Best Free Download Manager For Mac Os X
Free Download Manager is a powerful modern download accelerator and organizer. The best thing is that it can download torrent files too. Cross-platform support for Windows 7+ and Mac OS X. Nov 29, 2017 Download and install older versions of OS X on a Mac. Igor Degtiarenko. Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.9 (free version) Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.10 - 10.14 (free version) STEP 2. Get a copy of Mac OS X download. Normally, it is assumed that updating OS is a one-way road. That’s why going back to a past Apple OS version is problematic. Feb 13, 2020 KeepassX is probably the best password manager for Mac that is open source and for free. This app is basically an encrypted database of passwords, which comes in two versions: portable and installable. In addition, it has certain built-in extra capabilities, such as password generation, and the capacity to add third-party plug-ins and tools.
So, you’ve decided to download an older version of Mac OS X. There are many reasons that could point you to this radical decision. To begin with, some of your apps may not be working properly (or simply crash) on newer operating systems. Also, you may have noticed your Mac’s performance went down right after the last update. Finally, if you want to run a parallel copy of Mac OS X on a virtual machine, you too will need a working installation file of an older Mac OS X. Further down we’ll explain where to get one and what problems you may face down the road.
Dec 24, 2019 Even though you can use the free edition of IDM for Mac OS X - Folx - as long as you wish, there are plenty of good reasons to upgrade to PRO version. What you get with Folx PRO: Advanced multithreading One of the best features of Folx, IDM for Mac, is multithreading. It splits every download into up to 20 different threads. Mar 26, 2013 Folx is a free download manager for Mac OS that comes with a host of features that matters the most. The PRO version, priced at $9.95, offers more solid features like iTunes integration, torrent search and more.
A list of all Mac OS X versions
We’ll be repeatedly referring to these Apple OS versions below, so it’s good to know the basic macOS timeline.
Cheetah 10.0 | Puma 10.1 | Jaguar 10.2 |
Panther 10.3 | Tiger 10.4 | Leopard 10.5 |
Snow Leopard 10.6 | Lion 10.7 | Mountain Lion 10.8 |
Mavericks 10.9 | Yosemite 10.10 | El Capitan 10.11 |
Sierra 10.12 | High Sierra 10.13 | Mojave 10.14 |
Catalina 10.15 |
STEP 1. Prepare your Mac for installation
Given your Mac isn’t new and is filled with data, you will probably need enough free space on your Mac. This includes not just space for the OS itself but also space for other applications and your user data. One more argument is that the free space on your disk translates into virtual memory so your apps have “fuel” to operate on. The chart below tells you how much free space is needed.
Note, that it is recommended that you install OS on a clean drive. Next, you will need enough disk space available, for example, to create Recovery Partition. Here are some ideas to free up space on your drive:
- Uninstall large unused apps
- Empty Trash Bin and Downloads
- Locate the biggest files on your computer:
Go to Finder > All My Files > Arrange by size
Then you can move your space hoggers onto an external drive or a cloud storage.
If you aren’t comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some nice automatic “room cleaners”. Our favorite is CleanMyMac as it’s most simple to use of all. It deletes system junk, old broken apps, and the rest of hidden junk on your drive.
Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.4 - 10.8 (free version)
Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.9 (free version)
Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.10 - 10.14 (free version)
It is easy to use and all you have to do is to import the file into the interface and it does the rest. Thus, it gives you the ability to open PDF files directly on the interface.
STEP 2. Get a copy of Mac OS X download
Normally, it is assumed that updating OS is a one-way road. That’s why going back to a past Apple OS version is problematic. The main challenge is to download the OS installation file itself, because your Mac may already be running a newer version. If you succeed in downloading the OS installation, your next step is to create a bootable USB or DVD and then reinstall the OS on your computer.
How to download older Mac OS X versions via the App Store
If you once had purchased an old version of Mac OS X from the App Store, open it and go to the Purchased tab. There you’ll find all the installers you can download. However, it doesn’t always work that way. The purchased section lists only those operating systems that you had downloaded in the past. But here is the path to check it:
- Click the App Store icon.
- Click Purchases in the top menu.
- Scroll down to find the preferred OS X version.
- Click Download.
This method allows you to download Mavericks and Yosemite by logging with your Apple ID — only if you previously downloaded them from the Mac App Store.
Without App Store: Download Mac OS version as Apple Developer
If you are signed with an Apple Developer account, you can get access to products that are no longer listed on the App Store. If you desperately need a lower OS X version build, consider creating a new Developer account among other options. The membership cost is $99/year and provides a bunch of perks unavailable to ordinary users.
Nevertheless, keep in mind that if you visit developer.apple.com/downloads, you can only find 10.3-10.6 OS X operating systems there. Newer versions are not available because starting Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.7, the App Store has become the only source of updating Apple OS versions.
Purchase an older version of Mac operating system
You can purchase a boxed or email version of past Mac OS X directly from Apple. Both will cost you around $20. For the reason of being rather antiquated, Snow Leopard and earlier Apple versions can only be installed from DVD.
Buy a boxed edition of Snow Leopard 10.6
Get an email copy of Lion 10.7
Get an email copy of Mountain Lion 10.8
The email edition comes with a special download code you can use for the Mac App Store. Note, that to install the Lion or Mountain Lion, your Mac needs to be running Snow Leopard so you can install the newer OS on top of it.
How to get macOS El Capitan download
If you are wondering if you can run El Capitan on an older Mac, rejoice as it’s possible too. But before your Mac can run El Capitan it has to be updated to OS X 10.6.8. So, here are main steps you should take:
1. Install Snow Leopard from install DVD.
2. Update to 10.6.8 using Software Update.
3. Download El Capitan here.
“I can’t download an old version of Mac OS X”
If you have a newer Mac, there is no physical option to install Mac OS versions older than your current Mac model. For instance, if your MacBook was released in 2014, don’t expect it to run any OS released prior of that time, because older Apple OS versions simply do not include hardware drivers for your Mac.
But as it often happens, workarounds are possible. There is still a chance to download the installation file if you have an access to a Mac (or virtual machine) running that operating system. For example, to get an installer for Lion, you may ask a friend who has Lion-operated Mac or, once again, set up a virtual machine running Lion. Then you will need to prepare an external drive to download the installation file using OS X Utilities.
After you’ve completed the download, the installer should launch automatically, but you can click Cancel and copy the file you need. Below is the detailed instruction how to do it.
STEP 3. Install older OS X onto an external drive
The following method allows you to download Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks.
- Start your Mac holding down Command + R.
- Prepare a clean external drive (at least 10 GB of storage).
- Within OS X Utilities, choose Reinstall OS X.
- Select external drive as a source.
- Enter your Apple ID.
Now the OS should start downloading automatically onto the external drive. After the download is complete, your Mac will prompt you to do a restart, but at this point, you should completely shut it down. Now that the installation file is “captured” onto your external drive, you can reinstall the OS, this time running the file on your Mac.
- Boot your Mac from your standard drive.
- Connect the external drive.
- Go to external drive > OS X Install Data.
Locate InstallESD.dmg disk image file — this is the file you need to reinstall Lion OS X. The same steps are valid for Mountain Lion and Mavericks.
How to downgrade a Mac running later macOS versions
If your Mac runs macOS Sierra 10.12 or macOS High Sierra 10.13, it is possible to revert it to the previous system if you are not satisfied with the experience. You can do it either with Time Machine or by creating a bootable USB or external drive.
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Sierra
Instruction to downgrade from macOS High Sierra
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Mojave
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Catalina
Before you do it, the best advice is to back your Mac up so your most important files stay intact. In addition to that, it makes sense to clean up your Mac from old system junk files and application leftovers. The easiest way to do it is to run CleanMyMac X on your machine (download it for free here).
Visit your local Apple Store to download older OS X version
If none of the options to get older OS X worked, pay a visit to nearest local Apple Store. They should have image installations going back to OS Leopard and earlier. You can also ask their assistance to create a bootable USB drive with the installation file. So here you are. We hope this article has helped you to download an old version of Mac OS X. Below are a few more links you may find interesting.
These might also interest you:
Internet is suffering from the PROBLEM OF PLENTY. Probably, download manager for Mac and Windows are one of the most used software after the browsers and antivirus products. Stand-alone download managers with the inherent capability to automatically capture download links, support for torrents, flash video capture, auto grabber are most craved creature on the internet. Like Windows users, Mac OS users are also blessed with an abundance of options as far as download managers are concerned. Leech, Folx, Download Accelerator plus and many other options free and paid options are available in the iTunes store. In the past, we shared ever growing list of download managers for Linux, which was updated a couple of days back only.
Essentially, an ideal download manager for Mac, Windows or any OS, should support some of the functions like pause/resume, integration with popular browsers, simultaneous download, auto grabbing of URLs, torrent support, auto categorizing etc. The fundamental function of such software is to boost up the downloading speed with possible multiple thread support. Although not necessary, but most of them have started integrating torrent search and download facility in the application. Die-hard fan of torrents can look at some of the online torrent downloaders like ZbigZ or few others mentioned over here.
In case, if you are not interested in downloading stand-alone download manager for Mac, you can try browser add-ons too. Of course, they will be restricted to that particular browser, which is often undesirable as you will have to keep a tab on that browser during the download time. As an athirst Windows user, switching from Windows to Mac was a big learning curve for me. The first thing, which I missed was IDM, which is my one of the most favorite Windows software. However, due to the plethora of available options, it wasn’t a daunting task to fall in love with Mac and available applications. The article will strictly mention some of the best download manager for Macintosh users.
Top Mac Download Manager
Without further ado, let us take you through some of the best options available in the market. There are paid and free options available and we’ve tried our level best to give justice to both of’em.
Also read
Folx
Folx is a free download manager for Mac OS that comes with a host of features that matters the most. The PRO version, priced at $9.95, offers more solid features like iTunes integration, torrent search and more. The iTunes integration will give you an option to directly add downloaded music files to iTunes playlist, which can further be synced with other iDevices. A simple tagging feature, that lets you tag your download, allows you to manage the downloaded files efficiently. Folx is a 2-in-1 app: it supports both common programs and torrents. Other features like scheduling download, automatic capture, automatic tag assignment, growl integration come extremely handy. However, some of the features are locked and can be unlocked through Pro version. In a nutshell, Folx is a decent download manager that is not overhauled with useless features. Speaking of the interface then Folx has a pretty simple and to the point interface. Floating windows will help you to navigate to your downloads quickly.
Folx free version is more than sufficient for a normal end-users.
Leech
Leech is a super lightweight download manager for Mac users. Besides providing all the usual features, it smartly integrates with Safari, Firefox browser to support direct download from those web browsers. You’d need to use FlashGot extension for Firefox to automatically capture the download links. Moreover, the range feature will help you to bulk download files by simply inputting the range in curly braces i.e. {1-5}.jpg. Leech will expand such range to 1.jpg, 2.jpg, 3.jpg, 4.jpg, 5.jpg and download all the images to your Mac.
Nifty features like site and file excluding, again, helps in letting the browser handle them. For instance, you can let Firefox handle PDF files in its own PDF viewer. Rapidshare and other file hosting providers do not let the download managers take over the downloads, in such case you can include them in excluded sites list. Even, the smart drag-drop features will make downloading very easy. Multiple URLs can also be dragged and drop on Leech, which then will be handled separately. Overall, you can consider Leech as one of your best buddy that does what you ask it to do.
BTW, Leech is priced at $14 making it a more expensive option. The trial version is also provided to test the features of Leech. Get Leech.
JDownloader
A cross-platform compatible Java based open source download manager, JDownloader, has always been in the top of the list in spite of few drawback. It’s cross-platform functionality makes it a prime candidate of vulnerability. The other side of coin is that it makes it much more lovable and adoptable software. JDownloader has been a favorite download manager on Linux, Windows and Mac platform with over 15 millions crazy users. The stand-alone version is not that useful, however, by adding third party add-ons make it a much more powerful application. It integrates well with the system. Moreover, it supports multiple thread support and few usual additions. You can pause/resume download, add multiple URLs, schedule download and do much more with this smart Mac download manager.
JDownloader has few popular extensions that you must install to make it an elegant download manager. For example, JDownload Integration will scan your links and help you downloading files directly from one of the 1000s of supported websites. There are few more extensions which will enhance the functionality of this nifty little utility.
Mac Os 10.7 Download Free
DAP
Speedbit’s DAP or Download Accelerator Plus has been around for over a decade. They have a wide range of products under their belt. You’re required to shed $29.95 from your pocket if you want to use DAP. The same is also available on Windows operating system. DAP integrates is with most popular browsers and takes over a charge from them. It has a very sumptuous past record, which makes it a worth considering utility for Mac users. Mirror download, multi-thread support, download accelerator, pause/ resume support, multiple download options are already integrated into it. Currently, it supports HTTP(S) and FTP downloads only. For torrent download you’d have to rely on something else. The most impressive feature of DAP is mirror search. It’ll look for the mirrors on servers and will serve you with the fastest possible route.
Make sure you look into the features before making a purchase. You can try out DAP trial version to know the product properly.
iGetter
Apple Downloads Mac Os X
iGetter should probably up higher in the list. Having said that, keeping it at the end of the list doesn’t make it less worthy. iGetter is a feature rich download manager for Mac users that does all. With support for segmented download and mirrors, it makes download a breeze. A unique site explorer or FTP explorer will provide all links available on the site and you can begin batch download. This is extremely helpful if you want to download multiple files from FTP server. Schedule of file downloading is possible based on the traffic demand. Optionally, you can pause and resume download. Unfortunately, there is not support for the torrent downloads which is again a big set back. iGetter allows you to preview the content of .zip files before downloading.
You already know the drill. You’ll have to spend $25 to enjoy the software on your Mac or else you can use it as a shareware with annoying pop-ups. Grab iGetter from here
Over to You
While IDM for Windows is the best example of how download manager should be, unfortunately Mac download manager doesn’t come with more support. Surprisingly, most of them are distributed as a shareware or paid version. Amongst the mentioned list, Leech seems to be an affordable option with more features in it. Moreover, it is very light weight and offers some advanced features which are not seen in other download manager. Would you like to recommend download manager for Mac which you’ve tried personally? Guess what? The comment section is right below where you can provide your opinion.
Os X Download Manager
Lisy.ly users can also participate by adding more download manager to the list. This will ultimately help all of us