Mozilla Firefox 9.0.1 is the latest version of the hugely popular web browser. The brand new Firefox 9 brings a (upto) 40% under-the-hood speed improvement, tighter control over add-ons and little more, as well as being faster than previous versions. Download Firefox 9 for Windows and for Mac and for your Android device.

Thunderbird is a neat free email client that has a small footprint and features some smart ways to stop junk mail. All the popular mail formats are supported and it comes with options for importing mail, address books and settings from Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora and other clients. Thunderbird 9 is now based on the new Gecko 8 engine, an improved add-ons manager and other fixes. Download for Windows and Mac.

CCleaner 3.14 now supports Windows 8 (pre-beta). This hugely popular tool enables you to quickly and easily clean files, browsing history, temporary data and other clutter from your computer. There's also a separate CCleaner Portable and an version of CCleaner for Mac, with a more limited feature-set.

Comodo Internet Security 5.9, Antivirus 5.9 and Firewall 5.9, are a popular and free suite of security tools designed to protect you against the majority of threats you may encounter when you surf the internet. Internet Security will keep you safe from most online threats you may encounter and help you to scan and remove them if your machine becomes infected. Alternatively, if you don't want to install the full package, you can simply install more basic Firewall and/or Antivirus.

Seamonkey 2.6.1 is a popular internet suite from Mozilla. Useful for those who really like Firefox and Thunderbird.

iolo System Mechanic FREE 10.8.1 is, as the title implies, the free alternative of iolo's powerful system maintenance tool. Use System Mechanic to enhance numerous areas of system performance and keep your PC running smoothly.

VirtualBox 4.1.8 is a powerful virtualisation product that enables you to run and manage multiple operating systems on a single machine. The latest v4.1.8 is a relatively minor upgrade. VirtualBox is also available for Mac OS X.

Sick of trying to keep in touch with others using different IM clients? One may be using Skype, another Live (MSN) Messenger, whilst another group prefer AOLs AIM. Trillian is a superb chat client that will enable you to chat with multiple users, across different IM networks, from the same interface.

Burnaware Free 4.3 is a good basic burning tool that's designed to produce discs, quickly.  Burn your data and audio discs, as quickly as possible. It will support just about every burning media from a single 700MB CD through to a Blu-ray writable disc. Assuming you have a Blu-ray burner.

Finally, we wish all our Download Junky readers a Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year. This will be the final roundup of this year, although download updates will be maintained on V3.co.uk through the holiday period.

Google Chrome 16 hit a major milestone this week. v16, moved from beta to stable, bringing multi-user support, enabling you to use one browser in one user profile and simply log in and out to access your bookmarks and browsing history.

AVG PC Tuneup 2012 is an all-in-one system maintenance tool that ships with a number of modules aimed at enhancing and maintaining system performance. Use this app to clean, boost and maintain your privacy.

Teamviewer 7 is a powerful tool that will enable you to control and manage a remote computer, from your PC. install TeamViewer on your computer and remote user's (or yourself) can initiate a TeamViewer module on your machine. This module does not need installation. The remote user can then control your computer, upload/download files and show you how to perform particular tasks.

AppRemover 2.2.21.1 is a specialist software removal tool that’s designed to remove installed security applications from various suppliers. It’s ideal for when you want to completely eradicate installed security software with the intention of installing fresh security packages.

Cyberduck 4.2.1 for Windows and for Mac is is the latest release of the popular free FTP client. Use this tool to admin a remote server, upload content to your Amazon S3 storage and download files from a secure FTP site.

Dropbox 1.2.49 is a powerful file synchronisation tool. Simply drop files in to your box and watch them automatically sync across your computers, whether they are Windows or Mac computers. You can also access your Dropbox from your mobile phone, if you need access to an important document.

Opera 11.60 is a popular alternative web browser. The latest v11 ships with a new UI, Speed Dial extensions, password synchronisation and much more.

If you have problematic software you want to remove from your computer, IObit Uninstaller 2.1 enables you to completely erase applications from your hard drive, without leaving the usual registry clutter and other junk files behind.

DriverMax 6.10 is an easy solution for managing Windows system drivers. DriverMax is able to display a complete report of all drivers installed on your system which can be very useful when you want to analyse the differences between the drivers installed on different machines.

The latest version of iTunes 10.5.2 brings (international) support for iOS 5's iTunes Match. iTunes Match scans your music collection and matches titles found in its own iTunes music database, then makes them available for online streaming through iCloud.

There has also been a minor update for the ever-popular iolo System Mechanic 10.7. This comprehensive system maintenance and optimisation tool ships with everything you'd need to keep your PC running smoothly and can also be run in the background, without affecting day-to-day tasks. The latest benefits from a number of speed and stability improvements.

Comodo Unite 3.0.2.0 is a handy tool that enables users to easily create a secure and encrypted virtual private network (VPNs) between groups of computers. Once connected, all computers can securely share any files they choose. Share music and photos with pals, set up a multi-player gaming session, or simply chat with friends using the included messaging service.

Antenna 1.5 is an easy-to-use tool for exploring radio stations from across the globe. Search is possible by country or genre, or just by clicking on a location on the map. Beyond that you have a history of recently-listened stations and can even rate the ones you like and return to them at a later date.

Apple Boot Camp 3.3 for Windows enables users to natively run Windows 7 on an intel Mac. Simply hold down the Alt key on your keyboard and you can choose between Windows or Mac OS X. Once in Windows, as everything performs natively, you effectively get a Windows-based Apple notebook. The only frustrating element of running Boot Camp is that you'll hear the fans far more than using OS X, as fan management is poor. We recommend VMware Fusion 4.0.2 for your Mac if you want to run Windows and Mac, side-by-side on the same system.

CCleaner 3.12 is a hugely popular application designed to help you to clear hard disk clutter and keep your registry in check. The latest version 3.x also ships with a new interface and there's now also a lighter weight version available. A separate portable version will enable you to take your favourite system cleaner on the road.

Peazip 4.1 is a powerful freeware archive manager that can be used to easily create or manage your own archives.

Maxthon 3.2.0.1000 is an alternative web browser to the usual contenders such as Firefox and Chrome. This interesting browser is based on IE so is very compatible with most online content, yet is quicker than the standard IE. In addition to the IE core, the latest Maxthon now ships with an additional Firefox 8 engine.

Opera 11.52 is a fast and cleanly designed web browser. The latest v11.52 ships with a new UI, Speed Dial extensions, password synchronisation and much more.

DriverMax 5.96 is an easy solution for managing Windows system drivers. DriverMax is able to display a complete report of all drivers installed on your system which can be very useful when you want to analyse the differences between the drivers installed on different machines.

Skype for iPad 3.5.118 now enables users to make video calls and send instant messages to each other via your iPad. The latest version now ships with Bluetooth support for the iPad 2.

Mailstore Home 5.0 enables you to store and access emails from different locations. This obviously makes it easier to access all mail through a single interface.

Finally, the big release this week is Google Chrome 15, which is now in the stable channel. Few new features, but the standout feature is a brand new "new tab" window, which now separates your favourite pages, apps and visited links, making it easier to find the content you require. Chrome 15 for Windows and for Mac is available now.

With Easter, various Bank Holidays, days off and a royal wedding, it feels like we've barely been at work over the last few weeks. However, software updates and new releases do not slow, so we're back with another update containing some of the better downloads from the last couple of weeks.

If you're a Google Chrome user, you may have noticed that v11 was made stable? This stable channel is consistently updated and Chrome for Windows 11.0.696.65 and Chrome for mac 11.0.696.65 are now available for download. Chrome 12 has just gone in to beta, so expect this to hit the stable channel in the next month or so. Also on the horizon is Firefox 5 Beta 1, which is expected at the end of this week!

Sick of trying to keep in touch with colleagues using different IM clients? One may be using Skype, another Live (MSN) Messenger, whilst another group prefer AOLs AIM. Bringing these together in one central interface is what Trillian 5 is about and it's worth some investigation. It's free (a Pro version is available), too.

Paragon NTFS for Mac 9 is trial software, but essential if you use a Mac and need access to either a Windows partition (perhaps your Bootcamp partition) or an external Windows-formatted drive. With NTFS for Mac 9 installed, simply connect the drive and you'll be able to read/write without further intevention.

If you stream audio across your work department or your home office, using iTunes, check out Airfoil for Windows and for Mac. This simple tool enables you to stream audio from just about any software to your hi-fi.

Directory Opus 10 is a powerful Windows Explorer replacement and used by us for many years. It takes some getting used to, with a high learning curve, but the flexibility of the software makes it essential if you can master the options available.

Last, but not least, we've put a host of Android apps online and another batch to follow soon. We seek only the best and most essential apps. These include Quickoffice for Android, which will give you access to your office docuements, Exchange for Android, which connects your to your contacts, calender(s) and an Microsoft Exchange server, plus LinkedIn for Android.

It's been a quiet 7 days in software downloads. Arguably the biggest release was Opera 11.10 which is a major release, despite the relatively small version change. New features include a much enhanced Speed Dial system, plus support for easy plug-ins. Download Opera 11.10 for Windows and the separate Opera 11.10 for Mac.

Skype 5.3 for Windows was released last week, with the primary enhancement being the improved quality of video calls. A few other enhnancements, plus a number of fixes, make this a compelling upgrade for people who use Skype for video conferencing.

Google Maps for Android is a cool official app that enables you to quickly find your current location and route a way to your destination, all from your mobile. We can't tell you the number of times that Google Maps has saved us from being late for a meeting or getting lost in and around London's streets.

Other highlights last week include two free disk defragmentation tools. Ausglogics Disk Defrag 3.2 and IObit Smart Defrag 2.0.1 were released, enable you to keep your internal or external drives fragment free. AVG AntiVirus Free 2011 "Summer Update (build 1321) was released, with a host of improvements and UI changes, whilst Returnil System Safe 2011 Free will enable you to test software on your computer without the software affecting your computer.

It appears like we've been waiting an eternity for this release but, believe it or not, Mozilla Firefox 4 is finally available from the Mozilla servers. Expected an official press announcement later today or tomorrow. However, you can download it right now.

The first thing you'll notice about Firefox 4 is that the user-interface is very different from the previous stable release, Firefox 3.6. A home button is now located on the top left of the screen, enabling you to find the previous menus from one location.

The Adds-Ons Manager has been re-designed, making it far easier to manage and control installed add-ons (and find new extensions). Firefox Sync is now included as default, enabling you to keep your bookmarks, preferences and other customised components synchronised between your various computers.

Best of all, Firefox 4 is much quicker. It starts quicker, loads web pages more quickly and is rated as 3.5 times quicker than Firefox 3.6, making this an essential upgrade.

Firefox 4 is available for Windows and Mac computers, from V3.co.uk Downloads.