5 comments about Adobe Creative Suite CS3 Web Premium Upgrade [OLD VERSION].

1. I upgraded to Adobe CS3 Web Premium from Macromedia Studio MX recently. When I tried to install the new software on my Windows Vista Ultimate laptop, I got an error message with an error code number and a message to contact Adobe Tech Support. Instead of calling Tech Support, I went to Adobe's Knowledge Base on their website and fortunately, the solution to my installation problem was right there and it worked.
   
   Once I got the software installed, it works fine. I primarily use Bridge (it is great for orgainzing my large digital photo collection.), Photoshop and Dreamweaver. I sometimes use Fireworks and Illustrator and I want to do a few animations soon with Flash.
   
   An excellent product other than the installation issues. There is still a lot I want to learn!!



2. As everyone already knows, Adobe CS3 is a must-have for creative professionals. This version of Creative Suite lives up to its reputation, providing tons of great new tools. The only problem I have had is the installation of Illustrator - it fails to install successfully.



3. I recently upgraded to CS3 Web Premium on a WinXP machine with Studio MX 2004 installed and separate Photoshop CS2 and Illustrator CS2 installations. For me, the upgrade went very smoothly. This may have been due to my learning from the trials of those installing before me, because I took the advice of many in these reviews and elsewhere: before installing, I manually removed all versions of Adobe Reader and all Flash and Shockwave players and disabled pretty much everything running in the taskbar quicklaunch area, as well as disabling virus protection. I left my Photoshop, Illustrator and Studio MX installs alone, and even with those in place, I was asked to enter the product id number for Studio MX, which I still had. But with these fairly straightforward pre-installation steps, the install itself went well and only took an hour or two.
   
   I've only begun using the new features, but have so far seen the following:
   
   Photoshop CS3 - seems to open and run more quickly than my CS2 installation (on my 5 year old PC.) There is a new default desktop layout for tools and windows which took a little getting used to, but I like better now than previous versions...it makes it easier to get more usable graphic image working area. There is a new magic selection tool that provides a lot of control over selection edge (you drag the tool around and it dynamically builds the selection, then can apply changes to edge non-destructively until you get what you want...very cool!)
   
   Flash CS3 - so far, have explored only the video capabilities...it seems much easier to build integrated Flash video players from 'template-like' components than previous versions. They've also included an external Flash video encoder to convert other formats to Flash video...to test, I converted a WMV file to high quality Flash video...the resulting video file size was large, but the quality was fantastic.
   
   Dreamweaver CS3 - seems to handle CSS designs better than previous versions. This version also seems more stable than my MX 2004 version...that one crashed every once in awhile. Have had no stability issues with CS3. Dreamweaver CS3 also adds a new library of components for javascript and AJAX features like rollover pulldown menu support.
   
   I haven't opened Fireworks, Contribute or Illustrator yet, and have seen only a small part of CS3 so far, but from what I've seen CS3 seems to improve stability, and add features that, while maybe not earth-shaking, are useful and well implemented. Recommended.



4. This is a great package of wonderful programs in a convenient bundle. Powerful tools that will assist any web or graphics designer. It may be slightly complicated for someone who is not techo-savvy.
   I loved Studio 8, and I love this more.



5. Why would you not upgrade? The full MacroMedia suite plus the Adobe tools. Unlike other reviews, I had no problems installing the upgrade. It took me less than an hour to install the full suite.

5 comments about Piano Suite Premier 2.6.

1. I had taken piano lessons for a while but found the expense and getting to the lessons a problem. Having a MIDI capable electronic keyboard and a PC, I figured this software might be a good investment. I'm happy to say that this program does just what I wanted it to do; I've learned to play better and am improving all the time.
   
   Here's what the program does for me.
   
   First, it can play the music so that I know what it should sound like when correctly played. Then, I can go through a piece of music a note at a time with the program telling me visually if I have hit the right key. I get a feel for finger placement. Then, using a metronome (with a counting voice or a tone) at a pace I set, it monitors my timing and shows me exactly where I held a note too long, or not long enough. The program does exactly what a good teacher would do by requiring you to play the right notes with just the right timing. You can isolate a part of the piece you are having trouble with and concentrate just on that bar or bars. You can print out the score. Mistakes are flagged and you see, by way of red notes, where you went wrong and in what way you erred. You will watch as your accuracy climbs until you have the piece mastered.
   
   That's all good! The problems are with setup and saving settings. No two screens look alike. You wander through all kinds of icons, buttons and color schemes that have no uniformity. What is that red light up there by the picture of a piano? Hey, it's a button I can press! The graphics design folks went wild and that confuses the user. Fortunately, for practice sessions you simply have the score displayed on a white screen with a minimum of clutter.
   
   When installing, obey the request that NO OTHER PROGRAMS BE OPEN. I found that unless I install this program with NO other programs running and then immediately install the version 2.66 patch (available from Adventus online) I would get unpredictable, annoying errors right in the middle of practice. A window would pop up telling me an error had been encountered and the program would crash.
   
   The program settings can be confusing, are not all on one screen and are not saved! You may take a while to figure out why you don't hear something when you should, or you do hear something you don't want to hear. You will eventually get it right and then discover when next you run the program that nothing has been saved. So, though you have set volume levels, muted instruments, set the metronome speed, etc, before, you have to set them all again. Talk about frustrating! All that is remembered is the piece you were playing in your last session and the record of how you performed. You should be practicing music, not continually telling the program that you want the same environment you had the last time you played. This is such a basic requirement for ANY computer program that I'm amazed Piano Suite got through quality control the way it is. I've been expecting and hoping for a version 3 to appear that will be ready for prime time but version 2.6 stays with us.
   
   So, I lead a loud cheer for the pedogogical part of this program, I don't know how it could be improved. People with knowledge and experience of music were undoubtedly involved and I am living proof that Piano Suite Premier teaches piano well. But the software programmers, please, would a SAVE SETTINGS, and a single graphics-free page to make the settings, be so hard to provide?



2. Have a bug inside the program ver. 2.6!!!
   eg. 1) can't locate existing library's files
   2) In composer's corner, can't delete the song from public library.
   But still a very good program for piano beginner.
   I will wait & see the improvement in next patch.



3. This software does pretty much what it claims. It's neither clearly better nor clearly worse than the alternatives. Here are some specific notes which might be helpful to you:
   
   * It's trapped in an un-resizeable DOS window. To get full-screen, you have to alter your monitor settings.
   
   * You can use your QWERTY keyboard to play notes, but you have to reactivate a special window everytime you click elsewhere. Therefor, this feature is useful only for testing the software w/o a MIDI keyboard connected.
   
   * There are about a dozen MIDI songs which you can upload to your MIDI keyboard (if your keyboard allows this). The rest of the songs are integrated into the program -- ie, not copyable.
   
   * Contrary to the advertising, there are no REM songs. There is "Superman", which REM covered but did not write. (Good song though.)
   
   * If you press "next" too early, you do not get credit for having viewed a lesson. This is good for a classroom, but annoying to me.
   
   * I have gotten weird errors from the Music Recorder, but I didn't buy it for that anyway.
   
   
   I bought Piano Suite 1 & 2, which is much cheaper. It contains only 80 songs and lacks the Composer (which also prints sheet music). For me it is a much better value than the Premier edition. It has all the lessons, the games, and the same basic player.



4. This software is excellent. The feature that really got me interested is the ability to load MIDI files from the internet into the program and then be able to actually see the score and play it with the features of this program (ability to slow tempo, mark parts of the score for practice, show right hand only, left hand only, both, evaluate your errors).
   
   You can play along with the song and use a metronome , I find it very helpful. The lessons that come with the software are fingered, the ones you load from the internet won't show any fingering.
   Every song-lesson comes set up (when you play it, to hear the song before you start to practice) with different instruments, but you can change this settings. You have 3 note sizes, great.
   
   Every time you use this program you have to use the keyboard tunning tool, I guess it's a downer, but takes 1 minute. Don't forget to set your monitor at a low resolution. If you don't do this, the program will show up in a small window.
   
   The classical library is pretty good for the begginer and I would say the intermediate. It includes contemporary music too (rock).
   
   The lessons are very simple , to the point, you can practice as much as you want. The games are fine too, there are staff lessons which I find more helpful than the games, like "find this note and put it on the staff" where you use the computer mouse to do so, not the keyboard, even though you don't use the piano it's good practice, I'm doing much better reading music now thanks to this.
   
   I had no problems at all with installation, I use my laptop Dell, I read all the manual and everything went smooth. I would highly recommend to follow-instructions. I don't know why other people had some problems. My midi connection is Edirol UM-1EX, I already had it installed and used it with another piano software. I am very happy with this, having used other options I am really glad I bought this one!!



5. This program accepts any size MIDI keyboard, up to a full-size 88-key one. The installation program automatically downloads any available updates from the Internet, so you should have no problem getting it installed. The requirements say Windows 95 to XP, but I have Vista 64-bit and it runs fine. Piano Suite starts off slow, has you play a song, then recommends other songs to play, based on your current skill level and/or what you need to work on. You will learn how to play many popular songs, including ones by The Beatles, Elvis, and Frank Sinatra. Many songs have multiple skill levels, so you can start playing the song at say Level 3, then work your way up to Level 5 (which has more notes and is harder to play). In my opinion, the best feature is the "MIDI Song Input", where you can download a MIDI file from the Internet or elsewhere and learn how to play it in the program. Piano Suite Premiere includes 500 songs. This program is also very customizable -- you can adjust the size of the music notes, the speed of the metronome, practice a song with left hand only, right hand only, or both hands, and select any song you want to play within the song list. You start off with the "Theory Thinker," which gradually teaches you how to play the piano with harder and harder components (triplets, arpeggios, different time signatures, etc). The program even remembers where you left off, so all you have to do is click a button to continue. Last, but not least, the program also includes games to help you become a better piano player, biographies of composers, progress reports for multiple users, and the ability to record your own songs from your MIDI keyboard.

1 comments about NATIVE INSTRUMENTS Traktor DJ Studio 3 ( Windows/Macintosh ).

1. Traktor 3.0 is the most complete DJ software in the market. Do what Dj do with analog equipment and even more. Very easy to configure with midi and audio interfaces. Features 4 turntables, digital effects, itunes import compatibility. It plays MP3s as well as straight WAV files from CD. Feature also 4 four different mixers emulations like Allen & Heath Xone, Ecler Nuo, etc... I'm in heaven. I finally abandoned my records and CDs as well as turntables and CD players. The looping features are just amazing. You can jump betweem loops and remixing on the fly with traktor comes alive, even better than traditional DJ equipment. You can create plenty of markers in the song, etc.. If you are thinking to go digital get traktor and avoid scratch boxes like Final Scratch and Serato Live very hard to setup. I use traktor with an audio interface (M-Audio Firewire 410) and analog mixer and it rocks. It works really smooth. If you want to scratch there are midi interfaces that sell for $300. And there more interface to come in the near feature. Also if you are a scratching DJ you can still use a turntable or CD player just for scratching.
   Traktor seems to be the only future for Digital DJing.

5 comments about Conquest: Frontier Wars.

1. Conquest Frontier Wars is a great game! It has prooven ideas and techniques, as well as new ones that really make this game unique. Think of it as 4X meets RTS. The three races greatly resemble the Starcraft races not only in looks, but in the technology they use. But other than that, the races are unique from each other, yet well balanced. The graphics in this game are phenominal! Although not completely 3D, the Starfields, asteroid belts, planets, nebulae, etc. are very well done. The ships look even better. They are incredibly detailed, from the rotating laser turrets on the Terran battleships, to the Celearon's beautiful shine. The weapons are very believe not only technology wise, but looks to.

   Raings: (1-10)

   Graphics: 9
   The graphics are beautiful, no aspect has been overlooked. The reason it isn't a 10 is that the ships, even on high reselution, aren't perfectly rendered on the edges, making them slightly jagged.

   Sounds: 8
   Most of the sound effects are very realistic and really draw you in. The weapon sounds fit perfectly in the battles, and each are unique, you can tell which ships are fireing. The main thing I don't like, is the way the mantis talk. Although cute at first, they get very annoying very quickly.

   Gameplay: 10
   The traditional RTS and 4X style games merge perfectly to create a game that will give you many hours of fun. The campain is only for terrans, but there is "training" for the other races. The multiplayer system works well, but few people have given this game a chance, so they are only a few people on at a time.

   Replayability: 10
   With 3 unique races, a great AI, multiplayer capability, and many ways to play the game, Conquest: Frontier Wars will give you so much fun for your money.

   This is a great game and is greatly overlooked, so if you have [$$$] lying around, you can pick up a copy of this game like I did and enjoy one of the best computer games to date. But if you want to fully enjoy the game, be prepared to download the
   40 Meg (est) patch. But trust me. It's worth it.




2. uhh.... I think I'll buy it.



3. This is a great game that caught my eye. I bought it, installed it, ran it, saw the opening video, and the game crashed. A little thing no one mentions is that the game does not work with certain Nvidia cards. I myself have an Nvidia GoForce Fx Go5200. Apparently there is a downloadable patch to correct this issue but no matter where I downloaded it from, the game still failed to work for me.
   
   It wasn't until after much hassel and tweaking (including lowering my hardware acceleration to almost none) that I was able to get the game to run. Even then it did not run properly. The pixels were very low so the detail was low as well.
   
   Despite the graphics problems, once I was able to play the game I was instantly addicted. I especialy love the "multi system gameplay" brought about by the use of wormholes. As you can tell, the game mimics Starcraft to the point where it almost seems ridiculous. The only real differences are the game is based on a galactic scale, you may have to deal with several systems at once, meaning you better be pretty good at multi-tasking, and the 3D graphics.
   
   Overall, unless you have an Nvidia graphics card, BUY THIS GAME!!!



4. I remember hearing a lot of good things about this game, but I put it in and it was slow even on a modern computer, I'm not sure if it had to do with installing full install or what. But the story is cool. Missions are a tad bit easy. overall a classic though, defiantly gave star craft a run for its money and that is what was around when this came out.



5. One of the only problems I have with this game is that its a little laggy. other then that its awesome. I love the multi sector system, where in most other RTS, you normally find the enemy pretty much across the street, then you just go over and destroy him. In Conquest, you have to go through several maps to locate the enemy. In other RTS, you sit there and just have to build your strongest unit, or nuke em with your WOMD untill hes done. Where in this game, You have to actually build a fleet made up of a mixture of all the units you have, besides that you need to include a supply ship, because you don't have unlimited ammo like in most RTS games. Any way thats all I gotta say..Im gonna go back to my game.

No comments about Font Pack 3.

2 comments about Arcsoft PhotoStudio 5.5.

1. I have used PhotoStudio for years. It has alays performed as advertised and produced very high quality outputs. This version has continued the excellence of this line.



2. Arcsoft Photosudio is an awesome software!! It is easy to use and has so many fun options and neat effects to choose from. I've tried other photo editing softwares, but I always come back to Arcsoft. (Sadly I lost it on my last move and had to repurchase it, but it's one I don't want to be without.)

5 comments about Dreamweaver 4.0.

1. Dreamweaver provides a good environment for "painting" pages and seeing the html behind. Sometimes its a little goofy trying to select the object you want - especially tables within tables. But once you get accustomed to it, its fine. Working directly with html is fine too.

   The management tools were a nice plus - syncronizing with the web host and keeping project notes with the components. You start to appreciate this more once you have to support several sites you haven't touched in a month.

   The only real annoyance is the FTP connection locking up. It seems like if the connection times out the program goes ape and consumes 100% of the cpu for a few minutes. I try to remember to manually cut the FTP connection after my transfer completes and this seems to avoid the problem.




2. Bar none, DreamWeaver is simply the best tool in its class. It's easy to use, intuitive, and if you buy the suite that comes with Fireworks, you've got a killer combination!

   DreamWeaver has been a spectacular tool since it first came out and it continues to improve with each successive release. When you think web design and development think DreamWeaver. Period.

   Its great for beginners and experts alike, however, the interface may be a little overwhelming when first starting out. It's great for designing search engine friendly pages and there are no proprietary DreamWeaver extensions your host needs to have to host sites built with DreamWeaver.

   If you want to save a few bucks, shop around; there are some discounts/package deals available from time to time.




3. Wonderful program... I use it to write HTML for eBay listings...



4. -This review is for Dreamweaver 5- I absolutely love this software. I had Adobe Go Live but I never seemed to take to it like I did with Dreamweaver. Once it was installed within a day, I had made several webpages. As I continued to use it I learned more and more intuitively without needing much guidance from the manual. As a user you can create your webpages visually or in code mode, this makes it a great option for anyone no matter what your skill - it can be adjusted to suit your needs. You can learn and develop your webpage skills as much or as little as you like. You do not need to be intimidated by it's high price. You can learn it and the cost is well worth the output. ...
   I don't have to look for anything else, I have hit paydirt with this program! If you are using Front Page or any other visual interface for ease, you know that you are trapped into a forced format, get this program and you will understand the freedom of control without fear!



5. Get Macromedia Dreamweaver 4. They have turned this once great web design package into a hybrid cross of something that looks like Netscape/Flash and called it Dreamweaver MX 2004.

   I used Dreamweaver MX 2004 for a month, uninstalled it and went back to Dreamweaver 4. It really is that terrible and the work space is terribly cluttered making it very hard to work within.

   Bottom Line -- Get Macromedia Dreamweaver 4 instead if you can find it. Macromedia Dreamweaver 4 is a very good web design package that knocks Dreamweaver MX 2004 for ten. You will simply hate Dreamweaver MX 2004 when you install it on your system. I nearly barfed after a month of using that *new* completely hostile and non-user friendly piece of unstable and slow excuse for a web design software program.

   Get this instead ... if you can find it...

5 comments about Adobe Illustrator 10.0 [OLD VERSION].

1. If you've used Illustrator before, you'll be amazed how much faster this is than the previous version, how many new features have been added, and how much more powerful it is than ever before!



2. If you are thinking of using this program without having any art ability, I have one word for you: DON'T. Unlike Photoshop, which can be used by people with a variety of image needs, with Illustrator you better already be an artist. I am an artist and this program is taking everything I've got. I find it extremely difficult. This is not to say that it is more or less difficult than any other drawing based art program, just that it is hard. I've always been a better painter than a drawer so that could well be bedeviling me in learning it too. What lowers the grade to a 4 though is that Illustrator 10 seems to have a lot of bugs when you use it on Windows XP, which is what I'm using. I notice another reviewer here catalogs all the problems it presents on a Mac so I caution you that installing it on Windows may not solve those problems. Perhaps Adobe just rushed it a bit prematurely into production. If you go to the Adobe website and then to the Illustrator User Forums, you can see all the computer bugs that users are running into with Illustrator 10. That can give you a better idea than I ever could about some of the problems you will need to work around after installation... The reason I went with this program is that it is the one that is the industry standard. It is also the drawing program taught in most colleges' commercial art departments. Apparently some advanced drawers also use a program called Freehand so you might want to read about that one as well before taking the plunge with Illustrator 10.



3. The composer Federico Busoni had a habit of writing music that was difficult to execute, technically. He didn't do so because particular musical ideas demanded it; his aim was merely to prevent amateurs from playing his works. I was somewhat reminded of him coming to Adobe Illustrator 10 after the intuitive logic of Xara X. Even though I am acquainted with the complex Adobe-style interface through Photoshop 7, Illustrator again has me convinced that Adobe program-designers go out of their way to make things deliberately esoteric. Now, that would be understandable and forgivable if the complex interface were necessitated by a wealth of options not offered by other vector programs. But though Illustrator 10 does offer a few extra's not available in Xara X (and no doubt the new Illustrator CS has yet a few more), none of these are essential and some are no more than fairly lame gimmicks ('lens flare', for instance). Other tools such as the scissors, the knife, or the magic wand may seem handy at first, but soon they reveal themselves to be just extra buttons for functions that Xara performs equally well simply using the line or shape tools. Of course, Illustrator being touted as the 'industry standard' for vector editing, you may want to pay the exorbitant price of this program merely to boost your self-confidence and credibility as a graphic artist. Some peer pressure may do the rest - according to some, if you don't use Illustrator, you're no more than a wannabee... But don't you believe them! I have yet to come across the first piece of vector art that was done in Illustrator and would be impossible to do in Xara. In fact, Xara is every bit as powerful as Illustrator, yet is generally faster, much easier to use, very visually oriented, with an uncluttered, cleverly thought out interface and lots of straightforward drag-and-drop functions. So if you define yourself as a graphic artist through your work rather than through your 'professional' (i.e. expensive) tools, I would advise you to save yourself a lot of money, a lot of time learning a needlessly complicated interface, and go for Xara X. After all, who ever heard of Busoni?



4. I have been a Graphic Designer for 6 years and I have been using Illustrator the whole time. The program has been upgraded with some good new features, although Corel (which is evil) has Illustrator beat with the Envelope feature. Illustrator is EXTREMELY glitchy with XP. I find that it works well with 2000 and even 98. This is the program to get if you are in the field of Graphic Art, I have been teaching it for 3 years as well and new users really enjoy this Program. Once you get the basics down you can go many places with Illustrator.



5. Adobe no longer supports version 10. My software has stopped working, I have uninstalled and re-installed, and they are instructing me to buy the new $499 version when my 10.0 version is only two years old. They "do not" support version 10 any longer.
   
   Frankly, with this policy, I'll be hard pressed to ever buy another Adobe product.

No comments about Arcsoft Scan-n-Stitch Deluxe.

1 comments about Arcsoft PhotoMontage.

1. I am so impressed with this software. The first time I used it, I made a CD insert using a clip-art basketball and a whole season's worth of pictures. It took about seven minutes and turned out better than I ever would have imagined. In fact, it was so good we had it made into a poster for my son's room. His teammates enjoy staring at the posture trying to find themselves.