One of the most powerful download managers for Mac

If you consider yourself a power downloader, than my suggestion is to get a proper download manager to handle and sort all those files. Speed Download is a good solution.

Speed Download was embroiled in a little controversy recently with the MacHeist Community, regarding the upgrade from version 4 to 5. We won’t delve into this here though and instead will focus simply on the application itself.

Fitted with a customizable interface similar to that of iTunes, Speed Download gives you immediate control over all your downloads. The best way to browse through your content, apart from the search box, is the left side of the interface. You can view your library elements, servers, folders and specific searches. To keep the application running but have it out of the way, simply use the mini-controller.

You can schedule downloads and auto-resume them, both individually or in queue. Speed Download also lets you share files via FTP with full encryption, and includes .Mac/iDisk/WEBDAV connectivity. Downloads are generally faster than in a browser and the really good thing is that you can have them in a separate application, so you can use your browser simply for visiting web sites.

One little issue we have with Speed Download is that it can use up quite a lot of RAM, so make sure you don’t go download crazy and start looking for hundreds of files. This is why queuing and organizing downloads is really important.

Speed Download is the perfect application for any download junky, thanks to advanced downloading features and a well designed interface.

New: Speed Download Extension to restore CMM functionality. New: Speed Download is now Intel only. Updated: Many performance tweaks.

Changes

• New: Speed Download Extension to restore CMM functionality. New: Speed Download is now Intel only. Updated: Many performance tweaks.

Speed Download 5 combines four amazing products — a turbo-charged download manager with auto-resuming downloads, a fully featured secure FTP client, a file sharing utility with full encryption, and complete .Mac/iDisk/WEBDAV connectivity — into one small and easy to use application.

Speed Download 5 also introduces a stunning new user interface option that feels right at home in Mac OS X and is designed to help you be even more productive with fewer mouse clicks hence, completely redefining what you can do with your time online. Introducing SD Minimized mode; a serious upgrade to the Speed Download floater. Fully supports drag n drop, completely resizable, customizable, and a whole lot more. In minimized mode, SD is even more discrete on your Mac. Save screen space, but not power!