Imaging

Adobe’s Photoshop is an industry standard, but its steep learning curve (and steeper price) leave many users out in the cold. Thus, consider the priced-down, slimmed-down, and user-friendlier Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0. Most of its options are geared toward processing photos and creating image libraries, but experts can still dig into Photoshop’s many advanced image-processing functions, including the wide library of plug-ins. The only major pro-level feature missing is CMYK support, which, ironically, other programs in Elements’ class (such as Ulead PhotoImpact) now have. ($99)
www.adobe.com

One of the best contenders to Photoshop is PhotoImpact 10. It’s written for novices and experts alike; beginners can use such basic tools as red-eye elimination and color balancing, and pros can perform enhanced editing operations such as correcting for lens distortion effects. Other functions include photo-management utilities, button designers, and tools for creating Web content (animated GIFs, “sliced” pages, etc.). Version 10 now works with CMYK separations, so you can do professional print work, something formerly only possible in the full-blown $600 version of Photoshop. ($89.99)
www.ulead.com

Another strong alternative is Corel’s Paint Shop Pro 9, which has a long-standing fan base for being both powerful and easy to use. For beginners there is a One-Step Photo Fix Wizard, and experts will love the range of other available functions. Unlike many programs in its class, PSP supports raster and vector imaging (such as bitmaps and Adobe Illustrator drawings, respectively), CMYK separations, scripting, and handling text as vector objects instead of bitmaps. Other features include JPEG artifact filters (to clean up images damaged by bad compression), Web-format image optimizers (for exporting GIFs, JPGs, and PNGs), and lens-distortion correction functions. ($99)
www.corel.com

Network Security

Symantec’s Norton AntiVirus isn’t the only antivirus or system-protection product in town. It may not even be the best anymore. Trend Micro’s PC-Cillin Internet Security 2005 includes antivirus scanning and internet security/firewall protection, antispam controls, data privacy guards, Wi-Fi network intrusion detection, and spyware scanning all in one box at an extremely good price. The firewall can use multiple profiles for different networks (wireless mobile networking vs. a home network, for example), and the mail scanning system also works with Web-based mail providers. You can use one installation to manage others in the same network. PC-Cillin is less obtrusive and memory-hungry than Norton to boot. ($49.95)
www.trendmicro.com

The excellent ZoneAlarm Pro was one of the first desktop firewalls to block outbound network access from your system, not just inbound access. The app lets you selectively allow or deny network access to running programs, which means more configuration but a much safer computer overall. Newer features include ID Lock (an antifraud/spoofing tool); privacy controls; mail protection; spyware blocking; and such interesting functions as Automatic Lock, which automatically stops Internet access if you’re away from the keyboard for a long time. ($49.95)
www.zonelabs.com

If deleting cookies or your Web browser’s history cache isn’t secure enough for you, Tenebril GhostSurf Platinum is about as complete (and unobtrusive) a way to cover your tracks as there is. Aside from securely wiping all surfing traces from your system, it also provides an anonymizing proxy for Web, instant messaging, IRC, and newsgroup access. The proxy hides your IP address and encrypts all data to/from your computer and blocks personal information, such as cookies. You can configure exceptions (don’t anonymize connections to this site, for example), the strength of the encryption used, and even the variety of safe-erase technology (conventional, Department of Defense-compliant, etc.) used to erase tracks. If you use IE, the GhostSurf is self-configuring; other programs only require minimal setup to work with it. ($49.95)
www.tenebril.com

System/Disk Management

Ever mess things up so badly you wish you could just push “rewind” on your computer? Norton GoBack 4.0 lets you do exactly that. Think of it as System Restore on steroids. Not only can you restore damaged drivers or system settings, but you can recover deleted or changed files individually or collectively. Try new software or hardware drivers nondestructively, as you can always wind back and return to where you were before. Other features include automatically restoring a system to a given point on reboot—perfect for educational or business settings. ($49.95)
www.symantec.com

If all that’s holding you back from getting a new PC is the hassle of moving your documents and settings over, there’s help. Alohabob PC Relocator installs on both the old and new computer and then lets you interactively select what you want to transfer from the old machine to the new one. You can move documents and entire applications—a welcome alternative to digging out the install discs for programs you’re not sure you even have anymore. Unfortunately, Alohabob does not support transfers across FireWire connections or even a conventional Ethernet connection. (You can use an optional, custom USB cable for the fastest possible transfers.) ($29.95)
www.alohabob.com

Cheap hard drive and writeable DVD storage has made backing up tons of irreplaceable data more cost-effective, but EMC Dantz Retrospect 7 makes it easy, too. The pro-level backup program uses an easy-to-follow, wizard-driven UI and supports every imaginable type of backup process, including disk-to-tape, disk-to-disk, and even disk-to-disk-to-tape. New in this version is data grooming, which automatically culls older data that’s already been replaced by newer revisions of the same files, making sure backups always fit in an allotted space. ($129)
www.dantz.com

CD/DVD

The gold standard for CD and DVD burning on Windows remains Ahead’s Nero 6, which has tons of features and is one of the most stable and dependable apps of its kind. Aside from authoring, compressing, and burning data, video, and music to CD/DVD, Nero includes photo-editing and viewing tools; InCD 4, which lets you drag and drop files to rewriteable CD/DVDs as if they were removable drives; BackItUp for backing up to/from just about any type of media imaginable; ShowTime, a standalone DVD player; and more. “Indispensable” isn’t too big of a word to describe Nero. (Nero 7 should be available as you read this.) ($99.99)
www.ahead.de

A lot of people watch DVDs on their computers, and not just folks with laptops on airplanes. Software DVD players are arguably as good as standalone models, and Cyberlink PowerDVD 6 Deluxe has features that match or rival anything by Sony or Samsung. PowerDVD supports hardware-accelerated playback (including hardware-based deinterlacing available on many video cards), optional support for DTS decoding and MPEG-4 playback, a screenshot function for capturing eye-popping moments, bookmarking of titles and chapters, support for 24-bit audio hardware, and 16:9/4:3 conversion functions that seamlessly squeeze widescreen titles into a regular display. ($39.95/$69.95; deluxe version w/DTS and other features)
www.gocyberlink.com

For creating professional-looking DVDs, Ulead DVD Workshop 2 is one of the most powerful apps and one of the easiest to work with. Capture video directly in the program or import it from an outside source (even another DVD, copyright permitting), and then edit titles, create menus and buttons, add subtitles and multiple audio channels, and author the results directly to DVD or DLT for manufacturing. There’s even built-in support for copy-protection features such as Macrovision (separate licensing required), and you can use Ulead’s own MPEG compressor or supply your own compressed data. DVD Workshop is more feature-rich and easier to work with than some pro packages that cost far more. ($395)
www.ulead.com

Everything Else

To keep your data safe, the unobtrusive but powerful DESlock delivers pro-level encryption without hassle. It can encrypt individual files and folders or create encrypted archives of files and folders using Triple DES, AES, or Blowfish encryption standards. You can convert encrypted archives to mountable files that appear as a removable drive. You can place these on CD or USB flash drives to secure portable data. Plug-ins for Outlook (not Outlook Express) and Lotus Notes let you encrypt your email, too. A built-in Shredder tool uses cryptographic algorithms to safely destroy sensitive information via the U.S. Department of Defense 5220.22-M data-sanitization standard. The program doesn’t work in Outlook if you use Word as your email editor, and you need to be very conscientious about keeping backups of your key license file. ($175.99; includes optional hardware key)
www.deslock.com

We’ve all come across a file we couldn’t open or read because we didn’t own the right program. DiskJockey File Viewer reads over 200 separate file formats—graphics files, word-processing documents, databases, spreadsheets, presentations, and compressed archives—without needing their original programs. It also includes a built-in FTP client, archive managers (to create or unpack Zip archives), simple file encryption, password protection, and more. The interface is a little crowded—it’s patterned after the old two-pane, tree-view File Manager display—and some newer file formats (such as the SVG vector graphics format) aren’t supported yet. The program’s versatility (and constant expansion) more than makes up for the shortcomings, however. A Deluxe edition includes expert features, such as hexadecimal-mode file viewing and folder synchronization. ($29.95/$79.95; deluxe edition)
www.clear-simple.com

by Serdar Yegulalp