 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Software for . . .
By DAVE GUSSOW, WILLIAM LAMPKIN and CHRISTOPHER AVE Copernic Agent 6.0
Google is a great Internet search engine. And it's free. So it's reasonable to wonder why anyone would want to pay for search software. But Copernic is worth it. It goes deeper than Google and other search engines. I've used a previous version of Copernic for shopping for a couple of years and have been impressed with the results. The new Agent is aimed at heavier users, such as business people. Among its features: It lets you search in about 50 specific categories, ranging from the Web to e-mail addresses to reviews to news (sorted by language) to shopping. You can further customize searches by your areas of interest and schedule the software to make regular checks of the topics. In addition to placing itself in the toolbar of your Web browser, it can be placed in the toolbar of Microsoft Office applications. That means if you're writing a report in Word, you can do a search without leaving your document. It also keeps track of your searches, and there's more that I haven't discovered yet. A consumer version ($29.95) is available for download as well at www.copernic.com. Works Suite
Microsoft has made this basic suite of programs more family friendly. The latest version of Works includes a full version of Word and standard versions of Money personal finance, Picture It photo editing, Streets & Trips maps and the Encarta encyclopedia. It emphasizes family and personal tasks. A new Task Launcher on the home page lists projects for all members of a family, from schoolwork to coaching a sports team to club and group activities. It adds 150 templates, to bring its total to 400, and also has guides to help with everything. (One interesting note for me: This version of Money finally did a clean conversion of my Quicken files after a couple of failures during tests in previous years.) Works continues to be a solid package for families to handle everyday PC tasks, and the upgrade comes when there are a few signs of increasing competition for Microsoft in this market. Some PC companies are offering Corel's WordPerfect as an alternative to Works on some computers. -- DAVE GUSSOW, Times personal technology editor Norton SystemWorks for Macintosh 2.0
Antivirus protection is the key feature in this bundle of five utilities for Macs called Norton SystemWorks. (It has Norton AntiVirus, Norton Utilities, Dantz Retrospect Express Backup, Alsoft's DiskWarrior Recovery Edition and Aladdin's Spring Cleaning.) Though viruses are much more widespread on the Windows platform, they aren't unknown on the Mac. Running a regular virus check is key to maintaining a healthy computer. With a few clicks, you can use a feature called Scheduler to scan your hard drive automatically at preset times, such as overnight. Next up on the importance scale are the Norton Utilities: Speed Disk, for defragging your hard drive; Disk Doctor, for repairing hard drive problems; and FileSaver, UnErase and Volume Recover, to help rescue data should your hard drive crash. The SystemWorks package works smoothly on Mac OS X, though you should run LiveUpdate regularly to make sure your software and antivirus definitions stay fresh. I first installed the package while running OS X 10.1. When I upgraded to OS X 10.2, or Jaguar, I had to run LiveUpdate before SystemWorks would work with the new OS version. It's quick to switch between the SystemWorks applications, and each is easy to figure out how to use. But I'm still leery of Spring Cleaning. The concept of culling unused files from the thousands of files on your hard drive is appealing, but I'm not ready to trust completely a software program to do that for me. The list price is steep, but if purchased separately, just Norton AntiVirus and Norton Utilities would cost almost $170. -- WILLIAM LAMPKIN, Times staff writer McAfee Internet Security 5.0
Almost like clockwork, someone sends an e-mail to Tech Times because their computer picked up a virus. Too often, the writer didn't have antivirus or other security software running or updated. Software companies are doing their part to make it easy, offering all-in-one packages that include everything most people will need to protect their PC. McAfee's package is user friendly, easy to set up and use. In addition to antivirus and a firewall, it has privacy settings that allow you to manage cookies and block "spyware" from tracking your Internet surfing habits. Parental controls help block sites you don't want your kids to visit, as well as prevent the little ones from giving out some personal data. The only glitch in my test was that popup ads showed up in my Web browser, even though I had set the McAfee software to block them. If you don't have security software, you need to get something. Now. -- DAVE GUSSOW The Print Shop Deluxe Version 15
This do-it-all publishing software includes some nice extras -- thousands of pieces of clip art (including some famous artwork), the ability to save documents as PDF files and even a basic video editor. The package includes powerful graphics and text editing ability, as well as enhanced photo editing features such as precise cropping and brush effects for that dreamy, artsy look. While one could open an actual print shop using this product, its niche is clearly home use. At that it excels, helping users produce greeting cards, calendars, business cards and much more with ease. Because of its detailed templates and straightforward user interface, Print Shop Deluxe gets beginners going right away. And it offers experienced users the power to create just about anything that can be printed. Broderbund throws in some greeting card paper to boot. While you can find more robust products in the higher-end market, it's hard to imagine another $50 software package that contains this many features. -- CHRISTOPHER AVE, Times staff writer CD Trustee
If you have a large collection of music CDs, this software is a must-have. It creates a catalog of the CDs and lets you search by artist, album or song title. And it's all a very simple process with no typing required. Put a CD into the CD drive, and the software reads it, including a digital code that it checks against an Internet database. Then it downloads the album information. It takes only seconds for each disc. The company recommends doing only 30 to 40 discs at a time before sending the information to the Web. The only quirk in several hundred CDs was doing separate listings for a two-disk set. The software has other features, including setting up playlists and using it as a jukebox, but I found the catalog function to be invaluable. Streets & Trips 2002
I usually just get in the car and go, which can turn travel into an adventure. But a friend has been into mapping software and GPS for a while, so I had him take a look at Streets & Trips. His report: It's easy to install and, more important, to learn and use. It did a good job of mapping and found all but one of his tested addresses. The lone exception was in Knoxville, Tenn., and was about two blocks off the actual location. Comparatively speaking, he thinks the results were good. But it didn't allow him to add streets, a feature he likes in Topo, a higher-end DeLorme package. -- DAVE GUSSOW
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From Tech Times
From the AP |
