The big news with version 8 of the web browser isn't its smattering of new features - the PDF Viewer is now sandboxed by default, and there's support for the forthcoming Chrome Web Apps store - but rather its performance. End users have reported that it's now two or three times quicker than the previous release, which helps close the performance gap opened up by .

This is a cross-platform versatile media player that does one thing well: attempts to play just about every format available. By installing VLC Media Player across your various computers, you can be assured that a video that plays back on your Mac will also play on your PC. It also supports internet-based media streaming, so you can use the player to listen to a streamed audio stream and much more.