No comments about Norton 360.

No comments about Realplayer Plus G2.

No comments about Sentry Predator Locator.

No comments about Airmagnet Surveyor Standard Edition - Site Survey Tool.

No comments about Macromedia Flash 4 for Mac.

No comments about Norton System Works Standard Edition.

No comments about Anti-CyberCrime 2007 - 2 User Pack - Anti-Virus - Identity Theft Protection.

4 comments about Adobe FrameMaker 7.0.

1. If all word processing/desktop publishing software worked this well, the world of writing would be a better place. It's not perfect, but it is as close as any piece of software I've worked with in the past 23 years of doing word processing and desktop publishing.

   With tremendous power and rock solid performance, FrameMaker 7.0 does everything it claims to do. The user delineates what it needs to do and FrameMaker does it. This is such a remarkable improvement from MS Word that our tech writing department has a whole new upbeat, can-do attitude that everyone who works with us has noticed. Need for your document to have complex numbering? FrameMaker does it with ease, grace, and accuracy. We got four days of in-house training and have sailed forward with grins on our faces.

   This is excellent software, worth every penny we paid for it and the training. If you're tired of fighting Word templates and numbering problems, if you just want your documents to behave, if you're tired of Word "helping" you behind the scenes, FrameMaker can change your desktop publishing world from hell to heaven.

   If you just need to do simple documents and brochures, get WordPerfect. If you need the power to produce documents more complicated and complex than that, get FrameMaker.




2. I've been using FrameMaker for about 6 years, and each release just gets better and more reliable. I've been using version 7 for about a year now, and it has never crashed once, nor has any document become corrupted or unusable. That may sound like faint praise, but after years of using Microsoft Word and having large documents suddenly forget where chapters begin or having numbered lists re-number themselves nonsensically, I SO appreciate FrameMaker's stability. I've made manuals of over 400 pages with FrameMaker with never a problem that wasn't of my own making. This software is just really SOLID and RELIABLE and great for doing large documents. I'd never go back!



3. This is a review of the Windows version.

   Framemaker is a really good product for complex layouts and unusual page sizes. So for newsletters, fancy foldout marketing pieces, and non-standard size manuals, it really does a nice job.

   As for efficiency for just getting your word processing done, I have to give it a firm thumbs down. Also, you can really tell this product was not originally developed for Windows because so many of the standard shortcut keys and features are simply not present. I give you the following examples of inefficiency:

   Ctrl+Z to undo can undo only one time. Unfortunately, I'm not perfect enough to consistently only make one mistake at a time.

   In tables, the only way you can select an entire row or column is to drag your mouse. If you are in one cell and want to move to the next row but the same column (the cell immediately below), you have to either tab over until you get through the current row or else get your mouse and click the cell you want.

   There are some buttons on the toolbars that have no equivalent on the menu bar. There is no way to assign your own shortcut keys to various functions you might use often.

   If you want to resize a graphic, but only know how wide you want it, you can't simply enter the width and then have it calculate the length in order to maintain the same aspect.

   It's all these seemingly small things that in actuality, when implemented properly, can really increase your efficiency so that you can focus on what's important: writing. For the price of this product, I would really like to see them pay more attention to things that you really need on a regular basis instead of focusing on features you might use perhaps twice or less within a book. They really need to get the basics down first instead of just adding bells and whistles.




4. FM is a life saver for long documents. I've seen more corrupted Word documents than I care to remember. FM is fast, stable, and versatile. Its weaknesses are typography and colour management.

   What it offers over Word:
   Stability, table styles, inline graphic placement options, sideheads, runin paragraph styles, independent and outline numbering systems that always work, graphics library (reference pages), conditional text, variables, complex headers and footers, straddle heads, ability to pull in photoshop and illustrator files directly.

   What it offers over InDesign or Quark:
   Numbering, table styles, inline graphic placement options, sideheads, paragraph styles that can straddle columns automatically, variables, equation editor, footnotes, various automated lists.

   Yes, the keystrokes are left over from its Unix heritage, and there is only one level of undos. There is a learning curve, but for long documents, it has no peer. Ventura is not as stable, and LaTex is too complicated. I wouldn't recommend it for making a newsletter, but for long and technical documents with numbering, tables, cross-refs, etc. it is a wonderful program.

5 comments about McAfee Total Protection 2007.

1. While I had McAfee (41 days, total), it slowed Internet speed to a crawl. But that's not the worst of it. I had this product for about three weeks before it killed Internet accessibility completely. It took another week to receive system restore disks that I had to order from my PC supplier. Then I called to cancel my subscription. The customer service rep at McAfee repeatedly told me that because I'd kept the contract for more than 30 days, I couldn't receive a refund. We bandied about for over 10 minutes, the rep declaring that neither could he, nor could anyone help me receive a refund - nothing could be done. Then I discovered the password of, "I'd like to speak to your supervisor." The immediate response was, "please hold, while I transfer you to my supervisor." I did get my refund, but be wary of this product, and its customer service.



2. Great product!! Easy to install and setup. I've had it on 3 computers for 8 months now and its great for network, internet and wireless security. Dose not slow down your computer like many other internet security products. Very secure and easy to use.



3. While many people have issues with McAfee products, I personally have had a great experience using it. I have tried several of the popular products currently available including Norton and Kaspersky. And I would have to give a big edge to McAfee. I have used it extensively both in a personal, as well as professional, capacity. And it has worked spectacularly in both. The biggest complaint that I do have about VirusScan is that it will keep flagging certain files as bad and quarantine them even after you tell it that they are legit files. Other than that, I would highly recommend McAfee.



4. I have always depended on McAfee for computer security. Total Protection 2007 does what it is supposed to do - protect my computer from all types of problems.



5. Good wireless security in addition to the general overall security. Computer rns much better than with Norton and it actually catches more than Norton. Good product.

5 comments about FileMaker Pro 8.5 Win/Mac.

1. i've been using this fmp for a few months now. i was able to get the general gist of how to use it but personally found taking a class really helped my understanding. the program can do so many things! well worth the money.
   
   however... one of the books i read on the program "FileMaker Pro Design & Scripting for Dummies" stated, "FileMaker provides full, multiuser support for up to five users without requiring the user to add any additional licenses or patches." that statement is misleading. i understood that statement to mean one license would allow five user. not true! as long as each computer attempting to view the same file has a unique license number, five users can access the same file at the same time. if more than five users at a time are going to be using the file, you'll need to buy filemaker server.



2. I paid the company almost $200 for a downloadable upgrade to version 8.5. When I downloaded it, the disk image file downloaded fine and opened into a nice CD icon. But after that, bupkus. Double clicking did NOT launch an installer, just a windoow of the file contents. Double clicking the (supposed) application file did nothing but launch an incomprehensible script window of some sort. Tried to change the file name to add a .pkg or .app extension, but no dice, locked and can't change it. Even went so far as to use disk utility to make a new .dmg image from the mounted cd-icon, made it read-write, then changed the file name, still no installation. Then tried to submit an e-mail help request using their web page, got all the way thru the e-mail, then got a message saying sorry we only do phone support for this. Phone support of course is only during "business" hours. I used to think the product was good, but their customer support STINKS.



3. I never received my product nor receive any response to my e-mails to Reduction Mart. I hope that Amazon will reimburse me in some way.



4. Can't really review it because AAA Liquidators never sent it to me. Nor did they send it to nearly 100 other people they ripped off.



5. We have stretched the power of this program to the limit and we have been able to produce the most amazing databases. This is basically THE program to have if you want a great database. We run it on a Mac and it is fantastic.