No comments about Slick Transitions & Effects for iMovie, Vol. 1 & 2, Universal Binary.

5 comments about Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 Win/Mac [OLD VERSION].

1. I recently switched Windows to Mac. Since Dreamweaver includes both versions, I thought I could deactivate my Windows machine, and install it on the Mac. After calling their customer service department twice, I was told that this is not possible. Once you activate the product on one platform, you have to buy it again if you want to use it on a different platform.
   
   I might be willing to pay for an upgrade if they were offering a Universal Binary, but currently they are not. They might even view Intel Mac's as a different plaform the Power PC Mac's and try to charge me again if they release an Intel version.
   
   Because their licensing is such a pain, I would not recommend this product to anyone.



2. This version on Dreamweaver is the best web tool ever built. It has every feature I could ask for. Too bad it's just too slow to use use for real (making money!). I,m a terrible typist and I can out type it. To switch between GUI view and text view involves a 20 second computer lockup. It's a shame because I absolutely love the product. Maybe one day I will use it for production but not this version.



3. Dreamweaver 8 is the best HTML editor on the market hands down.
   
   There are numerous small design changes from MX 2004 to 8 but the fantastic workspace from MX 2004 is fully intact whether you are a hand coder or a design coder. In fact the hand coder screen (code display) has undergone some very nice time saving improvements (i.e. 1 touch comments) that are very welcome.
   
   The larger improvements that you will find are increased support for CSS, XHTML 1.0 strict, XSLT, JavaScript, XML, and more. Also new is the built in validator for the different types of HTML and CSS... That is a massive timesaver all on its own. Finally the code generated in design view is much cleaner in my opinion. MX 2004 had the habit of putting the code in place without cleaning up previous code; Dreamweaver 8 fixes this problem nicely.
   
   Now that Adobe owns Macromedia I fully expected that Adobe's great customer support would be available and I was right. The customer support was fast, courteous, very helpful, and very patient with all my questions. Not once were my hypothetical questions treated like a burden.
   
   Macromedia had a very high quality, industry standard product on the market with Dreamweaver MX 2004. Now Adobe-Macromedia has an even better product with Dreamweaver 8. You can feel Macromedia's attention to details throughout the product and you can see Adobe's very high standards being lived up to in every nuance.
   
   Worth every cent and maybe a little more.



4. I had been using dreamweaver 4 forever. I had upgraded to MX but could not stand it. MX once opened for the first time you look at it and go "what the hell is going on here" nothing was where you thought it would be, I am pretty sure the designers were drunk. So I went back to using 4. Just got 8 and it is smooth and easy. Things are much different but all better in so many ways. I like programs that you do not have to look at the instructions when you upgrade to a new version. They realy put some thought into making it very intuitive. Go for it and dont look back. Avoid MX like the plague it is though.



5. I've used Netscape Composer for 7-8 years before "upgrading" to Dreamweaver. I have TWO Dreamweaver manuals. But DW remains SUCH A PAIN to use.
   
   * When I change the template, Dreamweaver should ask me if I want to change all pages created with the template. But sometimes it asks, and sometimes it doesn't. Why? (When it doesn't ask, it means the pages created by the template remain unchanged).
   
   * When I create a template, Dreamweaver puts it in a Template folder. Then when I create a page with it, the internal links all say /Template/index.html or /Template/books.html or whatever. This means that when I upload pages, it can't find other links on the website.
   
   * And if I move the template out of the Template subfolder and try to "update" the links of all pages created with it...well, that doesn't work either.
   
   * Dreamweaver won't let me create my own pages the way I want. I want to pick my own font, size, etc. for each page. But DW keeps forcing "styles" on me. I pick NONE for style. Then when I pick a 14 Font, suddenly DW has picked STYLE 2 (or whatever). So I go back to NONE for style, and now my font is gone.
   
   * Or I'll pick a 14 Font Size, then a Lucinda Sans Font, and now the Font Size is changed. So I change the font size back to 14, and now the font is changed to Verdana, or whatever.
   
   A nightmarish program, in that it doesn't do what I want it do do. I keep redoing, and redoing everything, because sometimes DW will accept my instructions, and sometimes not. Everything has to be done 1 to 8 or so times before DW works.
   
   It's said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. Well, with DW you can do the SAME thing over, and you DO get a DIFFERENT result. Weird.
   
   * Oh yeah, the WYSIWYG feature does NOT work. I previewed a page in Firefox. It looked one way. Then I uploaded the page to my website, and looked at it again in the SAME Firefox -- only now it looks different -- some different fonts, some different colors.
   
   Crappy program.

1 comments about ArcSoft PhotoBase Deluxe 4.5.

1. CAUTION, be forewarned by my experiences: the three ArcSoft products I own have all been exercises in frustration, wasted time and effort, and failure to function.
   
   ArcSoft sells BUGGY software. For example, PhotoBase 4.5 & Photo Impression 5 both fail to install on an HP PC running Windows XP Home Edition. Panorama Maker 3 installs and opens but gives error messages when trying to work with albums and files.
   
   ArcSoft DOES NOT SUPPORT their products. They do not answer emails or phone calls. Their internet knowledge base is very spotty and incomplete. When downloads are available, ArcSoft instructs customers to have no confidence in them: "Program patches/updates ... may or may not work, and may actually cause your program(s) to function improperly."
   
   ArcSoft intentionally designs their software to be USER-UNFRIENDLY. For example, there is no help feature and no display of version number in Panorama Maker 3. If users go online to the ArcSoft knowledge base and search, they will find a listing of 5 steps to go through to discover a version number. The manual and knowledge base have no index and no list of errors or ways to troubleshoot them.

5 comments about Microsoft Digital Image Pro 9.0.

1. This is one of the better photo editing programs I have used. It is very simple and easy to use, yet very powerful. Most programs such as photoshop, and even elements are very hard to use. Although this isnt quite as powerful, it makes up for being so easy to use. Its nice and cheap 2, what could be better?



2. This a good editing software. I think I got my money's worth. It is worth the $15 they are charging now too. I would have been really pissed if I had paid the full retail price. It's like a lot Microsoft software pretty good but no spectactular. Basically, they had a few billon laying around and they decided to dabble in photo editing software.



3. This software does not provide even the basic red eye fix. It turns them a light shade of grey, maybe. It is horrible. This to me renders it useless.
   
   It is for the most basic of users. There are no real manual functions to speak of, and my free software does a better red eye and also lets me do red eye manually when they cannot detect it.
   
   It has some neat functions but since it could not provide the most common need correctly,I would say do not buy. Seller was great, product is poor.



4. I run two websites using this program, easy learning curve, I recommend it to all my newbie friends that need a simple, workable program. Ignore the crittics, this is a nice program.Only wish in batch editing I could do multiple web page saves.



5. This is one program that in my opinion you get more than what you pay for I have several Immaging programs that I use for several different things. This one is a delight to use and does a great job taking most of the work off the user. Its a microsoft program that is very user friendly and easy to use. However you do have to be some what computer savy, (like know where to turn on the computer kind of thing) not like some of the 1 star comments that were made here by other folks. I would recomend it to all people that need a simple to use program. Its not what you pay for something its what you do with it after you get it.

No comments about Rudimental Drum Pack.

5 comments about Microsoft Visio Standard 2002.

1. No doubt, Visio is a powerful program. But I'm here to advocate a different approach to diagramming. With the release of Office XP, Microsoft has made PowerPoint so intuitive, precise and powerful that - for the vast majority of us - Visio is overkill.

   I do lots of business flow-like diagrams. I've worked with Visio in the past, but I feel like the following method works far better for me:

   1) Start by building a rudimentary version of what you want in PowerPoint. True, PowerPoint doesn't give you the snap-and-lock type features that are at the core of Visio...but you can closely approximate it with various easy-to-learn techniques. The best thing about PowerPoint is that every action is completely intuitive. I've been able to build some pretty complex things without once looking at online help.

   2) Now, once your rudimentary version is in place, you can go back through and punch things up with appropriate graphics. Microsoft provides a great online tool for this purpose called "Design Gallery Live." You have access to it as part of your Office XP purchase. Say that at a certain place, your diagram calls for a picture of a CPU. Bring up Design Gallery Live through the "Clips Online" option of PowerPoint and put 'CPU' in as the search term and, voila, there are four pages of images for you to choose from.

   3) You can go beyond Design Gallery Live with the help of Google. Their (relatively) new Image search feature is a boon for anyone putting together a presentation. The other day, I needed a generic image of an ATM. I put "Automated Teller Machine" in as a search term for a Google Image search and got nine pages of images back.

   4) Back in PowerPoint, once you drop these images into place, you can double-click on them & go to the 'Size' panel of the 'Format Picture' dialogue box. Play with Height & Width parameters to get to proper scaling for each of the images you've selected (keep the ratios equal, though).

   5) You can use the various 'Alignment' options (available through the Drawing menu at the left-hand corner of your screen) to line up the various objects as you see appropriate.

   I suggest you give this approach a try as well before committing extra money to buy Visio. You'll be surprised at how powerful Powerpoint has become & how you can assemble professional, eye-catching presentations in a very short period of time.




2. I've been fiddling with the OpenOffice.org and StarOffice features for a while, then took a look at the Draw program. I was blown away. It's like a mini Visio Elements -- it's got the connector lines you need and really good control over positioning, plus it's got a gallery where you can store prefab shapes.

   Seriously, download OpenOffice.org if you're not a huge Visio power user. You'll be really surprised and impressed, and of course OpenOffice.org is free, so that helps.




3. I totally agree with the other reviewer; I use OpenOffice.org for most of my diagramming needs and it works really well. Visio is fine most of the time but I prefer to have more interchangeable formats and OpenOffice.org outputs to EPS etc. and I've just found it to be really great for my technical diagram needs.

   So yes. Power users, maybe spend the money on Visio; "regular" people, download OpenOffice.org and try those connector lines and the gallery where you can put all the existing shapes you need.




4. Save your file regularly and it will still manage to loose the data and destroy hours of work. If the developers of this product can't even manage to design a file load and save mechanism that can recover from errors, then how do you expect them to design a user interface? 1/2 of the time wasiting is from the useless user interface, 1/2 from the loss of "saved" data.
   I will never use it again. I wish emacs had a structured drawing mode.......



5. Once again Microsoft is putting out {garbage}. I use Adobe Illustrator and Visio is not even in the ballpark as far as ease of use or capability. Even for the most simple functions Visio is cumbersome, clumsy and difficult to use. One example is text that is not scaleable. Why would anybody in their right mind want a graphics program where the test does not scale with the graphic? Selecting objects and using layers are both absolutely horrible. The interface is also very not intuitive! Microsoft, please put this foolish excuse for a graphics program out of it's (and our) misery!

4 comments about Radiotracker 3 Platinum MP3 MusicFinder.

1. I just bought this product and I am very glad I did.
   I read a few things before buying it and the fact that it has many international awards, one from about.com among them, caught my eye, so to speak. The awards are numerous and also the articles in magazines I found
   written are positive.
   It is an exceptional product and before anything else: it is legal!
   It has everything you need to get yourself quality music. It has a function that makes it easy to find the right music, even a particular song you wish for. If you use this function, just leave the tool started on your PC and in a short time you'll have all the music you like and wished for. It also has a feature, with the help of which you can create ring tones from the tracks the tool has previously found.
   Really, it's cool.
   I can only recommend it, after having tested it.



2. Radiotracker is easy to setup and I was downloading streaming music from internet radio stations legally within minutes. That said, you are limited to the genres and artists selected by the manufacturer. The list is extensive but not comprehensive enough. The help file installed in German although I specified English as the language. I opened a help incident on the manufacturer's website which they answered the next morning. They claimed I must have installed the product with the German setting and to re-install it entirely.



3. It is true that the radio station list should be more extensive. I would also like to have more control over what songs are downloaded automatically.
   However, the product does what it says it will do and I find it easy to use.
   I recommend it. It's a fun program.



4. I saw a review of the product one morning during the news broadcast and thought I would give it a try. It is very easy to set up and intuitive to use and I am extremely pleased with the performance. I was able to pick up some recordings for difficult to find artists and tracks I didn't even know existed. I would recommend this package to anyone seeking to find current artists as well as older recordings to add to their collection. If the recording is played somewhere in the world and you are watching for it, this program will grab it for you. It requires some management of the duplicates found during the process, but that is an easy issue to deal with.

4 comments about Bob the Builder: Bob Builds a Park.

1. ~My three-year-old son loves Bob the builder. That is the reason I bought this game. However, this product is just blow the bar. Poor graphic quality and boring game design. Compared with the kid software made by Disney or other company, this product is not refined enough and gives people home-made feeling. I gave it 3-star instead of 1-star because it is still a Bob the builder and my son likes to play with it. If you want to buy a Bob the builder PC game, this is one of the only two on the market.~~ If you just want to get some really nice pc game for young kid, look for something else.~



2. My son is an expert on this game and he is 3. In today's world, with kids so much more computer-literate, this game is really quite simple. Great for a 2-3 year old that loves Bob.



3. I am so sorry I bought this game, its such a waste of money for us. My 3 1/2 year old likes Bob and has videos and toys so I thought this would be good for him. But the games are very limited so they get boring quickly, moving around is very confusing and even the graphics are very bad. There's much better stuff out there for the kids. Reader Rabbit is the best we've found so far.



4. My 3 year old grandson completed this game to the end by himself and enjoyed it. Just alittle guidance one time and he mastered the game to enjoy the fireworks show at the end. He felt he helped Bob do the park all by himself. He has played it over four times and he knows he can do it by himself without getting bored or unable to do it. It is worth the money to let kids be successful playing the game by themselves and do all the jobs correctly.

No comments about M-Audio iZotope RX Complete Audio Restoration Software.

5 comments about Computer Music Starter Kit.

1. For a little extra money, you get some very powerful software that allows you to easily write music, save to MIDI file, edit your existing MIDI's and provides a MIDI cable to connect your music keyboard. If you have some downloaded MIDI files, you'll get a kick out of turning on and off tracks or making your own remix. Pumping the MIDI files through an external MIDI source via the included cable (I used a Yamaha EZ-30) produced incredible results. It even takes MIDI files and converts them to sheet music which you can print out and save! For getting your feet wet in digital music, there's nothing I've found that's better or more robust. However, if you don't have an external MIDI source, then you won't get the maximum benefit from this bundle.



2. If you have a newer computer using USB connections, don't buy this kit. The cable they supply won't work, and you have to find a USB to MIDI adapter somewhere else. I got fooled when I saw it was designed for use with Windows XP, and didn't realize that they meant it could be used by older computers that have upgraded to XP.
   So, I've got to spend more money. ... The software is useless without the right cable connection.
   I was also disappointed to learn from the manual that their software won't convert the MIDI files to .WAV format for creating my own CDs. Voyetra recommends you buy some more of their software ("AudioView") to do that job.
   This product may have some value if you have an older computer, but it is not what they claim to be. It does not include "everything you need to create great sounding music..."



3. I agree with the Jan. 3rd 2003 reviewer. The enclosed cable will not work with my 2002 Dell laptop.[] This is double the price of the Software, which, by the way is OK. If the correct cable(s) were included, the package as a whole gets 4 stars...



4. I used voyetra orchestrator for over 5 years. I think it was a great learning tool for both digital audio and midi. I record 100% digital and wanted to replace my older version with a newer one. I found this starter kit and thought that it was basically the same as I had before because I looked all over the box and couldn't find anything that said it only includes 4 digital audio tracks. (how can anyone get started with two stereo channels?). I wouldn't have purchased it if I would have known that. Now I am stuck with it. If all a person does is midi, I guess this will work, but if you want to "start" incorporating digital audio, you should buy something else. I don't enjoy it when companies try to slide one by it's customers by not listing important info that should be disclosed even if it ends up hindering sales. shame on those Marketing people!



5. The cable didn't work, but if you have a floppy-drive on the keyboard, it's not necessary. I have already made a bunch of tracks. I really like this product. Its easy to use if you are thorough with music and notation. This is the best MIDI software I can find cheap. I also got jamgrid with this kit. I like the MIDI Orchestrator, but not JamGrid.