Software : Round up: Best YouTube video downloaders 2016 |
- Round up: Best YouTube video downloaders 2016
- Round up: Best free anti-spyware and anti-malware software 2016
- Instagram may turn its black-and-white filter on itself
| Round up: Best YouTube video downloaders 2016 Posted:  IntroductionYouTube's streaming is superb, offering the best quality for your current connection. But what happens if you're going somewhere where connectivity is weak or non-existent? Have no fear; with the right YouTube downloader you can save streams for offline viewing. Before we proceed it's important to note that you should only download videos for criticism, review or when you have the copyright owner's permission to do so. YouTube's terms of service explicitly prohibit unauthorised downloading. It's also important to note that many of these programs will install bundled software toolbars, default search engines and so on if you're not careful with their installers' 'Next' and 'Accept' buttons. None of these apps currently include malware or non-removable adware, but many of their rivals do. Be careful out there. Freemake Video Converter
It burns to DVD and Blu-ray too if you've got the appropriate hardware. If you're looking for a do-everything video app, this should definitely be on your shortlist. This flexibility makes Freemake our top YouTube downloader. Read on to discover nine more of our favourite programs for saving videos to your PC, smartphone or other devices. Any Video Converter
Any Video Converter aims to be a kind of Swiss Army Knife for video: not only does it download videos, but it can burn DVDs and record video, convert audio and video to and from more than 60 different file formats and even add effects. It isn't the fastest converter around (the free version isn't optimised for multi-core processors) but as a downloader it's fast enough, although if you don't pony up £37 for the Pro version you're limited to one download at a time. It's a useful program for getting YouTube clips onto devices such as PSPs and smartphones. aTube Catcher
Like Any Video Converter, aTube Catcher can do lots of things: in addition to video downloading it can create and convert all kinds of video, find clips you've watched from your internet history and merge multiple files together. There's even a screen recorder which can grab video as it's playing, which is handy for making screencasts. It's very quick and offers a huge range of output options, and it's nice to have parallel downloading and multi-core processing in a freeware program. Not only that, but its requirements are modest: the system requirements go back as far as Windows 98. Clip Converter
Clip Converter is a website rather than an app. Simply paste your URL, choose the format - MP4 / 3GP / AVI / MOV for video, or MP3 / M4A / AAC for audio - and then choose the quality. For YouTube, you can download HD up to 1080p and 4K if it's available, and the process couldn't be simpler. File conversion can be slow at times, so the email notification option is a nice thing to have; it pings you when the conversion is complete and ready for download. If you're simply looking for a quick, clean, single-video downloader Clip Converter is one to bookmark. Free YouTube Download
The installer is a little too keen on adding bundled software, but Free YouTube Download is very good and completely free. Its focus is on the downloading rather than converting files from one format to another, so you get a good multi-stream download manager for grabbing several clips simultaneously. It can download files of up to 8K resolution (in MKV) and convert to AVI and MP4. If you're in a hurry, there's also an online YouTube to MP3/MP4 converter on the developer's website. Download Free YouTube Download SaveFromNet
Downloading YouTube videos doesn't get much simpler than SaveFromNet. Copy your clip's address, paste it into the box and choose your download format. And that's pretty much it. It's nice to see the option to include subtitles (where available), and you can download in MP4, WebM, FLV, 3GP and audio. If you like the service there's a browser helper extension that adds a SaveFromNet download button to YouTube itself for even easier downloading. The helper extension also works for Facebook video and various international video sites. Ummy Video Downloader
Ummy Video Downloader is designed to do just one thing, and that's download YouTube videos and save them as video or audio files. The interface is clean and good-looking, and in a nice touch it grabs the video's main image to use as a backdrop while the clip downloads. It can save as FLV, MKV, MOV, AVI, MP3 and MPG, it doesn't gobble up system resources and it's completely free. It doesn't have the extensive file conversion options of some other YouTube download apps, but it covers the basics perfectly well. Download Ummy VIdeo Downloader YTD Video Downloader
YTD Video Downloader comes in two flavours: Basic, which is free, and Pro, which is £18.90 (about AU$36, US$28) per year. Basic doesn't get multiple simultaneous downloads, download acceleration or an ad-free interface but it does cover the basics: it downloads from YouTube and more than 60 other video sites, it can convert to WMV, AVI, MP3 and iPhone, and it can resume failed downloads if your connection drops mid-download. The free version's installer is very keen on giving you bundled software you almost certainly don't want, but the app itself isn't too ad-heavy. VideoGrabby
Sometimes you don't want too many options; you just want to paste and go. That's clearly the thinking behind VideoGrabby, which gives you just two options: download video or download music. The downloads are MP4 for video and MP3 for music, and if there's a high quality version of the clip an extra HQ button will appear at the bottom of the page.It works with other sites too, such as Vimeo and Soundcloud, and it's very, very fast. If you don't go for the HQ option, your download appears almost instantly. Keepvid
Another online YouTube downloader, KeepVid is both very good and very bad: good in that it offers a decent range of download options (MP4, 3GP, WebM, audio) and bad because it has those ads with fake download buttons in the centre of the screen in what looks like a deliberate attempt to get you to click on them. We're not anti-advertising - developers have to eat - but that's rather deceptive. Ignore the fake buttons, however, and you've got a fast and friendly YouTube downloader that's useful for grabbing things quickly. Have we missed any of your favourite YouTube downloaders? Let us know in the comments below. |
| Round up: Best free anti-spyware and anti-malware software 2016 Posted:  IntroductionUsing an internet-connected PC without anti-spyware and anti-malware protection is rather like walking through the bad bit of town covered in bling, waving big wads of notes around and shouting "I am very bad at fighting!" Luckily you don't need to have big wads of notes to ensure that you don't get ripped off through your router or mugged via modem: as we'll discover in our feature, there are plenty of seriously good PC protection apps that you can get for absolutely nothing. As with any free software, pay close attention to the installers: some apps really want you to install bundled software, and they often do so by making installer screens really misleading in the hope that you'll just merrily click okay to everything. Given that the whole point of these apps is to remove unwanted software from your system, trying to stuff unwanted apps into your PC is a bit off. BitDefender Anti-Virus Free Edition
Ad-free, nag-free and hassle free, it's a great product that runs quickly and silently while you get on with something more interesting. Download BitDefender Anti-Virus Free Edition Its comprehensive suite of tools to protect your PC makes BitDefender our top pick. Read on to discover nine more of the best free anti-spyware and anti-malware programs. Ad-Aware Free Anti-Virus+
Like many security software firms, Lavasoft offers its Ad-Aware Free Anti-Virus+ software in a free version in the hope you'll upgrade to its paid-for products - so it doesn't have some of the more advanced features you'd pay money for, such as phishing protection, parental controls and a digital file shredder. What it does have, however, more than covers the essentials: it scans downloads, checks for spyware, offers safe browsing via a list of known malicious websites and has a game mode so security notifications don't interrupt your frag-fests. Not bad for no money. Download Ad-Aware Free Anti-Virus+ Avast Free Anti-Virus 2016
Avast is another old-timer, and has been protecting Windows since PCs were made of wood. Avast Free Anti-Virus 2016 is the lightest, fastest version the company has ever shipped (the bad old days of security software slowing your PC to a crawl are thankfully long gone) and it supplements the anti-malware protection with a nifty password manager and home network monitoring, which can identify weak points in your Wi-Fi. As with most free products, not all the goodies are available for nothing, so for example if you want anti-phishing protection or spam filtering you'll need the paid-for version, but the free edition is still a very comprehensive security package. Download Avast Free Anti-Virus 2016 AVG Anti-Virus Free 2016
If you prefer security software that keeps quiet, AVG Anti-Virus Free 2016 might not be the app for you: it's quite vocal with its notifications, and annoys us from time to time with irrelevant pop-ups telling us we've done something fantastic. As a security app, though, it's very good. The dashboard is user-friendly, there's protection not just from downloadable threats, but from dodgy links too, and you can use your mobile to scan your PC remotely, which is pretty clever. The paid-for Pro model has more security options - it has more robust download protection, offers data encryption includes a firewall - but the free version offers decent protection for most PC users. Download AVG Anti-Virus Free 2016 Emsisoft Emergency Kit
Most security software tries to stop malware and spyware getting onto your system. Emsisoft Emergency Kit doesn't: it's the 911 call of security software, the app you use when your PC's been poked by something unpleasant. It's designed to be portable, an app you carry around with you on a USB stick, and its system requirements are tiny: just 200MB of RAM, so it'll run quite happily on any PC with 1GB or more system memory. With 2 million malware signatures, Emisoft Emergency Kit can restore almost any infected PC to rude health. Download Emsisoft Emergency Kit Hijack This
Originally developed by Trend Micro and now available via SourceForge, Hijack This isn't an app for the faint of heart or tech-phobic: it generates an exceptionally detailed report on your system, enabling you to spot potential problems and malicious software. It's very fast and very thorough, but it's about malware methods rather than specific products. It tells you what's going on and it's your job to interpret it and take action. In the wrong hands, that power could be disastrous. This is one for experienced users only. MalwareBytes Anti-malware
You can use MalwareBytes Anti-malware free for as long as you like, but there's an important caveat: real-time protection, the fast "hyper scan" mode and malicious website blocking features all expire after 14 days - and that means you're missing out on some of the program's best features. MalwareBytes has a deserved reputation for destroying malware that other programs miss, and its chameleon technology - which once again expires after a fortnight in the free version - means it's less susceptible to attacks that deliberately target security software. Think of the free version as a short-term saviour or a test drive; the best version of the app costs £19.95 (about US$29.15, AU$38.32) per year. Download MalwareBytes Anti-malware Panda Free Anti-Virus 2016
We're big fans of Panda's security products, and Panda Free Anti-Virus 2016 is smarter than ever before. It's cloud-based, with all the heavy lifting happening on Panda's servers - so the load on your PC is lessened considerably. As ever there are paid products that offer more features - Wi-Fi scanning, password management, encryption, parental controls and so on - but it offers excellent real-time protection and it's ridiculously simple to use. Download Panda Free Anti-Virus 2016 SpyBot Search and Destroy
SpyBot Search and Destroy is a veteran of the malware wars, dating back to the first adware in 2000, and while it doesn't scan for viruses - that's in the Home version, which is $13.99 (about £9.58, AU$18.39) - the free version does a decent job of finding and fixing adware, malware and spyware. It's more of a system repair tool than a system protection tool, however, and you need to be careful where you get it from: there are fake versions in circulation which are designed to cause damage, not fix it. Download SpyBot Search and Destroy SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition
Not just anti-spyware - SUPER anti-spyware. Does it live up to the name? Yes and no. SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition lacks real-time protection and scheduled scanning, so it's a tool you need to remember to run manually, and the interface appears to have been designed in the dark by maniacs. The core product is a good one though, with lots of scanning options, registry repair, behavioural scanning and daily threat updates. It's not super, but it's pretty good. Download SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition Have we missed any of your favourite anti-spyware programs? Let us know in the comments below. |
| Instagram may turn its black-and-white filter on itself Posted:  The blue, black and white days of Instagram might become 33% less chromatic, as leaked screens showing the app's next update posit a stark, black-and-white interface to come. A tip to The Verge points towards a cleaned-up app, which is apparently being focus-tested in smaller groups before a public release.
In addition to stripping the color - save for your feed of images - the update also simplifies the icon bar at the bottom of the app in a way we can only describe as "iOSian." An Instagram representative told the site that the new look is currently "a design test only." Feedback from the community will likely decide if the future of Facebook's photo-sharing service is bright, albeit colorless, or if the blues will stick with the app for a bit longer. |
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