Speed Download
Review by: Katie
http://www.yazsoft.com
Price: $25 (free trial and switcher pricing available)

Speed Download is not only a fully-integrated, highly advanced, and full featured download manager but it's also a whole lot more and also boasts Safari, iTunes and .Mac Integration, a fully functional FTP client, and encrypted peer-to-peer file sharing for easy document sharing and collaboration. Speed Download is very intuitive and easy to use (you all know I never read a manual!) and the customization and options are nearly endless. The built-in filters give you maximum flexibility in keeping all your downloads organized into categories using smart lists (similar to the Finder's smart folders) so you can actually find your downloads when you're done with them rather than end up with a jumbled mess on your desktop.

As a download manager, Speed Download quietly sits between your web browser and your download folder and waits until you start to download a file. Once you do, you'll find that you have a great deal more control over your downloads than you would when using an ordinary web browser such as Safari or FireFox. For starters, you can auto-resume cancelled or stalled downloads, schedule downloads for a later date or time and keep track of all your file downloads.

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've been downloading a large file, been nearly finished, and for whatever reason I have to disconnect my computer or the transfer is otherwise interrupted. When using a normal web browser, chances are you'll have to restart the download all over again. But with Speed Download you can simply resume the download form where you stopped at a later time in the future. Or, if there are several items I want to download but I don't want to eat my bandwidth, I can simply schedule Speed Download to start downloading those files at a later time when I won't be using my computer. You can even have Speed Download shut down your computer when it's finished so your computer doesn't have to remain on while you're away. Speed Download will also allow you to resume a partial Safari download. For example, if you already started downloading something with Safari and for whatever reason it stopped, you can simply drag the incomplete Safari icon into Speed Download and it will resume.

While the benefits of using a download manager are great when using a high speed internet connection (such as Cable or DSL) imagine what a useful tool Speed Download is for people who are still using slower dial-up connections!

Speed Download is a whole lot more than just a download manger, it will also work as an FTP client allowing you to quickly upload and download files from a server with all the great Speed Download advanced features discussed above, and it also integrates with Apple iLife including iTunes and .Mac If you're a .Mac member you've no doubt noticed that transferring large files to your iDisk or to another member's public folder can be a painfully slow processes, even on a high-speed connection. It's a problem that has gotten better with every OS update, but it's still not where it needs to be. When I upload a large file to my iDisk using the finder the file will appear to quickly and miraculously upload, but then it will sit at the "less than one minute remaining" mark for an eternity as the file is really transfered. With it's built in iDisk and .Mac integration Speed Download allows you bypass the finder and quickly upload files to your iDisk with true realistic estimates of time. And as always, if a file transfer is taking more time than you have, you can always pause and resume later, or schedule it for a convenient time when you won't be using your computer.

In addition to one-way downloads or uploads, you can also initiate secure file sharing transfers with either other Speed Download users on your network or remotely. You can configure access to only a set group of users, keeping your Mac secure, and get a very effective use of bandwidth compared to other and sometimes more nefarious peer-to-peer filing sharing programs. (Note that peer-to-peer file sharing is intended only for sharing of your own documents and creations and not to facilitate any illegal activity.) Again, you have all the included Speed Download benefits of scheduling, auto-resuming downloads, etc.

Speed Download is a universal binary and will work on both PowerPC and Intel Based macs.The latest version of speed download works with OS 10.4.6, any popular Mac OS X browser and any internet connection. If you have an older OS, other versions are available that will be compatible with your system. If you're still not convinced that Speed Download is for you, I encourage you to download a free trial version of he software