2010 has been one heck of a year for software development. We've seen scores of great new apps released and major updates for many of our favorites. "Release early, iterate often" has become the norm -- with alpha and beta downloads coming at us fast and 0.1 becoming the new 1.0.
The speed of change with some apps has been mind-boggling at times. Can you believe that Google Chrome's stable channel began this year at version 3? Let's take a look at some of our favorite apps which released major updates or debuted in 2010!
Winamp
Winamp also added some killer
discovery features and was one of the first applications to support Google's new
WebM container for video. There's also a new podcast directory powered by MediaFly, Windows 7 shell integration, and iTunes library sync.
Download Winamp
CCleaner 3.0
We were excited to see some major changes added to one of our favorite utilities when CCleaner 3.0 arrived. In addition to an intelligent cookie scan, new secure disk wipe tool, and Windows 7 jump list support, CCleaner also added a native 64-bit version.
Download CCleaner 3.X
Adobe Flash Player 10.X
Adobe's plug-in took a beating all year long, both from Apple devotees and exploit seekers, but the company did finally come through with
hardware acceleration support and a
beta version for 64-bit browsers. The newer versions of Flash Player also play nice with your browser's private browsing mode and offer greatly improved quality-of-service features. Now if we could just get all the Flash creators out there to make sure they optimize their projects and stop manhandling our CPUs...
Download Flash Player
ImgBurn
With an improved
disc layout editor and a snazzy new set of default icons, Lightning UK continued to add polish to ImgBurn in 2010. Blu-ray support was also improved, and loads of bugs and compatibility issues were corrected along the way.
Download ImgBurn
uTorrent
Still the most popular torrent app by a country mile, uTorrent hit version 2 and gave users an updated interface,
an App Store, boss key support, and, of course, promos for the BitTorrent-only sci-fi series
Pioneer One.
Download uTorrent
Dropbox
The popular (and still relatively young) cloud storage and sync app finally shed its beta tag and
hit version 1.0. Along the way, Dropbox added simple sharing links and selective sync, got better at memory management, and greatly improved its sync engine.
Download Dropbox
InSync
Dropbox is a great app, but
InSync is worth a closer look for those of you who use Google Docs on a regular basis. Once you've installed InSync, you'll have ready offline access to all the documents you've stored previously on Google Docs. Make a change offline, and InSync automatically uploads the updated file. InSync is still in closed beta, so you'll need to register and wait for access to give it a try.
Sign up for the InSync Beta
Ubuntu One Sync
Wait, a Ubuntu app -- for Windows? Yes indeed. Canonical is serious about competing with Microsoft, and they also know that means they've got to play nice with Windows. The
introduction of a Windows client for Ubuntu One is a significant move for Canonical, and one that makes it easy for Ubuntu users to access their cloud files even when they must work in Windows.
Register for the Ubuntu One Sync Beta
VirtualBox
With its branding changed to bear the Oracle moniker, 2010 was also the year VirtualBox hit version 4. With
newly-added extension support, disk resizing, virtual machine shortcuts, and a re-tooled interface, VirtualBox 4 is a solid upgrade over its predecessor. Scores of maintenance releases this year also improved performance and stability and improved VirtualBox's Guest Additions.
Download VirtualBox
MetroTwit
Many of us don't need a big, multi-site app just for keeping an eye on our Twitter streams. MetroTwit offers a clean interface and loads of handy features like username and hashtag auto-completion, URL expansion and auto-shortening for pasted links, desktop notifications, and loads more. It's hard to believe Long Zheng and Co. only dropped the first beta back in May.
Download MetroTwit
Skype
Despite the
recent outage, Skype is still king of the hill when it comes to Internet voice and video chat. This year the company
added group video calls, Facebook contact integration, improved quality of service controls, automatic call recovery, and better screen sharing.
Download Skype (from FileHippo)
Windows Live Essentials 2011
Microsoft's Live application bundle is packed with apps like Windows Live Mail, Messenger, Movie Maker, Photo Gallery, Live Mesh, and Family Safety, and the 2011 versions offer loads of new features and improvements. From Facebook integration in Messenger to a more Outlook-like Live Mail to easy online sharing with Movie Maker and Photo Gallery, Live Essentials 2011 is a nice suite of applications.
Download Windows Live Essentials
Mozy
Apart from offering faster uploads and an improved interface, Mozy 2.0 brought one very, very important addition. The backup tool began offering 2X Protect, which allows users to simultaneously upload to the Mozy cloud and save to an external hard drive. Redundancy is a key component of maintaining good backups, after all!
Download Mozy
FluffyApp
CloudApp caused quite a stir when it arrived for Mac -- and while the same can't be said for its Windows cousin, FluffyApp is still a great little screenshot sharing tool. It's also good at sharing files and URLs, too -- just drag and drop them onto the cloud icon in your system tray!
Download FluffyApp
Malwarebytes
MBAM was already an amazing malware clean-up tool for Windows, and the
arrival of version 1.5 made it even better. With faster scanning speeds and improved detection rates, Malwarebytes remains our "tank" when we need to do battle with malicious software
Download Malwarebytes
Immunet Protect, Microsoft Security Essentials, and Panda Cloud Antivirus
With the Internet threat landscape changing faster than ever, it's nice to know that the developers we rely on to protect us are doing their best to make sure we
stay protected. This year we saw big improvements from a number of security apps -- like top-rated
Microsoft Security Essentials, Panda's lightweight
Cloud Antivirus, and
Immunet Protect, the first "companion antivirus" program.
Download Immunet Protect
Download Microsoft Security Essentials
Download Panda Cloud Antivirus
Freemake Video Converter
Searching for software to convert videos for viewing on your iPad, iPhone, or Android device can lead you to some pretty scary places on the Internet. When we find a good, hassle-free app that gets the job done with no strings attached, we're happy campers. That's the case with
Freemake Video Converter -- which can download Web clips and convert just about any video for playback on just about any device.
Download Freemake Video Converter
VLC
The geek-favorite media player delivered several new features this year, from
hardware acceleration, to WebM support, to extension support, to
Game Music Engine playback. It's a great video app to recommend to your friends and family -- especially the ones who keep getting tricked into installing bogus codecs and asking you to fix their computers.
Download VLC
Teamviewer
Ahh, Teamviewer... How we love the way you provide hassle-free connections to remote computers.
Version 6 makes it even easier to support your friends and family (or access your personal computers at home) with features like "reconnect after reboot" and improved looks and performance.
Download Teamviewer
Soluto
The "anti-frustration" application debuted at Disrupt this year, and its
social take on PC maintenance has a lot of potential. Right now, Soluto focuses on helping you improve your system's startup speed -- though it's a safe bet that their development team is going to be adding more frustration-busting features in 2011.
Download Soluto
Easus Partition Master
At this stage of the game, supporting 64-bit Windows versions is a must -- which is why we were excited when
Easus Partition Master added x64 support to its free disk partitioning tool. It's a great tool which offers some very useful features you won't find in the Windows Disk Management snap-in.
Download Easus Partition Master
Dexpot
You may not have heard of Dexpot before -- it's a lightweight utility for creating additional virtual "screens" for your Windows desktop. Virtual desktops have been a Linux staple for ages, but they can be incredibly useful on Windows, too -- especially since
Dexpot added super-slick Windows 7 taskbar integration features in its updates this year.
Download Dexpot
HTC Home
One thing I liked about my HTC Incredible from the get-go was its snazzy weather and time widget. HTC Home brings a similar experience to your Windows desktop -- and it packs a nice mix of functionality and good looks.
Download HTC Home
Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 9, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera 11
Few programs underwent as many changes this year as the big four Windows Web browsers. Google, Mozilla, and Opera pushed more updates than you could shake a stick at, and Microsoft finally delivered their first public downloads of a much-improved Internet Explorer. As 2010 winds down, all four browsers have delivered increases in speed and security, new privacy features, support for emerging HTML5 specifications, and paved the way for more desktop-like 3D experiences on the Web.
Due to so many changes and updates this year, all four browsers are very nearly as good as each other. If you're still using IE8 -- or something even older -- you should really consider picking up one of the browsers below.
Download Google Chrome
Download Internet Explorer 9 beta
Download Mozilla Firefox 3.6 or
Firefox 4.0 beta
Download Opera 11
Tags: apps, ccleaner, chrome, dropbox, easeus, features, firefox, google chrome, GoogleChrome, imgburn, insync, live essentials, LiveEssentials, MSE, opera, security essentials, SecurityEssentials, soluto, windows
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Comments
12
Subscribe to commentsJonDec 30th 2010 12:43PM
Another awesome app you could have mentioned is "Stardock Fences". Should have honorable mention.
frankygeekboyDec 30th 2010 2:19PM
@Jon I would say "Rocketdock", is one of the best apps too!
lehenryjrDec 30th 2010 9:17PM
I use pretty much all these applications with Windows, but I haven't heard of Dexpot; I'll have to make an attempt to try that one.
Nice list.
Thank you,
Larry Henry
aimsharvathDec 30th 2010 5:58PM
Nice call on MetroTwit! That one seems to have slipped under my radar. I've always suspected that I would like TweetDeck if it weren't programmed in Adobe AIR. It's seemingly impossible to get AIR apps to play nice with the scroll wheel.
I'm surprised by the number of programs I've seen in 2010 that struck me as beautiful. In the past, a program had to limit it's functionality for the sake of a clean GUI, but developers seem to have finally found a middle ground. These are good times for enthusiasts and new users alike, minus that whole "rogue anti-virus" trend...
FreezerDec 30th 2010 6:42PM
I've heard such great things about Security Essentials, especially with the newest upgrade... to bad the damn thing refuses to install .
quentinjaypDec 31st 2010 2:51AM
My dad is friends with the Vice President of engineering and Co-founder of Immunet...Alfred Huger. He worked at Mcafee as a VP for a bit then had a company called SecurityFocus that was later bought out by Symantec. He then worked for Symantec as a VP of some sort. Then he went on to start co-found this company and quit his position at Notron. I have never met the man in person, but my father speaks very highly of him.
mohsenu88Dec 31st 2010 3:19AM
thank you and have a great holiday
mohsenu88Dec 31st 2010 4:01AM
@mohsenu88
i also tried freemake video converter and just loved it,thanks a million
KaraDec 31st 2010 12:45PM
Rainmeter!?!!
wizgiJan 4th 2011 9:19PM
agree with Jon, Fences is a must have. Especially at work.
samialtasJan 19th 2011 9:48AM
Unity doesn't feel like a desktop OS. It may be a great UI for netbooks but not for other PCs...
AWFeb 20th 2011 5:21PM
KMPlayer is definitely the player that plays the most. Even video that is damaged or is still being downloaded. It has lots of nice features and is good looking where VLC has stayed the same.