Software

“Step by Step” and “Plain & Simple” are two Word 2013 books from the Microsoft Press. As well as teaching the new user how to use the program, they each also cover new features which increase Word’s versatility especially in the areas of cooperation. They each adopt a different approach and so one can choose the one that best suits one’s needs.

The number ‘13’ and some peoples idea that it is unlucky means they go from 12 to 14 or as more than one company has done go from 12 to XIII. Whatever you feel a software package that has had that number of incarnations must be mature.

Now part of the MAGIX family, Xara’s flagship graphics photo and designer product has reached version 9.

Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9 does what it says on the tin and is aimed at having broad appeal. On the basis that not all users are experts, it incorporates extensive help and guidance which is so important to enable new users to edit their photos and get to work with their drawings. It also incorporates the wide range of features that will satisfy the needs of the advanced user.

While I have reviewed similar products on a PC there are probably an awful lot of younger people that live with their ‘i’ device. While the cost of Apps for these devices is minimal if you sell a lot of them then you make a lot of money.

Having destroyed the alien invaders or rescued hostages being held captive by terrorists, you might want to share your achievements with others. This next title offers to help you record your success for posterity.

As technology advances, so older formats tend to go unsupported. However sometimes help is available to convert the older formats into one that can be used on modern equipment.

Now that Windows 8 is well and truly here -- even though an updated version will probably be out within the year -- there is a need for a detailed manual. This is particularly important because it is a significant redesign focussed on a touch-screen interface. "Windows 8 The Missing Manual" should meets the needs of power users as well as the rest of us who need to get to grips with this new environment.

By the time anything gets to version 4 it should be mature; however this has something that few such products have and that is the ability to work just as well with touch screens such as those for some recent Windows 8 PCs it supports fully.

PowerDesk is the file manager that Windows Explorer should have been. It is easy to use and has a wide range of features that make it a valuable tool for the serious PC user. The recently released version 9 adds even more features and is also compatible with Windows 8.

Rather than a book this is a software package that will work on Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8. It has text to read – this can also be read out – and things to do after it has explained them using a dummy Windows 8 interface.

After years of going head-to-head with the Roxio Creator package, Nero now faces a different challenge following Corel’s buyout of Roxio.

Once regarded as an upstart as it offered graphics software at prices well below the accepted standards of the day, Serif is now an established software developer with a range of offerings such as this next title.

In the past I have looked at a number of Doro products of which the greatest majority were handset designed specifically for the older generation. These handsets, whether of the candy bar, slider or clamshell variety, feature an easy to use interface combined with large style buttons with a useful emergency facility.

This is the current latest version of Microsoft Office, it has a very new and somewhat sinister edge to it in that it is now a item that comes with a licence to allow its use for 12 months after that you need to pay to keep using it.

As part of its range of software titles designed specifically for the less experienced user, MAGIX has released Photostory Easy. This product, as it titles might suggest, allows the user to combine various photo images, transitions and a sound track into a slideshow. Boxed and downloadable versions of the software are available with my preview copy being of the latter type.

Corel has never been afraid to open its purse strings to purchase software companies especially when it concerns graphics offerings. One of its latest purchases was ROXIO.

It is not just celebrities who can benefit from a digital make-over. Now you can use a software package to tidy up your own image.

There is one product in the CAD market that people think of even if they never use CAD. However providing certain rules are adhered to there is no reason why others cannot work in the same arena here an offering from Corel.

As regular as clockwork, Serif brings out upgraded versions of its graphics software aimed at the budget conscious user.

This is another of the recent releases that I waited for a working copy of Windows 8 to review. If you are serious about editing your videos then this software can do it, transform, add, delete, modify and more then this can do it.

While you may not always be looking your best when a photo is taken, this next product could help smarten your appearance.

I have a long memory - it’s just yesterday that’s a problem sometimes – and I remember a shareware product that easily fitted on a floppy disc. That was long before JASC was purchased by Corel the current version fills a CD-ROM.

Storing your documents, images and music in digital format on your computer is now the de facto choice of many. But how would you manage if this data became corrupted especially if you did not have a backup?

Starting life as a basic compression tool available as Shareware, WinZip has developed over the years to encompass a wider range of functionality as can be seen with version 17.

When CD’s first came out the need to copy or backup started and there were two major players in the market. Nero was one of those but now it is so much more than CD backup software, one of the few things it refuses to do is make the tea.

While most new PCs come with Anti Virus software it is normally only a trial lasting for 90 or 60 days. Most of these are from Norton or McAfee and while they work and these days do not slow the PC down that much there are options.

When you have multiple products covering different aspects of media editing and creation, it make sense to combine some of them together in a bundle. This is the approach taken by Cyberlink with its Director Suite offering.

A bit like an insurance policy, your computer protection needs regular updates as circumstanced change. Offering to help provide protection against a range of issues is the latest version of Kaspersky’s flagship product.

It is that time of year when the latest edition of Bitdefender Total Security software makes an appearance just as emails start to arrive advising you that your current subscription is about to expire. Following the general pattern established over the years, this latest version of the product is identified by the appendage of next year’s date. So we have Bitdefender Total Security 2013.