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No matter the version of the operating system you're using, you need tools to help you keep it clean. I know, I know, every Windows version comes with its own cleaning tools, but... let's get serios! Do you really think so many software companies would mind creating programs that are useless? I don't think so...

Until now, it was my pleasure to tell you about a few uninstallers for Windows, most of them being really good tools, but today's target, called Advanced Uninstaller PRO, is much more than just an uninstaller, coming with a lot of useful tools to help you keep your computer clean and running at full speed.
Of course I'm not going to spoil the surprises you'll have later by telling you everything now, so let's take it step by step...


Setup
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Advanced Uninstaller PRO reached its version 8.4 on the 25th of August, and now this program is fully compatible with Vista, also having some new features introduced especially for the Windows Vista users. Priced at $39, this program coming from Innovative Solutions can be taken for a free ride that is limited to 20 days, but has all the features that you'll get as a registered user, with the exception of the nag screen, of course.

The setup package of the program has exactly 16MB in size, but if you have a slow connection, the wait is going to worth in the end, believe me! Once the download has finished, installing the program should be as easy as 1-2-3, and I am sure that even beginners shouldn't have any problems with it, as long as they can understand English and they're not trying to install this Windows program on a Linux system...


Interface

As you start the program for the first time and encounter the Welcome screen, you are given the freedom to choose between using the default visual theme, choosing a different skin from a list or simply having no theme at all. Since I always liked the skins offered by this program, I choose the second option, and I advise you to do the same, unless you hate skins or have a really slow computer. Once you choose your theme and enter the application, I bet you'll agree that Advanced Uninstaller PRO looks simply great, and using it is also very easy, because you're guided all along the way.


Features

Before moving on, I still have to tell you about the second item you need to pay attention to inside the Welcome screen, the Rating feature. If you enable it, Advanced Uninstaller PRO will connect to the Internet and retrieve information about various programs that was shared by other users, also allowing you to do the same and rate the applications you're using.

Now, once you're inside the main window, planning your tasks is a good idea, since there are a lot of things to do. First of all, you could check the Uninstall Programs area from the General Tools menu and see if there are any invalid entries in the list. If such errors exist, they can be easily removed by pressing the Remove Invalid button(you don't even have to select them first). In this area, you can also check the ratings and comments of the programs installed
on your computer, rate them and enter your own comments too.

The Monitored Installation area contains the Installation Monitor, a feature that should be present in every serious uninstaller. Once you start the monitor, its icon appears in the system tray, and you can open the main window of this tool, where you can set options for registry, disk and INI files monitoring, as well as automatic installation detection (temporarily disabled in Vista), and monitor's startup options.

The General Tools also contains a Control Panel manager, as well as managers for taking care of your system's startup items, fonts and services. The Services Manager, for example, allows you to save profiles that can be easily loaded, so you can take full advantage of the system resources at your disposal. The funny part is that I found a built in profile called "Asta e un test" (Romanian for "this is a test"), which I am sure it shouldn't have been there, but this is not really a problem, just a small thing that somebody forgot to check...

A lot of tools are wizard-style, like the Windows Temporary Files cleaner or the Start Menu Cleaner, making it much easier for beginners to use this program (you'll really appreciate this approach only after you try to explain on the phone to a computer illiterate how to add a new key to the system registry or remove a startup item).

The Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox Tools can deliver quite a boost to your favorite Web browser, as cookies and other unwanted items start to pile up and decrease your browsing speed and, even worse, your online security. Since we have a lot of options available for these two browsers, I would really love to see a backup tool for each of them included in Advanced Uninstaller PRO, sometimes in the future...

At last, one of the best parts of this application is the Registry Tools pack, containing a cleaner, an optimizer and a backup/restore tool. Needless to say what can be done with them, and all I can tell you now is that I've been using Advanced Uninstaller PRO from time to time to clean my registry, and it always worked like a charm.

These being said, I won't tell you a single word about the rich settings area (I know, some may say they've seen even more advanced configuration screens, but when I look at the available skins and I think about the usefulness and reliability of this program, I forget about everything else) or the excellent scheduling features, leaving them for you to discover.


The Good

Advanced Uninstaller PRO looks great, has an excellent Help system, an impressive amount of features and is very easy to use. Add a price that's half of what I would ask for such a program and you get the picture...

The Bad

Some themes don't look good, but that's my personal opinion, and it's a matter of taste, after all. Also, little mistakes like the one I found in the Services Manager should't happen.

Conclusion

Advanced Uninstaller PRO is not one of those programs that you should try. Trying this amazing application is A MUST, so hit the download link below and enjoy it! As usual, it would be great to share your thoughts with the rest of us once you played with this power toy enough to get a good impression about its strengths and weaknesses...

Developer: Innovative Solutions
Price: 39$
Trial Link: Download

Since there are so many antiviruses, antispyware and other similar tools available on the market, and everyone in the civilised world heard about computer viruses in the news, there's no need to tell you about the dangers lurking in the darkness of the Internet or your LAN. After all, there's always Google or Wikipedia available for those who need to find out more about these modern pests. Now, the program I have here comes from a company called ISecSoft, and its name is Anti Trojan Elite, so get ready for it!


Setup

Anti Trojan Elite, or simply "ATE", is a malware remover with some additional features that officially supports Windows 98, ME, 200, XP and 2003. While the last update to the trojan library was done on the 15th of May, 2007, the application seems to have been updated last time in 2005, since the copyright information inside it says "2002-2005".

Priced at $39.95, ATE is available to download and try for free, but to clean threats found on your computer and get rid of the nag screen, you'll have to register. At last, you should know that the setup package has 5.7MB in size, and the installation process shouldn't be much of a problem, unless you try to read the lower part of the text in second screenshot above...


Interface

As you can see in the screenshot to the left, ATE's interface isn't quite as expected. While there are some good graphics present, the overall look and feel of this program makes me think about something done in a hurry, or with a gun to the head. While the icons in the menu look good, the "Anti Trojan Elite" text that seems to be carved in stone shouldn't be there, because it simply doesn't fit in, and there are also other graphics inside this program that are just ugly, and nothing more.


Features

When I tried to update the program, because that's the first thing I always do first with antiviruses and other programs that need to be updated before everything else, I got an error. It seems that only registered users can update the program, so I moved on...

Inside the Scan Type screen (by the way, when you enter a menu, you won't see its name written anywhere inside the main window, as it is normal), I noticed a rather strange thing - the tooltips that appear when placing the mouse above a button have fixed sizes, so you'll see some strange tooltip texts, like "Sensit-ive-Area" or "Flopp-y".

The database is rather old, and has less than 60,000 entries, but at least you can take advantage of the Tools area, that hosts a Network and Process manager, a System Optimizer or a IE Repair tool.

At last, the Options area allows you to access the Config screen, where you can set some basic options, including scan mode, or compressed file scanning (only CAB, ZIP and RAR archives are supported at this time).


The Good

Anti Trojan Elite is pretty easy to use and, despite its interface design issues, works well and I had no problems while running it.

The Bad

The database is really old, and the interface is quite a mess here and there, despite the fact it's not that bad, after all. The truth is that this program still needs a lot of work... and a smaller price, for sure!

Conclusion

While it's obvious that ATE isn't the antivirus of my dreams, I've seen worse. Honestly, I can't recommend you to place all your trust in this application, but you can give it a try, at least for a quick system scan. The way I see things, in a few years, this program will either get much better, or simply vanish from the market.

Developer: ISecSoft, Inc.
Price: $39.95
Trial Link: Download

It’s time we had a close look at the “king” of the DVD Players, and that one is PowerDVD. With the new features like HD, HD DVD and Blu-ray DVD, the player promises a very exciting and crystal clear cinematic (visual and audio) experience.

<-120x240 Vertical Banner - left->The interface has changed a lot from what the user got used to into the 5th version. The interface started changing drastically from the 6th version – and continued to improve in the 7.3 one, the Ultra Deluxe. The overall enhancements are the fully supported feature of HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs, the high definition format support (H.264, HD Mpeg-2 and WMV-HD, the advanced display technologies (support for wide screen monitors, including the latest high definition content protection standard - HDCP - for digital connectors), and the empowering of the hardware acceleration through the HD graphics processors from ATI, Nvidia and Intel.

The advanced movie interactivity is stimulated through the animated menu features of the HD movies, with a next-gen type of navigation that includes overlayed menus, movie bookmarks and advanced content management (like the displayed movie commentaries in Picture-in-Picture mode).

Oh yes, it’s very true when I say you can turn your computer into a Home Theater, as the “king” of DVD players offers only the best options: HD audio technologies like Dolby Digital Plus, TrueHD, DTS, with support for up to 8-channel surround sound (7.1 channel Dolby Digital EX and 5.1 channel DTS).

You also gain advanced controls with options like Say-It-Again (dialog looping), Read-It-Clearly (moving subtitles on the screen), See-It-All (power-saving mode for notebooks) and Freestyle controls that allow you to choose from up to 5 skins and colors.

The ultimate movie experience is stimulated by the image performance given by the optimizations for the latest high-definition cards, with resolutions up to 1920x1080 in size, with comprehensive support for HD monitors. The second big advantage is that you get to enjoy more of HD content on HD DVDs or Blu-ray discs than from the standard discs.

Applicability:
The following advanced formats are widely supported: MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) - high-definition, MPEG-2 HD - high-definition, WMV-HD - high-definition, DVD-VR, DVD+VR, DivX Pro, DVD-Video, Mini-DVD. But do not think this short list implies just as few types of files, on the contrary – the formats above are included in a very large number of file formats.

Pro(s): PowerDVD has a name quite to the measure of its capabilities: it brings the image in the movies to a life-like, crystal clear bright level with the CyberLink Eagle Vision (CLEV)-2 feature. With the Smart Video Deinterlacing technique the player brings a smooth and enhanced video image. The CyberLink Pano Vision (CLPV) renders the video to the best and most appropriate aspect ratio according to your screen type (16:9 or 4:3).

Con(s): None! (now that’s a first in my reviews – nothing bad really to say about it) The PowerDVD does precisely what it was meant for and even more. I had absolutely no issues while working with it and the interface integrated very well with Windows Vista. And no, CyberLink hasn't paid me to say these things, but they should.

Official Site

Buy: $99.95

Download Trial

As time goes by, what was expensive high-end technology one or two years ago becomes accessible to more and more people, and digital photography gear is one of the best examples that comes into my mind. Of course that since the hardware becomes used by the masses, software for enthusiasts that don't want to pay for Adobe's flagship product, Photoshop, is also needed. Since there are a lot of choices available, it's not that easy to pick your image processing tool, so today I'll pick one from the pot for you, and its name is Photomatix Pro.


Setup
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The Windows version of this program works with Windows 98, Millenium, 2000, XP and even Vista, so there's no need to worry about compatiblity. Last release available is labeled 2.5.3, and while the full program is priced at $99, there's also a limited trial version available.

While the trial version is fully functional and doesn't expire, some of the images you save are going to be watermarked. The good part is that not all images are watermarked, only those obtained using Details Enhancer and H&S Details Auto, Adjust or Intensive being treated this way.

At last, you should know that the setup package has 4.1MB in size, and installing the program was as easy as expected. Since there is nothing else to be mentioned here, let's move on and check the interface and features of this program, shall we?


Interface

Since the task of this program is rather limited, its interface follows the same pattern. All functions can be used via the main menu or the keyboard shortcuts, where available, and there is no toolbar inside the main menu. There are no graphic controls, only text input boxes, standard buttons, sliders and drop down menus. Anyway, once you see the interface and get to try it a little, you'll either love Photomatix Pro or hate it, there's no other way...


Features

I know I didn't give enough details about what this program actually does, so I'll excuse myself for the omission and do it now. The main purpose of this program is to help you create HDR (High Dynamic Range) images from more shots of the same scene, taken at different times of the day or using different exposures. Why this? To make a long story short, no digital camera can see and adapt to wide variations in brightness as the human eye, so to create images that retain highlights and shadows as accurate as possible, more shots need to be combined into a single one.

In my screenshots, you can notice I combined different pictures, and the result is not what the creators of this program had in mind, but you can consider this as a good thing, since you can create some rather strange photo collages with Photomatix Pro...

With this program, you can create HDR images from most common image formats, such as JPEG, TIFF, PSD or PNG, and also RAW images, but this only in batch-processing mode.

There aren't many options that can be used for combining input images into a HDR one, but the good part is that I noticed this program is really fast, even when using large images. Other than that, it's a lot of theory, a little practice in front of the computer, and a lot of practice with your digital camera to get some good shots, so get to work!


The Good

Photomatix Pro has good image format support, batch processing ability and is very fast. The trial version has no time limit, so you can play with it as long as you wish.

The Bad

This program's interface really needs some work, because it can get really confusing here and there, and the price seems to be a bit high, in my opinion.

Conclusion

I know now that virtually all the digital photography amateurs aren't going to use this program to its fullest, but at least they can give it a try. While good HDR images are not that easy to obtain, creating a good one with an average digital camera and a program like Photomatix Pro is an amazing achievement, so all I can do now is keep my fingers crossed and bid you good luck!

Developer: HDRsoft
Price: $99
Trial Link: Download

I was looking for some nice DVD images on Google when I stumbled upon a screenshot of a piece of software called Wise DVD Creator – these days some pieces of software look so alike that it is confusing the user at times. Apparently, the original software that was the source of inspiration was Super DVD Creator from Master Soft. The interface looks pretty sleek and that is why I had a closer look at the software.

Master Soft has also created the Super DVD player that I have reviewed some time ago, and I remember I wasn’t very much impressed with that interface, while in this case – they did quite a good job. Of course, I didn’t even get to see the application running before I pressed the “next time” button from the popped up registration window: hey, I think it is fair I should to see first what this program can do for me before I buy it!

  

Moving on to the functions: from the main interface you can select one of the 5 options: adjusting the settings, working with DVD Disc Builder, VOB converter, DVD Compiler or Disc Burner. In the settings panel, you can choose the image ratio, video format, the DVD menu duration and safe distance, DVD language setup and subtitles options, while in the Burner section you will have to choose the software driver that will facilitate the process of saving the data on DVDs (each setting being well explained in the menu).

 

You can even take screenshots of the videos in the Setup Source Clips menu. In the DVD menu compiler you can arrange the position of the small pictures of the videos as DVD menu shortcuts and you can start converting all the video files into VOB DVD files – you will also be required to have a DVD blank disc in the DVD burner optical drive. The DVD Disc Burner gives you the option to burn on a DVD disc some files that are already or have been converted into the DVD VOB standard.

Applicability:
You can create DVDs and convert to VOB format from files like avi, rm (real media), wmv, asf, DivX, Xvid, rmvb, Quick Time (MOV),  Mpeg. It is quite useful as a simple tool for creating DVDs in a very easy way!

Pro(s): The nice looking interface along with the really well defined functions can help you create very nice DVD menus with custom sound track. You can even tweak the videos before adding them to the conversion process.

Con(s): There are many other pieces of software that do similar tasks at a lower price, so you must be a fan of this program in order to select it for intensive usage. The trial limitation of 5 minutes for video encoding is not enough to convince the audience (I would suggest at least 10 minutes).

Official website

Buy: $29.90

Download trial