5 comments about Adobe Dreamweaver CS3.

1. I like the program but web layout with Dreamweaver can be frustrating if you are familiar with the ease of layout in Adobe InDesign. Adobe should hide the limitations of HTML better and allow text and graphics to be freely placed without the use of tables. It can also be especially frustrating to format text in anything but simple ways.
   
   I hope Adobe can better integrate InDesign functionality with Dreamweaver and also allow InDesign pages to be converted to a web page.



2. Adobe really know how to please people with their products. This one is very easy to use and of course it require knowledge to produce quality results.
   
   As far as Amazon is concern, this particular item was shipped fast. In some cases, you just have to make sure that they really have stock since the availability status doesn't update in real-time. But will definitely buy again with [...]
   
   JohnB



3. Anyone who rates this software above a 2 is probably a very low end user. This software is *slower* and *buggier* (if possible) than Macromedia Studio 8.
   
   If you're using Studio 8 please listen, don't upgrade. It's throwing away money. Flash cs3 seems to be a great product so far, but as far as dreamweaver goes there's just NO REASON to *downgrade* to CS3.
   
   
   I'm a professional Software Engineer working in Web Development since 1999.



4. This is a strong update. Since Adobe bought Macromedia, DW works best with their products. Powerful, nicely laid out, and fairly intuitive, but I wish it had a manual. Had to buy a "Missing Manual" book, which I highly recommend as an auxiliary reference.
   Overall, DW retains its title as king (or queen) of web development software.



5. Having been forced by Mr. Bill Gates's disastrous Windows Vista rollout to upgrade from my previous version of Dreamweaver, with which I was pretty happy, I am encountering nothing but anger, frustration and dissatisfaction with Adobe over CS3. At the moment I am jumping through their hoops trying to get tech help through their labyrinthine online support, and am just about finished before I have even gotten started. The product itself is fine for the task; too bad about their evasive and infuriating disinclination toward support. Aargh aargh aargh.

5 comments about Microsoft FrontPage 2003 [OLD VERSION].

1. Frontpage 2003 is a great, easy-to-use WYSIWYG web builder. Most hosting companies support Frontpage extensions, a set of web robots to help you build a dynamic site, similar to DHTML.
   
   Two warnings, though:
   
   1) This full version is too expensive; you may qualify to buy the half-priced Academic Version (search for "frontpage 2003 academic" on Amazon);
   
   2) More important, though, Frontpage is being discontinued as a product altogether and will be replaced by Office SharePoint Designer (for businesses) and Expression Web (for everyone else). You can download the latter for free (for now, at least) on MSFT's website.



2. I purchased this software mainly for Web Design. I am beginning in Web Design and found Microsoft Frontpage 200 easy to learn with a lot
   of interesting features to design a web site. I would definitely recommend this product.



3. Compared to FP 2000 and earlier versions, it offered some major improvements, even letting one code in (gasp) PHP with live preview - it is highly configurable, and easily tied into SharePoint (well, I think that was the intent).
   
   It was quite an evolution, moving beyond FP2000, with some fairly advanced features - while still retaining the "entry level, small business learnable" functionality (albeit cookie cutter designs) of previous versions.
   
   I was surprised to find it even offered options to strip out all code that hinted this site was made with FrontPage (an odd change, knowing MS), but also offered other code functions, some on par with Dreamweaver - but do not mistake this for Dreamweaver, even the first MX version. It's still aimed at Microsoft only - you really have to dig and tweak to configure it for anything else (e.g, php, cold fusion) - but it does offer some major improvements for flexibility over previous versions. Mostly good, some horribly bad.
   
   The good - being able to tweak it to dozens of standards' compliance, Sec. 508, XML'ish stuff, whatever. By default these things are not set up, so it does take some learning.
   
   What annoyed (and freaked me out) was that while it easily allowed for desktop development with Access, to create database driven sites - the database had to remain in a public folder - ok, I suppose if you're using it only on an intranet.
   
   I believe the point was to code with Access, then mod it slightly to interact with SQL server - but most folks probaby did not use it that way - knowing the history and "fire and forget" ease of use of FrontPage...
   
   Anyhow, I'd call this a para-professional version. It has way more flexibility and functionality than any version of Frontpage, ever. It is also going bye-bye.
   
   There will not be a FrontPage 2007, due to the switch to Expression Web (which retains some FP functionality, but the "friendly" and pesky "bots" are gone). No more email bots, whatever bots - gotta learn how to roll your own.



4. I have been using FrontPage since 1997. I am webmaster for three websites and have alway really thought this was a great program! BUT! I have only upgraded to FrontPage 2000 and find that with my XP computer, Win XP does not support FrontPage. Now, if I want to continue with my family Genealogy Site and a community Genealogical Society site, I will need to purchase and learn ANOTHER program. At age 70, I really don't feel like doing that!
   
   Does anyone know if FP 2003 will work on Win XP? OR How can I get my FP 2000 to work on my WIN XP computer?



5. Web pages can not be easier to design without this program and book. An excellent resource.

5 comments about McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008.

1. My experience with VirusScan Plus has been good so far. I had a little trouble installing it and had to contact online customer support, but the wait time was minimal (less than 9 minutes) and they were able to send me a link to uninstall McAfee and reinstall it. Now it's working like a charm. I tried CA and Norton and so far this one seems to work the best.



2. Folks I used Norton system works a couple of years ago, then I decided to switch to this McAfee stuff only to hate its anoying bell rings and some other things etc. Then somebody on a online chat room told me about AVG anti virus and the anti-virus is free to download and stays updated. If you think about it all you really need is the anti-virus, microsoft has you cover with a firewall and most spyware blocker tools, so all you really need is the anti-virus. Its been several months and I have had no virus, NONE, no problems NONE at all. Hands down, AVG anti virus has been the best thing that has ever happen to me, it doesnt bother you and it does the job extremly well and it updates when needed. And the best part, IT FREE... :D
   
   P.S. Not saying McAfee is no good, I'm sure it does the job, but the reason I'm with AVG right now is its free :/



3. I have been using McAfee for a long time and I have never been disappointed with its peformance. It has been very good for me and easy to use.



4. I thought when I purchased the product I would have at least a year. After 4 months the updating is suspended and I am told to renew whenever the computer comes up. I have disabled the wireless because it interferes with using the PC at internet cafes and my home network is protected. Therefore I get annoying messages about that as well as the spam blocker.



5. For me this is the easiest system to load and use and covers all that I personally need for my computer. Have used this product for the past 3 years.

5 comments about Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 3-User.

1. I am satisfied with this product because it is fast and cheap and gives license to 3 PC's



2. Gee, it looks pretty. Doesn't work. Tried an entire day to get it to recognize my simple, 2 computer network. Trashed it, bought BitDefender, had no further problems.
   Except with TrendMicro. They advertise a 30 day Money Back Guarantee, which is nonsense. I followed their arcane instructions to request one (several times) and was repeatedly sent an email with a link, and told to click on "request refund" at that link. There isn't one! There is also no way to contact a person, either by email or on the phone: they are strictly auto emails and voice mail that redirects you to the web.
   I paid half price for this piece of junk thanks to a discount deal with my company. I'm glad I only lost half the asking price, but really, it's not worth anything.
   If you insist on trying this s/w, for pete's sake, try the free trial---that way, you won't be out money if it doesn't work on your computer.



3. We bought this for our home office, and while it does catch threats (mostly tracking cookies) I have had some problems with Outlook's .pst file that PC-Cillin just can't seem to shake. there is a virus messing with that .pst file, and scanning twice a day isn't getting rid of it.



4. I have had trouble with the virus scan. Norton allowed me to stop the virus scan and resume it again. Trend Micro does not.
   
   Running Windows XP on a Intel chip at 3.2 GHz with 1.0 GB of RAM, I schedule a virus scan everyday for my hard drive. Trend Micro starts a virus scan when I start using my computer as it comes out of stand by or out of hibernating. This is as expected.
   
   The virus scan noticeable slows down my computer. However, Trend Micro gives me absolutely no way to stop the scan and/or pause the scan and resume the scan later. Very annoying. I called technical support and was told to kill the virus scan process. I keep going into the Task Manager almost every other day and killing the UfNavi process. I manually start the scan again when I'm done with the computer for awhile.
   
   I have been very disappointed with their email customer support:
   (1)The first person did not understand my problem. I got the reason why the virus scan was happening but nothing to do about stopping and starting the virus scan again.
   
   I again explained the same problem and proposed a product enhancement and/or bug and/or user interface problem: Give users a way to stop the virus scan and/or pause the scan and resume the scan later. The stop and/or pause and resume "button" should be easily accessible on the "Overview" window; users should not have to search for it on some pull down menu. (Norton does this.)
   
   (2) The next email said there was a pause and stop button when the computer was past 9-10%. I never saw such a button.
   I asked technical support where this button was. I left the Trend Micro window open during the first 15 minutes of the scan and did not see any button.
   I asked where the button was.
   
   (3) The third email told me to disable the Trend Micro suite to solve my problem. No, I don't want to effectively disable the entire Trend Micro suite which would leave my computer open to spam, viruses, etc.
   I guess that would solve the problem!
   I haven't heard back yet. :-)
   
   I will not buy Trend Micro again.



5. Slowed down startup and internet speed a lot. Sometimes turns itself off during updates. Programs would take forever to load. Really annoying. Still cannot remove one piece of the TM software completely off my computer even after uninstall and everything else I removed.

5 comments about Norton Antivirus 2008 1 User.

1. I read a couple of really weird reviews of Norton 2008. I only had to re-press one of the steps, and I may have missed it myself. It works. Nothing has gone wrong with Windows xp. What more can you say? J



2. As always Norton makes a good product. I did have problems downloading it to my computer but the second time it worked. The price was right and the seller got the product to me in a rapid manner.



3. I could never get this product to install correctly on my computer. It was not for lack of trying. I went to the Norton site and downloaded fixes, etc. I finally gave up. Of course, Best Buy would not return my money unless I brought my computer in and proved to them that it would not install. Other Norton products have worked well for me.



4. Found the spyware and virues and removed them all in a matter of minutes. I rave about this product to my friends and family and a few have encountered the same great experience. it's a small price to pay for the level of protection you receive. I have it installed on all my laptops.



5. I was previously using Norton Antivirus 2005, which was a great product and I never had any problems. The equivalent cost of a 1-year subscription and Norton Antivirus 2008 (with mail-in rebate) made me update to the new product. It has worked fine, seems to protect my computer. The only downside is it's a little too automatic if you are the kind of person that wants to know what's going on under the hood. I did have to setup some port forwarding rules for MMOs, but other than that, I just get warnings that a program is accessing the internt and a question mark as to what I want to do. The recommendation seems to be "always allow" for everything. With Vista, this warning doesn't ever pop-up on top of the other windows. So you may be waiting for a program, when it's waiting for Norton to allow it internet access. This is an annoyance, but isn't a major problem. All in all, I'm happy with the new product.

5 comments about McAfee Total Protection 2008 - 3 User.

1. This product was installed for one user thus far. Installed with one glitch on the re-start screen that was solved quickly. It does cause the system to slow somewhat while in scan mode upon initial start up, but it's not a big deal. It's fine after it's scan is over which is less than 5 minutes. Site advisor works fine for both IE and Firefox.



2. I have found this McAfee product to offer my system complete security without being as intrusive as Norton or Trend Micro. I feel completely secure while surfing, shopping or researching without being annoyed at every "click" with endless questions to ask if I really know what I'm doing! The automatic update feature is constant but, only announces itself with a small window after it is already finished. And, I like the little instant site reviews it makes available on search engines like Google. They're there for you to check but don't force you to act on their presence before you proceed. I have to put up with Norton and/or Trend at work but, at home I can have peace of mind without most of the hassles.



3. Folks I used Norton system works a couple of years ago, then I decided to switch to this McAfee stuff only to hate its anoying bell rings and some other things etc. Then somebody on a online chat room told me about AVG anti virus and the anti-virus is free to download and stays updated. If you think about it all you really need is the anti-virus, microsoft has you cover with a firewall and most spyware blocker tools, so all you really need is the anti-virus. Its been several months and I have had no virus, NONE, no problems NONE at all. Hands down, AVG anti virus has been the best thing that has ever happen to me, it doesnt bother you and it does the job extremly well and it updates when needed. And the best part, IT FREE... :D
   
   P.S. Not saying McAfee is bad, I'm sure it does the job quite well, but I'm using AVG mainly becuase its free :/



4. I received this product through Amazon from a different seller (I fell for the low price). Guess what, I received only an empty box and no Antivirus CD in it. Seller did not respond to my email. Amazon took prompt action and refunded my money. This is not the first time I am experiencing excellent customer service and real professionalism from Amazon. Thank you, Amazon.
   
   Well, finally I received this product to replace my trial edition of pccillin, which was installed when I bought my laptop. I uninstalled pccillin and installed mcAfee Total Protection. I found great difference in speed. Then, I realized that the culprit earlier was pccillin. I do a lot of browsing around the Internet and I can see that mcAfee provides perfect protection against adware, malware & viruses. I have already used mcAfee earlier at my workplace. Since I did not use the Internet for personal use through my corporate laptop, I was not sure how much protection this product would provide. After using it at home now, I see that mcAfee, not only provide good protection but also do not eat your memory. The installation was a no-brainer.
   
   I am not so sure of the automatic renewal problem people say about here. So, I am quite happy that I avoided the situation by buying the CD and not the electronic version.
   
   This is top-notch antivirus software. I strongly recommend this product to anyone. The only thing I wished was I should have bought this product much earlier J.
   
   (My System: Inspiron 1525, Intel Core 2 Duo T5450, 1.66GHz, 667Mhz 2M L2 Cache, 2GB, DDR2, Windows Vista Home Premium MS Office 2003 Home Edition, 120G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive, + 2*500 GB External Hard Drives)



5. It would highly recommend this product to everybody, its fast...removes everything that might comes in to ur system...on top of this it always block everything coming to your system.....even registry clean up.
   Only one thing about Norton is it sucks lot of resource and slow down your system.

5 comments about Norton Antivirus 2008 3 User.

1. I bought this after returning Norton 360 because 360 kept crashing on my computer. Norton AV is much more stable but I have three users on my Windows XP system and for two of the users the software keeps saying it needs to be reinstalled. I'm not sure it is actually working all the time.
   Oh and Symantec turned down my mail in rebate saying that the UPC code (which I cut from the box) was not the right one.
   I would have returned this product too if I knew what I would replace it with.



2. I have been using Norton for at least the past 5 years and never had any problems with installation or performance. I installed this in 20 minutes if not less, and my computer is performing just fine. If anything, it now runs faster! So what's the problem here people? Did you ever think it could be your computer? One of the keys is deleting the previous version or versions first which virtually leaves your pc unprotected but only for a few moments while you install the new version. Then follow the instructions, don't skip any parts, be patient, and you should be a satisfied customer just as I am. The multiple user packaging is a wonderful innovation as well since most households now have at least 2 computers. See you again next year Norton! :)



3. It was very easy to load into the computer. Just be sure to take out the old version.



4. I will spare anyone reading this, the details of what I went through to research this product. I work as a Computer network pro, and so I tend to go to extremes when I research.
   
   I used evalaution copies of 5 other leading brand names. Hands down, Norton wins. If you wan't to keep your system from being overtaken by other anti-virus program, go with Norton. It's works well in the backround and will not slow down your PC.



5. The Norton Anti Virus still does the job for me. Their chat room support is excellent. However, there is a problem. I had Systemworks AND Anti Virus. To just extend the Anti Virus there is no easy way. This kind of combo usage almost requires you to just click on the renewal option and let them charge you prime cost. To buy the "box" and just extend the one subscription, not both, took a tech almost 45 minutes. I'm learning to use Anti Virus as a stand alone product, and purchase other Registry and Cleaning tools to avoid this issue.

5 comments about McAfee Internet Security Suite 2008 - 3 User.

1. I love the price here. McAfee has not disapointed me yet, and I was able to get good protection for a low cast.



2. Install was fine....had to uninstall Norton first and manually delete all the registry references for Norton. Product works better and faster than Norton...and, basically free makes it a no-brainer....



3. As a longtime user of Zone Alarm products I find this internet security suite less user friendly than Zone Alarm. (I had to switch when I got Vista 64-bit, as Zone Alarm is not supporting it, yet, I hope they do soon) I've contacted McAfee tech support and they are fairly cryptic in their helpfulness. I still haven't figured out how to get mail identified as NOT SPAM, I follow the help instructions but it doesn't seem to work. The firewall is less informational than I'd like, offering no help with whether to allow or not. Overall it all seems to work, but I'm disappointed in its email spam support, and just unsure about its firewall protection.



4. I have always been a Norton user and decided to give McAfee a try because I was becoming unhappy with unexpected Norton background activity taking up computer resources and, this was a great deal. McAfee loaded easily and after 2 months has given me no problems. Time will tell



5. I've been buying Mcafee for years but this is the last time. All I want is firewall and virus scan. This suite does it all, and maybe all the other features have their purpose but when I did a full install, it slowed my internet connection to dial up speed. Unacceptable. So I took it off and only put on firewall and virus protection and that helped a lot. However, the computer is still slow, I'm very frustrated. I have a cable connection and intell 3.2ghz chip, 1 gig of memory. So the slowdown is not my equipment.

5 comments about Norton Internet Security 2008 up to 3 Users.

1. First, lemme start saying something.
   I've NEVER been a fan of Norton. I'm pretty sore you all know what I'm talking about. Speed, virus detection is not always as good as some others like Kaspersky, and well I can continue with the list.
   
   I read in the PC World magazine, and also in PC Magazine about NIS 2008. I think that in both magazines, NIS 2008 appeared as the best security suite of the year 2007. I must be honest, I wasn't expecting that. Not from Norton.
   
   I tried the product, since it has a 15-day trial. I had tried Kaspersky Internet Security right before this.
   And, lemme say that I was really SATISFIED with the results. I have a Core2Duo 2.0ghz and 2gb RAM, running WXP Pro.
   Honestly, I really like the interface. Some might not agree as much with this one, but I find it really easy to use. Obviously there are some things that aren't as easy as they could, but overall it's pretty cool.
   
   Results? Norton Internet Security is super effective. It detects and unblocks the programs it has to, and it also blocks everything it has to. I use P2P software like BitTorrent, mIRC, LimeWire, and some others, and Norton has NEVER bothered me about these things. I barely open the program to configure something, it just does everything it has to.
   
   Virus/malware detection? So far, Norton has detected EVERYTHING that has passed through this computer. There were actually 2 viruses in my computer, and by that time I had Kaspersky. Kaspersky didn't even DETECT those 2 files, and I couldn't even delete them, or close them in the Task Manager. They were still there when I uninstalled Kaspersky and installed Norton.
   
   Norton detected BOTH right away, and deleted them with no major issues. That was something, like I said before, that I wasn't expecting from Norton. It even detected a couple other viruses Kaspersky hadn't.
   Every USB key I put in my computer has to go through Norton, and to be honest, I usually find viruses in all of them. There are only a couple that have been a 100% clean. And, people tell me that they had scanned their USBs with other antivirus programs like NOD32 or, even Kaspersky. Norton detects everything, and destroys it right away.
   
   Speed? I don't even feel the presence of Norton there. Yes, it delays a little bit when it boots, but it's not a big deal to be honest. It doesn't take a lot of my RAM or processor. I love that part.
   
   Overall, I'm 95% SATISFIED with the product.
   Why not 100%? And here's why I put 4.5 instead of 5.
   And it's called: CUSTOMER SERVICE.
   
   I feel like those guys know nothing about the product. I once chatted with an agent, and one of the answers he gave me, I could tell that he had copied/pasted the answer to my question, and it just SUCKED. Plus, he wasn't even answering my question. He told me a lot of stuff, but nothing to do whith what I asked.
   You could probably say that it was a coincidence, and that the customer service is pretty good, but then I say well, this actually happened like 3 times, AT LEAST. Coincidence? I don't think so.
   
   Conclusion: if you're looking for a GOOD security suite, fast and easy to use, buy this product right away. Just pray that you won't have to contact customer service a lot, cause it's simply a pain in the butt.
   
   Well done, Norton, you have a VERY satisfied customer!



2. I had the previous version of Norton before I purchased 2008 and should have done more research. I tried 2008 in both of my computers and it was slow and caused problems that I don't even want to get into. Uninstalled it and threw the disk away that had one more install for another computer. I've been with Norton for years but they really screwed up with 2008. Never again.



3. This was an upgrade to NIS 2005. OS is Windows XP SP2. Absolutely no problems during the install, and after a month the system is operating well with no glitches (unlike w/NIS 2005). Boot up is much faster. User interface is not that complicated. I would recommend this update to previous users of Norton NIS.



4. The difference is like day and night. One minute my laptop was performing fairly well for a 4+ year old machine, then with Norton (painfully long installation)it takes forever to open a web page, everything is unworkably slow and often freezes up. Maybe on newer PC's with excess speed and memory to spare it might not be so noticeable but why would you spend good money on computing power just to have it wasted by anti-virus software.
   
   I gave it one star partly because Amazon doesn't allow zero or negative stars, and partly because Norton contributes to the nostalgia experience. It reminds me of the good ol'dial-up days, except maybe a little slower. Maybe Norton could add sound effects to imitate a dial-up modem.
   
   Frequent pop-ups pester you to download updates, which are also slow, then you have to restart. My previous anti-virus was Windows Live OneCare which I gave up because it was expensive and pesky, but compared to Norton, OneCare was discreet and non-intrusive. Does Norton really think they are so important that PC users want a Norton tool bar reminding that "Fraud monitoring is on." Too bad Fraud monitoring didn't catch Norton masquerading as a utility. Aargh!



5. As always, Norton is a bit slow at start up (unless you want to pay more for the 360). This is a 3 user account. Loaded on 2 different machines with 2 different results of ease. I do have a 3rd computer, but it is a MAC and there is no exceptions from Norton. I did find it cheaper a few days afterward, but already had to return it once (shipped single user)and did not want to go through that again. However, Norton is still the best out there.

5 comments about VMware Fusion.

1. Far better and more stable than Parallels.
   
   Install and setup is easy and it runs XP faster than my previous PC. As a recent Mac convert, some of my work (web development/graphic design) still needs PC Operating Systems and am able to run XP AND Server 2003 simultaneously side by side with Leopard.
   
   
   Highly recommended



2. Fusion was very easy to load. I also found the wizards made it easy to create a virtual machine. I use Linux and VMware for servers. The fusion is much easier to use. I do not believe you would need to know VMware to use the fusion product. Microsoft runs faster on the MAC.



3. I've been using the software now for about 30 days and for the most part, it's been flawless. The setup was extremely easy and XP runs very smooth. I ran into a major problem at one point, which was resolved by email support (which was pretty prompt). Don't use Time Machine with your virtual machine is the bottom line as it can seriously foul it up. Upon resolution, I've had 0 problems with the software. My friends that run Parallels have had less satisfying results. I would highly recommend it. Would have given it 5 stars except for the big foul up with Time Machine.



4. Installed for three days - everything works as promised. Like having a Mac and a PC. (Love that Mac.)



5. I originally switched to Fusion from Parallels because of difficulties running Ubuntu on Parallels 2.0. I had the choice between upgrading to Parallels 3.0 or switching to VMWare Fusion. Ubuntu ran without trouble on the Fusion demo, and Fusion was less expensive than Parallels 3, so I made the switch. I have been pleasantly and consistently surprised at the fine quality with which VMWare Fusion runs and the convenience it provides. It was certainly an upgrade from the Parallels experience.
   
   VMWare Importer quickly and painlessly converted all my VMs from Parallels format to VMWare format (Windows & Linux VMs). I was able to continue to boot to Windows XP on my Boot Camp partition as well.
   
   The Windows-specific features are also a big improvement over Parallels. Unity mode is an excellent experience. The desktop and taskbar disapper, leaving only your applications. Windows applications can be minimized to the Dock, and you can keep application icons in the dock to make launching them easier. To launch any Windows application, simply hit Command+L, type a few characters, and hit enter. It is a similar experience to using Quicksilver on Mac. Using VMWare Fusion, it is easier to launch Windows applications from Mac OS X than from in Windows itself. Additionally, your entire start menu and programs menu is available from the Applications menu in Mac OS X, if you prefer to drill down.
   
   I bought the latest MacUpdate promo bundle recently, which included a license to Parallels 3, so I gave it a try. It was a bad experience. I installed Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop and Server editions. The Desktop edition, even with Parallels extensions, wouldn't connect to a network. The Server edition wouldn't boot at all after installation. Horrible experience. In contrast, Ubuntu 8.04 runs perfectly on Fusion with or without VMWare tools installed.
   
   VMWare Fusion seems faster, but I have no numbers to back that up. It is much less painful to boot into a VM, so I find myself booting them more often. I use Excel fairly often, and find Excel 2008 for mac slow and lacking in features, so for anything more than a simple list, I just boot into Windows and use Excel 2007 instead. It seems that the VMWare technology that has been built over the last ten years to speed up server environments has made the leap to the Mac, and it shows. Parallels simply can't match the VMWare investment in technology.
   
   Another unforeseen advantage to using VMWare fusion is compatibility with other VMWare products. There is a huge library of VMWare "appliances" available for download from their site, and if you use VMWare server (free) on Linux or Windows, those virtual machines can now also be used on your Mac. I also ran into three VMWare images in the wild that I wouldn't have been able to use on my Mac without Fusion: Nokia's Maemo SDK VMWare appliance, Mono's VM appliance, and Stoq's evaluation appliance.
   
   Overall, Fusion is a much less frustrating experience, faster, easier, more flexible, and, for now at least, cheaper when compared to Parallels.
   
   And couple points of criticism:
   
   (An older version of) Fusion caused a Kernel panic on one occasion, though it may have been caused by bad RAM.
   
   I wish VMWare tools had an Ubuntu compatible .deb file to make installation easier.
   
   Command+L was a bad choice for the Launch Applications keyboard shortcut, since Windows+L locks your computer (i.e. sends you to the sign in panel, which is useful if you leave your machine). In unity mode it's fine, because it doesn't lock your VM, but in Single Window mode or Fullscreen mode, it will.