No comments about Adobe After Effects CS4.

5 comments about CA Internet Security Suite 2007 - 3 User.

1. I agree with the bad reviews here, and wish minus ratings were allowed. I've never before had a virus so destructive and hard to get rid of. My PC was stable for years when I upgraded to CA Security Suite (CASS) for free from San Diego Road Runner. As soon as installation was complete:
   
   THE GOOD
   The interface looks nice. It caught a lot of spyware that the previous iteration of CA Security had missed.
   
   THE BAD
   - I lost internet connectivity. That took about a full day to come up with a workaround (cold boot the cable modem).
   - When I got partial internet connectivity, the computer hung frequently, or I lost connectivity periodically.
   - Full and stable connectivity wasn't restored until I uninstalled CASS.
   - The computer hung even in standalone work, like opening two Word documents. CASS is a resource hog, on a par or worse than Rhapsody.
   - Cookies were destroyed almost as fast as created. That means I had to log in with passwords for most of the internet sites. Who remembers dozens of passwords and user names?
   - My Outlook Express stopped working. RR support told me how to reset the password, which worked for incoming mail, but not the pop-server. Repeated calls to RR support didn't cure this.
   - My PC became slooooow.
   - With CASS on it, Windows XP often didn't come up. I'd have to boot up in protected mode, shut down, and restart...sometimes two or three times.
   - CA has no email or chat room support from their site. I gave up on phone support after hours of retrying and waiting.
   
   THE UGLY
   - There is no UNINSTALL function with CASS. Attempting to uninstall using the Windows Control Panel generated an E9011 error and a suggestion that I log in as administrator. On a standalone PC? It took another day to figure out how to log in as administrator.
   - When logged in as administrator, Control Panel Uninstall only removed a few components of CASS. Those components and others deleted manually (I decided to worry about a messed up register later) were promptly reinstalled automatically by CA.
   - In Protected Mode as administrator, I removed all that I could find in the windows/programs/CA tree and elsewhere.
   - Upon reboot, CA reinstalled CA Personal Firewall. I've already installed ZoneAlarm Security Suite which included a firewall.
   - Its been almost a week, most of it in front of my PC, trying to kill that last CA Personal Firewall-install-demon lurking in my once beloved computer.
   - My PC now has a very different look and feel, and I'm about $80 poorer from buying all that Zone Alarm offered.
   
   I'm outraged that CA could take over my personal PC like that, do so much damage, and not allow itself to be uninstalled.
   
   If you install this on your PC, you may not have the many problems I've had, but why take the chance? I've got a hunch that the people who like CASS have the latest and fastest PC so they don't notice the slowdown, and they may have gotten lucky and set the CASS switches differently than I did, but the instructions and implications when installing aren't that clear. Once it's installed, you're stuck with it. I doubt that many would persevere getting rid of it like I have. The only alternative is to wipe your PC and start again, or have a costly Microsoft Certified technician try to clean up the mess.
   
   Beware, you have been warned.



2. This is the worst software I have ever used! First, I got about 15 virus' while using the program that totally disabled my computer. After I had to go to outside help, I was finally up and running again only to discover that I could not connect to the internet throught MSN. I contacted my provider and figured out the the firewall was preventing access. We disbled the firewall (since I couldn't tell it that MSN was ok no matter which level of security I chose) and it worked just fine. I went back to McAfee through my provider and have had no problems since. I deleted the antivirus and antispyware from the CA suite, however the firewall software will not remove and I cannot remove the actual CA software from my system. It says I don't have suffient right to do this. Now each time I turn my computer on I have to manually disable the firewall from CA. This is a pain and I hope my license expires really soon!! This is terrible software that I DO NOT recommend to anyone!



3. I read reviews on this product.I purchased it with any way and thought I would see if that many problems where there.I have had no problem with this and it installed perfect.I had CA anti-virus with my DSL for about 2 years with no problems.



4. Very good protection and does not bog down the computer as much as some virus software does and does not have that invasive annoying popup window that some virus software has



5. I have used previous versions of CA firewall and they were good. This version is a nightmare of user interface. Its sluggishly slow and on top of it I just can't make it work other than to lock out everything. I am a geek and still can't make it do flexible stuff, can't imagine for an average user!! Stay out

No comments about Adobe Creative Suite CS3 Web Standard [OLD VERSION].

5 comments about Microsoft Expression Web [OLD VERSION].

1. I've been publishing websites since 1998, first using FrontPage1998, then switching to Yahoo's SiteBuilder. I bought Expression, feeling like I needed to step up to "standards-based" web design tool.
   
   After three weeks of work, including studying "Expression Web for Dummies" and "Using Microsoft Expression Web," I am NO closer to figuring out how to put up a decent looking web page. The tutorial CD that came with the package didn't work either, which should have been a clue.
   
   I have had no luck figuring out how to "float divs," or get CSS to lay out in columns, or any such things. The stuff I have been able to do is no more than I would have been able to do it SiteBuilder, which is free.
   
   I loved the old FrontPage because it was intuitive. You didn't have to dig and dig and risk spraining your brain to figure it out. SiteBuilder is a solid tool, though. If I could get my money back from this, I would.
   
   What a disappointment!



2. I spent the money and I am not stupid but this I was not able to master so I paid a professional. Doesn't mean I won't continue trying but not friendly like I thought.



3. 
   I was introduced to Microsoft Expression Web Professional Design Tool and have used it for almost a year at this point. While I have since stepped up to the much steeper learning curve and more archaic add-ons included in Microsoft Expression Studio, Expression Web is still the heart of this product and the best value out of all the components of Studio.
   
   Everybody talks about Expression Web in terms of Frontpage, Dreamweaver, GoLive and the like. Actually this is more of a bridge product between those WSIWIG web page layout tools and something more like Visual Studio. I am familiar with Visual Studio and .Net, have used it in several languages and different projects. And I also used Frontpage for a while, though I must admit I abandoned it quite a long time ago.
   
   If you just want to create webpages, Expression Web or one of the competing products by Adobe, Macromedia and the others should be your choice. I can honestly say that Expression Web has enough extras included in it to even create some light apps and easily achieve CSS type functionality. Plus, there are tons of cool templates and pre-built roll-overs that make nice features very easy to achieve, and easy to enhance with basic programming knowledge.
   
   Now if you need to build some front ends for web applications that require more in depth methods and detailed integration of components then Expression Studio is the program for you. In addition to Expression Web, Studio also includes Blend, Design and Media.
   Web - Design web pages and light apps
   Blend - Integrate your web pages with web tools and parts
   Design - Design graphic pieces easily to use on your pages / apps
   Media - Catalog and retrieve your web applets for easy use on different projects
   
   Of course the Silverlight aspect is still just in its early stages, but so far I have seen a lot of cool stuff made with it. As far as the integration stuff, easier to do basic stuff than Flash. And what's also cool is that you can drill down to the code level and change things very easily. So those who are not hardcore programmers will no longer need to also get Visual Studio to make web apps.
   
   Expression Web is priced right and is the meatiest of the 4 Studio tools. There are lots of cool templates included with it. Unless you really want to create completely new templates, you will probably think the Studio product is overkill. Truthfully, many people will get most of what the need with Expression Web. There's no real way to know without trying them out. For me, I wanted to have the full Studio because I saw a cool demo of how to use it and I knew I could save some time with the Blend and Design components.
   
   If you want to try this before you decide on one or the other, you can download an evaluation copy from Microsoft. Just take my advice and work on it for at least 1 or 2 weeks befoe you decide. There's a lot of stuff in here that you should test out.
   
   I love my Expression Web and now I'm loving Studio. And the best part is that if you get it before the end of June you get a free upgrade to version 2.0.
   
   Enjoy!



4. Background: I am not professional user in the sense of making a living from Web site construction but I have created and maintained personal, commercial, and informational sites. Typically using either Frontpage or Dreamweaver depending on the project but always on the look out for something better.
   
   As other reviewers have pointed out, Expression is not an upgrade to Frontpage but something else entirely---Microsoft's attempt to compete with Adobe Dreamweaver. So if you are looking for an entry level Web site creation tool, stop reading now and look elsewhere. Start with an Amazon or Google search of "create website." You'll get tons of advice, some good and some not so good. Like other reviewers here I am hoping that some software company picks up the torch and produces something decent for the folks that don't spend their lives doing this stuff. (Expression is not it!)
   
   Others have covered most of the important differences between Expression and Dreamweaver. My recommendation first of all is to stay away until there is a version 2.0---this is definitely beta software. I can not complete a single session without at least one crash. (And yes to those of you muttering to your selves, I am always on the latest available MS patches to both applications and OS.) Given that caveat, there are important differences and I highly recommend you skim the other detailed reviews to see if those are differences that are important to you. Most important to me is that it is built from the ground up with CSS support. Also nice; the UI is more intuitive than Dreamweaver (maybe someday Adobe will actually figure out that the UI is important, maybe...) and the drag and drop aspect of authoring. On the down side is that access to common page properties is not as convenient as Dramweaver.
   
   Bottom line, wait for a later version and look elsewhere if you are new to Web site authoring or looking to upgrade Frontpage.



5. I've been building web pages using Frontpage since its first release. I've upgraded all the way through 2003. I thought upgrading to Expression was a good idea, but it has been nothing but frustrating.
   
   I'm not a novice. I work in Photoshop to build my own graphics for all my websites - personal and professional - never used a template in Frontpage. I built everything from the ground up, and I found Expression to be an exercise in tooth gnashing. Nothing works the way it should.
   
   The help files are useless, and unless you want to pay for video tutoring on line you're left in the cold. I've bought two books, and neither was much help either. If I tried to build anything more complex than a basic html page, it failed. The CSS wouldn't attach. The files wouldn't read each other once they were on the server.
   
   This morning I went back to Frontpage 2003. I can edit the CSS files the old fashioned way there - the way that works.

5 comments about Norton Internet Security Mac 3.0 [AntiVirus, Firewall, Privacy, Controls, iClean].

1. Those upgrading to OS X 10.4.x from an earlier version, and who have already installed Norton products under the old OS, can remove them by means of a Unix-based utility that finds and erases Norton files, including the invisible ones. They would be well advised to do so, since older Norton products don't work with 10.4, and interfere with the functioning of the built-in firewall. There are several such utilities posted on the web. The one distributed from the Kenyon College site works perfectly, and can be found via Google.
   
   The built-in firewall can be turned on via the "Sharing" menu in the Control Panel.
   
   As far as anti-virus protection goes, that's an entirely theoretical issue as far as Macs are concerned. Anyone who wants to go down that road would do well to explore the various on-line Mac forums before deciding.



2. I purchased this back in August '05 at the same time that I bought my new iMac running OS 10.4 Tiger. It's advertised, and lists system requirements as Mac OS 10.1.5 OR HIGHER. Didn't work since it was installed. Waited and waited for the patch or update to allow it to work with OS 10.4, low and behold, they recently just posted a buried footnote on their site saying that it IS NOT going to be updated to work with OS 10.4. Tried to contact their customer service....still waiting for a response. (...) I was a repeat customer of Symantec products...this is the last money they'll rip me off for! Where is the class action lawsuit? Sign me up.



3. I bought this package after upgraded my PowwerbookG4 to Tiger in Sept. 2005. The Autoprotect and Firewall never worked. The Symantac Co admitted this probelm in their website and never offered a solution for these problems. A piece of junk!!!



4. This product, which is being advertised by numerous vendors for use with OSX, no longer works with current versions of OSX (from 4 up for sure).
   Norton has stated publicly that they are no longer providing upgrades for
   Mac related software such as Firewall and Network Privacy.
   Their Antivirus V10 works with OS 10.4, but in view of their stated policy on other Mac products, one may question whether they will continue to upgrade Antivirus in the future.
   Intego products do work with current versions of OSX.



5. Not until I was installing NIS Mac 3.0 on my new iMac did I receive install errors indicating that only a limited portion of the suite works on an intel-based iMac. The intel iMacs use OS 10.4. The older powerPC Macs use 10.3. The small print on the box indicated it was for OS 10.3 but the Amazon specs only indicated compatibility with OS 10 Macs. No updates/patches fixes are out on the Symantec website (as of 10/15) for use of this product with OS 10.4, yet intel iMacs have been shipping for 9-10 months now. Symantec is off on this one. I have mailed-off for the 60-day money back guarantee from Symantec as a dissatified customer.

No comments about Adobe PageMaker 6.0.

No comments about Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition.

4 comments about Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Upgrade.

1. I tried to upgrade Flash MX to Flash CS3 - not possible. The software (all Adobe software) has new SUPER conservative & ridiculously restrictive licensing. BEWARE
   
   1) you cannot upgrade from a bundle, ie, Studio MX which includes Dreamweaver MX and Flash MX
   
   2) you cannot upgrade from Flash 4 or version that is prior to MX
   
   3) you cannot upgrade from a bootlegged or borrowed or otherwise non-registered version of MX. And you cannot register MX or older versions after the fact.
   
   4) if you are able to install it on one computer, you will only be able to install it one more time on one more computer. AND you cannot use the application on those two computers at the same time, so they say.
   
   5) if your computer craps out on you, you cannot reinstall it on your new computer, or your old computer once you get it fixed. And what happens if your computer craps out unexpectedly and you do not have the opportunity to de-activate and uninstall it? Well the Indians manning tech support don't have an answer for that. Their solution is to de-activate and uninstall it from the other computer it is on to reclaim your two activations.
   
   Isn't this software a bit too pricey to be that stingy with licensing and usage? As a designer, I feel forced to pay and pay and play by whatever rules they make up for tomorrow, as they have the market cornered.



2. Flash Professional 3 is for professional designers / developers. Why should adobe allow you to upgrade from a product that is 4 versions back? This is basically a new product since Flash MX. The previous review is therefore ridiculous. This offers a great set of tools to create anything from animations, games, to corporate rich internet applications.
   
   Considering the price, I believe this is a great value. Becoming fluent in ActionScript 3.0 can bring an investment return worth many times more its price tag. From creating a popular Flash game with ads, to obtaining a career as a Flash developer in a commercial or military corporation.
   
   This is one of adobe's greatest releases, and shows there ability to continue / improve the Flash series of applications.



3. I tried to use Flash CS3 upgrade which did not work. After I called Adobe CS and asked them why. They told me SORRY you can not upgrade one items from a package as Studio8 . You need to buy a full version. I could not return the package since it was opened software package. I sold it online but lost $60 . Thanks to Adobe.



4. I have both Flash 8 Pro and MX Pro 2004 as studio versions. But Adobe completely fails to tell you that this WILL NOT upgrade a studio version of Flash. Even their website's requirements page says all you need is a full copy of Flash for the upgrade but does not mention that it cannot be a studio version. Deceiving product requirements. Called up Adobe and got angry that I had already opened and tried to install the software so they are processing a refund if I can produce the proof of purchase receipt, which I have. I'm sure CS3 rocks and hope that one day I'll be able to try it out. My review is ONLY on the upgrade process of this cd and Adobe's poor customer service.
   
   *UPDATE* - Adobe has now thrice refused my refund request even though I've submitted the exact info they've requested every time. Horrible customer support that lies to you to get you off of the phone. DO NOT BUY THIS UPGRADE unless you are 100% positive you have a full standalone copy of one of the required versions of Flash.

No comments about Adobe Flash Pro CS4 [Mac].

No comments about Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Standard [Mac].