Tools, utilities, and drivers

Just days after its release, one of the most high-profile iOS jailbreaks turns out to be the fastest to be adopted too.

Evasi0n, which gives iPhone, iPod, and iPad owners deeper access to the software on their devices than Apple allows, has been downloaded and used by nearly 7 million people since its release on Monday, Forbes reports.

To put that figure in perspective, Apple last month said that it had sold more than 500 million iOS devices cumulatively, and that 300 million of those were running iOS 6 -- its latest major release.

The 7 million tally comes from … Read more

For most computer users, the idea of having malware or adware creeping onto your machine has become an accepted fate that comes with being online. More-tech-savvy users can manage to stay clean for a while but, like the flu, everybody gets it eventually. Whether it was through a questionable e-mail sent by a friend or from a moment of weakness when you clicked on that video link promising playful kittens, suddenly you find your beloved computer starting to behave strangely. It might be a quick process; it might not happen right away, but you will know right away something is … Read more

Apple has released a set of EFI firmware updates to address a rare problem where some systems might unexpectedly shut down or stop functioning after the battery has been used extensively.

Apple's determines battery health in part by the number of charge cycles it has been through (one charge cycle being a sum of partial charges that equates to one full charge), and depending on the system claims that batteries should last between 300 and 1,000 charge cycles. However, a rare problem in some systems might result in a nonfunctional computer if the system detects that 1,000 … Read more

If you access your computer remotely, then services like Apple's "Back to my Mac" have their conveniences; however, this and similar services are useful for individual machines only. On the other hand, if you have more than one device on your home network that you might wish to directly access, then using a virtual private network is beneficial as it places your system on your home's network so you can communicate with devices as if you were at home.

Often the implementation of this is to use a hardware-based VPN (likely built into your home router) … Read more

In 2010, we began a year-end program to recognize the most popular software on Download.com. In 2011, we got a little crazy, recognizing the top 11 programs in Windows and Mac, as well as the top 11 programs in the top 11 software categories.

In 2012, we return to Earth with a more classic list of the top 10 most downloaded software programs in our 10 most popular categories for Windows and Mac. The total download count for this distinction is based on the period from January 1, 2012 to December 14, 2012. Congratulations to all of this year'… Read more

Apple today released another minor update to iOS 6 that promises to fix a Wi-Fi issue affecting its newest devices.

The software, which went out this morning to the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini, says simply that it "fixes a bug that could impact Wi-Fi." No additional features or security fixes are part of the update, according to the company's release notes.

The update comes just a day after Apple gave developers a fourth beta of iOS 6.1. That software, which is expected by the end of the year, or shortly thereafter, brings new boarding pass … Read more

Those of you bought a Mac in the latter portion of this year may want to check out a new Wi-Fi update from Apple.

Released yesterday, the Mac Wi-Fi Update 1.0 for "all late 2012 Mac systems" is meant to improve compatibility with devices that tap into your network's 5GHz band. The update specifically supports Macs running OS X 10.8.2, currently the latest version of OS X.

Users can download the update directly from their Macs through the Software Update option or by grabbing it from Apple.

The 5GHz band is found on dual-band … Read more

Released yesterday, Adblock Plus for Android offers a no-nonsense way to completely remove ads from your mobile computing experience. Simply download and install the app, and let it run behind the scenes. From there, you should notice that display ads, video ads, push notifications, and even many in-app ads are no more.

So far, I've seen AdBlock Plus kill ads on several Web sites, including Google, and within the ad-supported Pandora app. According to its developers, though, AdBlock Plus does not work when browsing with Firefox for Android, since Firefox does not support Android's system proxy settings.

Adblock … Read more

Apple's computers are not the cheapest in the world, but are highly desired and as a result many people purchase their Macs secondhand through auction sites like eBay and Craigslist. Unfortunately in most cases these systems are old enough that their warranties have expired, so if something goes wrong after your purchase you might need to spend more cash to have it fixed.

Under the circumstances, it is best to give any used Mac a thorough check before you decide to purchase it. (Obviously, it would be hard to do this for most online purchases.) I've covered this … Read more