Latest version of venerable database software is powerful, easy to use
IF YOU'RE NEW to FileMaker Pro or databases in general—and don't know a record from a field or a schema—you'll have little to fear from FileMaker Pro 10. Though more suited to intensive tasks than its simplified (and Mac-only) consumer cousin Bento, FileMaker is now easier and more powerful than ever.
FileMaker Pro 10 comes in four different versions; the one we reviewed, which costs $299, can be bought from most software resellers. The app provides 30 "starter solutions," preconfigured database templates such as Contact Management, Expense Report, Home Budget, Photo Catalog, and Time Cards, and you can also start databases from scratch by importing Excel, CSV, SYLK, or tab-delimited files (or Bento files, if you're a Mac user).
Longtime FileMaker users will notice that the familiar keyboard commands and pull-down menus remain intact, but the interface has had a major overhaul. For starters, the long-standing left-hand navigation bar is now at the top of the application window. (Its functionality remains unchanged.) Most notably, the status toolbar, which runs common functions such as Open, Close, Find, and Re-find, no longer requires extensive programming— it's now customizable via drag-and-drop, something that many top commercial and open-source software packages have offered for quite some time.
Another of FileMaker Pro 10's useful features is its ability to connect directly to an SMTP server to send e-mail blasts. (In the previous version of FileMaker, you had to connect the database to Outlook.) We tested the SMTP feature with a few services: It worked well under Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 and with a few ISPs, but not with Google Apps. This is a powerful feature that should be used with care, since there's nothing preventing you from uninten- tionally sending a useless (or embar- rassing) e-mail to many, many recipients. 
This new version of FileMaker Pro can also connect to an external SQL database, and it supports Software Management Services and IPv6. These features are critical to those who use FileMaker in large, corporate settings, and they should extend the reach of users who want to develop their own databases.
In our tests, we were able to quickly find and replace, create, delete, and edit records in our 500,000-record database. The wait times were very short: A simple search that took FileMaker Pro 9 about 6 seconds to complete took less than 3 seconds. For better search time and overall efficiency, we recommend running FileMaker Pro 10 on a computer with at least 1GB (or even 2GB) of RAM rather than the recommended 512MB.
One aspect of FileMaker that can be improved, however, is customer support. Although you're allowed an unlimited number of free calls to deal with installation problems, free technical support is limited to forums, knowledge-base articles on www.filemaker.com, and an extensive online community of FileMaker users, developers, and hobbyists. FileMaker Priority Technical Support is avail- able by phone on a per-call basis for $45; the company offers a five-call package for $180 and a yearly contract of unlim- ited calls starting at $899. Managing the ever-growing amount of business and personal information is an important step toward being able to quickly access it. 
With its intuitive interface, FileMaker Pro 10 makes data management and access much easier, giving you a professional-level database without requiring you to enroll in geek school. -James Marino
Computer Shopper March 2009
FileMaker Pro 10
System Suite 9 Professional
Solid hard drive utilities paired with limited security 
AVANQUEST'S System Suite 9 Professional is improved from last year's version, with more configurability, but it still lacks the easy access to system information that many users will want.
System Suite 9 Professional's disk utilities can help your computer recover from crashes, defragment both your hard drive and Registry, shred files, analyze and fix disk problems, and perform Web-content cleanup. While the apps lack depth, they're good for an all-around package.
The major improvement in this release is Sunbelt's Virus Intrusion Prevention and Recognition Engine (VIPRE), which is better at catching malware and easier to configure than last year's version. The NetDefense firewall also now lets you define specific ports and addresses that a program accessing the Web from your computer should employ.
One problem was the lack of useful information provided by its antivirus component, which seldom stated what threat had been found and never linked to a site giving more detail on that threat's means and likely frequency rate of infection. Otherwise, System Suite 9 nicely covers the security basics, though as with the hard drive tools you can find considerably more features in other products. 
We ran into some trouble finding LinkScanner (which finds and prevents access to dangerous Web links), which has no button on the main screen, and we found that it blocked major Web sites with little cause when used with Firefox 3. Some overall sloppiness in the software, in terms of design and typos, also mars the experience. At least there's a high-quality manual and a good online help system, though the lack of context-sensitive help can make it hard to get all the answers you need. —Barry Brenesal
Computer Shopper March 2009
BitDefender Total Security 2009
One of the best security packages you can buy 
SINCE WE REVIEWED last year's version of its software, BitDefender has improved Total Security in ways both obvious and subtle. The 2009 edition is among the leading personal security packages on the market and one of the best we've tested.
Although the program's main Security Center screen provides little useful information about your system's protection state, we continue to be impressed with the depth and breadth of BitDefender's security measures. For example, the firewall builds a whitelist containing your currently installed applications, saving you from having to approve each application's network communications the next time you launch it. (In case you think that's dangerous, it's configurable.)
Similar automated scanning is deployed on all plug-in devices in real time. Antivirus remains excellent, and the antispam module continues to use Bayesian filters in addition to whitelists and blacklists. Used in conjunction with an e-mail reader that contains heuristics filters— such as PocoMail—you can be virtually spam-free in a relatively short time.
New to Total Security 2009 are file vaults, password- protected files residing on physical drives that are virtually unbreakable. Although the RAM footprint is lighter and virus scans are quicker than before, real-time scans of files being moved or loaded into memory can put a drag on your system with the 2009 edition. 
We found this was true even when operating under the new Game Mode, which supposedly resets real-time protection to Permissive and the firewall to Allow All, along with disabling all pop-ups. BitDefender's hard drive utilities are also uneven, and there's no context-sensitive help, even though the overall help options—which include a toll- free support line—are thorough. —B.B.
Computer Shopper March 2009
PICASA 3 (BETA)
Picasa 3 Makes a Great Impression
After your great vacation, your digital camera is no doubt chock-full of images (and maybe a few videos). So how do you view them, touch them up a bit, and share them IN ith friends and family? For Windows users, Picasa has been the best way to do this for a while. Google's online offering is a slickly integrated image organizer, editor, and enhancer, with cutting-edge online galleries. And what's more, it's a free service that competes favorably with pay services.
On the Mac, iPhoto is nearly as good at consumer photo editing. If you want the online galleries, however, you'll have to pay a hundred bucks a year for Apple's Mob ileMe service, and you still won't get the rich mix of features you'll find in Picasa Web albums, such as geotagging and viewer commenting. With this release, Picasa adds the abilities to sync local edits with online gallery images, to edit digital movies, and to retouch photos for blemishes.
It also turbocharges red-eye fixing, collage creation, and slideshow presentations. After installation, Picasa gives you a choice of scanning either your hard disk or just My Documents, My Pictures, and the desktop for image files. You don't have to worry about the scan picking up all those temporary Internet image files, by the way—it's smart enough to ignore them. The scan is fast, and a small gray bar on the right-hand side of your screen shows its progress.
Picasa 3 doesn't have a drastically updated interface, but rather adds a lot of new functions within the existing interface, such as automatically scanning for new images; viewing images as a slideshow, collage, or movie; Movie, Geo-Tag, and Upload buttons; and the cool new Silhouette button (which finds any picture in an album that contains a face).
In short, for everyday shutterbugs who want to get those pictures off their point-and-shooters, organize them into albums, fix them up a bit, and—most important—share them with their loved ones, Picasa is the way to go. MM
PC Magazine February 2009
SKYPE 4.0 BETA 2
Cheap Voice, Video Chat Gets Better
In response to feedback from 50,000 testers of Skype 4.0 beta 1, the company has made interface changes and fixed some bugs in this Beta 2 version. When Beta 1 launched, many users objected to its much larger main window. This time around, Skype developers have attempted to address that with a compact option; they have also changed the way contacts are grouped and made notifications stand out more.
The newest beta features the same streamlined installation as previous versions, and the process doesn't require as much personal information as SightSpeed's install does, but the download is bigger-23.6MB versus 8MB. The large main window is still the default in Beta 2, but now you can choose Compact Mode, which splits the program's main window into two smaller windows.
The new version also cuts down on scattered windows by including instant messaging at the bottom of the call window. The less-crowded new interface also makes controls such as volume and video settings more visible. Placing calls is very similar to that of the previous versions. When I talked with a person in Bangladesh, the audio quality was quite clear, though with occasional gaps. Conversations over Skype-Out—which you need to reach people who don't use Skype—sounded clear, though not quite as clear as a calls over a landline.
To receive calls from non-Skype users, you'll need a Skypeln account ($20.25 for 3months or $67.50 for a year). Video calling is also slightly better. Although this Beta version contains some glitches and missing features, it is nonetheless stable and usable overall.—Michael Muchmore
PC Magazine February 2009
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS4
Photoshop CS4 Astounds
The tent pole of Adobe's massive Creative Suite 4 is Photoshop, the legendary image-editing application known for its power and scope. Adobe could probably get away with resting on the heaps of laurels the app has earned over the years, but as Photoshop CS4 shows, that's not what it's doing. In both the Standard and Extended versions, everyone will enjoy the new modern, animated interface.
But in addition, some major improvements targeted at photographers, designers, and animators make this a highly compelling upgrade, although these features augur an even more challenging learning experience. But that's why there's Photoshop Elements, right?
Navigating your way around images has gotten infinitely cooler. Clicking and holding the Zoom tool (or clicking on an image while holding the Z key) causes an animated, almost cinematic zoom-in. I also like the new tabbed document inter face, which lets you easily switch between multiple open documents. Other new features include an Adjustments palette, a Vibiance adjustment layer (which successfully manipulates saturation without disturbing skin tones), a new Masks palette, a revamped Brightness/Contrast tool, and an enhanced Auto-Blend Layers (which extends the depth of field so that all areas of the subject are in focus).
Among these significant improvements, unquestionably the most jaw dropping is content-aware scaling, a feature that lets you change the proportions of an image—for example, morph an 8-by-12 photo to 8-by-10—without squashing or stretching the important image elements. The program makes a good guess at what those important elements are, but you can also add manual guidance to the feature if necessary.
Photoshop CS4 is definitely a must-have upgrade for any graphics professional. The revamped interface brings this venerable program into the 21st century, but there are plenty of guts lurking behind the glamour. The application may be a vast, sometimes unruly beast, but its powers grow more awesome every year.—Galen Fott
PC Magazine February 2009
Serif Digital Photo Suite 2009
A basic, but affordable, photo-retouching program
Serif's new Digital Photo Suite 2009 doesn't have the powerful editing tools of more expensive rivals such as Photoshop Elements, but it provides a good basic set of photo-editing tools at a very affordable price.
The suite consists of two programs, Album Plus and Panorama Plus, although it's the first of these two that provides the main organising and editing features When you launch Album Plus for the first time, it asks if you want to import a set of photos from a specific folder, or simply let the program search your entire hard disk.
Like most photo organisers, Album Plus allows you to browse and search for pictures using settings such as date, rating, or keywords, and you can switch from thumbnail previews of large groups to zoomed-in views of individual images simply by double-clicking on any picture. There's nothing particularly innovative here, but the program's photo-management features are straightforward and simple to use.
In addition, Album Plus includes three 'studios' that can be activated simply by clicking on the Fix And Enhance button at the top of the screen. The Quick Fix Studio allows you to perform simple editing tasks such as adjusting brightness and contrast, colour saturation, cropping an image, or removing red-eye Each tool is represented by a large icon in the toolbar that runs across the top of the screen, and when you click on any tool a second panel on the left-hand edge of the screen displays tips that explain how it works.
There's also a useful split-screen option that displays 'before' and 'after' versions of your photo so that you can see how your changes will work. And, as well as the standard 'Undo' command, there's a 'revert' option. The Makeover Studio works in a similar fashion, but provides tools designed specifically for working with portrait photographs. There are options for whitening teeth, removing dark circles from under eyes, smoothing out wrinkles, and even a 'fake tan' option.
Instant Artist Studio allows you to create effects such as a pencil sketch, oil paints and watercolours and impressionist or expressionist paintings. These filters produce mixed results though — sometimes they can be quite effective, while you can just as easily end up with a big blotchy mess of colour.
The three studios are all easy to use, so even complete beginners will be able to tidy up their photos quickly. Our only real complaint is that the program can be a little sluggish when working with very large, high-resolution images (we tested it on a 1.8GHz Pentium 4 laptop).
When you've finished editing, the final option is the Create And Share button This allows you to upload
photos to Facebook or Flickr, or save them as a Flash video file that can be uploaded to sites such as Youtube. You can print a variety of documents such as calendars and greetings cards, or the Panorama Plus program can be used to 'stitch' together a series of overlapping landscape photos.
Admittedly, Digital Photo Suite doesn't provide the precise editing tools or the wide range of special effects filters that you can find in programs such as Photoshop Elements or Corel's Paint Shop Pro. This means you're essentially limited to fixing flaws in your photos. Rather than being able to creatively modify or combine photos to create new images. However, it is a good tool for newcomers who don't want to spend a lot of money on more advanced editing program. Cliff Joseph.
Contact www.serif.com
System requirements 500MHz processor, with Windows XP or Vista • 512Mb Ram • 650MB hard disk • Internet access for file-sharing options
Personal Computer World February 2009
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