One thing that's been great since switching to Mac has been the lack of virus threats and security problems that plague Windows. However, this is only one side of keeping your computer safe. As with Windows, I still have to perform backups, make sure my passwords are safe, secure my VPN connection and protect certain files from unauthorised access. There are several applications I've come to rely on to help me do this and these are 5 of the best:

1 Password Arguably one of the best password managers for Mac. Password Manager offers anti-phishing protection and even allows you to auto-fill web forms and help you generate strong passwords. 1Password keeps all your confidential information including passwords, identities and credit cards in one secure place provided by Apple's OS X Keychain. An essential for anyone who's always losing their passwords.

iBackup If you're not a fan of TimeMachine then iBackup is an excellent alternative that while not as comprehensive, is simple and effective to use. It's ideal as a manual backup for  files, folders application settings, system preferences and applications. Even better, it can perform backups to local or network drives and even WebDAV servers so if the worst happens to your Mac, you'll always be safe.

TrueCrypt Worried about unauthorised access to your data? Or do you share your Mac with others? If so, TrueCrypt allows you to creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mount it as a real disk. It can encrypt an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive or a partition or drive where Windows is installed. All encryption is done on the fly too so there's no waiting around.

Shimo An essential for anyone who works via a VPN client.  Shimo was designed originally to replace the Cisco client but it now supports a whole range of them. If you're tired of broken connections or fluctuating traffic problems on your VPN, Shimo can help regulate it to make it more stable and functional. Although VPN clients are rarely complicated, it also makes it much easier to configure one.

MacScan Ever had to remove cookies for security purposes but then found you had to re-enter all your old passwords on your regular sites? This is just one of the things MacScan can help avoid by allowing you to blacklist and remove certain cookies while maintaining others. MacScan can also be scheduled to perform timely scans to clean up spyware and other trash left behind by internet surfing and uninstalling applications.

Windows: What if you could take part in one of those horrifying stories you watch in terror movies? F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is the perfect mixture of action and terror: a first-person shooter where your opponents are not only enemy soldiers, but also a bunch of scary ghosts that will send shivers down your spine. Are you ready for the challenge?

Mac: Have you ever marveled at those pictures where the objects in the foreground have been given a special focus to make them standout? Usually it takes the work of a brilliant photographer or special focus lens to achieve such an effect but you can do it too with any photo using Edit Depth of Field. Edit Depth of Field allows you to focus the viewer on the subject of a photo by bringing it into sharp contrast and blurring the background.

BlackBerry: If you like Poker but can’t quite pull the right face at the right moment perhaps you should be looking for a similar yet slightly simpler card game. And that card game could be Croker. Instead of numbers in Croker you play with pictures - frogs, pigs, dice and baskets of fruit. It’s the way the French play, apparently

Windows: Do you want to escape from the iTunes dependence? Pod to PC makes it easier by providing you with an efficient tool that lets you transfer music from your iPod (no matter which model) to the computer, and import it back to your iTunes library. This is specially handy if you've lost your music collection or you want to add just some specific songs from the iPod.

Symbian Series 60: If you believe that the stars can determine who we are and shape our destiny then you'll definitely be interested in Astrology & Horoscopes Pro 2009. This mobile application is designed to give you all manner of insight and advice concerning matchmaking, your horoscope, detailed zodiac sign analysis and numerology by your birthdate.

Mac: When a screen capture tool makes it into the top ten Apple downloads, you know it must be pretty special. When you've used CaptureIt!, you can see why. CaptureIt! is particularly good at taking video screen shots and makes an excellent accessory for anyone trying to build tutorials. CaptureIt! excels in this area because it even allows you to export tutorials to iPhone and YouTube enabling you to share software operating instructions extremely quickly.

Windows: Professional video edition and creation require high quality software tools like Adobe Premiere CS4. The ultimate video authoring solution from the Adobe developers includes all the tools and functions you need for the best results in video editing. This new version features support for digital tapeless cameras, is fully compatible with other Adobe tools and can even import project from Final Cut Pro.

Pocket PC: If you're fed up with the way Windows Mobile looks on your Pocket PC then give UI Tweaker a try. The software offers a collection of four utilities to customize the look and color scheme of your device. This collection includes a simple theme manager and utilities to change the system colors as well as the Today color scheme.

Mac: If you're terrified of dealing with your finances then your Mac can come to your rescue in the form of iBank. iBank offers a sleek interface, which makes it a pleasure to handle your personal finances, whether it be your budget, spending or portfolio. iBank also integrates with online banking, and makes it easy to download and import account information securely.

Windows: If you prefer to have a single maintenance toolkit instead of a bunch of different tools, Comodo System Cleaner is your best choice. This complete suite includes all the utilities you need to clean, optimize, tweak and repair your system, so that you can keep it in perfect shape with the minimum effort.

Pocket PC: Bored of hearing the same ringtone all the time? Then get hold of VITO RingtoneEditor and create your own tones directly from your PDA. The program's intuitive user interface makes it very simple. You just listen to the melody and choose which part of it you want to set as your ringtone.

Mac: One of the best parts of online gaming is the social part - meeting people, chatting about gaming, discussing tactics and generally exchanging a bit of banter. iFire is an unofficial client of the popular instant messenger gaming client Xfire for Mac OS X. Using iFire, you can log into your existing Xfire account, chat with friends, see which games they are playing and more.

Windows: If you don't find anything interesting on Last.fm, try Spotify. This awesome app lets you stream music from your favorite bands, discover new music on its radio with filters for decades and styles, and organize your music in playlists you can also share with friends. Just one thing: you'll need an invite to use it, so join the waiting list now!

Mac: If you're a big Flickr fan then you'll probably be sick of opening a browser to upload to it. Flickr Uploadr is a must for anybody with a Flickr account. It spares you the pain of opening your browser to upload your photos to your account. The application lets you create photo sets and add tags to your photos.

Pocket PC: I don't know about you but I find typing on my Pocket PC a real chore. Step forward ZoomBoard, an application designed to make entering text on the Windows Mobile touchscreen a pleasure rather than a hassle. The software provides you with a choice of two new keyboard skins designed to facilitate quicker, more accurate typing.

Everyone raves about how great the iPhone is, but did you know the Apple device could actually save your life? I don't mean you should use it as a buoyancy aid or some kind of makeshift splint, but rather install one of the many life-saving apps available for the iPhone. Install these on your device and you'll be prepared for many emergency situations where someone's life, or indeed your own, is in danger (you'll need iTunes running to install them via your computer). Don't forget too that the iPhone also doubles up as a telephone, which you can use to call the emergency services.

Diabetes Log - Helps diabetics track their glucose, food and medicine readings

PhoneAid - Get animated, step-by-step instructions on how to perform basic first aid

iMergency - Set up a single-tap 'quick dial' to your local emergency services

NoPeanut - Helps peanut allergy sufferers warn others about their condition

Meds - Simple way to manage all of your medications in one place

Close Call - Shows your emergency contact details in the event of something happening to you

BP Buddy - Keep a close check on your blood pressure

Contractions - Contraction timer for women in labour

Windows: There are many tools that let you download videos from YouTube and convert them to other formats. However, Youtube Downloader HD stands out among them all because it allows you to download videos in high definition, so that you can enjoy the highest image quality on your favorite clips. You can also convert them to AVI or iPod-compatible MP4.

Mac: Have you ever wished you had Microsoft Paint on Mac? Paintbrush is a Cocoa-based paint program for Mac OS X, similar to Microsoft Paint and the now-defunct MacPaint. The project's ultimate goal is to recreate the basic functionality of Microsoft Paint, which has been noticeably absent from Mac OS X for years.

Pocket PC: Did you know you can watch DVDs on your PDA? Pocket DVD Wizard allows you to reduce the size of four DVD movies to 512Mb so you can watch them from your handset wherever you go. The program is available for Palm and Pocket PC, and the video conversion process is a very quick and simple one.

In my book, watching TV on a mobile phone is one of the most futuristic things you can do today. Although the technology is really still in its infancy, it is possible to enjoy decent quality television on your phone without having to invest lots of money in new equipment or services. In fact, many of the mobile TV broadcasting apps and services out there are free of charge, and are available on a wide range of devices.

Joost for iPhone - Joost was one of the first free Web TV services to hit the Internet and now you can enjoy the delights of the portal from your iPhone. The free iPhone client is very easy to operate and programs can be watched in either horizontal or vertical aspect. There are almost 50,000 videos currently available to watch through Joost and the picture quality is generally excellent.

Good for: music videos, celebrity gossip shows, sports magazine-style programs

MobiTV - Although MobiTV isn't free it's certainly not worth discounting as an option due to the quality of the content on offer. Available for Windows Mobile, Palm and BlackBerry devices, the service starts from $9.95 per month but for that you get access to shows from the most popular US networks, including Fox, NBC and CBS.

Good for: US series, comedy, documentaries

Pocket Live TV - If you're using a Windows Mobile device (Pocket PC or Smartphone) then you may want to check out Pocket Live TV. As its name suggests, this one lets you watch live television from your PDA or phone. It boasts access to an impressive array of more than 100 channels from 10 different countries around Europe and North America. This includes the likes of CNN, BBC, Deutsche Welle, Sky News and NBC. It's not free, but only costs $14.95 for high quality access to all this.

Good for: major European and US channels, live sport, music channels

vTap - If you've grown tired of conventional television and watch most of your shows in the form of online video clips then get a load of vTap. This app, available for Windows Mobile, iPhone, BlackBerry and Java devices, lets you easily tap into all the videos on the web from your phone. That means you can use it to browse videos from the likes of YouTube, DailyMotion, Metacafe, MySpace, etc.

Good for: squirrels on skateboards, babies pulling funny faces, Star Wars Kid - anything you'd find on YouTube, basically.

FreeBe TV - Although it doesn't offer access to any of the big channels, FreeBe TV, like Joost, does provide genuinely 'free' mobile television (apart from your data charges, of course). The service offers up its own selection of news, sports, and movie clip channels, and is available for users in the UK, USA and Brazil. It's compatible with a number of different handsets (including the iPhone) so check on the FreeBe TV site to see if yours is compatible.

Good for: news, extreme sports, short films

Windows: If you're willing to upgrade to Windows 7 but still don't feel brave enough, you can start by adopting the Windows 7 look and feel. With the Windows 7 Wallpaper Pack you can enjoy more than 30 official Windows 7 official wallpapers on your desktop without having to switch OS. Wallpapers come in a variety of designs and at a 1920x1200 resolution.

Mac: Copying songs to and from an iPod should be much freer as far as I'm concerned by Apple has done its best to put as many restrictions as possible on what you can and can't do. That's why I'd recommend iRepo X for anyone who wants to copy songs from their iPod to another computer or simply recover songs from an iPod.

Pocket PC: Let’s face it, the default Contacts section in Windows Mobile isn’t all that good. That’s why it’s a good idea to install a third party address book application onto your Pocket PC as soon as you get it out of the box. Inesoft Address Book proves to be one of the best options you’ll encounter, offering a wonderful environment for storing and managing your contacts.

Windows: if you need to take screenshots on a daily basis and don't want to use a massive photo editor for that simple task, use Free Screen Capturer instead. This simple tool takes snapshots of your desktop in several ways and saves them in all popular image formats. What's more, it even lets you record short clips of video for screencasts or video tutorials.

Mac: Ever wanted to save radio broadcasts directly onto your hard disk? Xstreamripper for OS X can do the job for your in a few clicks. Xstreamripper integrates with your internet connection so that whenever it detects a radio stream, it immediately springs into action. Just click on "Start" and Xstreamripper will then save the songs in MP3 format.

Blackberry: There are times when we all have to have conversations we don’t really want to, but thanks to VR+ you don’t actually have to be there when they take place. The Blackberry application allows you to record voice messages in MP3 format on your device then send them as an SMS message or via a URL.

Windows: The Polaroid style is a visually-appealing effect to apply to your pictures, and now you can achieve it easily with Poladroid. This fun Mac app has just been ported to Windows and lets you create Polaroid versions of your favorite photos simply by dragging and dropping the images onto the program's interface. The results are amazingly realistic!

Mac: The increasingly-sophisticated processing power of the latest Macs means that science is increasingly looking towards them for help in research. Geneious combines a series of major DNA and protein sequence analysis tools into one powerful software solution. It's obviously aimed at serious biologists or research scientists but in reality anyone can use it.

Blackberry: Do you often have to communicate with people who can't speak your language? If you do then Translator+ makes a great addition to your BlackBerry. Translator+ is an online multi-translation tool that allows you to translate words and phrases between 12 different languages. It even integrates with your email service for writing mails in a foreign language.

Black and white images have their own special beauty, but some people still prefer colored ones. If you're among them you'll probably be interested in this simple Photoshop trick which lets you color any black and white photo. The process is long and tedious, but pretty straightforward. Plus you can fully customize each color you use, and therefore add an original final touch: a vintage photo, a fantasy image with surrealistic colors… anything goes!

1. Open the image you want to color and change to Quick Mask mode by clicking on the marked icon.

Windows: All computers require a bit of maintenance from time to time, and TuneUp Utilities 2009 is simply the perfect program for the job. It includes all the tools you need to optimize, clean, tweak and fix your computer, all in a few clicks and with great results. This version includes a new Start page and Speed Optimizer, plus dozens of small enhancements.

Mac: Labeling your music files correctly is essential to make sure that they're easily organised in apps such as iTunes. The Tagger is an MP3 and AAC tagger that's packed with features designed around a very easy to use interface. The Tagger allows you to label and tag those MP3 files that you may be unable to iTunes for various reasons.

Symbian: If you're forever getting lost then check out Nokia Maps 3.0 Beta, which takes mobile-based navigation to a whole new level. Complete with accurate high quality maps of the world, Nokia Maps now features 3D terrain and landmarks, real-time traffic information, train maps, point-to-point navigation, and integration with Nokia's Ovi online service.

Windows: Lavasoft, the all-known authors of Ad-Aware, have just launched their own antivirus tool. Lavasoft Anti-virus Helix uses the powerful AHeAD engine detection and heuristic from Avira to protect your system against viruses, Trojans, worms, rootkits and other online threats. It's unobtrusive and easy to use, even for beginners.

Mac: Wouldn't it be nice if you could search several major torrent sites at the same time for your torrents? Chances are you probably favor one particular site usually but you may well be missing out on a whole world of other options if you do so. TorrentDam is a simple application that can search up BitJunkie, ISOHunt, ThePirateBay, Mininova, Demonoid, TorrentReactor and MyBittorrent all at the same time.

Blackberry: You don’t have to just use your phone for calling and SMS messaging, you know. You can also chat via instant messaging, just as you would do on your home computer. IM+ enables you to do this andm your Blackberry boasts support for all the major IM networks, so you can do all your chatting on your Blackberry!