Software for windows

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2

NUTSIE (PUBLIC BETA)
2007-06-20 19:39:00
By Sascha Segan  The idea for this software is great. It streams your iTunes songs to your phone. But sadly Melodeo’s nuTsie is stuck with restrictions that only an entertainment industry copyright lawyer could love, making it a somewhat awkward way to access “your” music. Here’s the thing: nuTsie does not actually stream your iTunes songs to ...
More About: Public , Beta , Nuts

SPYWARE DOCTOR 5.0 WITH ANTIVIRUS 5.0
2007-06-20 19:32:00
By Neil J. Rubenking  Spyware Doctor 5.0 with Anti Virus is effectively a completely different product from Spyware Doctor 4.0. PC Tools rebuilt its flagship product from the ground up over a period of many months, developing it in parallel with the existing product. This Vista-compatible from-scratch rewrite was designed to deliver a “smaller, faster and supercharged” ...
More About: Antivirus

SUPERANTISPYWARE PROFESSIONAL
2007-06-20 19:29:00
By Neil J. Rubenking  Some people always prefer the underdog to the too, too popular choice. That’s probably one reason SUPERAnti Spyware Professional has such a vociferous cheering squad. Another may be that it installs quickly and doesn’t hog system resources. But I won’t join the cheering until it starts to do its job a bit better. ...
More About: Antispyware , Fess

RAKETU COMMUNICATIONS INC.
2007-06-20 19:22:00
By Davis D. Janowski  Let’s get the name out of the way first: Raketu means “rocket” in Czech, hence the application’s iconic rocket-ship logo. This free jack-of-all-trades peer-to-peer (p2p) communication service and app requires a small (under 4MB) downloadable client. It runs over dial-up as well as broadband, and although far from perfect right now, it ...
More About: Instant Messaging , Communications , Comm

MOZILLA THUNDERBIRD 2
2007-06-20 19:11:00
By Davis D. Janowski  Mozilla ’s already impressive e-mail client has improved with version 2. In fact, this free open-source e-mail application raises the bar enough that I can safely say I prefer it over Outlook Express. Thunderbird 2 includes new and very useful features but keeps its interface clean (some might say austere) and fairly intuitive. ...
More About: Mozilla Thunderbird , Under , Zilla

ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE 3
2007-06-20 19:04:00
By Galen Fott   Adobe makes great software. Contributing editor Ed Mendelson and I have together reviewed the eight applications that comprise the Design and Web editions of Creative Suit e 3, and we haven’t given any program a score of less than 4. Mac users should be especially pleased, since all the apps are now available ...

TECHSMITH CAMTASIA STUDIO 4
2007-06-20 18:54:00
By Davis D. Janowski  So you want to be a blog star? In the past, being an insightful thinker and good writer (or being willing to show some skin once in a while) were enough. These days, however, your presentation is nearly as important as your material. Camtasia Studio 4 can help you shine. At its ...

::FIRST LOOK: MCAFEE INTERNET SECURITY 2007 AND SYMANTEC NORTON INTERNET SE
2007-03-08 12:47:02
By: Narasu Rebbapragada The new 2007 security suites from Symantec and McAfee offer comprehensive protection against current security threats. The core antivirus, antispyware, and firewall protection in each package will keep your PC safe, and both suites offer secondary tools such as parental controls, privacy controls, and antispam features. For a multiple-PC setup, Symantec’s suite is cheaper, and it offers better adware and spyware protection despite being marred by some performance holes. Both Symantec and McAfee have done a good job redesigning their interfaces. Symantec’s Norton Inter net Security 2007 suite has a noticeably streamlined look, and it responds more quickly than in the past. An especially nice touch: Symantec decreased the level of bloat by making its secondary controls available as a freely downloadable (though hard-to-find) add-on pack at Symantec’s site. McAfee’s initial installation of Internet Security 2007 has those controls plus fil...

::INTERNET EXPLORER 7 IS STILL NOT SAFE ENOUGH::
2007-03-08 12:47:02
By: Andrew Brandt Microsoft’s Inter net Explorer 7 offers significant security improvements over its deservedly criticized predecessor. But the new IE still does not do enough to protect users. Microsoft has, in IE 7, locked down some of the problem areas in IE 6. The browser will permit a Web site to nag you only once about installing an ActiveX control, for instance. (Some users will approve an installation simply to get rid of the pop-up windows.) But malicious scripting attacks remain a big problem. Some miscreant Web sites use scripting code (such as JavaScript) to exploit security holes. This can allow them to perform drive-by installations of spyware or Trojan horse programs. IE 7 has a host of features designed to thwart exploits, including showing a pop-up warning that lets the user know when a site is trying to use scripting. But the new features don’t go far enough. Firefox’s NoScript plug-in (a free download at NoScript.net) provides an elegant solution ...
More About: Internet Explorer , Stil

::THE CREATIVE TOOLBOX: ILLUSTRATOR?S ALMOST-PERFECT 10::
2007-03-08 12:47:02
By  George Penston Soon after graduating art school I found myself a respectable job at a service bureau. There I got my first taste of Adobe Illustrator 88. Although its feature set would be laughable by today’s standards, at the time it was a revolutionary application. It’s amazing to see how this modest application that was created to assist in mapmaking has come so far. Now some 13 years later, Adobe has released Illustrator 10, which marks Adobe’s first product release to offer both Windows XP and OS X compatibility (it also runs on Mac OS 9 and on several flavors of Windows). The carbonized application sports a polished interface to complement the two new operating systems’ visually arresting user interfaces, Luna and Aqua respectively. But underneath the slick veneer of the interface, Illustrator 10 brings an assortment of new tools and features to foster creative freedom and boost productivity. Your Tool box Runneth Over Once you become acquainted with...
More About: Creative , Most , Perfect

::MALWARE AND ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE::
2007-03-07 00:46:01
By Mat Nayie  Warning: most antivirus programs will not protect you against all forms of malignant software (often called “malware”) on their own. Find out how to protect yourself. Sure, your antivirus software will protect you against viruses. It will probably even do a good job against worms. But what Trojans, exploits, backdoors, spyware and the dozen other nasty software parasites? Malware and Antivirus Software : a History The war on computer viruses has led to an arms race between the designers of antivirus software and the designers of viruses (you didn’t think viruses just created themselves did you?). Some years ago, virus designers responded to ever more successful antivirus software by creating the descendents of viruses, worms, which did not infect files but rather installed themselves directly on the hard drive, making them harder to detect. The arms race has since led to a total of at least eleven distinct types of what is now called malware, a neologi...
More About: Virus , Antivirus Software

::FIRST LOOK: MUSICMATCH JUKEBOX?S IMPRESSIVE VERSION 10::
2007-03-07 00:46:01
By: Edward N. Albro One of the major hassles of any decent-sized digital music collection is keeping it all organized in a way that makes sense to you. Music Match Jukebox 10, now owned by Yahoo, debuts today and gives music lovers lots of help in arranging their tracks in just the way they want. Musicmatch 10, which comes in a free and a $20 premium version, is available to download from PC World’s downloads library. For years, media players have used behind-the-scenes database capabilities to build a library of your music. But the new Jukebox goes farther than any player I’ve seen to expose the power of its database to users. You can view your library in myriad ways, add more detailed information, and easily edit info for your tracks. You can also perform easy edits of large batches of files. One example: I love Bach and have lots of albums of his music, but some have the artist listed as Bach, while some have the artist listed as the specific performer. With Jukebox, I...
More About: Press , First

::FIRST LOOK: WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER 11 AND MTV URGE::
2007-03-07 00:46:01
By: Eric Dahl Microsoft is putting a new face on Wind ows Media Play er , with the application’s biggest overhaul in years. The company announced a beta version of the new player this morning, featuring a cleaner, Vista-like interface; integration with a new digital music store from MTV; and improved handling of large libraries and album art. I’ve been playing around with the beta of Windows Media Player 11 for a while now, and the app’s streamlined look and improved performance have proved quite impressive. MTV’s new Urge music service (see “MTV Does Digital Music”) is deeply integrated with the player, letting you manage music downloads and subscription tracks in one interface. Early adopters can download the player here, with the integrated Urge service. Here’s a rundown of the highlights in WMP 11 and Urge. WMP Goes to 11 The first thing you’ll notice about the new Windows Media Player is how streamlined the interface is. Microsoft we...

::GREAT GRAPHICS FOR FREE::
2007-03-07 00:46:01
By: Preston Gralla Got plenty of photos and other media on your PC? Then you know that the graphics tools built into Windows won’t exactly knock your socks off. And looking at the price tags on some add-in photo and media programs might send you into sticker shock. But you don’t need to pay a bundle for solid media tools–in fact, you don’t need to spend a penny. We’ve rounded up four freebies that do a great job of helping you master your media. StudioLine PhotoBasic Don’t be fooled by StudioLine Photo Basic’s name: This image managing and editing program is anything but basic. It’s a kind of jack-of-all-trades for handling digital photographs. The program bills itself as a photo archiving tool, and while it does a good job of that, it does a lot more. It has all the archiving tools you’d expect; you can use it to browse and reorganize your photo and image collection, including organizing your photos into albums. A particularly u...
More About: Graphics , Free , Great , Graphic , Graph

::MOVIEFACTORY MAKES CREATING MOVIE DISCS EASY::
2007-03-07 00:46:01
By: Melissa J. Perenson Rather than attempting to be everything to everyone, Ulead’s $50 DVD Movie Fact ory 5 instead focuses on just one job–burning video and movies to disc–and tries to make it as painless as possible. Getting started is easy. The launcher’s interface is blissfully uncluttered and clean, offering quick access to features that handily cover most video-related burning chores you might want to perform. For the most part, I found the software convenient to navigate and use for the different tasks. Creating a basic DVD videodisc was a simple and pleasant experience: You just choose the files, and, if they aren’t already MPEG-2 encoded, the software will do the necessary transcoding. It works with a variety of formats and is ready to output to high-definition optical as well. Among the other improvements: Ulead has bolstered the video editing tools and introduced an Ad-Zapper feature for removing commercials from TV content. This application&...
More About: Make

::POPULAR IMAGE EDITORS GAIN NEW TOOLS::
2007-03-07 00:46:01
By: Alan Stafford Like many people, I find that managing my collection of digital images is almost as big a job as editing them. New versions of two popular imaging applications–Corel’s Paint Shop Pro Photo XI and Adobe’s Photoshop Elements 5–promise to help you deal with photo glut, but only one of them delivers. Excellent editing tools and advances in the importing and sharing of photos put Photoshop Elements a big step ahead of Paint Shop Pro. Both programs feature photo-downloading utilities that help you organize new images. The downloader in the latest version of Elements has received an impressive overhaul: When it recognizes that you’ve connected your digital camera to your PC or inserted a memory card into a reader, it can batch-rename all of the images in a variety of formats, remove red eye (though that feature isn’t new), put the pictures in a new subfolder, and delete them from your memory card when it’s done–all without a...
More About: Tools , Pop , Editors , Tool , Popular

::GREAT SOFTWARE FOR YOUR HOME OFFICE::
2007-03-07 00:46:01
By: Lincoln Spector Maybe your boss allows you to telecommute. Maybe you’re your own boss. Or perhaps you work after hours from home or just take care of a lot of personal business on your PC. Whatever your scenario may be, here are ten programs to keep your home office humming. These gems will help you manage your money, your e-mail, your notes, and your time. And they’ll also help you present a good image of yourself on screen and on paper. With one exception, all programs work in Windows 98 through Windows XP. I’ll skip the really common programs. After all, you don’t need to know about Windows, office suites, or a good e-mail program. And you’ve already heard enough about antivirus software, personal firewalls, and tools to back up your data–even if you haven’t actually gone out and bought them (yet). Keep Your Money in Order  What’s your financial worth? What do you owe on your credit cards? How much do your clients owe you, and w...
More About: Software , Office , Home , Great , War

::MICROSOFT WINDOWS CE, TAKE 3: MORE BEAUTY, SAME BEAST::
2007-03-07 00:46:01
What’s the difference between a laptop and a personal digital assistant? If the PDA is based on the Palm operating system–designed for keeping schedule, address book, and other personal information handy–the difference is huge. But increasingly, handhelds running Microsoft ’s Wind ows CE blur the line between laptop and personal information manager. Windows CE palmtops have not been a howling success–International Data Corporation analysts say Palm OS­based devices command more than three-quarters of the PDA market. So Microsoft has a new name for the latest batch: Pocket PCs. They boast the sleekest hardware to date, and the new CE 3 operating system offers such praiseworthy advances as visible menu bars and improved security options. Also new is the reader software for perusing electronic books. Future CE 3 devices will support GPS, the Bluetooth wireless standard, and wireless services through MSN Mobile.  We checked out one of the first Pocket PCs, a ...
More About: Beauty , Take

::HASSLE-FREE E-MAIL::
2007-03-07 00:46:01
By: Dan Tynan Let’s face it: E-mail is enormously valuable, but it can be an enormous hassle too. You need a tool that can read, write, and wrangle hundreds of messages a day, that can find and help organize messages, and that can juggle e-mail from multiple accounts. And in an era when (according to UK research firm MessageLabs) half of all e-mail is spam, you need a tool that can filter out most of the junk. We looked at eight e-mail options–four desktop clients and four Web services–to find out which ones were easiest to use, and which offered the best features and the strongest spam protection. Each e-mail option has its advantages. Desktop apps store messages on your hard drive, so there are virtually no limits on how many you can keep. But e-mail programs can be difficult to back up, so if your hard drive dies, your e-mail may expire along with it. We have two favorites. XP users should take a look at Outlook 2003, a package that’s a lot more than an e-...
More About: Mail , Free , E-Mail , Hass

::ZBRUSH 1.03: PAINT YOUR WAY TO 3D::
2007-03-07 00:46:01
By  Luisa Simone Professional artists and illustrators know first hand that it’s difficult to create the illusion of the third dimension, regardless of whether they are working with old-fashioned bristle brushes or a computerized paint program. With ZBrush 1.03, its new graphics software for Windows and Mac platforms, Pixologic hopes to change all this by providing interactive 3D painting tools. ZBrush’s unusual interface makes it a somewhat difficult tool to master, but its approach will pay off for buyers who stick with it. The underlying technology in ZBrush is similar to that found in 3D-modeling and -rendering programs such as 3D Studio Max, Caligari trueSpace, and Strata 3Dpro, but ZBrush is a far cry from a traditional 3D-authoring tool. For example, ZBrush does not expect users to edit wireframe models, understand nurbs, or navigate virtual worlds. Instead ZBrush represents volumes in space with Pixols — a term coined by the company for pixels that also inc...
More About: Pain , Your , Rush , Paint

::BELLAMAX UPSHOT::
2007-03-06 18:45:02
By Cade Metz  For the average Joe, UpShot may be the perfect photo-editing tool. Unfortunately, it requires a bit more than average hardware. A new consumer app based on professional photo-editing software from Bell amax, UpShot lets you automatically correct color, brightness, and contrast with a single mouse click. In most cases, that single click will even remove red-eye. And unlike some features that sound good in a press release then disappoint when you actually use them, this “Fast Fix” works.    Unless your PC has a 2-GHz processor and a gigabyte of memory, UpShot isn’t fast at all. I tried running it on a notebook with a 1.2-GHz CPU and 512MB of memory, and almost couldn’t use it. Staff editor Tony Hoffman tried it on three different desktops with similar specs and ran into the same problem. If your PC’s up to snuff, on the other hand, UpShot is nothing but a pleasure. When you launch it for the first time, a window pops telling you?in concise, s...
More About: Bella , Ella , Lama

::RIYA (BETA)::
2007-03-06 18:45:02
By Cade Metz  When I first covered Riya , the face-recognizing photo organizer and sharer from Ojos, it was available to less than 30 hand-picked testers. Since then, the free service has graduated from alpha to beta status, and the difference is like night and day. The face-recognition tools are far from perfect, but they’re much improved, and in the end, the service is an effective means of sorting and searching your photo collection. And Riya is one of those apps that’s worth downloading simply so you can see it in action. Riya uses face-recognition technology to tag your photos automatically. Rather than having you identify photos of your loved ones by hand, typing in name after name, Riya recognizes faces and adds tags on its own. Once photos are tagged, you can instantly search them?and, if you like, so can others. Riya is also a photo sharer. You can serve photos to the Web at large, Flickr-style. Munjal Shah, Ojos’s CEO and cofounder, notes that when the bet...
More About: Beta

::DISNEY TRIVIA CHALLENGE::
2007-03-06 18:45:02
By Nancy Hirsch  You knew that each of the 101 dalmatians has 32 spots, right? You and up to three friends can test your knowledge as you answer questions in categories such as Film, Personalities, and Songs. But the game takes far too long to play, and even easy questions can verge on the esoteric.   Source: http://www.pcmag.com
More About: Disney , Trivia , Challenge , Hall , Allen

::SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE::
2007-03-06 18:45:02
By Sarah Pike  Here’s a fun intro to physics, time, atoms?the stuff that makes some people so happy (and other people groan). Maybe this friendly approach, with Q&As of Nobel prize winners and animated demonstrations, will inspire kids 14 and up to science greatness?if they can work through the clunky interface.   Source: http://www.pcmag.com
More About: Universe , Secret , Secrets , Verse , Univ

::SECRETS OF THE ARK: A BROKEN SWORD GAME::
2007-03-06 18:45:02
By Brett Todd  Secret s of the Ark is a little too in love with itself, but this is still a first-rate traditional adventure with a great story and mostly commonsense puzzles. The Good: Great selection of commonsense challenges and logic puzzles; well-told story with lots of atmosphere; outstanding visuals; first-rate voice acting and script. The Bad: Too-close camera frequently gets in the way; conversations go on forever and can’t be skipped. Nine years after the debut of the Broken Sword series, and accidental adventurer George Stobbart is still getting into jams. The hero of one of the longest-running franchises in adventure gaming returns to delve into yet another of history’s mysteries in Revolution Software’s Secrets of the Ark (known in Europe as The Angel of Death). The game is a traditional point-and-click jaunt that doesn’t break any new ground and has a few presentation problems, but it still reminds fans why they fell in love with these games in t...
More About: Word , Game

::HYPEROFFICE::
2007-03-06 18:45:02
By Edward Mendelson  Fast and elegant online collaboration service Hype rOffice performs many functions very well and has some features that you won’t find in the competition. It also has one or two blemishes and may require special user training and advanced setup not required by its rivals. Hyper Office doesn’t provide the special-purpose expense account and project management features of its rivals. While Hyperoffice does offer several task-management abilities (including Gantt chart support, an ability not shared by WebOffice), its rivals outclass it in terms of elaborate templates for such abilities as asset management, competition tracking, and CRM. Hyperoffice does give coworkers fast access to one another’s calendars, inboxes, document storage, contact lists, discussion groups, and more?simply by pointing their browsers to an address that looks like companyname.hyperoffice.com. The product worked with every Microsoft Windows and Macintosh browser I tried, alt...

::GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II: DARK AVATAR::
2007-03-06 18:45:02
By Jeff Lackey  The new features in Dark Avatar elevate the already superb Galactic Civil ization s II to the title of undisputed best turn-based space strategy game on the PC. The Good: New features provide even more strategic breadth and depth; excellent artificial intelligence has been tuned to be even better; easy ability to mod and customize provides a plethora of user-made add-ons; dramatic new campaign. The Bad: No multiplayer; diplomacy could use a little more depth. Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords was on most strategy-game-of-the-year awards lists in 2006, garnering praise from many as the best space-based “4X” (exploring, expanding, exploiting, exterminating) game ever released for the PC. That’s a tough act to follow, yet somehow Stardock has managed to produce an add-on package that elevates the game to an even higher level of strategy gaming excellence. Dark Avatar accomplishes this via subtle tweaks in a wide range of existing features combined w...

::THE SIMS 2 SEASONS::
2007-03-06 18:45:02
By Andrew Park  Season s doesn’t add a lot of groundbreaking stuff to The Sims 2. And you know what? That’s actually OK. The Good: New seasons add useful group activities; fishing and farming offer a relaxing change of pace. The Bad: Weather effects add welcome cosmetic changes, but don’t fundamentally change gameplay. By now, you’ve probably heard about The Sims. It all started with a little idea of controlling the lives of autonomous characters called “sims,” and it took off in a big way to become a best-selling game series on multiple platforms–and on the PC, the series became infamous for its many expansion packs. The Sims 2 Seasons is the latest one, and unlike the last few expansions, this one doesn’t add a zillion ambitious new features that make the game more complicated. Instead, it adds seasonal weather, crop farming, and some new group activities that can actually make the challenging gameplay of Sims 2 a more relaxed pastime...
More About: Sons

::WAR FRONT: TURNING POINT::
2007-03-06 18:45:02
By Brett Todd  War Front : Turn ing Point is a decidedly different take on the WWII real-time strategy game, complete with jetpack Nazis and freeze rays. The Good: Alternative-history setting; sci-fi weapons that bolster traditional wwii real-time strategy units; secret orders multiplayer mode; bombastic visuals. The Bad: Fairly generic action RTS gameplay; poor vehicle pathfinding; some minor visual and audio problems. After years of developers storming the beaches with a battalion full of WWII real-time strategy games, it’s tough to even glance up when yet another one thuds into stores. Still, as Relic’s fantastic Company of Heroes proved last year, not all WWII games are created equal. Now Digital Reality’s War Front: Turning Point also dodges the WWII-as-sleep-inducing bullet, largely by starting with the usual Axis-versus-Allies premise and then serving up an alternative-history twist. This makes the story and setting about as historically accurate as those in t...

::WAR ROCK::
2007-03-06 06:45:04
By Kevin VanOrd  War Rock is a mediocre online first-person shooter that feels more like an economic experiment than an actual retail product. The Good: A couple of different modes to choose from; occasionally intense gameplay on a bunch of decent maps. The Bad: The core shooting action is underwhelming; nonfunctional features, lag, and frequent crashes; bizarre real-life economic model rewards cash over skill; dated production values. It’s true what they say about getting what you pay for. Well, at least some of the time. You can still download War Rock for free, much as you could when the online first-person shooter was in its official beta stages. As a free game, it’s a serviceable Battlefield-series substitute with a surprisingly large community and enough decent qualities to make it worth the download. But in a retail package that costs money, its appeal spirals downward fast, thanks to its broken features, bland shooting action, and weak production values. Like mos...