Month: December 2012

New Year resolutions: apps we’re dumping in 2013

What are you going to give up in 2013? Smoking? Candy? Working too hard? How about you give up the software and apps that are making your life a misery or which just aren’t cool anymore?

The international editorial team at Softonic met to decide which are the apps that will not follow us into the New Year. For one reason or another we’re making a conscious effort to try to make a clean break from these apps in 2013, whether it’s because we’re ethically opposed to a developer’s practices, we’ve found a better solution, or we’re just sick of looking at overly-edited pictures of feet!

Read out our list, and then tell us the programs that you will can in 2013!
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Top 10 tutorials from 2012

Here at the OnSoftware blog, we strive to bring our reader helpful tutorials about how to deal with common computer problems. We’ve had a year of writing tutorials but which ones were the most popular? Below you’ll find the most popular tutorials of 2012 according to page views.

We hope that these tutorials have been helpful and as always, submit your ideas for other tutorials in the comments.

How to: Rotate a video with VLC

Video can be tough to deal with. Many people may have rotation lock on their devices, forcing their phones to record in portrait instead of landscape. Luckily it’s a pretty easy fix using VLC.

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Got a Mac for Christmas? Don’t panic!

If you’ve just received a new Mac for Christmas but are a bit daunted about the switch from PC, don’t panic. OnSoftware has it covered in the form of our 7 Part Moving to Mac Guide.

We’ve taken a look at some of the most common problems and issues new Mac users face when they switch on their Mac for the first time. Enjoy!

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OnSoftware top articles of 2012

These are the stories that you read most in 2012. It’s been a busy year in the software world, with plenty of controversy, big releases and some unexpected success stories.

We could never have predicted the popularity of Slender, the indie-horror phenomenon, and 2012 was the first year we saw Apple’s famous quality control slip, with botched decisions over YouTube and Apple Maps.

Read on to find out what was the most read article of 2012 on Softonic, and tell us what you remember most this year!

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Wishing you a happy holidays

The team here would like to extend our tidings of seasonal goodwill to you all by wishing you all Happy Holidays.

It’s been a pleasure bringing you the latest software news, reviews, tricks and tips this past year and we hope you’ve had as much fun reading it all as we have writing it. We intend to come back from the Christmas break rejuvenated and ready to serve up some even better insights into software and apps in 2013.

We’d love to send you all individual Christmas cards but obviously that is impractical (we don’t have all your addresses, it would take lots of time, and ultimately it would a waste a lot of paper). So, in the spirit of all things electronic, we’ve created a special digital card for you to enjoy as a background wallpaper on your computer. You can find out how we made it by checking out Elena’s tutorial: How to create a Christmas card in Photoshop.

Comparison: Free Antivirus suites 2012

Which free antivirus suite is the best?

We take this question very seriously at Softonic and extensively test and rate security software. This year we have compiled a list of the six best Anti Virus suites – Panda Cloud, Avira Personal, AVG Free, Ad-Aware Free, avast! Free and Microsoft Security Essentials.

In the video below I explain our ranking, and the winner of Best Antivirus of 2012. Each of these is an excellent product, and they all have advantages and disadvantages, but our testing methodology does allow us to judge which is the best!

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Opinion: Let’s stop unsubstantiated internet rage

This week there was a massive storm caused by Instagram‘s updated terms of service (ToS). It started with a few tweets linking to the page, and quickly spread around tech websites and eventually into the mainstream media. Instagram was claiming the right to sell your photographs for advertising, everyone said. People threatened to leave Instagram; and some did.

But there was a problem. In the few hours it took for this storm to erupt, there had been no contact with anyone at Instagram, and like the best viral rumors, most people were repeating wild claims without investigating them.

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Facebook releases Poke app to compete with Snapchat

facebook poke iconFacebook just released a brand new app called Facebook Poke for iOS. This release is no doubt trying to steal some market share from the incredibly popular photo and video sharing app, Snapchat. Like Snapchat, Poke will let users send messages, photos, and videos that will self-destruct after a preset time. You can choose to have your content disappear after 1, 3, 5, or 10 seconds after being opened.

This application comes at a time where Snapchat is gaining a significant amount of users. By releasing the Poke app so quickly, Facebook hopes to gain some market share in the private messaging market while it still can. Still, Facebook Poke will have to face privacy headaches that Snapchat has been facing with users being able to take screenshots of private messages. While Facebook Poke is built to only function if there’s a finger on the screen, it’s still possible to take a screenshot. Poke and Snapchat both have features that detect this and will send the sender of the message a warning that a screenshot has been taken of a private message.

Facebook poke

Both Snapchat and Facebook Poke require the recipient to have the app. If a message is sent to a person without the app, they will be redirected to the App Store to download it.

You can download Facebook Poke for iOS and Snapchat for Android and iOS from Softonic.

Moving to Mac Guide: Part 7 – Are Macs Good for Gaming?

Not so long ago, few people would have seriously recommended gaming on a Mac. With Apple’s switch to faster Intel processor chips, NVIDIA  graphics cards and the growing popularity of Macs however, that situation is rapidly changing.

Although PCs are still superior to Macs for gaming, Macs have come a long way evidenced by the fact that more and more major developers and gaming platforms are starting to embrace Mac. This final part of the Moving to Mac guide looks at exactly what stage Macs are at when it comes to gaming and some of the things you should consider when gaming on a Mac.

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Steam’s Holiday Sale begins today

steam holiday sale 2012

It’s that time of year again. Steam’s annual Holiday Sale starts today. There will be tons of games on sale so you can ignore your family during the holidays. As of this writing, Mirror’s Edge ($4.99), Borderlands 2 ($29.99), Hitman: Absolution ($24.99), Wargame: European Escalation ($9.99), Scribblenauts Unlimited ($19.99), and Prince of Persia ($2.49) are all on sale.

As with past Steam sales, there is a voting element where players can vote for one of three games to go on sale next. Pay close attention to the countdown timers next to each sale so you know when new deals will be posted. Better yet, download the Steam app for Android or iOS to keep up with the latest deals on the go. You can even purchase games from the apps.

Check out the latest deals in the Steam Store. The sale ends January 5th.