$45.92
System requirements:
Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista 100MB hard drive space 256MB RAM400MHz Intel or AMD processor
Pros:
Ad-Watch Connect
Cons:
RegShield is annoying
The final word:
In general, apart from the poor execution of RegShield, Ad-Aware does a competent job. Its overall performance, however, can be improved upon by alternative antivirus and antispyware programs.
WHILE the original Ad-Aware was designed simply to warn you when Web sites were tracking information on your PC, Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 Pro stretches to such demanding tasks as protecting your system from viruses and spyware, and securing your banking details and files.
Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 Pro actually comes in four flavours (the most advanced Enterprise version is aimed at medium to large businesses). Home users can get a taste of what Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 Pro offers simply by downloading the free version, capable of performing a basic scan on your PC.
If you have an existing antivirus program to team this with, the free version could prove a decent option. You still don't get real-time detection of adware, although such a feature is, happily, available as Ad-Watch in the upgrade, Ad-Aware Plus. This more expensive version also adds (amongst other features) integrated antivirus protection and free technical support.
The Plus version of Ad-aware 2008 will suffice for most users, although Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 Pro, which we've tested for the purposes of this review, comes with a few more advanced tools. These include the rather unexciting command line support and network drive scanning, and the far more dynamic Ad-Watch Connect, which lets you see exactly what programs on your PC (Internet Explorer, Real Player etc.) are communicating with the outside world.
Long-standing concerns about the lack of clarity in Ad-Aware's interface were fixed in the 2007 edition, with the result that the look and feel of the software was radically overhauled.
Having so recently nipped and tucked the interface, Lavasoft clearly felt no major changes were needed for the latest edition, and those upgrading from 2007 to Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 may be surprised at just how similar the two versions look. This is no criticism though, and the layout works remarkably well.
The Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 interface is clean and straightforward, with most of the detailed options stashed away behind menus. Should you want to closely monitor specific areas, or use TrackSweep to clean the tracks left behind as you cruise the Internet, it's easy to access some of the more advanced features.
One annoying aspect of the Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 interface is RegShield. This notifies you whenever changes are made to the registry, cookies etc. Unfortunately, it isn't terribly discreet, hitting you with irritating pop-ups simply for opening a harmless Web page. It takes time to get the program used to your habits, so you can expect your initial experience with RegShield to be an aggravating one.
We had to run Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 Pro twice in order to get it to work on our test PC, and it needed over 26 minutes to assess our machine with a Full Scan. Once done, the program then lists the different threats on your machine, according each one a Threat Analysis Index (or, to you and me, a score out of 10) to tell you whether or not you should be worried. It then offered to remove some or all of the threats and, one reboot later, the PC came back with a clean bill of health. Ad-Aware licenses its antivirus protection from Avira, and this engine has a solid reputation, even if it's not considered to be the best in the business.
Friday, October 3, 2008
LATEST TECHNOLOGY: SOFTWARE:Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 Pro
LATEST TECHNOLOGY: SOFTWARE:PC Tools ThreatFire 3.5
Free
System requirements:
Windows Vista/XP/ 2003/2008/2000 SP 4 with Update Rollup 115 MB of disk space Some program functions require a connection to the internet
Pros:
Blocks brand-new threats, monitors system activity
Cons:
Occasional PC lockups
The final word:
ThreatFire adds a worthwhile layer of security for your computer. Even more impressively, it's free.
YOUR current antivirus program may offer plenty of protection, but new, unknown threats still could slip through. That's where PC Tools' ThreatFire comes in.
Now in version 3.5, this free utility adds an extra layer of protection to the security software you already have. It blocks an impressive number of threats through behaviour-based analysis. As can sometimes happen with security tools, however, it caused some system lockups in our testing.
The new edition of this popular free security program, released in May, adds an on-demand signature-based scanner, a mostly just-for-fun world map that shows detected threats, and a useful system-activity monitor that provides a good deal of information on the programs and services running on your PC.
To identify a malware threat based on a positive signature match – which is still the primary method that most antivirus programs use – a lab must first obtain a sample of the malware and create a full signature for it. It that window of time, before a signature is available, your machine could be infected with the virus. By contrast, proactive detection such as behavioural analysis can detect and block brand-new threats without signatures, thereby providing immediate protection. Most antivirus programs supplement signature scanners with some type of proactive detection, but not all are as effective as ThreatFire.
What's more, ThreatFire didn't register any false alarms in AV-Test.org's run-throughs; this is a definite plus, since proactive, non-signature protection is often prone to false alarms.
Version 3.5 adds PC Tools' signature-based scanner, formerly available only in the Pro version. Since it isn't real-time protection, it won't scan every new saved file, so you will need to schedule it or activate the scan manually. The free version also requires that you keep its community features (which send anonymous detection info to PC Tools) enabled in order to continue receiving no-cost updates; doing so improves threat detection for all users, and there's no good reason to disable it. The Pro 3.5 version allows you to disable the feature, but unless you're running a business, you have no need to shell out for Pro. The free version of ThreatFire 3.5 is for home use.
The anonymous detection data also provides info for the utility's new Threat Detection display. Red dots on a global map show infection points for selected malware and adware threats.
Though the map is interesting, the new system-activity monitor is more useful. For the programs and services that are currently running, the monitor displays in-depth background info, such as the author, the command line, a list of open windows and modules, and other details for all processes. You can stop a process, or kick off a Google search for more information on it, with a right-click on the process name.
Other changes in 3.5 include better default options for handling alerts. For one thing, you can now instruct the tool to automatically quarantine, allow, or prompt whenever it encounters a suspected threat or potentially unwanted program (known threats are always quarantined). This version of ThreatFire also has improved master boot record scanning.
While you don't have to pay for ThreatFire, installing it entails another kind of cost. The lightweight ThreatFire service and system tray process didn't noticeably impact our test system while we surfed the web and performed common tasks, and together they used less than 10 megabytes of system memory. But security programs by nature have to reach far into your PC, and as a result they can often conflict with other software and cause trouble. In our tests on one heavily used PC with a wide range of installed programs and utilities, the computer locked up each time we attempted to run an on-demand scan using ThreatFire's signature scanner. You don't need to run the signature scanner to get ThreatFire's worthwhile behavioral protection, but such lockups are a good example of why you should be careful about installing too many security extras.
ThreatFire's thorough behavioral protection provides a worthwhile additional layer of security, particularly for shared or other at-risk PCs. It's all the more impressive for being free. As always, however, be careful about loading your computer down with security programs.
LATEST TECHNOLOGY: SOFTWARE:WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive
$136.99
System requirements:
Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista
Pros:
Pretty good at picking out definitive errors
Cons:
Unforgiving of any deviation from absolute best practice, even in creative writing mode
The final word:
As a comfort blanket for checking documents before you send them on, WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive offers more than MS Word. It's full-featured, easy to use and picks up basic mistakes. However WhiteSmoke suffers from problems intrinsic to all automatic editors; without a human to make judgements, it will never be infallible. At $136.99 WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive seems a little expensive, but the $79 General Writing version may suit your needs just as well.
WHITESMOKE 2008+ Executive is software that aims to improve and edit your writing, but it's far from perfect.
WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive checks your grammar and punctuation and uses what it calls “text enrichment” to enhance your writing – although that enhancement is a matter of taste. WhiteSmoke comes in several flavours, from the basic $79 General Writing, to the Executive flavour we tested. WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive helps you check letters and emails in styles ranging from general, business and medical, to legal and creative writing.
Document templates are included in WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive, along with a dictionary and thesaurus, as well as an idiom checker and translation tool that includes 18 languages.
Once installed, using WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive is a cinch. You can use the program as a word processor, and when using any kind of text input, hitting F2 brings up a WhiteSmoke editing pane. The program checks the copy on the fly, so within a second or two you have WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive's suggested edits.
It's not always a useful or even a reliable process, however. We liked the fact that despite being a download from a US website, WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive knows its favor from its favour (unlike your office suite, we'd wager). It's also pretty slick at verb/noun license/licence type conundrums, and we can vouch for its spellchecker capabilities. In terms of picking out definitive errors, WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive will serve you better than your word processor – although it criminally failed to spot when we incorrectly used “less” instead of “fewer”.
WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive then is not a panacea, so AutoCorrect should be avoided. Proper nouns will fox it, for example. And WhiteSmoke has something of a mania for commas.
It's also unforgiving of any deviation from absolute best practice. This makes sense when writing legalise, for instance, but even when checking “creative writing” WhiteSmoke will pull out any instances of sentences starting with “but” or “and”. Indeed, when we test edited a 350-word review with WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive, the results were the same when checked for “general”, “business” and “creative writing”.
Which leads us to the “text enrichment”. At any point you can ask WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive to enhance any given part of your text. It's a nice concept, but computers aren't writers, and “enriching” copy piecemeal is an odd process. Suffice to say that relying on software to add style to your copy is never a great idea.
LATEST TECHNOLOGY: SOFTWARE:AVG Internet Security 8.0
$69.95
System requirements:
Windows 2000 SP4 + Update Rollup 1, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Pro x64 Edition SP1 or Windows Vista/Vista x64Intel Pentium 1.2 GHz 70 MB free hard drive space, 256 MB RAM minimum
Pros:
Light system footprint
Cons:
Attempts to install Yahoo toolbar
The final word:
AVG Internet Security 8.0 is a long overdue update to v7.5. It's easier to use and more effective but still has one or two rough edges. It remains a top-tier security bundle.
AVG'S Internet Security 8.0 features a new, pastel blue UI, which is a vast improvement over its dated, clunky predecessor.
Doesn't time fly? Can it really be three years since AVG 7.0 was released? That's an eternity in PC time and so the release of its successor was well in to injury time. But now AVG 8.0 is out and is now available in a variety of bundle permutations. Apart from anti-virus, this bundle also includes anti-spyware, anti-spam, firewall and rootkit protection.
As is the norm these days, the UI comprises an array of module icons, a dozen in this case, each marked by a green status tick when all is well. At the side are just three tabs, Overview, which brings up the module status screen, Computer Scanner, and Update now, which are self-explanatory. In use, AVG IS 8.0 has a light system footprint.
Aside from that, installation is smooth and once the updates have been applied (this version updates four times a day) AVG Internet Security 8.0 does a quick scan of your system, scanning for malware and spyware simultaneously. As before it offers on-access, on-demand and scheduled scanning. AVG Internet Security 8.0 continues to garner top scores from the likes of Virus Bulletin, West Coast Labs and ICSA so we have no doubts as to its continued efficacy.
The firewall uses an automatic multi-profile system which should minimise user intervention and offers a good level of protection. But we got pestered to approve Internet connections for a couple of days after installation, which niggled.
The new LinkScanner web protection works much like McAfee's SiteAdvisor, issuing alerts when you visit a dodgy site and flagging search results with ticks or crosses depending on their cleanliness.
Each site is scanned “live” and so the status mark can take a few seconds to appear. Spam email is automatically tagged as such and moved to a junk folder. Interestingly it supports Real-time Blackhole Lists (RBLs), such as Spamhaus or Spamcop, which helps eliminate a lot of spoofed spam.
LATEST TECHNOLOGY: SOFTWARE:CyberLink YouCam 2
$39.49
System requirements:
Intel Pentium D 3.0 GHz or above, or AMD Athlon 64 3200+ or above512 MB RAM, Windows Vista / XP (with DirectX 9 or above)1GB of hard disk space 640 x 480 screen resolutionWebcam
Pros:
Easy to use, cute enhancements, business conferencing features
Cons:
Webcam chat enhancements somewhat shallow, cost of software
The final word:
Although this package is aimed at webcam enthusiasts, the only thing that really makes it worth the cost is the business conferencing facility.
CYBERLINK YouCam 2 is an interesting piece of software that means webcam users can facilitate business discussions.
With a simple interface and a family-friendly selection of cartoon-style animations and effects, users of YouCam 2 can keep themselves and others entertained. Of special note is the avatar chat system, which allows the user to assume one of 12 cute and cuddly characters.
In theory, when the user blinks, winks, moves or yawns so too does the fluffy creature on the screen. When we tried the function, however, the effect was a little more sporadic, with the cute little dogs and dolls sometimes still as stone while we fidgeted violently, but then active when we left the camera's view. Even so, this feature will amuse for a while.
Other entertaining stalwarts of webcam software are present, with a range of animated frames available to users. Filter animations can also be activated, with snowdrops and candy showers just two of the many effects available (others are downloadable for free).
The software allows you to record images using selected effects or avatars, and users can publish their footage directly to YouTube without going through the trouble of logging on to the service via a browser.
When webcam chatting using popular instant messaging programs such as MSN Messenger, a range of frames and avatars are available through YouCam 2's IM Mode – a minimised version of the full program. This provides a few gimmicky extras that can liven up a conversation.
But it isn't all play and no work. Two positive points for small to medium business users to consider are the security monitoring and presentation capabilities.
The first of these has been a staple of webcam software for years. As soon as motion is detected, time-stamped footage begins recording and images of possible intruders are captured on your hard drive.
Unfortunately, if the computer on which the program is installed is the target of a thief, it spells the end of this feature's usefulness (along with your ownership of the computer).
More useful is the ability to share documents, such as PowerPoint presentation files, through instant messaging programs. Users can set the duration for each slide to be displayed as the information is discussed and presented via standard webcam methods. This gives users and businesses that can't afford teleconferencing equipment and software, such as Cisco's expensive Telepresence package, a basic substitute.
The entertainment functions of the package are rather gimmicky. Whether or not these gimmicks are worth the price of purchase depends on how much amusement you think you'll get from them. For small to medium businesses that want a cheap off-the-shelf solution to facilitate online presentations and discussions, CyberLink YouCam 2 may be a surprisingly good business investment.
LATEST TECHNOLOGY: SOFTWARE:Speed Meter Pro
46.50
System requirements:
Microsoft Windows Vista or Microsoft Windows XP with SP2 or higher Intel Pentium III or equivalent 128MB RAM (512MB for Vista)80MB of available hard-disk space Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 or later; Internet Explorer version 5.5 or later
Pros:
Automatic network mapping, suggests solutions to network issues
Cons:
Isn't fully featured
The final word:
The bottom line? Speed Meter Pro does a very good job of tracking and analysing network performance issues, but by itself it simply doesn't do enough. If you want a full-blown network troubleshooting tool, you'll have to buy the combo.
SPEED Meter Pro focuses on network slowdowns and ignores other issues such as IP woes, making it only a partial salve for the beleaguered.
Like most other computer owners in the world, you've probably become a network administrator by default, forced to handle the myriad problems that can bedevil your home network or small-office network. Pure Networks' software app, Speed Meter Pro, can help you do the job – but only to a point.
Still, what it does do it does exceptionally well. Install the program and it automatically creates a network map that shows every device on your network, including your router. It also scans your PC and the network for problems, such as too many applications and devices trying to use the network at the same time; then it suggests solutions.
Speed Meter sits in the background, monitoring network performance and popping up alerts and accompanying recommendations whenever it detects a slowdown. You can also use it to troubleshoot network performance. For example, if you notice that an Internet connection on one PC seems particularly sluggish, open Speed Meter and it will show you which PCs and applications are using too much network bandwidth. The program also tracks your Internet use and bandwidth over time.
LATEST TECHNOLOGY: SOFTWARE:Phantasm CS Designer/Studio
$175
System requirements:
Illustrator CS/CS2/CS3
Pros:
Easy to use, competitively priced, vector Halftone filter, compatible with Illustrator Actions and Live Effects, familiar Photoshop adjustment tools, advanced pre-flight and separation toolset
Cons:
Can be slow when working with larger images
The final word:
Any designer who uses Illustrator should check it out.
WITH such a range of Illustrator plug-ins on the market, it's rare to come across one that excels to this extent.
Phantasm CS adds Photoshop-style adjustment tools and functionality that seamlessly integrates with Illustrator's native features, including standard gradients, meshes, filters and effects. Furthermore, Phantasm CS is fully compatible with Illustrator's Actions and Live Effects, which can potentially speed up your workflow.
We first reviewed Phantasm CS 1.5 back in March 2007, when it received our “Best Buy” award. With the release of Phantasm CS, Astute Graphics has made a great product even better – it's available in two new variations: Phantasm CS Designer and Phantasm CS Studio, each progressively adding hugely to the popular original toolset.
Phantasm CS Designer is aimed at professional freelance designers and publishers who are looking for greater control of their colours. All the filter effects, such as Brightness/Contrast, Curves, Duotone, Hue/Saturation, Levels, Temperature/Tint, can quickly be applied to adjust both vector and embedded raster images.
Without a doubt, the feature that will attract most attention is the Halftone filter/effect that, again, works on both vector and embedded raster images. This opens a world of creative possibilities: designers can experiment with infinite variations, ranging from conventional dot types to custom symbols, which remain faithful to the original artwork mode and preserve any spot colours.
Larger images require some patience, but for such complex effects this is to be expected.
Phantasm CS Studio has all the goodies of the Designer edition, but with advanced pre-flight features. It's aimed at studios of all sizes, and at publishers and printers whose work must comply with specific rules for output devices.
The Studio edition makes light work of pre-flight checks with the help of sought-after colour control and checking tools – including separations, ink coverage and in-line embedded image editing.
It also has the ability to ignore white, rich and pure black, remove white overprint and add overprint to pure black. It's here that the plug-in really succeeds in making these sometimes daunting technical issues user friendly.
Phantasm CS is available for Illustrator CS, CS2 and CS3, although users of CS and CS2 will find outputting Full Separations with spot colours limited, as is selecting spot colour swatches with the Duotone filter using Illustrator CS. However, this is due to the technical limitations of Illustrator's previous releases.
To have all these features available in Illustrator (Adobe take note) and at such a modest price tag puts this product in a class of its own. We wholeheartedly recommend that any designer or studio adds it to their software arsenal.
LATEST TECHNOLOGY: SOFTWARE:DeskActive Team plus Health Assist
$49 for one user
System requirements:
Windows XP SP2/Vista/Professional 2000 SP4, Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, IE6.0 or laterScreen resolution 800x600 or betterCD/DVD player, 500MB hard drive space Internet connection
Pros:
Stretching muscles you never knew existed is, believe it or not, a great feeling; great to find software that is promoting healthy living
Cons:
Easy for the user to ignore the program when it activates
The final word:
Employers genuinely interested in the health and comfort of their desk-based employees should take note of products, such as this one, that promote wellbeing.
DESKACTIVE is designed to be a proactive solution to help prevent office workers from suffering back or neck pain, or RSI.
Once you're shown how to do them, stretches and exercises – apart from a little initial pain – are really easy to do. Having the discipline to continue doing them on a daily basis is another thing altogether. This lack of motivation, or laziness – call it what you will – typically keeps your affected body part stiff or sore and your physio in a job.
With a fair chunk of today's working population confined to desks and not particularly physically active during their working day, the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders.
In its simplest form, the software is a series of stretches and exercises designed to get you moving body parts and muscles that normally remain strained or dormant while at work. It targets organisations that are looking for occupational health and safety solutions and that seek to promote a corporate culture of wellness. Presently, the software is only being sold to organisations.
DeskActive's exercise programs are organised in groups, and users can chose (and change at any time once the software is installed) from a range of options such as “Seated, Easy (Stretches Only)” or “Seated and Standing, Hard (Stretches and Exercises)”. You can also specify which areas of the body you want targeted in Special Focus Sessions. For example, Back; Fingers and Wrists; Neck; Lower Limb Circulation; or Shoulders. All up, DeskActive comprises about 300 stretches and exercises.
One of the key features of the corporate edition is connectivity to DeskActive's servers. Although the client is installed on a user's PC, the exercises undertaken are reported back to the servers, which then collate that information into charts. There is also an email interface that allows users to request changes to their exercise regime. That input is registered by DeskActive and as a result it can modify what stretches it serves you. If you find one stretch particularly taxing, you can have it removed from your exercise program.
You can set the frequency of your exercise sessions by time and days of the week. Alternatively you can set it up by regular intervals, with the default being every three hours. The Options tab also has related features such as the Micro Pause: brief rest breaks that comprise an exercise or two and last for 30 seconds. Bullet Breaks are seconds-long, text-based health reminders. For example, tips on how to sit properly in your chair or information about 'The Feng Shui Method of Injury Prevention: keep an uncluttered desk'. The software can also be set to activate after a certain number of keys have been struck on the keyboard or after a certain amount of mouse movement has been reached. You set the numbers.
With all the prompts set, DeskActive pops out of your system tray into a full-fledged app. The exercises are displayed in both a text and visual (animated) form, and you can chose to have either Sam or Sarah instruct you. The visual exercises also have a preview mode so you can see what you are supposed to be doing before you begin. A voice tells you when to start and stop. This is helpful but you need to have your speakers on – neck exercises with headphones on just wont work – which means you may disturb others around you. In the animations, DeskActive also highlights which part of the body you should feel stretching. The software also offers text-based tips as you go conduct your stretch/exercises. But this is pointless if said stretch/exercise requires you to look away from the screen.
We installed DeskActive on a Pentium 4 2.8GHZ with 528 megabytes of RAM. Admittedly the system is several years old and cluttered with a variety of software, but we found that it struggled when DeskActive was prompted into action. About a minute before it kicked in the mouse started to jump around and the system slowed. When the application finally launched, the system returned to normal.
DeskActive's strength is that it is so easy to follow and it is in some ways like a whip, kicking you into action. This is essential if you want to improve your wellbeing. The negative is that you can always close down the application when it does launch.
