The most recent articles from PC Magazine

SwyxWare 4.30

Alex Arias — 2004-08-26T11:36:17.000Z

Alex Arias, PC Magazine, Thursday 26 August 2004 at 11:36:17

VoIP offers potential for cost savings.

VoIP (Voice over Internet) is finally becoming an attractive option for smaller businesses and educational establishments. Swyx is a well established VoIP telephony company and the latest update to its SwyxWare platform adds to its attraction.

SwyxWare 4.30 is an IP telephony solution for internal and external communication that should interest any size of company looking for cost savings. It's a software-based IP PBX (private branch exchange) that also performs traditional PBX tasks and integrates with email applications.

The update incorporates a few tweaks that improve support for phones and add more administrative functions. A noticeable visual difference is the change from the traditional Blueline skin to LoonaClassic as the default for SwyxIT, the user interface.

There have been improvements to this UI, with additional hotkeys, wizards to aid recordings and support for Internet Explorer.

One of SwyxWare's strengths is its integration with Microsoft Outlook - it can for example redirect calls based on your calendar entries. Other features include caller ID and call divert functions. The system is managed through the standard Microsoft Management Console.

Swyx offers a range of phones, headsets and handsets, including the new top end SwyxPhone L440 with a larger integrated LCD panel.

Swyx's IP based software and hardware has a lot to offer and is well worth a look. However, it's a Windows-only system and many smaller companies might find that exploiting the full functionality takes some time.

Contact: SwyxWare

www.swyx.co.uk

Specifications:

OS support - server Windows Server 2000 and above
OS support - client Windows 98 and above
QoS Support G.165, RSVP and 802.1p
Voice encoding G.711

Price:

10-user licence - £1,200

four-channel ISDN gateway - £712

Swyx IP phone L420 - £429

(all ex VAT)

ON4

Kelvyn Taylor — 2004-08-20T11:04:00.000Z

Kelvyn Taylor, PC Magazine, Friday 20 August 2004 at 11:04:00

Get instant communications with this telephony services.

On4 is the latest voice over IP (VoIP) service from a new company called On Instant. If you've heard of Skype, you'll be familiar with the idea - using secure peer-to-peer Internet connections to talk (or send voicemail or text messages) to other On4 users.

The free download is only about 6MB, so it's not too onerous to try it out, and registration requires only basic personal details.

After installing and logging on you see the main On4 screen, which is uncluttered and self-explanatory. You can search for contacts worldwide, or invite friends to join by email.

The privacy level can be set so that only contacts in your address book can call you, but if you're feeling adventurous you can let any On4 user get in touch.

Audio setup is poorly implemented at the moment - there's no built-in audio wizard and no online help - but On Instant told us that it's rectifying this side of things.

On4 works with any microphone/speaker setup or USB handset, but we had to fiddle about with Windows' audio settings to get our USB handset to co-exist with our PC's speakers. A human operator is always on hand to help you get started.

Voice quality is superb, with little discernible lag and none of the cracks and pops usually associated with VoIP traffic.

On4 is really an interim release - version 2 is imminent, with a totally revised client and extra services such as conference calling and, eventually, the ability to call landlines or mobile phones.

It?s free, so give it a try and see what you think. Business users should take a look at On Instant, a paid-for service based on the same technology.

Contact:On Instant (01534) 746533

www.on4.com

Specifications:

OS support Windows 2000/XP Home/Pro.
Minimum memory required 128MB
Hard disk space 5MB
Other requirements DirectX 8 or later; sound card; headset, speakers/microphone or USB hand/headset

Price:

Free download.

Transferring data to a new PC - Part 1

Kelvyn Taylor and Richard Hunt — 2004-03-25T09:38:55.000Z

Kelvyn Taylor and Richard Hunt, PC Magazine, Thursday 25 March 2004 at 09:38:55

Buying a new PC is great fun, but transferring your data and settings from your old PC can be a nightmare. We show you how to take your working environment with you.

At some point during your computing experiences you'll find that most programs just crawl and the latest graphics applications and office suites won't even install.

There's no choice but to get a new PC. The change from the old to the new computer can be a quick process, and usually begins with the installation of the current version of Windows on the new machine, if it was not pre-installed.

Many users transfer their personal documents by simply copying the contents of the My Documents folder - including all sub-folders - to the relevant folder on the new system using a network connection or a CD-R. After installing your applications, the changeover is virtually finished. Apparently.

But if you use this simple method of moving the system, you'll lose your personal working environment, consisting of innumerable Registry and Windows-GUI settings. Among the items affected are desktop properties such as the wallpaper, personalised icons, and sound and colour schemes.

Usability features, including your preferred double-click speed, keyboard shortcuts for quickly opening applications and the contents of the Start Menu and Task Bar will simply vanish.

Internet and email specific settings will go missing too, including Outlook Express account settings, cookies and Favorites, Internet Explorer security settings and all network connections.

In this expert guide, we'll show you how to do a professional relocation job.

Making the move

If you take a simple copy-and-paste approach to configuring your new system, you don't lose just easily reconfigured settings. Important data for which there might not be a replacement also vanishes.

For example, the Windows Address Book and its contents are left behind, along with Outlook Express messages and Newsgroup postings.

Microsoft Office users lose not only document templates, which take a lot of work to customise, but the macros and tool bars saved in those templates. In addition, you'll have discarded your customised spelling dictionaries.

The worst thing for most Office users is the loss of the contact addresses, emails and appointments managed by Outlook.

The main problem with these settings and data is that, in contrast to personal documents, they are not stored in a single place, but strewn all over the system as countless files and Registry entries.

It's not possible to use standard backup programs, as they don't know the exact storage and restoration locations, which vary from one version of Windows to another.

If you want to transfer this configuration data as painlessly as possible, you'll need to use one of the special migration tools discussed below, where we'll introduce the most important freeware and commercial products for this task.

However, if you're not afraid of a little manual work, and don't need to migrate whole applications, you can transfer the most important settings without third-party programs using built-in components only.

In this feature we describe where the data is stored what you need to know to move it.

Using Windows tools

The most important settings and data can be transferred to the new computer using built-in tools. Often, they can be simply copied using Windows Explorer. A Wizard in Windows XP makes the process particularly easy.

The most important tool in terms of transferring the working environment is the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. But the task is so big that you also have to save some settings and files manually.

However, this useful tool is only available when changing to Windows XP. Further steps, described in detail below, are necessary when migrating to or from other versions of Windows.

Some of the folders referred to are hidden system folders, which will have to be made visible before you can access them. To do this, open Windows Explorer, choose Tools/Folder Options/View and enable the 'Show hidden files and folders' option.

Automated saving

Windows XP's Files and Settings Transfer Wizard saves Windows settings in these categories:

Appearance: Primarily desktop settings, including wallpaper, colour schemes, sounds and the position and appearance of the Task Bar.
Actions: Settings such as the keyboard repeat rate or behaviour when double-clicking on Windows folders and files.
Internet: How the connection to the internet is made and Internet Explorer settings, including Favorites (bookmarks), cookies, security settings, network connections and proxy settings.
Email: information and settings needed to connect with your email server, including signature files, email rules, email and contact addresses. Outlook and Outlook Express are supported.

The Wizard also helps to migrate certain applications. In the main, these are Microsoft's own programs, such as applications from the Office suite or Microsoft Messenger. However, some widely used applications from other manufacturers are supported, including WinZip and Acrobat Reader.

Note that the Wizard only saves the applications' settings and not the programs themselves. The applications should be installed on the target computer before running the Wizard.

In addition the Wizard can transfer files and complete folders. This enables you, for example, to move all document files of a particular type from one computer to another. Documents are selected according to the file type.

Alternatively, you can simply let the Wizard migrate the entire contents of the My Documents folder, including sub-folders. This makes using a separate backup program unnecessary.

This generates much more data than will fit on a USB key or other removable media. The only alternative is to transfer the files/folders via a direct connection or over a network. If you do this, the (network) drive selected as the target must be accessible to both PCs and have enough free space.

Note that for security reasons, the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard does not transfer any passwords, such as those used for network connections. You'll have to enter them again on the target PC.

How Windows XP moves

The first thing the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard does is to collect the required data from the source computer. If you're upgrading from an older version of Windows, you can run the Wizard straight from the Windows XP CD.

To do this, select the Additional Tasks option from the Setup window and then click on Transfer files and settings. If the autoplay feature is turned off, then the Setup window can be opened by running SETUP.EXE on the Windows XP CD.

Using the Wizard is uncomplicated and largely self-explanatory. After clicking on Next, specify the transfer method to use. As long as both computers are networked, it is recommended to use a shared network folder whose path is specified with the Other Media option.

The only other choices are a slow direct connection via a serial cable or by using removable media, but using a floppy disk will only allow you to save settings. If you want to transfer more files, then each computer must, as a minimum, have a Zip drive. The Wizard does not support saving to a CD.

The next step is to specify the items to transfer. You can choose whether to transfer just settings, just files or both files and settings.

To change the default selection according to your own preferences, enable the Choose own settings check box and click on Next. In the next step you can add your own items to or remove items from the list.

Following this, the Wizard begins to collect the selected items, which it usually saves in a single compressed file on the selected target drive or network folder.

Transferring the saved files to the target computer also begins with the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. It can be started from the Windows XP Start Menu by selecting Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.

After viewing the introduction, set the computer as the New Computer and then select the 'I don't need the Wizard disk' option. Next, specify the place where the collected items are stored. Click on Next, and the Wizard begins the transfer. Finally, restart Windows to activate the changes.

Moving desktop contents

The Wizard saves secondary desktop settings such as wallpaper and designs. However, it ignores icons and links stored on the desktop.

A workaround for this is based on the fact that the desktop contents - apart from the Recycle Bin and other system icons - are stored as files in two folders.

One holds the current user's personal contents. In Windows XP/2000 it uses the path C:\ Documents and Settings\[Username]\Desktop. Content applicable to all users can be found in C:\ Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop.

In Windows 95 to Me, the folder C:\Windows\Desktop holds all desktop content, as long as no user profiles are in use. Transferring all icons and links can easily be done by hand using Windows Explorer: first copy the folder's contents to backup media, and from there into the relevant folder on the target computer.

Saving the Classic Start Menu

The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard duplicates the standard Windows XP Start Menu, but does not transfer the Classic Start Menu, which displays all programs after one click.

However, its contents, which are almost all files, can be copied manually to another computer using Windows Explorer.

To do this, Windows XP/2000 users have to copy the contents of C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu as well as C:\Documents and Settings \[Username]\Start Menu (personal Start Menu contents) to the target PC.

In Windows 95 to Me, the Start Menu contents can be found in the C:\Windows\Start Menu folder. Windows also stores the content of the classic Start Menu in the file system. A simple copying action will transfer it.

Windows address book

The Windows address book (personal address book) is a small database tool for addresses, virtually unchanged in form since Windows 95. Although it can be opened on its own from the Accessories menu, its main use is to store email addresses for Outlook Express.

To transfer the address book contents manually, simply copy the tool's data file from source PC to target PC. This will be a WAB file whose file name corresponds to the current user's username.

As the address book is stored in different places in different versions of Windows, the information about the file location can be viewed by choosing Help/About Address Book.

Outlook Express contents

Outlook Express saves its data in a directory which you can check by choosing Tools/Options/Maintenance/Store Folder from the main menu. These files are mostly DBX files that contain both the folder structure and the contents of the individual mail and newsgroup folders.

For the purposes of transferring the entire message-base, you should copy the whole content of the storage folder on the source computer to the corresponding folder on the target PC.

It's also possible to transfer individual mail folders (copy the DBX files that represent them), as long as these are standard folders such as Inbox or Drafts. User-defined mail and newsgroup folders have to be included in the FOLDERS.DBX file and it's not possible to transfer them individually.

Cookies and Web Favorites

Windows also stores internet Favorites in the form of files, which can be found in the folders C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Favorites (personal Favorites) and C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Favorites (all users' Favorites) if using Windows 2000 or XP.

In earlier versions of Windows without user profiles there is just a single folder for storing Favorites, called C:\Windows\Favorites.

To transfer the Favorites, copy the contents of these folders to the corresponding folder on the target PC. The same goes for cookies (if you want to), which, under Windows 2000 and XP, are stored in the C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Cookies folder.

Transferring data to a new PC - Part 2

Kelvyn Taylor and Richard Hunt — 2004-03-25T09:37:58.000Z

Kelvyn Taylor and Richard Hunt, PC Magazine, Thursday 25 March 2004 at 09:37:58

In part two of our feature on transferring your data and settings to a new PC we look at network connections, Outlook accounts, and some professional tools which may help.

Network connections

To transfer all network connections from one Windows 2000/XP system to another, you need to copy just one file. This is called RASPHONE.PBK and is stored in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk.

A word of warning: copying this file to the directory with the same name on the target computer will overwrite all existing network connections. To activate the new network connections, it's necessary to restart Windows.

As RASPHONE.PBK does not, for security reasons, hold any user names or passwords they will have to be entered again.

Under Windows 95 to Me, transferring network connections is even easier: just drag the icon for each connection to be transferred from the Network Connections window to the desktop.

Windows generates a DUN file for each icon, and these can be copied to backup media and dragged from there into the Network Connections window on the target PC, which must also be running Windows 95/98 or Me.

Passwords and usernames also go missing using this method and will have to be re-entered.

With versions of Windows up to Me, network connections can be dragged to the desktop and copied from there to the target system.

Saving Office Shortcut Bars

The Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint (from version 2000) components of Office save modified or new Shortcut Bars in their respective working areas, which are physically located in the files EXCEL.XLB, OUTCMD.DAT (Outlook) and PPT.PCB (PowerPoint).

You can transfer your own Shortcut Bar configuration to another computer running Office just by copying these files. To do this, you need to know the correct destination folders, which vary according to the version of Windows in use and the existence of user profiles.

As the applications themselves give no clues as to the files' locations, the best way to find them is to use Windows' own search function. Word, however, stores its tool bars in the global document template NORMAL.DOT. The next tip describes how to save this file.

Templates and dictionaries

Document templates allow laboriously worked out content and design elements to be transferred easily and quickly to new Word documents and Excel worksheets.

This useful feature can be quickly transferred by copying the contents of the User Templates folder from the source computer to the target computer.

The location of the files can be found in Word by selecting Tools/Options and the File Locations tab. If you have customised correction dictionaries in Office, then note the path for where they are stored and transfer them to the target PC.

Taking Outlook data along

Unlike its little brother, Outlook Express, Outlook keeps all its data - emails, appointments, contact addresses - in a single file, the personal folder file.

This file is called OUTLOOK.PST and can be found (under Windows 2000 and XP) in the C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder. In earlier versions of Windows, the path is C:\ Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook.

If the same user name and version of Outlook are in use on both computers, the data can be transferred by copying the PST file to the corresponding directory on the target PC.

If this isn't the case, you'll have to use Outlook's File/Import/Export function to export the data from the source PC and import it into the new system. Choose the option to import data from Outlook (.PST files) and then locate the PST file to import using the Browse button.

Outlook account settings

The Outlook personal folder file contains almost all of the personal information manager's data, apart from the account settings. These have to be specifically exported then re-imported. However, this only works up to Outlook 2000.

To export, choose Tools/Accounts and pick the Email tab. Select each account in turn and save it as an internet account file (.IAF) to backup media using the Export button.

To transfer the saved files to the target system, use the import button in the same dialog as the one from which you saved the settings.

You can use a trick to transfer files to Outlook XP and 2003: firstly, import the .IAF files to Outlook Express using Tools/Accounts/Email/Import and then transfer those settings to Outlook.

Choose Outlook's own File/Import/Export command from the menus, activate the Internet Mail Account settings option and select Microsoft Outlook Express as the import source.

Office settings

With the Save My Settings Wizard (in the Microsoft Office Tools Start Menu section), Office XP and 2003 users have an easy method of transferring all their Office settings from one computer to another at one go.

The Wizard creates a snapshot of the Registry settings and dependent files for the current Office user configuration and writes this data to a profile settings file with the extension .OPS.

Transferring the settings to the target computer is carried out by reading the OPS file with the help of the Save My Settings Wizard, choosing the 'Restore previously saved settings to this machine' option.

In contrast to its Windows counterpart, the Office Wizard is restricted to settings only. You have to transfer application data - for example document templates or Outlook personal folder files - yourself.

Software tools

Transferring settings and configuration data with the built-in tools means a lot of searching. Using specialist freeware, shareware or commercial software makes the job easier and offers more flexibility.

In order to save your settings and configuration data you will have to carry out at least some procedures by hand, according to the version of Windows you are using. Using special freeware or commercial software, on the other hand, often requires just a few mouse clicks.

In addition to this, some programs allow you to transfer whole applications without having to do a completely fresh installation.

Microsoft's User State Migration tool

The User State Migration Tool (USMT) is a free utility produced by Microsoft that supports migration to Windows 2000 and XP.

Although it is a command-line utility without a graphical user interface, the USMT offers the same functionality as XP's Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.

However, the USMT is aimed exclusively at administrators who want to transfer certain settings to multiple network computers as quickly as possible. The utility can only be run from a client PC that is linked to a domain controller on a Windows Server network.

The USMT can be downloaded from microsoft.com here. Windows XP users can find the program in the ValueAdd folder of their Windows installation CD.

Transfer MyPC

Transfer MyPC is a program for migrating configuration data. In contrast to the Windows XP Files and settings Wizard, it doesn't just support the change to XP, but to any version of Windows later than Windows 95 (OSR 2).

It also transfers playlists, image and media files, and Office templates as well as configuration data from non-Microsoft applications.

The program offers an uncluttered user interface (Figure 7) within which individual settings can be turned on and off. File transfer can only be carried out using a direct cable connection between the old and new PCs.

The cable is included, and the package costs £40 for a single migration licence. Additional migration licences cost £13.30 each.

Contact: www.orlogix.com

PC Relocator Professional 4.6

PC Relocator Pro is one of the few migration utilities that will transfer complete applications as well as Windows settings and configuration data from the old to the new PC.

Transfer can be carried out using a network, direct cable connection (USB, parallel or network crossover cable) or removable media. At £546, it's aimed primarily at professional network administrators.

However, in our tests, it did not migrate a complete Office 2003 installation correctly between two identical Windows XP systems. Even after contact with the manufacturer, the Office applications wouldn't run on the target system.

However, less complex applications, including Photo Impact, Quicktime and Power DVD, transferred smoothly.

Contact: www.eisenworld.com

StepUp 2.03

The shareware program StepUp transfers Windows settings and configuration files from certain programs. After registering (£16) it can also transfer entire applications, which in many cases makes time-consuming new installations unnecessary.

However, it does not support nearly as many programs as PC Relocator. Migration can be from any version of Windows later than 95 but only to Windows 2000 and XP. Data transfer is via a network or direct cable connection (USB, parallel, crossover) only.

Contact: www.cellarstone.com/stepup.htm

ABF Outlook Backup 2.1

ABF Outlook Backup is one of many tools that can be used to save Microsoft Outlook (all versions) settings and files and recreate them on the same, or another, PC.

As well as the complete contents of the personal folder file OUTLOOK.PST, the tool saves the complete configuration data, templates, scripts and more. Registration costs £16.

Contact: www.abf-soft.com

CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12

Cliff Joseph — 2004-03-23T11:44:30.000Z

Cliff Joseph, PC Magazine, Tuesday 23 March 2004 at 11:44:30

Straighter lines and smoother curves.

This is one of those upgrades that will either grab you straight away or leave you wondering what all the fuss is about.

Like its predecessors, the CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12 is a collection of graphics software that contains three main applications: the veteran CorelDraw for vector graphics work, Photo-Paint for photo-editing and the often overlooked Rave, which is good for creating web animations.

All three programs have been upgraded, yet the list of new features is surprisingly brief. That's because the main new feature - the Smart Drawing tool - is designed to introduce a new way of working, rather than padding out a list of features.

Instead of simply recording your brush strokes on screen, the Smart Drawing tool has a degree of intelligence built in, which allows it to recognise the shapes you're drawing and convert them automatically into smooth curves and straight lines in order to create a more polished appearance.

You could use the program's existing freehand tools, of course, but creating freehand drawings on a computer screen is always tricky. Drawing accurately with a mouse is difficult and even with a good graphics tablet it takes only a slight shake of the hand to cause a glaring error.

The new Smart Drawing tool helps to eliminate these errors and enables even amateur artists to create smoothly finished vector artwork. There's also an option to adjust the smoothing level, so you can turn the smoothing right down to give your artwork a rough, hand-drawn appearance.

The Smart Drawing tool works pretty well, although you'll probably get better results from it with a graphics tablet. Your appreciation of this tool will also depend on whether you create a lot of hand-drawn artwork.

To assist in creating more technical drawings, CorelDraw 12 boasts improved snapping controls and 'dynamic guides' that can be customised to work the way you want. Also new is the impressive Eyedropper that, as well as sampling the colours by clicking, can copy object attributes, such as stroke and fill, or even the degree of rotation.

All these new features are also found in Rave, the suite's animation program, which is easy to use and can export Flash animations. It makes it a great alternative to Flash for anyone who isn't a professional web developer.

That leaves Photo-Paint, which unfortunately draws the short straw in this upgrade. Its only major new feature is the Touch-up brush. This works well enough, but by itself it makes for a pretty disappointing upgrade.

The other disappointing detail is the cost. Corel has translated the US upgrade price from $179 to £179 ex. VAT. But, to be fair, the full price of the complete Graphics Suite is still less than a single copy of Adobe Photoshop, so it's a good choice for a business user or technical illustrator looking for a good all-round collection of graphics tools.

Contact: Corel (01628) 589800

www.corel.co.uk

System requirements:

CPU Pentium II
Memory 256MB
Disk space 256MB
Operating system Windows 2000/XP

Map and Travel Route Planner 2004

Nigel Whitfield — 2004-03-08T12:22:23.000Z

Nigel Whitfield, PC Magazine, Monday 8 March 2004 at 12:22:23

How to zoom from A to Z in Great Britain and Europe.

Route Planner 2004 Great Britain and Europe is one of an increasing number of packages designed to help you find your way around. It includes detailed maps of European cities, giving the locations of sights, arts venues, hotels, petrol stations and so forth, along with the usual route planning.

Installation is straightforward, but it needs 2GB of disk space and the last stage of the setup took so long we thought it had died.

That minor glitch aside, it's simple to use. The main screen shows a map of Europe and there's a pane on the left where you can type in a postcode or town name. Place and street names can be selected from a pop-up box.

For the UK, this works fine; it worked well with addresses in the Amsterdam suburbs, too. But an address in Antwerp couldn't be found, since there was not enough detail for that city. And in Dublin, although the street we wanted was shown on the map, it couldn't be entered as a destination.

Curious. It suggests that if you require routes that take you off the beaten track in smaller cities, you may not get door-todoor with this product.

And, in common with many other packages, including Autoroute 2002, it suggested a road on our test route that has been closed for 20 years.

Once the information is found, creating routes is swift, and the map details include house numbers at junctions. A few clicks on the icons at the right of the screen add hotels, hospitals, zoos, casinos and other points of interest.

The Hotels tab produces information on places to stay within a selected distance of a location, including the information from the Varta guide and online booking for some UK hotels.

There's another useful touch in the settings screen - enter fuel consumption details and the route automatically includes a reminder to refuel; you can also include rest periods.

For the UK, there's live traffic information, which can be updated over the Internet and taken into account when route planning. Unfortunately the information doesn't extend to the rest of Europe, which is arguably where you may find it more useful, especially if you find it difficult to understand foreign radio bulletins.

The software integrates with GPS (global positioning system); for those who don't have this, maps and directions can be exported to Palm or Pocket PC handhelds. A viewer application is included, but in the Palm version we tested, it's not that exciting - the map isn't scaleable, the directions are just a text list, and the buttons in the application are in German. Still, it's a nice thought.

There's a good range of options for printing out routes. The standard printout includes a clear overview and a large map of the destination, along with step-by-step maps for each turn, and there are options for more detailed lists, or a simple overview.

There is one irritation, though, in that the direction information, both on screen and in the printout, often seems to relate to the next major town - not to what the road signs say. For instance, when driving through Hackney towards the Channel Tunnel, you're unlikely to see any signs for Sidcup.

Ultimately, it's the accumulation of some sloppy points that count against Route Planner 2004; individually, none is a show-stopper, but they combine to mar what would otherwise be a really useful piece of software.

Contact: Media Gold 020 7221 4600

www.dabs.com

System requirements:

OS Windows 98 or higher
CPU Pentium processor
Memory 64MB
Disk space 2GB

Landesk Management Suite 8

Alex Arias — 2004-03-03T12:04:59.000Z

Alex Arias, PC Magazine, Wednesday 3 March 2004 at 12:04:59

Impressive upgrade for LANDesk.

The LANDesk Suite has been around for many years and version 8 brings some welcome improvements. A powerful and multi-functional management suite, it is designed to help IT managers to control large networked environments.

Previous users will be familiar with the core functionalities, which include asset management and migration software. Add-on components are available for servers, real-time problem resolution or patch management, all at additional cost.

This extensive range is controlled through a new console, which can be a little daunting for first-time users. However, it does not take long to get to grips with it and to navigate rapidly to the various sections.

Role-based administration ensures greater flexibility by limiting feature access and view rights for each console user.

One of the key improvements is that software distribution now benefits from LANDesk's Peer Download technology. This helps to reduce bandwidth consumption, enabling clients to download packages from peer-group clients residing on the same subnet.

Dynamic bandwidth throttling and byte level checkpoints ensure the packages are received fully over slow links.

New on-demand secure remote control improves security by loading the agent only when an authenticated request is received. Any remote control traffic is passed over an SSL connection.

Scalability has been improved to 200,000 nodes within a single database scheme. Significantly, support for Mac OS X systems running Jaguar or above has been included.

The LANDesk suite covers a great deal in a single package. While there are a number of competitors providing similar features, LANDesk's latest improvements may sway your decision.

Contact: LANDesk Software (0118) 902 6200

www.landesk.com

Specifications:

OS support: Windows 2000 Server, Advanced Server with SP4, Windows
Server: 2003 Standard or Enterprise editions
Disk space: 500MB
Memory: 512MB
Client support: Windows 98 or above, Mac OS 9.2.2 or above, Red Hat Linux 7.3 or above, Solaris 8, AIX 5.1, HP-UX 11.0

Price details:

£48 per node; add-ons - System £5, Patch £6.50, Servers £277 (all ex. VAT)

NEC Touch Pass

Alex Arias — 2004-01-27T11:32:06.000Z

Alex Arias, PC Magazine, Tuesday 27 January 2004 at 11:32:06

Fingerprint recognition software thats worth getting your hands on.

The use of biometrics is becoming ever more popular in enterprise environments, because of the problems inherent in remembering passwords or other authentication data. NEC's Touchpass provides a powerful biometric authentication system based on fingerprint recognition.

The system is based on a patented matching algorithm and works by extracting data points from a scanned fingerprint image. These are encrypted and stored in a secure location. With this method, a secure set of data points are held rather than an individual's actual fingerprint images.

Installation is simple on any Windows NT/2000 or above server running Active directory. It ties directly into the directory structure and adds an extra tab to each user's properties. Each user scans in their fingerprints - a short process - and all 10 digits can be stored.

The client software can be deployed using Microsoft's SMS. Once installed it replaces the usual Windows login prompt, requesting a finger print scan for authentication. This takes a little time to get used to but again is a simple process.

Touchpass works with a number of scanning imaging devices. Each has a varying degree of accuracy-and the choice depends on your environment - NEC can advise on this.

Although it is an enterprise product, it can easily be deployed in smaller environments. Features such as replication to backup domain controllers mean it is fully scaleable. NEC will also tailor the product to suit varying security requirements.

Touchpass provides a relatively simple, if expensive, way of reducing the administrative burden of maintaining passwords.

Apart from improving security, the potential administrative cost savings should be attractive for corporate customers.

Contact: NEC

www.nec.co.uk/necnss.asp

Specifications:

OS: Windows NT4 or above
Capture device interface: Parallel, PC Card, USB
False acceptance ratio: (FAR) 0.0002 percent (1 in 500,000 attempts)
False rejection ratio: (FRR) 0.05 percent (1 in 2,000 attempts)
Price: Sold on number of perpetual client licenses - 1,000 users around £100,000 (ex. VAT)

Fear of the unknown

Paul Monckton — 2004-01-14T15:38:53.000Z

Paul Monckton, PC Magazine, Wednesday 14 January 2004 at 15:38:53

Despite the penetration of PCs into every corner of our home and work life, technophobia is still very much alive and kicking

Someone I know well (and won't name) doesn't like computer games. In fact she declares a profound hatred for them.

This brings to mind many questions, including: "But if you never play them how can you know that you hate them so much?" Or: "Why waste so much of your non game-playing time hating them? Why not just think about something else?"

Anyway, I digress. Having left the room for a few minutes I returned to find her playing a computer game. "But I like this one. This one's good," was her reply.

Is it really a hatred of the concept of computer games per se, or is it more to do with their image? The game she had chosen was a simple browser-based 2D puzzle game, ideal for office time wasting. Go ahead and waste some now; I'll meet you back here in a few minutes.

In our office there are two kinds of people, those who are 'technical' and those who are 'non-technical'. Both of these groups use PCs or Macs all day in their job and both are equally proud of their technical or non-technical status.

When a non-techie has a problem doing something in Excel, I'll gladly help. The second time they have the same problem I'll be somewhat less glad about it.

What's really, really bad for my willingness to help is when I offer to explain how the program works so they can solve the problem themselves next time, and the shutters come down accompanied by an imagined finger-blocking of the ears.

They won't listen, because they don't want to know. Like the man who will avoid the station platform until the last possible second lest he accidentally spot a train. They must maintain a comfortable distance between themselves and technical 'mumbo-jumbo'.

They don't want to accidentally learn something - it might turn them 'techie'. And, as we all know, allowing your brain to understand an Excel macro is but a stone's throw away from throwing all of your friends, family, social life and fashion sense into the Recycle Bin for good, and setting up permanent residence in DM-Antalus.

If, like me, you know at least a little about how to use your PC and you work in an office where there are many other PC users, you've probably witnessed the following situation many times.

A new temp is found sitting in the corner, desk piled high with fan-fold printout, fingers tapping away furiously at the keyboard.

Closer inspection reveals the reason for their current employment: manually searching through reams of printed data, re-typing selected chunks into a poorly designed spreadsheet and printing them out again.

And they will probably just send it all off to another temp where the process will be repeated in reverse.

An office full of technology and we're reduced to this? It's so very difficult to keep quiet: "But the original data has just come out of Excel ... Couldn't we just email ...? But a macro could ..."

This remorseless and insouciant waste of resources is the 'non-technical' approach to problem solving.

The work gets done, the temp gets employment for a week and no trains get spotted. Everyone's happy. Don't make a fuss. After all it's only time and money that's being wasted - the company's money, not mine.

On the other hand, perhaps if there was a little more time wasted playing computer games and surfing the web, and a little more interaction and interest in computers fostered by companies, then there would be a few more technical solutions employed and perhaps a little money saved.

No, wait; that's crazy talk. Sorry.

Quask FormArtist Presto

Kelvyn Taylor — 2003-12-08T15:36:22.000Z

Kelvyn Taylor, PC Magazine, Monday 8 December 2003 at 15:36:22

Data gathering made easy.

Web-based surveys, polls, forms and questionnaires are a popular way of gathering data. However, until now there's been little suitable software available at the low end of the market. Quask's FormArtist Presto addresses this gap in the market by providing a low-cost way to create professional looking results.

The basic concept is very simple: you design your form, upload it to your Web server, send a link to the participants via email, who then complete the form. Response data is emailed back to you and you can optionally display it in the form of an Opinion Meter on your Web site. This summarises the functionality of the Presto version reviewed here - the more expensive versions add desirable extra features for large-scale surveys, such as database functionality, although the interface and core technology is identical.

Quask has attempted to make FormArtist easy to use and in general it has succeeded, despite a couple of niggles. Starting the program presents you with a wizard that lets you choose a page style and basic contents from the supplied libraries. Unfortunately, it doesn't guide you to the predefined forms library, which is more useful for the novice. You can then start to populate the form page(s) with the wide range of objects, including text input boxes, check boxes, drop-down lists and 'Emoticons'. This latter proprietary object is a five-point slider with an animated icon. Advanced capabilities include the ability to assign a grid to a picture so respondents can mark a photograph.

Users with any experience of graphics editing packages will feel reasonably comfortable with the user interface, but for the rest it's best to work your way through the comprehensive help file to get a feel for the design capabilities of the package - especially the more advanced options.

After designing the form, it's time to deploy it to a Web server. Here, the enterprise roots of the product are more obvious. There's no need for programming or scripting, but your Web server must be correctly configured to support the PHP or ASP scripting used, including the correct directory structure. You'll also need an operational SMTP server and (optionally) an FTP server. There's a reasonable amount of information on how to configure all this, but you'll have to get your hands dirty at some stage. If you're not running PHP/ASP scripting on your site, it could be daunting to set this up. Quask provides a deployment profile for a US Web hosting company (Blue Domino), which isn't useful for UK users. You should discuss the required setup with your ISP or IT department first. Once your Web server is configured, the form is uploaded via FTP or from a local drive and a URL generated for it, which you can link to your Web site or mail to respondents. Automatic email notification is only included in the Standard and Professional versions.

Results are sent to you via HTML email, including the text of the responses and a viewable copy of the original completed form (a free viewer is available from Quask). If you've assigned the Add to Opinion Meter property to any objects, the accumulated data will be displayed on a separate Web page. There's no database functionality in the Presto version - FormArtist Standard includes a built-in database and data export functionality; the Professional version adds integration with external databases and contact management software.

It's a good attempt to make this product accessible to novices and the end results are excellent. However, the back-end setup could cause you grief if you're a non-technical user.

Contact: Quask (01926) 624830

www.quask.com

Specifications:

System requirements: Windows 98/ME/XP/2000/NT
Processor: Pentium 133MHz
Memory: 64MB of RAM
Hard disk: 20MB free
Web server: Must be running Unix (PHP) or Windows IIS (ASP)

Cyberlink PowerProducer 2.0

Kelvyn Taylor — 2003-11-20T11:40:59.000Z

Kelvyn Taylor, PC Magazine, Thursday 20 November 2003 at 11:40:59

Cyberlink keeps things simple.

PC Magazine readers generally like to be in total control of their software. But there are occasions when you come across areas outside your expertise and you haven't the time or inclination to start walking up yet another precipitous learning curve. Cyberlink's PowerProducer is an application that might hit the spot if you're baffled by video codecs and MPEG-2 encoding algorithms, but simply want to create multimedia DVDs or Video CDs quickly.

It's aimed squarely at the novice but it hides some impressive technology and gets the job done with a minimum of fuss. If multimedia authoring is your forte, it's definitely not for you - you can't tweak any of the low-level settings and the functionality is nowhere near as complete as a professional would require. However, Cyberlink offers a more fully featured product called PowerDirector that addresses the next level of expertise.

Launching PowerProducer presents you with a simple, task-based portal-like interface that provides access to each program module.

These includes a Right-to-Disc module that allows you to transfer a movie direct to disc from a DV or analogue camcorder. There's also a collection of disc utilities, including a unique defragmentation utility for rewriteable DVD media and a facility to edit content on existing rewriteable media.

The main production utility (see Figure 2) is unlikely to scare away even the most nervous user - most options and buttons are clearly labelled and have a small info icon next to them that pops up a brief description. Tooltips are also implemented.

The first task after choosing your production type (DVD-R, VCD, Super VCD, mini-DVD and DVD+/-RW are supported) is to import your content. You can do this using pre-existing video or image files straight from a (non copy-protected) DVD-ROM, or capture content direct from any Windows-supported video capture device. You can also create multimedia slide shows from a collection of still images, choose from a huge range of 2D- and 3D-transition effects and adjust the slide duration to fit the length of an audio track.

Next, you're taken to the editing module where you can arrange, trim or merge your clips and add additional background audio. Options here are fairly limited and there's no drag-and-drop timeline view - you just enter all the relevant start/end times via dialogue boxes or move the editing markers on the video clip. Adding menus is the next module - there's a small number of pre-defined templates and special effects supplied and you can't change things like text colour. For video content, you can create chapters automatically or manually.

Once you've completed everything, the rendering and burning processes can be started, and this is where PowerProducer's strength lies. Using a patented rendering technology called SVRT (Smart Video Rendering Technology), rendering times are significantly reduced - we rendered in 11 minutes 320MB of mini-DVD content that took 35 minutes on a similar product (Magix Photos on CD & DVD).

It's a neat package for beginners but experts will find it much too limiting - and once you've got used to authoring you'll start to notice its limitations. It's a good entry point, however.

Contact: Cyberlink

www.gocyberlink.com

System Requirements:

Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP
CPU 1.7GHz Pentium 4 or 1.5GHz Athlon (for real-time MPEG-2 transcoding)
Memory 128MB
Hard disk 1GB for MPEG-1, 10GB for MPEG-2
Display 800x600 at 16-bit minimum resolution