bevy of useful options, such as the ability to define the quality and resolution of the video, audio channels, codecs used and more. All in all, YouTube Catcher is a brilliant tool for quickly grabbing cool movies from the popular site.

Download YouTube Catcher 1.0.252 in Softonic

There are literally hundreds of utilities out there designed to download videos from the Net, mainly aimed at YouTube.

By it's name alone, DownUtube doesn't pretend to do anything else (although it does work with a few other sites too) but at least it does the job well. DownUtube allows you to download embedded videos and multimedia from Google Video, YouTube, Apple.com Movie Trailers and IMDB.

Like most good video downloaders, DownUtube features an integrated search facility to help you find videos on the various sites which means you don't even have to open a browser. It can also follow RSS feeds for your favourite users on YouTube. If you can't wait for your clip to download, then you can also play them because they download thanks to an integrated player called MPlayer. There are various bugs that need ironing out however - sometimes downloads will stop for no apprent reason even if your connection is fine and some videos can cause DownUtube to simply crash.

As a simple solution to your video downloading needs, DownUtube is a great search utility and downloader that eliminates the need for a browser.

Download DownUtube 3.0 Beta 3 in Softonic

Watching videos on YouTube can be a pain if you don't have a good connection or those pesky copyright owners have ordered the clips to be taken off.

Eusing Free YouTube Downloader Converter allows you to download videos from YouTube and convert them as soon as they are downloaded. This means that Eusing Free YouTube Downloader Converter converts videos to AVI, 3GP, MP4, MOV, WMV and other formats. Downloading and converting with Eusing Free YouTube Downloader Converter is pretty much a one-step process - simply enter the address of the video you want to download and Eusing Free YouTube Downloader Converter takes care of the rest.

The advantage of this is that you can play YouTube clips on iPod, PSP, iPhone, Mobile phone and many other portable devices. It can be configured to convert automatically to the format of your choice so that as soon as you've downloaded it, you're ready to go. It does, however, take a while to perform conversions and there doesn't seem to be any way to queue tasks.

If you're a big YouTube fan and don't want to mess about with a separate viewer and converter, Eusing Free YouTube Downloader Converter is a decent one-stop solution.

Download Eusing Free YouTube Downloader Converter 1.0 in Softonic

There's a huge trend at the moment for programs and applications that bring together content from several sites to save you the hassle of visiting them all.

That's exactly what Shiki Video Downloader attempts to do bringing together content from sites such as YouTube, DailyMotion, GoogleVideo and Metacafe. From the search results, you can then watch the videos directly on your desktop in the Shiki Player rather than, as the developers say, "a webpage full of annoying banners". However, it doesn't stop there. It also converts files into the format of your choice so for example, you can take your clips with you on the move. The number of formats you can convert to is rather limited but currently includes .mp4, .wmv, .avi, .mp3 and .aac. It also has special settings for those that want to convert content to work on iPod, Zune and iPhone.

The program interface looks very slick in black and it is nice just being able to search from such a huge amount of content. However, you'll find that search results are returned much slower than going directly to any of the video sites themselves.

Shiki Video Downloader is one hell of a package - search engine, video player and converter in one. Once the search speeds are improved, it will score much more highly.

Download Shiki Video Downloader 1.0.0.49 in Softonic

There are great sites on the Internet to watch videos, but most of them don't allow you to directly download those clips to your PC. A good option is having this extension installed on Firefox, enabling you to download embedded video files from a great variety of video sites all over the Internet.

Although it gave us some error messages (it wasn't able to find anything on a Youtube video page) Fast Video Dowloader is still a convenient tool to download embedded clips. It sits unobtrusively on Firefox's statusbar and saves video files in several formats, depending on which website you're downloading from.

Download Fast Video Download Firefox Extension 1.6.1 in Softonic