convert

Converting video clips to play on smartphones and other devices is big these days, and users have a lot of choices, both freeware and shareware, offering lots of different features and performance. Run Studio's uConverter can convert files among many different video formats. Its Task-based setup lets you customize each video's properties for your specific device or need. It's free to try, but the trial version leaves a watermark on saved files. The latest version of uConverter is compatible with Windows 8.

Video converters tend to have similar layouts and functionality since they're very specific tools, … Read more

Download managers can make it much easier to grab and save video from the Internet. There's a lot of them, both freeware and shareware; but then, there's a lot of video clips to download, and not just from YouTube but hundreds of other sites. Nuclear Coffee's VideoGet is shareware that's designed to make downloading video files and clips as easy as possible. While it's not much different from other tools of its type, it has enough options to satisfy a wide range of users. It's free to try with a 20-download limit.

VideoGet's … Read more

It's one thing to burn a DVD disc and another to create a DVD that anyone can pop into a tray and play. For making DVDs out of your videos, Xilisoft's AVI to DVD Converter is a good place to start. It converts not just AVI files but also MPEG, MPG, M2V, VOB, and DAT to DVD disc, DVD folder, or ISO file. The flexible output options mean you can create DVD disc images that you can store on your hard drive yet play like regular DVDs (with a disc-mounting tool). But AVI to DVD Converter does much … Read more

Microsoft Word is the No. 1 word processing program, but not everyone has it. That can be a problem if you need to submit something as a Word document (DOC format), but it's hardly insurmountable, thanks to tools like Free PDF to Word Doc Converter. It takes your PDFs, extracts and converts the data, and saves it in a DOC file that can be opened and edited with Word. It handles multiple pages, and it can reproduce images or remove them, depending on which suits your needs.

Free file converters tend to have simple GUIs, and Free PDF to … Read more

MediaHuman Audio Converter for Mac handles the task of converting audio file formats in a simple application. Designed to provide cross-conversion capabilities for WMA, AAC, WAV, FLAC, OGG and Apple Lossless formats, MediaHuman Audio Converter for Mac is a free app that will likely become a staple if you need to convert audio files frequently.

MediaHuman Audio Converter for Mac installs cleanly. The interface is simple and attractive. Select the audio file (or use drag and drop to drop the file over the app), set the format you want to convert to, and let it run. The predefined conversion parameters … Read more

Coming soon, a veritable evolutionary explosion of Windows 8 devices will be bearing down on you. Big small, tablety, not tablety, full of touch, and ready to fold into strange shapes for your general amusement.

Welcome to the Windows 8 Field Guide, an Audubon's Birds-style attempt to help you identify the classifications and subphyla of this odd new computing world. It's not as hard as you think, once you break down the various common types. Be forewarned: these classifications are works in progress, and there could very well be more evolutionary variants coming soon. But, hopefully, this should help classify some of the multipurpose strangeness you're already starting to see on preorder pages.

Of course, you still have laptops, desktops, and tablets. Some of these tablets will have one of two operating systems: Windows 8 or Windows RT.

After that, the classifications get a little more diffused.… Read more

Update: According to software developer WonderFox Soft, iWonderSky Software is not allowed to give away WonderFox DVD Ripper licenses. Therefore, at the former's request, we have removed the link for the promotion.

Why settle for one freebie when you can get three?

From now until October 19, iWonderSky Software (which I believe was formally known as WonderFox Software) is offering CNET readers this exclusive: three Windows video utilities absolutely free.

First up: WonderFox DVD Ripper. Normally $39.95, it can convert just about any DVD into just about any digital format. It comes with profiles for a wide variety … Read more

YouTube hosts thousands of free songs in all genres, many posted with video montages, slideshows, and sometimes shots of a spinning turntable. While the quality is hardly the best, the quantity is staggering; YouTube is often the fastest and easiest way to hear a song. That's where DVDVideoSoft's Free YouTube to MP3 Converter steps in. Fast, simple, and free, it quickly downloads, converts, and saves audio tracks from YouTube videos as MP3s of several quality levels. It extracts audio from any YouTube video, not just songs, of course. You can save clips and play them on your audio … Read more

Converting videos to play on your phone or tablet isn't as easy as it should be, unless you have 4Free Video Converter. With the easy-to-use Profile wizard, you just pick your device or file type and add your files, and 4Free Video Converter does the rest. It supports the most popular video formats, including HD and Flash, and a lot of less popular ones, too. It also merges files; extracts audio, video, and images; edits video files; and adds effects.

While 4Free Video Converter's user interface isn't exactly a crowd-stopper, it's cleanly and logically configured with … Read more