Before K-prefixed apps were in vogue, there was the X-series. These were lauded GUI apps that helped to reduce the number of tasks done on the command line. X-CD-Roast (XCR) is one such app.
It's come a long way since the 90s, but still carries a few remnants of its heritage. Firstly, it's light as a feather, which makes it ideal for older hardware. Secondly, you must launch it and configure it as root before others can use it, which is a throwback to more cumbersome times. This setup, although an inconvenient extra step, doesn't involve much work.
XCR also features some impressive user privilege management, which will allow or deny access to particular users on certain hosts, although that's probably overkill in most circumstances. Once the setup is complete, XCR is capable of writing and copying data to CDs and DVDs as well as mixed-mode and audio CDs.
In fact, the app garnered popularity for its audio CD ripping abilities thanks to the built-in cdda2wav utility. When creating an audio CD, you can drag and drop tracks into X-CD-Roast, but this only works with CD-quality (44.1khz, 16-bit, stereo) WAV files because there's no transcoder to help you.
Finally, you can create ISO images as well as multisession and bootable discs. XCR 's UI is helpfully straightforward too – the main window has buttons for duplicating a CD or DVD and creating a new one, which present more relevant options when you click them.
For example, when duplicating a CD you get buttons to verify tracks on the duplicated CD/DVD against the original. There's a usable online guide for an older version that's still mostly valid and lots of useful tooltips all over the place.
Verdict - X-CD-Roast
A lightweight app that's great for older systems, but hasn't quite kept up with more modern offerings.
Version: 0.98
Website: www.xcdroast.org
Price: Free under GPL
Rating: 6/10
