Nero 9

by Jon L. Jacobi, PC World

Though Nero 9 is a full-featured burning suite, it offers no compelling reasons to upgrade from previous versions.

Nero 9 is an extremely competent suite for burning CDs and DVDs of all types, as well as for playing, importing, and manipulating video and audio, including HD. But Nero 8 was competent, too, and while the improvements in the new suite are most welcome, they're probably not enough to warrant upgrading from the previous version.

The most noticeable changes are the elimination of "Ultra" from the title, the replacement of the circular while-you-wait animation with Bezier waves, and the decision to make BackItUp a separate, optional install. Regrettably, the multimedia-networking MediaHome 4 module is now sold separately.

Other Nero 9 changes are meatier. The Nero StartSmart application launch center sports added entries for playing files (audio and video), as well as for the new AutoBackup background backup function. Both modules are integrated into the launch center itself, which eliminates the need to start up separate applications. AutoBackup (the reason BackItUp is now optional) can back up locally or to Nero's new online service, which costs $1 per 1GB per month or slightly less depending on the plan you choose. Nero has also revamped its ShowTime DVD playback module so that the interface is less obtuse. Other tweaks are in the help, and more help is available online. Overall, however, Nero 9 does not provide the sweeping redesign I've been hoping to see for this application; the interface, which could benefit from a face-lift, remains largely unchanged.

One convenient new feature is the ability to save audio tracks from videos to MP3. Also appealing are the use of Gracenote instead of CDDB for track, artist, and album information; a TV gadget for the Vista Sidebar; Ad Spotter, which helps you find and delete commercials in video recordings; and Pre-scan, for previewing and chaptering video straight from DV cameras.

Nero 9 is definitely a better product than version 8, and for new users it's a great tool. But considering that the upgrade is $60, I suggest saving your pennies for version 10. Versus the similarly priced Roxio Creator 2009, the story remains largely the same: Nero is less friendly, slightly more powerful in audio and encoding, and decidedly faster. Roxio still provides better templates. Both suites support Blu-ray BD-MV authoring with menus through additional plug-ins.

Source : www.pcworld.com

Google Chrome

by Nick Mediati, PC World

Google's streamlined and speedy browser offers strong integrated search and an intriguing alternative to Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Update: Now that Chrome is no longer in beta, we have updated our review to reflect changes made since we took our first look at it.

Google takes aim squarely at Microsoft with the release of its new Web browser, Chrome. Even though it isn't jam-packed with features, Chrome lives up to its hype by rethinking the Web browser in clever and convenient ways that make using the Web a more organic experience than you'd get with either Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 or Mozilla's Firefox 3.

Initially available for download for Windows Vista and XP, Google plans to expand its Chrome offerings to the Mac and Linux platforms as well. The company doesn't offer any timeline for these versions, though. (For additional PCWorld.com coverage of Google's new browser, see "Chrome vs. the World" and "Google's Chrome: 7 Reasons for It and 7 Reasons Against It.")

Chrome automatically detects the Web browser you're using and prompts you through the process of installation (right down to telling you how to access downloaded files within Firefox, for example). When you first run the application, Chrome imports your bookmarks, passwords, and settings from Firefox or Internet Explorer. It even can grab username and password data, and it automatically populates those fields for you when you use Chrome for the first time to visit a particular site.

After running through a quick import checklist, Chrome opens on your desktop--and right away you begin to experience the Web in a new way. Chrome's layout is very simple: You'll see a row of tabs running along the top, a Web address bar, and a bookmarks bar that runs beneath the address bar. A separate recent-bookmarks box appears at the right of the screen.

Like its Google stablemates, Chrome has a remarkably minimalist interface. There is no full-scale menu bar and no title bar--and few distractions. All controls are buried beneath two icons to the right of the Omnibar (as Google refers to its address bar): a page icon for managing tabs and using Google Gears to create application-like shortcuts from your desktop to a Web site; and a wrench for history, downloads, and other browser options.

You can set your own home page, or you can use the 'most visited' sites page as your starting point. This page provides thumbnail images of your most frequently visited sites, shows recent bookmarks, and supplies a search field for searching your page history. You can change your default search engine, too: This option is located beneath the wrench icon, under Options .

Chrome's design bridges the gap between desktop and so-called "cloud computing." At the touch of a button, Chrome lets you make a desktop, Start menu, or QuickLaunch shortcut to any Web page or Web application, blurring the line between what's online and what's inside your PC. For example, I created a desktop shortcut for Google Maps. When you create a shortcut for a Web application, Chrome strips away all of the toolbars and tabs from the window, leaving you with something that feels much more like a desktop application than like a Web application or page. The lack of forward and back buttons means that if you browse between pages in a saved Web application you may find yourself a little confused if you want to go back a page. Chrome does let you right-click to navigate backward, however.

This being Google, search is an integral part of Chrome; and Google has added some clever features to make searching easier. Chrome goes beyond its Microsoft and Mozilla competition by searching your browser history's page titles as well page content. The history results show the title of the page, as well as a thumbnail representation of the page (for most sites but not all; it was unclear why some sites were visually represented while others were not), but it doesn't show the actual Web page address. The lack of URL information can make it difficult to identify the specific Web page you're going to, especially if the site's title bar description is not specific (because, say, different sections of the same site have identical title bar descriptors).

For example, earlier today I took a look at our slideshow, Technology for the Obscenely Wealthy. To find the article in my browser history, I simply typed 'obscenely wealthy' in the Omnibar. The resulting list showed every page I had visited that contained the phrase 'obscenely wealthy'. Conveniently, the Omnibar lets you search not just your history, but Google and other sites as well.

The default search engine is Google, as you might expect. However, you can choose from a list of other search engines, or you can manually add your own search engine. Type 'google fish sticks' to search for fish sticks on Google. The same syntax works for Yahoo, Ask, Live Search, and other sites that are already recognized by Google or that you add to Chrome's collection of search engines.

Chrome includes a number of features that appear in other browsers, such as a private browsing mode (dubbed Incognito), tools for Web developers to use in viewing and troubleshooting source code, and the ability to restore all tabs from a previous session. Chrome also features tab isolation: If a Web page causes a problem with Chrome and leads to a crash, the crash will affect only the tab displaying the page and not the whole program. Internet Explorer 8 will offer a similar feature, but Chrome takes the idea a step further by adding a task manager that gives the user an idea of how much memory and CPU use a page is eating up, and by allowing you to kill anything that is causing a problem. Unfortunately, you have to configure this tool manually.

Unlike the original beta, the nonbeta release of Chrome features an actual bookmarks manager (the beta we initially reviewed featured only a drop-down menu on the right-hand side of the bookmarks bar). The bookmarks manager lives in a separate window, and uses a two-pane layout: The left-hand pane displays folders of bookmarks, and the right-hand pane shows the contents of bookmark folders. A search field is in the upper-right corner of the bookmarks manager window, and results appear as you type. If you've ever used Safari, Chrome's bookmark manager will look very familiar.

By default, Chrome will not restore your session; if Chrome crashes, it takes everything with it unless you manually configure the browser to act otherwise (the configuration options are buried under the wrench icon, in the Options/Basics menu). In contrast, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 automatically restore your previous session in the event of a crash.

The sites I visited that rely on JavaScript and Ajax seemed to work fine, but Microsoft's Silverlight does not support Chrome at this time, even though it works with Safari, which uses the same WebKit browser engine as Chrome.

Google has produced an excellent browser that is friendly enough to handle average browsing activities without complicating the tasks, but at the same time is powerful enough to meet the needs of more-advanced users. The search functionality of the Omnibar is one of many innovations that caught my attention. PC World has chosen to rate this beta version of Chrome because of Google's history of leaving products and services in long-term beta and in an ongoing state of evolution. In the past there has been some speculation that Google would develop its own operating system, but I think that Chrome's launch makes one thing is clear: The Web browser is Google's operating system.

Source: www.pcworld.com

MindJet Mindmanager 8

By : Edward N. Albro, PC World




Solid mind-mapping application, but some new features are glitchy.

Mindjet's MindManager 8 adds some interesting new features to this visual brainstorming application; but while some are useful and reliable, others are either glitchy or just don't seem to serve much purpose.

The basic idea behind programs like MindManager is that human thinking doesn't always fit well in a written outline. Mind maps, in contrast, are more visual, with nodes for each topic and subtopics that branch out from those nodes. You can expand or contract each node and look at the map in whatever order you want.

MindManager has done the basics of mind-mapping for a while now, but the new version adds some creative extras: the ability to send an interactive map to non-MindManager users, a built-in way to browse the Web and edit Office documents, and a more automated way to keep track of project deadlines.

I find MindManager helpful, but I've never convinced my coworkers to pay $350 for their own copy. And that's why the idea of Mindjet Player maps for sharing is attractive. You can export a MindManager file as an interactive PDF and send it to a colleague. That coworker can't edit the map, but can expand and contract topics, making viewing the map easier. But the player files seemed to work intermittently--one colleague could open a file, while another couldn't. When I tried opening one on two different machines--a Mac and a PC--I got error messages and couldn't view the files at all. (A Mindjet rep told me that Player files work only on Windows machines and work reliably only in versions 8 and 9 of Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader.)

Another way to share files is through MindManager's Web service. You post a map to an online workspace and can invite coworkers to read or edit it. Their changes show up in the map on your hard drive. This method seems to work more reliably, but it is pricey--$120 per simultaneous user annually.

Mind maps can also be helpful in managing projects, and here MindManager 8 takes a solid step forward. Say you've been able to add task information--deadlines and resources--to a topic for a while. Now you can make the task information in one topic dependent on the deadlines in another. So if you add three days to the deadline for step 1, the deadline for steps 2, 3, and 4 are automatically pushed out three days as well.

The new version of MindManager also offers a built-in application for browsing the Web and editing Microsoft Office documents (assuming you already have Office installed on your PC). The Web browser, which opens in a pane on the right side of the MindManager window, works fine, but I'm not sure how useful it is if you don't have a very large monitor. I found that on a 19-inch LCD, I didn't have enough room to both see the mind map and the page I was browsing. Without a huge monitor, you may find it more useful to simply toggle between the mind map and a separate browser.

The built-in Office file editor was more problematic. While editing worked fine within MindManager, the edits didn't show up in the original file, which could be confusing at best

Web mashups are also part of the new MindManager. You can embed a live Web search within a map. Return to the map a week later, push a button, and the search refreshes. That's useful, but another trick isn't: MindManager connects to Facebook and MySpace to import the names and pictures of your friends in those social networks. What purpose that serves is beyond me.

If you haven't tried mind-mapping software but want to, MindManager is a solid program. If you already have it, however, I'd hold off on upgrading to version 8 until some of the kinks are worked out.

Source : www.pcworld.com

Serif Digital Photo Suite 2009

By : Lisa Cekan

Easy-to-use imaging software holds appeal for home hobbyists and novice users who want to organize their stash of photos and do some light editing.

Serif Software Digital Photo Suite 2009 consists of Serif's latest image organizer and editor package, AlbumPlus X3, bundled with its PanoramaPlus 3 to offer photographers a set of simple and intuitive, if not particularly powerful, tools for organizing and enhancing their photos. At $50, Digital Photo Suite 2009 has some appeal--but only if you have need for its specific set of tools. (You can browse PC World's Downloads library for other image editors; many have specialized capabilities.)

AlbumPlus X3 has more features than its predecessor, X2, including more image editing tools as well as the ability to upload photos to social networking sites. AlbumPlus X3 will not be available as a stand-alone program; instead, Serif is offering it as part of the Digital Photo Suite bundle.

I was pleasantly surprised by how easy and quick it was to pull the almost 2000 photos from my hard drive into AlbumPlus X3. In just a few clicks, I could see thumbnails of all of my photos stacked by the folder where the images reside on my hard drive, ready for me to assign tags I could later search on. (In addition to photos, you can import video and music files from your hard drive, CD/DVD drive, digital camera, scanner, or external storage drive.)

Serif starts with a small group of tags in a Windows-style folder system that you can add to or customize with your own tags. You can choose an icon for each tag from the list Serif provides or add your own, and you can organize and search for photos many different ways, such as by tag, star rating, date, or file size. I generally found it intuitive to assign tags. One counterintuitive point about the process: You assign tags to images by dragging and dropping a photo or group of photos to the tag list rather than dragging tags to the photos. Alternatively, you can right-click and assign a tag from a list; I found myself preferring that approach.

The AlbumPlus X3 software is not intended as a full-bore image editor akin to Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0. However, it does have a small, yet fun set of tools that let you make simple changes to your photos. You can fix blemishes, smooth skin, whiten teeth and the whites of the eyes, and even add a fake tan (albeit one that looks much like many fake tans). You can also choose from a fairly standard set of fixes, such as brightness, sharpness, contrast, and color saturation, and play with a few effects like stained glass and oil painting. Serif provides excellent on-screen explanations along the way, making this software a good choice for photo-editing neophytes. Each time you click to open a particular tool, a small section of the screen is devoted to giving instructions on how to use it and tips for getting the best results.

Once you've sorted your images, AlbumPlus offers several options for sharing photos, including putting them on a CD; creating printed calendars and albums; sending them via e-mail; and uploading them to social networks, including Facebook, Flickr, or YouTube.

Serif makes this package a suite by bundling in its PanoramaPlus 3, a tool for stitching photos and movie frames into a panorama or a 360-degree movie. The Digital Photo Suite has a single installer, but each of the programs within it maintains a separate identity, though there is a button in AlbumPlus X3's main menu that will launch PanoramaPlus 3. Like AlbumPlus, I found PanoramaPlus easy to use and integrated with terrific instructions and tips. But the addition of PanoramaPlus 3 boosts the price of the Digital Photo Suite to $50. That's a big extra cost, given that many casual photographers don't often take panoramas. (The AlbumPlus X2 was available as a stand-alone program for $25.)

For that matter, you can find many of the features in AlbumPlus X3 for free from online image editors such as Picnik, Photoshop Express, and scores of other Web-based image editors (check out our review of free Web-based image editors). That makes Digital Photo Suite's $50 price tag steep.

But for those who don't want their photos online and are willing to pay for a simple, well-integrated program to help them organize and edit their photos, Serif Digital Photo Suite 2009 provides a good balance of features that are tailor-made for home users.

Source : www.pcworld.com