Software

Having used CorelDRAW since the very early days of Windows it has become an old friend. It was one of the first applications to move to a CD and now the huge content of extras – always a Corel thing – demands a DVD.

To integrate or not to integrate is the option. Cyberlink has gone for the latter with its collection of graphics applications.

As a long time user of WinZip, I am always keen to see what the latest version of this compression and archiving software has to offer

Taking liberties with the first two lines of Pete Seeger and Joe Hickerson’s classic folk song “Where have all the documentation gone, Gone to PDF every one”.

The majority of us are not natural designers who know HTML and can produce an attractive and effective Web design at the drop of a hat. We need all the help that we can get. Xara Web Designer MX -- which is available in two versions -- is a WYSIWYG template based program that brings the design and publishing of effective web sites within range of most people.

A quick check of my work system revealed 3762 MP3 tracks. Further investigation brought to light that these tracks occupied just over 12GB of storage space and, if played continuously, would take 9 days and 13 hours in order to work through the full list. This information came courtesy of MAGIX’s latest MP3 deluxe software.

It is a fact of Windows life that your computer’s performance will decrease directly proportional to the use to which it is put – much to the delight of those who develop software to remedy this situation

This is my first look at ArtRage now on version 3.5. Before delving into the manuals I always try to see what it can do with just the icons on the screen, the results are of course strange, sometimes great sometimes not what you thought.

Serif has always targeted those who operate on a limited budget while looking for ease-of-use with their software. The latest Serif product to take this path is MoviePlus X6.

A quick check of my laptop revealed that it was about time a new Norton security package was due – and so it was as the latest version of Norton 360 made an appearance.

Taking photographs is fun especially when you are collecting visual representations of memories of important personal events. You can then store these images locally or in the Cloud knowing you can recall them when necessary. However why stop there.

Music, photos and video clips make up a sizeable portion of the storage devices attached to our home computers unless, of course, you are in the minority. Managing and making use of the vast store of multimedia data can be quite challenging especially if you attempt this task without the appropriate tools.

As the movement from analogue to digital gathers apace, it makes sense to further enhance the audio quality with tools such as MAGIX’s Audio Cleaning Lab.

On a very cold day at the start of February Microsoft launched a ‘free’ app for Android. Those with long memories will know they recently purchased Skype a ‘free’ online telecommunications product and also offered everyone a ‘free’ 5GB Sky Drive.

Nero started life as a method of burning CD’s. Now it is far more than that as not only does it work with CD’s and DVD’s but also Blu-ray’s. In fact it is a one stop shop for all your music, photos and videos in one box.

Now up to version 16, Serif has released the latest edition of its PagePlus software for those wanting to create different types of documents containing images and text.

Media content can arrive in different formats which are not always compatible with all your devices. Helping cope with this problem is the stated aim of a product released by Binary Distribution.

Another product that is certainly mature once they got beyond 12 they started using roman numerals, most people thought that was to avoid 13 but a year so later X4 comes so what does a mature product have to offer that is new?

As one of the major anti-virus companies, Kaspersky has created a product that enables the user to protect different devices.

It is that time of the year when Adobe reveals the latest version of its graphics package for those on a limited budget.

From their base inGermany, the people at Nero have been busy developing the latest version of the company’s multimedia software which is the subject of the review.

Abbyy Finereader Professional 11 is the latest incarnation of a very effective OCR (optical character recognition) package. It is easy to use in its basic form as it comes ‘out of the box’ and is readily configurable to meet particular needs.

Many more years ago than I care to admit or can even remember some of them, I came across a piece of software that had been released as unprotected Shareware. The software had been developed by somebody whose main interests were jet planes and developing software which explains why he named his company JASC – that software was Paint Shop Pro.

As you browse through your collection of digital images stored on your computer, you can sometimes notice blemishes and other features that you wish could be removed or enhanced in some way. It is for times like these that a product such as Serif's PhotoPlus has been developed.

While I have been a long-time user of WinZip, both prior and after its integration into the Corel family, this is the first time I have come across WinZip System Utilities Suite.

As we approach the final quarter of a year, it means the release of titles bearing next year’s designation will begin to pick up speed. This is especially true of titles that provide protection against the various malware threats that attempt to take control of our computers.

Serif’s PagePlus X5 is the latest upgrade of a well-established DTP program that already meets a great many user needs ranging from business and Christmas cards through to multi-page documents. A large number of individual improvements have now been made in this new version that, overall, enhances its versatility and ease of use.

While a product that I use on a regular basis, this next title does have a feature that annoys me from time to time. That time being when I install a new version.

It is about that time of the year when software packages begin to appear bearing next year’s date as part of the title.

DrawPlus X5 is the latest version of Serif’s design and illustration software. As with the other titles in Serif’s stable of products, this software is aimed at users who want reasonable levels of functionality but without the price premium demanded by other products such as those available from Adobe and Corel.