Product ReviewsUtilities
The respective speeds of broadband and dial-up connections may be worlds apart, but they share one common fault: they're never quite fast enough for their users. Those determined to utilise every byte of their Internet connection often turn towards file download speed optimisers. Yazsoft's Speed Download 2.0.1 is one of the first such tools available for Mac OS X. The program works by splitting a target file into segments, with each portion downloaded by a separate connection. For optimum speed gains, a file can be downloaded simultaneously from multiple mirrored servers by specifying multiple target URLs in the program's download window. This performance doesn't demand sacrifices elsewhere: you can limit the bandwidth afforded to Speed Download so it won't impinge on local Internet traffic, and 'sensitive server' support reduces the impact on
A plug-in optionally installed alongside the program allows Speed Download to automatically take over download duties from your Web browser. It doesn't always perform seamlessly: we witnessed differences in behaviour between browsers, particularly when downloading .dmg image files and once when downloading a StuffIt compressed (.sit) file. OmniWeb and Internet Explorer negotiated correctly with Speed Download but Safari occasionally didn't. Byte me Most importantly, though, Speed Download lives up to its speed enhancing claims. On a cable Internet connection we were able to significantly shorten download times from high-capacity server connections. However, download speed is inevitably capped by the host server, which meant improvements were almost imperceptible on a few downloads. The program also offers addictive usability extras. Best of these is a terminal interface that enables you to remotely log in to your Mac and download software to it, and the ability to schedule one-off or repeating downloads. Speed Download 2.0.1 only works with FTP and HTTP transfer protocols, so users of peer-to-peer file transfer systems will be disappointed. It can, however, share URL lists with other users over the Internet or via a local network, thanks to its Rendezvous support. Speed Download isn't faultless, but it's certainly worth trying out as a tool to make your downloads more efficient. By Tom Gorham |
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