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Been using Macs for a while? Then you’re likely to have a spare machine or two kicking around. Due to the durability of most Macs, chances are they’ll be in working order, too; just not powerful enough to meet the demands of modern apps. With ScreenRecycler, old Macs with a screen can once again prove useful.
F-Secure does well to integrate its various elements into a single application, although a glance at the Task Manager revealed 14 separate processes using around 40MB of memory when idle, and installation requires a number of restarts.
Most folks these days regularly use more than one computer. However, no matter how hard we plan, there are always occasions when we're sat in front of the wrong one.
Most people have a large, ever-growing collection of browser bookmarks, which is rarely tidied. If you use multiple browsers, bookmarks may be spread among them, causing you to waste time when finding fave sites. Bookdog is specially designed to deal with these problems.
There are a couple of ways you can use your mobile phone to connect to the internet. It can be a tricky process, though, particularly when you're travelling overseas and need to hop between carriers and root out configuration codes for Mac OS X's Bluetooth software.
Usually, MacFormat reviews explore functionality, new features and pros and cons before arriving at a conclusion, but this time we'll make an exception: buy Default Folder X 4.0 now, because it's brilliant. Still with us? Okay, maybe a little more information is required for you die-hards...
Equinux's Mac media browser, Media Central, has been overhauled since version 1.2. It's virtually a whole new app with many new features - and one that's changed from being freeware to paid-for shareware in the process
Like Nero, Easy Media Creator can create pretty much any disc type you care to think of, as well as offering video conversion and a comprehensive DVD authoring package that really does make creating your own DVDs a very simple task indeed.
Safari is really annoying. Despite version 3's new features it still lags behind Firefox and Opera, and yet its speedy nature and clean UI make it tempting to use nonetheless. Saft aims to plug the holes that Apple hasn't filled itself, adding functionality to Safari, much of which is user-definable.
Back in the day, Nisus was a hit for serious word processing. When OS Xcame along, it floundered for a time, and was eventually rebuilt fromthe ground up to emerge as the excellent Nisus Writer Express.
At the heart of your PC's Operating System lies the Registry - something that'll become increasingly bloated as you install or uninstall programs. With every such action, it's likely strings will remain in your Registry that don't relate to anything anymore.
Many of us are put off from shooting in native RAW mode because it usually means having to buy expensive software to read and convert the RAW files at the computer stage.
Macs are complex beasts, but most users avoid performing maintenance tasks, not least because of the perceived necessity to use arcane command-line tools
True to form, OnmiFocus is another organiser, and purely a list maker rather than a visualiser like OnmiGraffle or MindMap Pro
At only $29, it’s less than half the price of SnapzProX, though it lacks its still-image capture abilities.
Despite some competition from Avid, the gap left by Adobe’s hiatus from video editing on the Mac platform has allowed Final Cut to flourish. Few would argue it is currently the dominant program for Mac-based video editing.
Budget video editing has never had it so good. With the capabilities of an average PC now easily able to cope with the demands of cutting, overlaying and playing back video edits in real time, the competition among providers vying to offer the best features for the best price – along with ease of use – has really heated up.
As more features are packed into Internet security bundles, the price steadily increases. Trend Micro has ditched its PC-Cillin name and gone straight for some of the market that Kaspersky, F-Secure, Panda and BitDefender seem to be gobbling up from McAfee and Norton.
When the disc authoring companies continue to focus on new ways to burn discs, you realise that the good old optical drive isn’t dead after all. Like Roxio, Nero is no longer just about the humble CD or DVD – it’s now all about computer management and multimedia control.
If you share your laptop with others, or are simply cautious and don't want to run the risk of anyone seeing the websites you've visited or the applications you've used recently, then Window Washer 6.5 (£30 inc. VAT) is just the tool
Total Security 2008 is the latest version of BitDefender's internet security solution and, in terms of look and style, it looks like it went back to the drawing board. The interface and new applications owe a great deal to Symantec's Norton 360
If you're the paranoid type, a program like Window Washer will appeal. It's designed to eliminate all traces of your activity, enabling you to wipe your Internet trail, reset program settings or clean free space on your hard drive.
Once there was a time when the idea of shelling out a yearly fee to keep PCs from being attacked by a malicious program seemed faintly ridiculous. Now, of course, it's a different story.
As the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Over the course of the past few years, Spyware Doctor has been at the top of its game. The program's one of a handful of anti-spyware tools that has managed to not only keep up with these threats, but also beat back even the toughest of challengers.
O&O has made a name for itself with its disk-based tools, so it's no surprise that there's a drive-imaging utility among its rapidly expanding array of products. O&O DiskImage 2 has plenty of neat features bundled up in its uncluttered, pleasing interface.