Diskeeper 7.0 Second Edition Review - 3/17/2003 We don't care what excuse you have for not flossing your teeth or checking your car's tire pressure, but Executive Software keeps eliminating excuses for having a performance-sapping, fragmented PC hard disk. Here's a look at a minor but welcome upgrade to what could be a savvy Windows user's favorite set-and-forget utility.
ScanSoft's PaperPort Pro 9 Helps Office Paper Shufflers - 3/10/2003 A new office-workflow edition of ScanSoft's desktop document manager combines scanning, searching, and OCR with the power of PDF -- even dragging and dropping pages from multiple documents of multiple types into a single PDF file -- to help networked businesses organize and share information.
Roxio Puts Pics on Discs with PhotoSuite 5 Platinum - 3/10/2003 Whether you just want to touch up a dim or red-eyed digital portrait or creating Video CD slide shows, an updated version of Roxio's beginner-friendly photo manager offers a variety of creative controls and projects.
Kaspersky Labs Ships Hacker-Fighting Firewall - 3/3/2003 The virus and spam fighters at Kaspersky Labs add Web and e-mail snoops and hackers to their targets -- or rather, keep you from becoming a target with a new Anti-Hacker firewall that both tracks all Internet-related application activity and provides system-level filtration of all inbound and outbound data packets.
Do-It-Yourself Version of Data-Recovery Service Saves Lost Files - 3/3/2003 Kroll Ontrack, provider of electronic evidence solutions and emergency recovery of computer files when all other rescue attempts have failed, offers an under-$100, do-it-yourself software solution that can snatch back as many as 25 files lost due to hard disk or power failure, virus attack, human error, or disappearing disk partitions.
The Latest Ways To Talk (and Listen) To Your PC - 3/3/2003 Your PC isn't about to replace that pesky "Can you hear me now?" guy from the cell phone commercials, but brand-new versions of the pioneering Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Fonix iSpeak lead the pack of applications that let you interact with your computer out loud. Here are four ways to make your PC listen to you or vice versa.
ActiveWords 1.9 Review - 2/24/2003 Have you always secretly felt you can be more productive with the keyboard than with the mouse? A time-saving new utility agrees -- and lets you launch programs, type boilerplate text, send e-mails, and perform Web searches with just a few keystrokes, no matter which application you happen to be using (even Solitaire).
Macromedia Contribute Review - 2/18/2003 It's called Contribute, but it should be called Delegate -- Macromedia's $99 program lets Webmasters and HTML designers focus on important site- and page-design jobs, while enabling nontechnical users to make minor changes or even add new pages and links to Web sites, as easily as they'd work with a word processor (and with plenty of page-protection and site-rollback safety features).
Roxio Ships Easy CD & DVD Creator 6 Platinum - 2/18/2003 It's not just Easy CD Creator anymore -- for one thing, Roxio's classic CD burner is now called Easy CD & DVD Creator, and for another, the new Platinum version 6 adds everything from a photo editor and organizer to a complete digital music center and sophisticated video DVD production.
Corel Boosts Technical Graphics with Designer 10 - 2/10/2003 Most users don't need more than a conventional drawing package (and Corel is happy to sell you one, CorelDraw). But product designers and technical graphics experts need ultra-precise illustration, editing, and workflow tools -- the kind found in the new Corel Designer 10.
Name a Browser, and Pop-Up Professional Supports It - 2/3/2003 IE and Netscape users have long relied on Panicware's Pop-Up Stopper to quash those annoying pop-up and pop-under ads. The new version can smooth out surfing in other browsers such as AOL, MSN, Opera, Mozilla, and NetZero, with automatic, on-the-fly updates and enhanced cache cleaning and privacy controls.
Caligari TrueSpace 6.5 Adds Animation Engine to 3D Modeling - 2/3/2003 Realistic rendering gains an extra dimension as Caligari Corp.'s 3D multimedia authoring package adds nonlinear animation for game designers or video projects. Static modelers will appreciate new controls for replacing objects and subdividing and overlaying surfaces.
602Pro PC Suite 2001 Review - 1/27/2003 We’ve tested affordable home-PC productivity packages from Microsoft and Corel; now we’ll conclude our search for who-needs-Office? alternatives with a word processing, spreadsheet, image-editing, and photo-organizing combo that’s as affordable as you can get -- free. Are an unbeatable price and impressive functionality worth few frills and no hand-holding?
Corel WordPerfect Family Pack 4 Review - 1/21/2003 Last week, we sampled Microsoft’s Works Suite. Now our quest for powerful-but-not-overpowering home PC productivity turns to Corel, which has teamed its business-class word processor and spreadsheet with an array of family tools and templates for an amazingly low price ($49 after rebate). Is this a smoothly integrated bargain, or random rummage sale?
New WeatherBug 5.0 Enhances Taskbar Forecasts - 1/21/2003 What's the weather like? More than 17 million PC users keep WeatherBug on their Windows desktops, and now a new version of the free forecaster and real-time local monitor offers even more meteorological news, radar, and live weathercam images, with both local and travel forecasts just a click away.
Microsoft Works Suite 2003 - 1/13/2003 It seems like heresy, but let's admit it: Most home PC users and families don't need the muscle and bulk of Microsoft Office. In this first of a three-part series, we look at the software giant's more affordable alternative, Works Suite 2003 — and find lots to like, one lopsided negative, and the best program that Microsoft refuses to market.
CyberLink Offers Two Paths To Home Movie Production - 1/6/2003 CyberLink Corp. introduces two ways to assemble digital images and home videos into professional-looking CD or DVD projects -- one that automatically configures optimal video capture quality and chapter breaks, and one with enough custom editing, audio, and special-effects features to turn your PC into a Hollywood workstation.
Adobe Photoshop Album Helps Consumers Find, Fix, and Share Digital Images - 1/6/2003 You've got thousands of digital-camera shots or favorite downloaded images, but they're no more organized than your desk drawers and shoeboxes full of real photos? Adobe's new Photoshop Album lets you turn them into an automatically organized, instantly searchable gallery; preserve them on CD or DVD; or turn them into Acrobat PDF slide shows to share via e-mail or the Web.
Next Year's Multimedia: Microsoft Releases DirectX 9.0 - 12/30/2002 Get a head start on 2003's hottest games (especially multiplayer online games) and audio and video applications by downloading the long-awaited update to Windows' core multimedia technologies, replacing the DirectX 8 code released in November 2000.
Acronis Offers Fast and Friendly Disk Partition Manager - 12/30/2002 IT professionals can use Acronis' PartitionExpert 2003 to create, resize, or copy hard-disk partitions with 10 times the speed of rival utilities. Thanks to an automated task-wizard interface, so can nontechnical PC users.
Norton SystemWorks 2003 Review - 12/30/2002 Improvements to the exemplary Norton AntiVirus, a useful Web-cache cleanup tool, and, uh, the same old same old: Norton SystemWorks, which some years ago replaced the venerable Norton Utilities as Symantec Corp.’s flagship package and a Windows user’s must-have, has met the same fate. Is it time for the PC utility king to rethink its overlapping, multiple-bundles product strategy?
Opera 7 Preview - 12/23/2002 Chances are virtually certain you're reading this with Microsoft's Internet Explorer -- yet Opera Software's alternative browser (free with an ad banner, $39 without) keeps chugging and improving away. A look at the latest Beta 2 release reminds us what we're missing, from convenient tabbed and background browsing to brilliantly simple navigation shortcuts and far superior security.
Broderbund Updates CD/DVD Burning Toolkit - 12/23/2002 Broderbund's NTI CD-Maker 6 Platinum combines drag-and-drop CD and DVD burning with support for the latest VCD and SVCD formats, convenient MPEG-1 and MP3 encoding, and a WAV editor and jewel case designer for classy custom music discs.
New Version of WebWasher Filters Ads, Protects Privacy - 12/16/2002 Easier installation and more flexible protection are the attractions of a long-awaited upgrade -- with no increase in price, still free for personal use -- to WebWasher Classic, the popular pop-up and banner-ad blocker and online privacy protector.
GoBox 2.0 Review - 12/16/2002 'Tis the season for software stocking stuffers, and we've found an intriguing example -- a free, always-in-foreground news ticker and browser launchpad that offers quick access to online tasks ranging from checking the news and weather to searching for maps, phone numbers, or eBay auctions. Does this diminutive desk accessory let you spend less time using Internet Explorer and more time, well, exploring the Internet?
H&R Block Launches TaxCut Platinum - 12/9/2002 H&R Block bolsters its $10 and $20 (after rebates) tax preparation programs with a $30 (after rebate) Platinum package, with special features for everyone from retirement planners to home-office workers, rental-property managers, and sole proprietors. One state program, one electronically filed federal return, and one consultation with an H&R Block tax expert are included.
Corex Updates Business Card Scanning Software - 12/2/2002 Corex's CardScan software and nifty PDA-sized business-card scanners already automate the job of turning piles of business cards into ready-to-use Outlook or other contact information. Now an upgraded version automates the job of keeping your address book up-to-date, as well as offering a new synchronization engine and Web backup.
McAfee Runs Interference for Kids on the Net - 12/2/2002 The McAfee Security Consumer division of Network Associates says parents should guard their children's Internet connections as vigorously as their bedroom doors, and introduces a $30 Parental Controls 1.0 program to keep kids from visiting inappropriate sites or exposing personal info.
Info Select 7 Review - 12/2/2002 It's a word processor, spreadsheet, database, Web browser, e-mail and newsgroup client, appointment calendar, image editor, and outliner, but it's not an office suite -- it's the latest version of Micro Logic's personal information manager, a super-fast random-data-finder and -organizer that's a tempting alternative to Microsoft Outlook.
SmartDraw 6 Professional Plus Review - 11/25/2002 When you mention business drawing and diagramming, most folks think of Microsoft's Visio -- but this underdog application offers an easier, more affordable alternative for org charts, flow charts, floor plans, project calendars, and other report and presentation illustrations. Can it turn even slapdash doodlers into straight-arrow designers?
Macromedia Director MX Redefines Multimedia Authoring - 11/25/2002 Supporting not only the company's fast-streaming Flash MX but other new technologies ranging from MPEG-4 to Mac OS X, the newest version of Macromedia's multimedia authoring package lets pros create interactive content once and deliver it anywhere, online or offline, to audiences ranging from Web and kiosk browsers to users with disabilities.
Executive Software Offers Free Upgrade for Diskeeper 7.0 - 11/18/2002 Legions of LAN managers know that Diskeeper 7.0 offers quick, invisible, automatic background defragmentation and optimization of hard disks. Now vendor Executive Software shows its holiday spirit by offering users a free Second Edition upgrade that gives a choice of maximum-speed, maximum-free-space, and best-combination modes.
Broderbund Intros $100 CD/DVD Creation Suite - 11/18/2002 Broderbund bundles five programs -- a file organizer, image editor, video editor, CD label and jewel-case insert designer, and sophisticated CD/DVD burner -- to let multimedia mavens speed through jobs ranging from storing data backups to archiving digital photo collections or making DVD movies.
PC-cillin 2003 Bolsters PC Virus Protection - 11/18/2002 Trend Micro upgrades its consumer and home-office Internet security suite with advanced virus detection and outbreak alerts, an integrated personal firewall, and updated e-mail and wireless-network protection. Still not reassured? Telephone support is toll-free.
Detto's Home PC Migration Solution Goes to the Office - 11/4/2002 A new Business Edition of Detto Technologies' popular IntelliMover lets IT managers get employees up and running on new PCs in minutes, transferring application settings, preferences, e-mail and data files, and mapped network resources even across upgraded versions of programs or operating systems.
RecordNow Max 4.5 Enhances DVD Recording and Audio CD Mastering - 10/28/2002 Stomp Inc.'s updated CD- and DVD-burning software adds multisession DVD recording, an audio volume equalizer for music CDs containing tracks with different volume levels, and faster, simpler drive-letter access to recordable optical media.
Web Studio 3.0 Makes Site Creation and Management Simple - 10/28/2002 Web Studio, the drag-and-drop site creator and HTML editor formerly offered by Sierra's Home Division, has been reacquired by its creators and reborn with a new, more powerful version adding everything from easy HTML frame or image thumbnail creation to artistic special effects and instant page previews.
Norton Internet Security 2003 Review - 10/28/2002 By last year, even casual Internet users had learned they needed antivirus and firewall protection to keep hackers and germs out and their personal data in. This year, those users have probably gotten into instant messaging and grown worried about toxic worms and obnoxious spam -- and Symantec's ready with a handy update of its $70 utility suite.
The Print Shop Pro Publisher Deluxe 15 Review - 10/21/2002 Quick, what comes to mind when we mention The Print Shop? Personalized greeting cards, party banners, and award certificates for the kids, probably -- but Broderbund wants you to think advertising brochures, business presentations, and Web pages with video clips, too. Has the most venerable name in family print projects evolved into a true desktop publishing package?
Sitekeeper 2.0 Makes System Management a Snap - 10/21/2002 Besides dreading the chore of installing software on multiple systems, IT managers of even small or mid-sized companies now have the hassle of record-keeping and software license compliance monitoring, with Microsoft and other vendors now taking extra-close looks at contractual privileges. Executive Software automates both installation and inventory tasks with its site management console.
