FREE DOWNLOAD MANAGER

Software Name: Free Download Manager

Version: 2.5 build 758

Software Type: Download Manager/ BitTorrent Client

Price: Freeware

Minimum Requirements: Win 98/ME/2000/2003/XP/Vista
256 MB RAM

Recommended For:
A fast and manageable download experience

Description:
Free Download Manager (FDM) is not just any free download manager without anything interesting or being competent. It is actually better than most of the download managers i have ever used, the best part being that its FREE.

It is essentially a download manager which you can synchronise with your respective web browsers, be it, microsoft internet explorer or mozilla or opera or netscape. It gets integrated by default on setup.

The best features of this software are:

Downloads - basically a download manager, users can also create groups with folders to which files with specific extensions will be downloaded to.Thus, your downloads are organised from the beginning.
(note: it also saves username & password for specific sites, e.g. Rapidshare Premium Accounts, so that you dont have to type the details everytime.)

Scheduler - Users can create and manage lists of tasks to be executed at a preset time. Tasks include launching external programs, starting and stopping downloads, and shutting down the computer in all possible ways.

Upload Manager: Allows users to upload files and share with other users.

Upsides: Works amazing under Proxy Servers, especially, for downloading Rapidshare Links. Where RapGet fails, FDM wins.

Downsides: Sometimes gets a bit complicated. I still dont know how to make a list of links for download other than the conventional copy/paste system.

Overall, 3.75/5.0

Download Link:
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/download.htm

TOR - THE ONION ROUTER

Software Name: The Onion Router

Version: 0.2.0.30

Software Developer: The TOR Project

Software Type: Anonymizer /Server ByPass Utility Tool

Price: Freeware

Minimum Requirements(as specified by CowRouter):
Win 98/ME/2000/2003/XP/Vista
256 MB RAM

Recommended For:
To access blocked websites, usually a precautionary step taken in Colleges, Schools & Offices.

Description:
TOR is a software which was sponsored by the US Naval Research Laboratory. To use TOR, the user has to install a software for Proxy to their computer, which would eventually connect to other Proxies running in other parts of the world, & thus sometime one would be accessing the server from Spain, sometime the Netherlands, and so on. It is the leading software as an anonymizer which hides the identity of the user & thus, does not let the Server identify the user.
For example, sites like rapidshare.com, orkut.com, facebook.com are blocked in colleges & schools. With the help of TOR, one can not only access the website but also send & receive information, as if the site has never been blocked.
Proxy address: 127.0.0.1
Proxy Port:8118

Upsides:
Works with latest version of Limewire also, if you put in the address & port in messenger's proxy settings, then even they will work. Yahoo works! others are left to be tested.

Downsides:
The server speeds need to be good enough so that TOR can route you. If your speed is not good, TOR wont be useful to a large extent. The speed is always dependent on availability of other Proxies.

Overall, 3.5/5.0

Freeware Link:
www.torproject.org/download.html.en