5 comments about Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 English.

1. I used Visual Studio 6 / Visual Interdev a lot and found it very good. I'm a decent VB programmer so I created several apps and managed our corporate website /sub webs with it too. I could do all that my business group needed. VS.NET 2003 has just made all that a lot, lot harder for not much gain. Aside from learning the new languages VB.NET and C# which I don't really mind the new asp.net and web site development is horrendous for people who do it all themselves. It was a lot simpler before. First time you try to delete a test project you won't find a delete option or anything in the help about it. It turns out you need to use explorer to delete the files and IIS to remove the virtual site. Why would they do that? In short the gains are mainly for the big enterprise users with 2003 servers running IIS6. $$$. Very disappointing really and I really like Microsoft stuff. Microsoft SQL server is fantastic for instance. Good luck and be prepared to study...



2. Can someone please explain why I would buy .Net Pro when the MSDN Pro subscription is cheaper and comes with much more? Frankly, both of them see highly overpriced. They should pay me to develop for their platform.



3. To put simple, this product is good, but it's not great. The true biggest problem is the complexity and learning curve. If your migrating from DevStudio, then you'll have a heck of a time learning the new environment and set up. But once you learn how to use it (which will take a while), it's much better than DevStudio, and the new languages are definately worth it.



4. I've been working as a web develop for over 5 years, and I've tried hundreds of different editors and IDE. Visual Studio.NET is by far the most complete I have ever used. My boss' at first weren't too happy about forking out so much for one peice of software, but on the first project we used it for, we made the money back on a short development time and testing time.

   Because everything can be developed in more or less the same way as an ASP.NET app, we were able to offer clients more solutions for their buck. We now offer desktop and mobile solutions as well as what we offered before!

   The learning curve can be somewhat steep, but once you learn to do most things, everything will become a breeze.




5. We at hytechpro (www.hytechpro.com/services.html) have been providing robust solutions built on Microsoft solutions. We have found that this is a great programming environment and enable our team to deliver solutions in C# or other technologies to our client base worldwide.
   
   I would strongly recommend it to all the people.

No comments about Set of 3 Music Games, Windows Only CD-ROM (Includes Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, Alice in Vivaldi's Four Seasons, & Mozart's Magic Flute).

2 comments about Digidesign ProTools LE Music Production Toolkit.

1. If you are a music professional this piece of software is a must have. This takes your LE system pro with one simple install. It's worth it for Sound Replacer and TL Space alone!!! Mp3 option, Multitrack Beat Detective, Smack and DINR are also nice. Hybrid is kinda lame but hey, it's free!!!



2. Actually if you bought all these plug-ins seperatly it would destroy your bank account for life so its not a bad deal but its still costly. the plug-ins are great and a must have for pro tools users. and the track expansion was a must for me. if you got the cheese then do it.

No comments about Macromedia Fireworks 8 Win/Mac.

4 comments about MovieShop Deluxe 6.

1. I never post reviews, but I have to in this case. This software says it is version 6.0, but it is obviously an initial release (who's heard of it before 6.0?). The program gives errors on installation, it often locks up your entire computer (I'm using Win XP), and the capture from your camcorder feature is rudimentary (it doesn't detect frame changes and divide it up into individual clips). I thought I would buy it because Broderbund is a good name, but I want my money back!



2. Based on the company' name, I purchased this product. I'll never buy based on company name again.
   First, the product wouldn't launch as I had too many fonts installed and I received an error. Now, I use many graphic and video programs and also play games so I do have over 1000 fonts however none of my other programs complain. Broderbund's solution is to delete 500 fonts. Their website does have a 3 page document explaining what you need to do. But, besides being time consuming, you need to be careful not to delete Windows fonts (I run XP), as then Windows might not come up.
   Then to convert to mpeg 2 you have to download an encoder, except it won't download from my PC at home. I have all my IE settings to default and can download from other sites (I haven't found a site I can't download from including other material from Broderbund!) but I can't download this particular file from Broderbund. When I called and complained I was told just to return the product as the encoder, which I might add is given freely with products from Pinnacle and Ulead, only installs directly into the program.
   I was able to install the product on another pc only to find the product itself is awkward, has less features then its' competitors and the storyboard and timeline on one pages makes everything so small it's difficult to edit. As I was working with a PC with no capture card I wasn't able to check capturing but I used the same file I was working on with other products and found Broderbund inferior to both VideoStudio 6 (Ulead) and Studio Version 8 (Pinnacle). Also, both Ulead and Pinnacle offer trial versions so you can see what you will get.
   So, I'm sending back this product and I'm out the shipping money.
   Do yourself a big favor - stick with people who know how to make video products, such as Ulead and Pinnacle. I have both and am very happy with the products and support.



3. This software is so bad that I finally just took it off my computer and put back on the free software that came with my camera. Don't be fooled by the Broderbund name.



4. I already use both Pinnacle Studio 8 and Magix Deluxe Video 2.0 Plus, however, when I saw this title , I thought what the heck, let's give it a whirl. Installation was atrocious. Additional components had to be downloaded. The program is not intuitive or user friendly. In general I agree with previous reviews. The only reason I gave it an extra star was for the book that came with it, "The Little Digital Video Book" by Michael Rubin. It was an excellent intro for those with little to no video experience, and not once did it mention this software. Don't buy this package unless you can get it for the price of the book or less. It's not worth the time. Or better yet, just buy the book.

5 comments about Roxio PhotoSuite 5 Platinum.

1. I've been using the newest version of Photosuite (v 5.0 Platinum) for a couple of weeks now, and here are my impressions.

   This is not Adobe Photoshop. On the other hand, the average user doesn't need all the power of Photoshop, and Photosuite offers all of the digital editing and correction tools that you really need. If you don't have much experience with sophisticated image editing, never fear, because, thanks to a wizard-style interface, the learning curve is pretty shallow with Photosuite. Pros will probably argue that the wizard interface is tedious, but amateurs and hobbyists may appreciate it.

   The sharing utilities are great. You can easily organize and burn a VideoCD slideshow that will readily play on most DVD players. I haven't tried many of the other sharing features, but the VideoCD feature is alone is worth the price.

   The thumbnail generation and preview screens are much faster in v. 5.0 compared to v. 4.0 and earlier. In fact, virtually all of the utilities are faster in the current version. I should note, however, that earlier versions were notoriously slow (owing perhaps to inefficient programming of basic image manipulation algorithms?), and so it's easy for this one to seem zippy by comparison.

   I have only one complaint. The current version allows you to view photos in (essentially) two modes: "album" mode and "edit" mode, but you cannot leap over to "edit" mode to correct a picture that you are currently viewing in "album" mode and then switch back again, or at least I haven't figured out how to do that easily! I prefer the connected "edit" and "album" modes of the previous versions.




2. Stick with PhotoSuite 4 Platinum. All of the features that I use most are gone. The touch-up brushes, edge finder cut-out tool and interactive warp are all gone. Roxio made a big mistake!



3. Pleasure to do deal with. Does not get any better then this. Would buy from again. Everything as promised.



4. 1) I have owned three prior versions of this starting with the original MGI version, which is easier and allows you to do more. As another reviewer said, even version 4 is better...
   2) Strangely, it does not work well with other ROXIO software. Presently, on a NEW dell computer, I have to unistall Roxio videowave to use photosuite, and uninstall photosuite to use videowave. Techsupport, while helpful, were NOT able to resolve this, plus they take 3 days to reply to each email, making problem resolution a v.e.r.y. l.o.n.g. p.r.o.c.e.s.s! (you try one of their suggestions, then wait 3 DAYS for them to reply to any question..) Apparently, the shared Roxio CD Creator engine is the problem. We will never know, I gave up, and reinstalled MGI photosuite. Great features, works 100%, even has a lot of things they decided to drop from version 5.



5. I purchased this product after reading about "enhancements" to Photosuite4 Platinum (developed by MGI) which is a wonderful program. Upon installing on my computer, I noticed that some of my favorite tools from the previous version were no longer part of the program while many of the "new and improved" features did not function properly at all - the "auto-fix" function consistently ruins any photo it is applied to and there are frequent program freezes and randon crashes.
   I assumed that ROXIO would release an update patch (as most companies do when bugs are discovered in their software) but none were ever released. Customer support offers NO support only a $35 charge to your credit card.
   As the last nail in this program's coffin, I just noticed that ROXIO is now marketing a "NEW" version of the program (version 7 platinum). This is rather interesting considering that the previous version NEVER FUNCTIONED correctly and there was absolutely no effort on ROXIO's part to support my $50 investment in their defective product.
   Do yourself a favor and RUN from this program by ROXIO.
   Even with Roxio's marketing efforts, this program was ABANDONED by them in under 1 year!
   p.s. what makes you think that the next product they try to sell you will actually work?

1 comments about Cakewalk Music Creator.

1. In my opinion, the Cakewalk Music Creator is one of the best music devolpers made to this day! (The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because there has to be room for any better programs that will come out in the future!) With the use of your imagination, creativity, and this program you can create music that you've never dreamed of. Not only does this CD software allow you to upload your own recorded vocal and CD sample, but it lets you mix them with new music. With the the option to make and print out sheet music and the oportunity to create music for home videos or music CDs, this software is perfect for the not-so-professionals and the professionals.

No comments about Print Artist Gold 22.

4 comments about Form Tool Deluxe.

1. This is the most unintuitive, frustrating program I have ever worked with. I had to print out the 100 pg. manual since it doesn't come with one and even with the manual it is nearly impossible to use. Nothing is logical or easy with this program. Don't buy!



2. This is a very powerful tool for quickly making custom business forms. What I liked most was the ability to quickly connect to a database so I could keep my invoicing in one place. For such an inexpensive program I am amazed at the amount of depth the program has for field calculations, publishing, and data collection.



3. It's hard to use, don't have a decent manual, the forms aspect its like a 10 years old child homework, you have to work a lot and spend a lot of time to obtain something not decent, no proffesional, and the brochure that comes inside of the box (that's not a manual, its a joke)says: TECHNICAL SUPPORT $24.95 FOR THE FIRST 10 MINUTES AND $2.95 FOR EACH ADDITIONAL MINUTE. Thats a robbery to me. Save your money, buy something else, but not this



4. I've used FormTool for years. It's paid for itself many times over. It's one of those programs I don't use all the time, but would certainly miss if I didn't have it. It's like any software, it takes time to get the hang of it (it's not quick, and yes, it can be frustrating--like almost any software). I don't connect to databases, use formfiller, or do calculations (I don't use templates, either), I just create forms. It's not perfect, but it's good for just creating forms, and it's cheap. I upgrade when new versions appear and always get the least expensive version. I've tried to make forms in MS Word (ya wanna be really frustrated, try that!) and in Excel, but neither comes even close to the ease and functionality of FormTool.

No comments about Calendar Creator 9 (Jewel Case).