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Utilities & Operating Systems for Mac

From driver downloads to registry cleaners, CNET Download.com features all the latest utilities and drivers. Whether you're looking for FTP clients, compression utilities, or software to back up your hard drive, CNET Download.com has you covered. See all 3,246 in this category.

Most Popular

New Release

Editors' Picks

for the week of: March 31, 2013

TitleDownloads
  1. 1.
    RAR Expander

    File Compression

    7,981
  2. 2.
    Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard

    Operating Systems & Updates

    3,828
  3. 3.
    CNET TechTracker

    Operating Systems & Updates

    3,804
  4. 4.
    Dropbox

    Data Transfer & Sync Software

    3,526
  6. 5.
    MacZip

    File Compression

    2,552
  7. 6.
    The Unarchiver

    File Compression

    2,326
  8. 7.
    Apple Mac OS X Lion

    Operating Systems & Updates

    2,273
  10. 8.
    StuffIt Expander

    File Compression

    2,141
  11. 9.
    OnyX (Snow Leopard)

    Maintenance & Optimization

    1,955
  12. 10.
    Disk Inventory X

    File Management

    1,946

See all most popular software

for the week of: March 31, 2013

Title Release date
  1. 1. StatsBar Apr 05

    System Utilities

  2. 2. Disk Doctor Apr 05

    File Management

  3. 3. Cloud Mate Apr 05

    File Management

  4. 4. Lingon X Apr 05

    Automation Software

  5. 5. Express Zip Free Mac Compression Software Apr 05

    File Compression

  6. 6. FileFort Free Mac Backup Software Apr 05

    Backup Software

  7. 7. Dropbox Apr 05

    Data Transfer & Sync Software

  8. 8. CleanApp Apr 04

    File Management

  9. 9. Mountain Lion Cache Cleaner Apr 04

    Maintenance & Optimization

  10. 10. LaunchControl Apr 04

    System Utilities

See all new releases

for the week of: March 31, 2013

Title
  1. 1.
    SuperDuper

    Backup, clone, and restore your information.

  2. 2.
    Apple Mac OS X Lion

    Mac operating system for Intel-based Macs.

  3. 3.
    Carbon Copy Cloner

    Clone, synchronize, backup files.

  4. 4.
    Caffeine

    Menu bar item to temporarily disable sleep & screen savers.

  5. 5.
    Data Rescue

    Do-it-Yourself Data Recovery Software.

  6. 6.
    Drive Genius

    Speed Up, Clean Up and Optimize Your Mac.

  7. 7.
    Yasu

    Run system shell scripts to perform maintenance routines and clear cache files.

  8. 8.
    iStat Menus

    Monitor your computer, from memory usage to Bluetooth status.

  9. 9.
    AppleJack

    Troubleshooting tool that runs in single-user mode.

  10. 10.
    VMware Fusion

    Run Windows & other x86 operating systems side-by-side with Mac OS X.

See all editor's picks

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An introduction to Utilities & Operating Systems

Have you ever added a TV tuner card to your computer, only to have the DVD drive stop working? Maybe you've tried to install software and gotten an error message such as "The file foofah.dll is missing or damaged." The only time most people will need to deal with a driver is when something goes awry. Essentially, a driver is a piece of software that communicates the special needs of a hardware device or software application to an operating system. Windows comes with most of the drivers you need, but sometimes plugging in a new device--such as a digital camera or printer--will trigger a search for drivers. If the maker of your device doesn't offer drivers on its Web site, try searching our library for the name of the device or corrupted DLL.

This category is also the home of popular programs such as the top-rated SmartFTP Client, which made our list of the best free utilities. Installing and uninstalling software, deleting files, and other daily tasks can take a toll on your computer's performance. To test how well your PC is running, try a benchmarking program such as SANDRA Lite. Cleaning out the dead wood with a system optimizer such as Ace Utilities or System Mechanic will straighten out some Registry problems, improve system speed, and free up disk space. Don't forget to back up your data regularly with something like Second Copy so you can replace any files you regret erasing, such as the driver for your nVidia ForceWare Graphics card.

File-compression tools include the classic WinZip and the newcomer WinRAR, which are both excellent shareware products that provide lots of free functionality. Among the wide variety of software within Tools & Utilities, you'll find bookmark managers such as Bookmark Buddy, download managers such as Download Accelerator Plus, file-sharing tools such as LimeWire or Morpheus, and search tools such as Google Desktop.