IBM VIAVOICE for Mac OS X USB Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased ViaVoice for Mac Enhanced version and immediately had problems with it. Foolishly I upgraded to ViaVoice for Mac OS X, release 3, and thought the problems would be over. I was wrong. This software has very poor overall performance. It slows, hangs and freezes at the drop of a hat. There is no rhythme or reason to the freezes. I've tried stoping and restarting, reloading, various combinations, and it never seems to work properly. Being a Mac Addict since 1986 I think I know a thing or two about this system. It's not a user issue, it's a software issue!

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IBM ViaVoice for Mac OS X brings natural continuous speech voice dictation to Apple's highly anticipated Mac OS X. Optimized to work with this cutting-edge UNIX-based operating system IBM ViaVoice for Mac OS X brings a new level of accuracy and ease of use to voice recognition on the Apple Macintosh computer platform. All aspects of Mac OS X including the new Command Center and re-designed Voice Center use the Aqua OS X look and feel. Mac OS X Edition is also optimized for use with G4 and multiprocessors. Support is also available for specialized vocabularies such as legal and medical.Users can dictate correct edit and format text with their natural voice in the IBM ViaVoice speech-enabled word processor SpeakPad. They can also take advantage of the new DSR technology which enables direct dictation into text-fields of Mac applications with correction and editing in SpeakPad.Mac OS X Edition also provides voice command and control of the Internet so users can move back and forth between Web sites. An enhanced Speech Recognition Engine takes advantage of Mac OS X audio features and provides for faster enrollment than previous IBM ViaVoice for Mac products.System Requirements:Mac OS X version 10.1300 MHz G3 processor or higher*192 MB RAM (256 RAM recommended)600 MB of available hard drive spaceUSB portAudio output jack or USB speakersCD-ROM drive or DVD driveFormat: MAC 10.0 OR LATER Genre:PRODUCTIVITY Rating:NR UPC:780420105355 Manufacturer No:H501A-G00-3.0

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NOD 32 Antivirus System 2.7 Review

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(More customer reviews)I agree with the review below; NOD32 has been absolutely flawless on 5 machines, including a Dell desktop, a ThinkPad T60, 2 Lenovo 3000 laptops, and a MacBook Pro. No crashes and no freezes, and the performance hit is only 5% (compared to 10% for almost every major AV software).
I've heard the next version will have an upgraded interface which I'm looking forward to, but after the initial setup, there really is no reason to ever touch the software again so the interface complaint is a non-issue in my opinion.
I tried Kaspersky which has a great reputation but it was slow, froze my internet several times, and required too much user intervention.

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ESET NOD32 AntivirusNOD32 isn't just antivirus: it's a unified Anti-Threat system which protects against viruses, spyware, adware, trojans, worms and phishing attacks. The proactive ThreatSenseTM technology stops 93% of zero-day threats before they're even released. The optimized engine delivers the best detection, fastest scanning, and smallest performance impact of any antivirus or antispyware solution. NOD32 is flexible and configurable with centralized management and reporting functionality. The broad product platform protects Windows, Linux, Novell and MS DOS machines. For comprehensive list of products, consult the products section.About ESETFounded in 1992, ESET is a global provider of security software for enterprises and consumers. ESET's award-winning, antivirus software system, NOD32, provides real-time protection from known and unknown viruses, spyware, rootkits and other malware. NOD32 offers the smallest, fastest and most advanced protection available, with more Virus Bulletin 100 Awards than any other antivirus product. ESET was named to Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 five years running, and has an extensive partner network, including corporations like Canon, Dell and Microsoft. ESET has offices in Bratislava, SK; Bristol, U.K.; Buenos Aires, AR; Prague, CZ; San Diego, USA; and is represented worldwide in more than 100 countries. For more information, visit http://www.eset.com/ or call (619) 876-5400.

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Print Shop Deluxe 11.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought Print Shop because I wanted to make labels-book plates for our personal home library. It does that and so much more. So far I've made the book labels, plus adorable return address labels for me and my new husband, a couple of cards, and soon I'll be making business cards and letterhead for my new home business. I purchased it at an office supply store for a little less, but either way, it was definately a worthwhile purchase. I'll find lots of uses for it. There is even the option of designing from scratch or using quick-start templates for creativity-challenged days. There's more clip art than you can shake a stick at, and enough fonts to cause a mountain of indecision over which one to use. I remember when Print Shop was just a dinky little dot-matrix banner and four-fold card generator on two disks for the Apple IIe. It's definately come a long way.

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Creating impressive projects in print and on the Web is easier than you might think. Print Shop Deluxe 11 puts all the design tools you need right at your fingertips in an easy-to-use format that ensures professional results. With more than 10,000 professionally designed quick-start templates and thousands of graphics, art images, and prewritten sentiments to choose from, it's easy to customize every project to reflect your personal style. Plus, with new streamlined Web-publishing capabilities, creating your own Web page is as easy as any other project. Perfect your skills with new multimedia tutorials in the Design Center, which also includes printable hints and tips. There are many more features in this product, including the new word-processing import feature, the built-in spell checker and thesaurus, and the ability to create and send exciting 3-D animated greetings via e-mail. You can even include photos or your own recorded voice.

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Adobe InDesign CS2 Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)Heads up, if you bought Adobe Creative Suite 1 Package and then buy an upgrade like this one planning to upgrade just part of it, you're in for a rude awakening.
In others words, "Adobe don't play that." What you buy in a suite collected package, can only be upgraded the same way, which makes little sense, but hey they're the ones who wrote the code.
It's all or nothing, when it comes to collected-package product upgrades.
On a side note - the one star is based on this policy, which limits the usefulness of this upgrade product, not the product quality which is probably up to Adobe's normally outstanding standard of excellence.
I'm sure it probably works great, which makes this policy even more frustrating and irritating.

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Upgrade only; previous installation required Improved Microsoft Word and RTF support - map Word styles to InDesign styles, resolve name conflicts instantly, save presets for future useSmart text handling lets you Drag and drop without formatting textFlexible XML support for easier content updating - apply XML tags to tables. then import and export from thereBackwards compatible with InDesign CS - open a document in InDesign Interchange (INX) format, to work with it in the previous version

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McAfee Internet Security Suite 2006 Review

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(More customer reviews)Guaranteed to SL O W your system to a crawl and cheat you too!Problem #1: This software is guaranteed to slow your system down to a crawl. I currently have their Internet Security Suite running on two PCs and both have lost about 40% of their speed because of McAfee software.
Problem #2: The Spamware program that comes bundled with this suite is useless. It does not block anything. The 2005 version at least was successful most of the time. The 2006 version is useless. I cannot find any options to configure my Spamware. McAfee Spamware even ignores your "spam filters". It doesn't do anything!
Problem #3: Be aware that McAfee will NOT honor your rebate request. It is their philosophy to reject as many rebate requests as possible. You can read other users experiences on amazon.com on the miserable track record they have on honoring customer rebate requests. My rebate request was also rejected. I contacted my local TV consumer help line to investigate McAfee's unethical practices.
Your best bet is to go to Consumer Reports and get an unbiased opinion. You will find McAfee Internet Security is among the bottom of the list.
All these people that left negative reviews on McAfee Software can't be wrong. This software suite is rated 1 ½ stars out of 5 stars! McAfee's other products are rated even lower.


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Proven security that protects your digital lifestyle, McAfee Internet Security Suite helps prevent access and damage to irreplaceable documents, such as digital photos, family movies, and personal financial data. Internet Security Suite protects against viruses, spyware, hackers, and "phishing” scams that may result in lost files, identity theft, and poor PC performance. The program also prohibits unauthorized access to and from the Internet, blocks unwanted or persistent pop-up ads, manages cookies, and filters unwanted and offensive Internet and e-mail content. With automated, daily updates, Internet Security Suite is a comprehensive, multi-layered security solution that protects your most important digital files and personal information from the latest security threats.

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Encyclopedia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite Win/Mac DVD Review

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(More customer reviews)Compared to Microsoft's Encarta, Encyclopedia Britannica should have better written articles. However, the rough Java Runtime UI behaves unpredictably alongside other Windows apps, making it painful to navigate, besides being visually confusing. It just feels like a free cross-platform open source app in early beta, not yet native-code like Mozilla or OpenOffice.org, instead of a product I'd buy. Also reminds me of the early Microsoft Bookshelf/Cinemania '95/etc. and other early reference products with good information locked up inside a clumsy interface.

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Find the information you need in one comprehensive source.With three complete encyclopedias, thousands of articles, magazine and online links, Merriam-Webster's dictionary and thesaurus, plus an extensive reference library that includes a word atlas, photos, videos, and more, the Ultimate Reference Suite helps you explore the world with the most complete, up-to-date, and interactive information.

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Microsoft FrontPage 2003 Review

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(More customer reviews)I have worked with FrontPage since version 97, which was, overall, a real stinker. I have also worked with Dreamweaver since its earliest versions. In times past, FrontPage has largely been the site management and application development leader of the two, while Dreamweaver was much better at templating and all of the eye candy, like mouseover images, that we have become so fond of using in our sites.
Having said that, FrontPage 2003 is a great step in the right direction. Here are my feelings, broken down:
Site Management
Site Management has improved in FrontPage 2003, although the most bang for the buck will be Enterprise users who have decided to use SharePoint Portal Server in their organization. Much of the new data functionality relies on SharePoint. What this means is FrontPage 2003 gives a lot more power for those in the Microsoft world. Note that it is still backwards compatible with frontPage 2002 extensions, for those without SharePoint.
Behaviors
Much of the work in this area is like Dreamweaver and it is a mixed bag. On the positive side, behaviors are more flexible in FrontPage; on the negative, there are still many missing from FrontPage. The major behaviors are there, however, so I would give FrontPage a plus here.
Intellisense and coding
Microsoft has always lead the charge in this area and FrontPage is no exception. The Intellisense in FrontPage 2003 extends into ASP and ASP.NET code. For developers interested in altering the code created, everything is accessible. The death of FrontPage extensions are the reason, so those with backward compatible sites will have to deprecate some features if they use webbots. The small price is well worth the gain.
CSS
FrontPage has much greater support for CSS than previous versions, and is especially useful for those who like to work with graphical tools or those who like to work with code. The tag explorer, in Dreamweaver, wins for those who sit in the middle, however.
HTML Editing
The ability to go back and forth from code to design and retain positioning is a real godsend. This feature exists in Dreamweaver, as well, so it is not as stellar as some of the other tools. One of the nicest tools is the tag explorer, that allows you to see the nesting of your currently selected tag and easily navigate up and down the tree. In addition, there is a code editor that lets you isolate on a specific tag and use Intellisense to code its attributes. There is also a tool that allows you to quickly find a closing tag, which is a godsend for any developer working with nested HTML tables.
Themes and templates
Themes are much more easily edited in FrontPage 2003, which allows designers to alter templated sites to make nice looking custom built sites very quickly. FrontPage also has the ability to create "master page" style templates which are, possibly a surprise, fully compatible with Dreamweaver MX.
That pretty much covers the major features. Overall, I like the FrontPage methodology of using a side pane that focuses on the task at hand over Dreamweavers sliding tool palette, although I know people that are more fond of the Dreamweaver IDE.
One of the biggest benefits I have seen of FrontPage 2003, in the FrontPage/Dreamweaver battle, is Dreamweaver's tendency to lock up the OS when working on files on a shoddy network connection. As this does not apply to as many users, it is not reason enough to shy away from Dreamweaver. As I use both, I do not want to shy away from either, but here is how I would stack it up.
FrontPage wins with its table designer, Intellisense, coding aids (esp. ASP.NET) and flexibility in behaviors. Dreamweaver still wins with the number of eye candy features, strength of its added CSS tools and its flexibility in coding models (nice for developers who work in more than one language - Java, ColdFusion, ASP and ASP.NET included).

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FrontPage 2003 delivers the features, flexibility, and functionality to help you build superior Web sites. It includes the professional design, authoring, data and publishing tools you need to create dynamic and sophisticated sites.Build data-driven Web sites, enables by Windows SharePoint servicesMove files easily between local and remote locations, and publish in both directions

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Adobe Illustrator CS2 Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)I don't know what the other reviewer is complaining about, but this program is only capable of going as far as your knowledge of the tools of the program. Quite honestly, Adobe Illustrator does not have as "steep" a learning curve as most people claim. With that, I HIGHLY recommend any beginner to get the Illustrator Visual Quickstart guide by Elaine Weinmann. (You will not regret it! I've tried the expensive "Total Training DVDs", which are more like "Concise Training") It has to be one of the BEST most thorough book to get you introduced into the program, and for about $20, is so much BETTER than what most college "intro" computer courses offer for $200-400.
Now as for Illustrator CS2, most of the newest features have left me very satisfied with the upgrade. Especially the inclusion of "Live Trace" (eliminating the former "auto-trace" tool), with it's multiple tracing modes, makes converting bitmap images to vectors SO easy. Another feature I love is the top control palette, similar to that of Photoshop, which makes accessing options much easier.
The only decision you might be faced with is whether these new features are worth the price of the upgrade (that is, unless your a student).

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Adobe Illustrator CS2 lets you realize your ideas quickly and powerfully. Instantly convert bitmaps to vector artwork and paint more intuitively. Save time with intelligent palettes and optimized workspaces. Take your graphics to the printed page, Web sites, video, mobile devices, and virtually everywhere you want to go. See for yourself how vector graphics have been reinvented -- and rediscover what you love about illustration.Use Adobe Bridge to browse and preview your creative assets, run automation scripts, access Adobe Stock Photos, and more Adobe Photoshop layer comp support - control open Photoshop files within Illustrator CS2 PDF/X support creates reliable, press-ready layouts

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Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 12 Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm a long time Mavis fan - from version 5 on. I am a fairly fast and accurate typist, and much of the credit should go to the authors of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. However, it could be better.
Pro:
If you are an inexperienced typist, you will learn where to place your hands on the keyboard, which fingers do what, and how they work together. You will learn all of the symbols, numbers, and accessory keys. The diagnostic capabilities of the software will target lessons to your specific deficiencies.
The lessons are geared to either children, teens, or adults. Different users have different needs, and Mavis is at least sensitive to differences.
Con:
Little has changed for many versions, and some of the changes that have been made have not been for the better. For example, in earlier versions, you could see very detailed diagnostic info about your typing. Now, this info is watered down a bit.
The on screen font is ambiguous. "i" looks like "l" and "1" - a problem that is annoying when your typing accuracy is being evaluated.
The interface isn't clear for navigation. Menu options that should always be accessible require you to be in the correct mode.
When the software is installed, it does not give you the chance for a custom or advanced installation. You will find that Mavis is running in the background, and that a shortcut for AOL is on your desktop.
Although there are custom options in the program, they sometimes affect the lessons themselves. For example, if you do not want Mavis to read the instructions out loud, you can turn off the sound. However, when a dictation lesson is offered, you hear nothing.
No Dvorak training is available. This would be neat.
So, should you get this software if you are a "hunter/pecker?" Absolutely. Will you always be satisfied? Possibly not. Is there anything better? I don't think so.

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Boost your keyboarding skills with the #1 best selling typing software! Customized lessons become more challenging as your skills improve. Measures your progress with speed tests!

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Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Deluxe 17 Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm 36 and never learned how to type. I figured I'd try and since the Mavis Beacon series seem to be the most popular, I got this one, despite some reviews describing installation problems.
Sure enough, when I installed it, it wouldn't run. You basically need to set it up to run in Win98 or Win2000 compatibility mode, at 640x480 resolution. Reboot, and Voila!
So it's been 3 days, and even though my speed dropped quite a bit with learning the proper fingers, I'm typing properly. And the speed is coming back fast.
The classes are very well designed, it's actually pretty amazing how efficient it is, and fun on top of it.
The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is the compatibility issues. How hard can it be for their engineers to update their engine?!


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The leader in typing tutorial software for 11 years running, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing v.17 is the ONLY typing software delivering the customized training you need in a motivating, engaging format. Work at your own pace with lesson content that keeps you interested. This flexible program is an ideal choice for any would-be fluent typist, including students, email enthusiasts and office professionals. If you use the keyboard, you'll benefit from Mavis Beacon!

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Quicken WillMaker Plus 2008 Review

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(More customer reviews)If you're interested in buying Quicken Willmaker 2008, be aware that you can buy the book Quicken Willmaker Plus 2008 Edition: Estate Planning Essentials (Book with CD-ROM) which includes a fully functional copy of Quicken Willmaker 2008. The book and software together only cost around $31.50.

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Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Preferred Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The original title of my review was going to be "snookered again," but I've since had a change of heart (and sound card). I originally purchased Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 4 years ago which was a total piece of junk. Upon hearing a short review on NPR, it sounded like things had improved.
First off, caveat emptor. You need a good sound card. Nuance is not very helpful here. Their website/docs simply state you need a Sound Blaster 16. I don't know if it's occurred to them you can't purchase a Sound Blaster 16 card anymore (nor would you want to), and they should just bite the bullet and present a list of cards that work well (like they do for microphones). I bought a Sound Blaster X-fi XtremeMusic which seems to work. Second, you need a hefty machine. For me this is a 2.4 GHz dual processor XP workstation with a gig of RAM. The box says you can get by with 512 MB of RAM and a 1 GHz processor, I'm not sure I believe this.
Once you have the right hardware in place the software seems to work fairly well. This review was dictated using the software. However, I'm not giving them five stars because they still seem to suffer from poor software engineering. As an example, take the set up and training process. I was waiting for a new sound card to arrive and thought I would try using my onboard sound card built into my Dell. The setup process did claim that the sound quality was insufficient. Unfortunately, navigating out of the process was impossible leaving me stuck at the "welcome to general training" screen. When the new sound card arrived, Dragon was still stuck looking at the on board sound system and had no UI to allow me to use the new sound card. My only solution was to disable the onboard sound system which luckily forced Dragon back into configuration mode where I could reselect my microphone parameters. A second example of amateur software development was an error message ("can't load compatibility module") that is caused by Dragon's attempt to build a link between icons on the desktop and voice commands. This message wouldn't be so bad if it were not accompanied by random crashes ("dragon is unable to respond, please close all applications using..."). A recently posted knowledge base article states that the error message only comes up if links are invalid on the desktop, and suggest removing things using RegEdit (I kid you not). After uninstalling a SonyEricsson desktop link that I wasn't using, the message went away along with the random crashes.
In summary, Dragon has matured from snake-oil ware (v4) to usable. However, they need to make an investiment in the non-voice rec modules of their software.


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Dragon products have won over 175 major awards for accuracy and ease of use, and are used by more people around the world than any other speech recognition software. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 9 gives small business users and PC enthusiasts the power to create documents, reports, e-mails and more - all by speaking! Fast, easy and amazingly accurate, it's over three times faster than typing. Just use your voice to dictate and edit in Microsoft Word and Excel, Corel WordPerfect, and virtually all Windows-based applications. You can even dictate into a handheld device when you're away from your PC, or use a Bluetooth microphone! It's never been easier to use with no script reading required, so you can get started right away! Dragon products have won over 175 major awards for accuracy and ease of use, and are used by more people around the world than any other speech recognition software. Use Dragon NaturallySpeaking with Nuance-approved Bluetooth headsets Dictate into any Nuance-certified handheld device for automatic transcription when you synch with your PC Supports Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird New indicator that lets you know when you have Select-And-Say functionality available New supported edit controls include Borland's TMemo, TEdit & TRichEdit controls as well as TE Edit from SubSystems and TX Text from TX Text Control Also supports handheld digital recorders and other PDAs that record in. wma and .mp3 format for deferred transcription.

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PaperPort Deluxe 8.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)I heard about Paperport from word of mouth. I've spent a number of hours researching the product, emailing tech support, and reading reviews from leading publications and users. It appears most users dogged technical support, so I took the test myself and emailed tech support to see if they support my HP all-in-one machine (OfficeJet G55). Support responded within 48 hours unlike the remarks I've read where they received poor tech support at unreasonable response times.
At any rate, I opened and loaded the software on my Toshiba XP enabled laptop. Installation was easy, and without reading the instructions manual, I was able to easily create folders and scan documents. PaperPort easily recognized my scanner.
In terms of software, this purchase has to rank among the most value received as my desk is becoming less of a paper pile and more of a desk. The quality of the scan is pretty good too, even capturing the creases of folded papers.
I highly recommend this product as the use and ROI of my scanner is in full swing with the use of PaperPort.
NOTE:
Recently downgraded to 2 stars due to software using 100% CPU and crashing my laptop. (laptop turns off) I have a 1.13GHZ P4 with 512MB RAM and the CPU utilization of the software is too heavy intensive!!

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PaperPort Deluxe 8.0 lets everyone in a small business take control of their daily paper flow. PaperPort works with a scanner or multifunction machine to turn paper documents into electronic files, and helps manage them along with other electronic documents in one convenient, easy-to-use filing system.PaperPort's thumbnails allow users to visually organize, retrieve, use, and easily share scanned documents and other electronic documents like Word, Excel, and PDF files. Plus, PaperPort's editing tools ensure that scanned documents will look right while PaperPort's annotation tools let users add notes and highlights on top of any scanned image.

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Norton Internet Security 2005 - Single User Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have been using NIS for a few years now. I really liked the 2004 version and have had no major problems with it other than once my computer boots, I always had to go into NIS properties to see if my EMAIL SCANNING said 'ON' or 'ERROR'. Evidently, something on my computer will occassionally cause the email scanning to not load properly, so if it showed 'ERROR' - I would have to reboot and then it would be ok. I should point out that Norton Support Staff told me even though email scanning said 'error', the computer is still protected by the 'auto-protect' feature if it is turned on. Minor inconvenience, but other than that, I was very happy with the program.
The same holds true for the new 2005 - I still have the occassional email scanning 'error', but there are a few new irritating things happening. While the software works fine, it has tremendously SLOWED DOWN the launch of Outlook Express and it even hangs a second or two when I close it. Also, if you open NIS properties screen, when I am finished, I hit the X button to close, but it takes like 2-3 seconds before it will close. Even though these are just a few seconds, it really irritates me because I have a very fast computer.
However, something that really excites me about this new NIS is that the hard drive scan of all files by Norton Anti-Virus seems to take a lot less time than it did with a previous version. Being a stickler for speedy computer processing, this is definitely a plus.
So, overall, this program works OK and keeps me protected, but I still think there are minor issues they need to work on as mentioned and I also think that the average computer user is not given enough information about whether to allow certain things when a firewall warning appears. I know so many people that have blocked innocent programs and found that they are unable to use them or get on the internet. There should be a way for NIS to know what is innocent and what should be blocked... the average computer user doesn't have the time to research what they should block or not - in fact, isn't that the reason we use computers? They are supposed to be able to do the work FOR US!!!!

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Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Platinum 20 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This program is MUCH IMPROVED! If you'll see my review of Mavis Beacon 17 I believe it was, you can see where I pointed out this programs flaws. However, these have all been resolved and this program has become satisfactory in every way in my opinion.
Mavis Beacon 20 (I have only tried the platinum edition) also has a new practice feature which I haven't found anywhere else, where you can choose from a huge selection of articles where you just type right along with the text while the text you type appears in the lines in between the text to type (no looking halfway down the screen to see mistakes), errors appear in red and make a little noise to let you know that they have occurred. This is a great practicing tool for after you learn all the keys and want to stay sharp. I should also add that these articles are legitimate or legitimate style articles that are actually interesting and fun to type (such as outtakes from Ben Franklin's biography, to scientific articles, many topics) unlike those boring, fake ones that usually are in place on typing programs (which make you feel like you're back in elementary school) and you can even import your own text.
This has really been turned into a very fine program and out of all the programs out there (I've tried alot of them) this one without question gets the highest recommendation. All features have become very practical and user friendly. There's also a ten key learning portion of the program (as with the older versions as well) The interface also has been spiffed up very nicely with pleasing graphics a whole array of new and actually fun games. Bravo to Broderbund for setting the bar to new heights in this program.
---------------UPDATE------------------
I've got to admit, I learned all of the keys typing on mavis beacon 17, but I doubt that it's any harder on MB 20. The main thing that was really lacking on MB 17 (besides being a junky program) was that you couldn't repeat lessons, which you can now do on MB 20. If you're looking for a program with no small glitches but is much more boring and with less features, then you should look into TypingMaster Pro which you can demo, which is a fine program by the way and If MB is too difficult for you then TypingMaster teaches two keys at a time, however I can't remember how many MB would jump up at a time, however you could always just repeat lessons until you get it. Overall if I was having to spend money on something that I was planning to use for a long time, I would pick Mavis Beacon any day simply because of the practice feature, which I use EVERYDAY. On any other program, after you've learned all the keys, the only thing you can do to practice is to take the final tests over and over again. Unless you go right into a daily regimine of heavy typing, then you will get rusty real fast and this feature makes for an easy and interesting way to stay sharp. You can try a flash demo of MB 20 from their web site. Also, There's an annoying feature on mavis beacon where a hand is displayed on the screen typing the keys as you type, this can be turned off in the options. If you look, there's actually not a whole lot out there to choose from when it comes to typing programs, but I've tried about every one I could find, and this would easily be my choice. If people who don't like it find a more useful program, then they should list it in the comments for this review. I'll finish by saying that TypingMaster might be a little easier to learn on, but I own both of them and still use MB everyday and deleted TypingMaster off of my computer a long time ago. It may all depend on how you want to use it.
---------------UPDATE------------------
The lessons plan showing how many new keys per lesson can be viewed in the screenshots shown above on this page.

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Maximize productivity with the #1 typing authority - Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Improve keyboarding speed and accuracy with detailed assessments, customized lessons and games in 2 weeks guaranteed!

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Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)I have never used speech recognition software before. Therefore, I was very excited to try Dragon Naturally Speaking 10, Preferred version. I pre-ordered ($99.95) it a week before release and when I tried to install it on my eMachines T3025 I received several error messages that failed to tell me why the software would not install. After considerable time on hold (long distance telephone calls) I was informed by a very polite and heavily accented "technician" that my processor did not possess the 2EE instructions required by the software. Not to be deterred, I purchased a new Dell desktop computer with a Core 2 Quad processor featuring the 2EE instructions and more. Today, when I attempted to install the software, the installation failed. The error message was that the software does not support 64 bit. Nuance's web pages offerred no help that I could find. I dread the thought of additional long distance phone charges for being on extended hold; therefore, I'll post this on Amazon with a copy to Nuance. I have high hopes that someone more savvy than I can get me up and running. I'm waiting... :)

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DNS PREF V10 UPG

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Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been working as a web develop for over 5 years, and I've tried hundreds of different editors and IDE. Visual Studio.NET is by far the most complete I have ever used. My boss' at first weren't too happy about forking out so much for one peice of software, but on the first project we used it for, we made the money back on a short development time and testing time.
Because everything can be developed in more or less the same way as an ASP.NET app, we were able to offer clients more solutions for their buck. We now offer desktop and mobile solutions as well as what we offered before!
The learning curve can be somewhat steep, but once you learn to do most things, everything will become a breeze.

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Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional enables you to rapidly build a broad range of applications for Microsoft Windows, the Web, and mobile devices. Developers can use 2003 Professional to build professional software, reduce IT operating costs, and integrate with a wide range of applications, systems, and devices.
Extending visual design capabilities to the server is easier than ever with Visual Studio .NET 2003. The Component Designer provides a canvas for building and instantiating business logic components using the familiar drag-and-drop paradigm. In addition, the Server Explorer delivers direct access to server-side resources, including databases, message queues, event logs, Windows Services, Crystal Reports, and performance counters.
Visual Basic .NET 2003 delivers the most productive route to professional application development. Familiar Visual Basic syntax, expressive coding constructs, a powerful background compiler, and unsurpassed support for productivity within the code editor enable you to crank out software in record time. The fully modernized Visual Basic language supports Structured Exception Handling and optional power features including object-oriented constructs and multi-threading.

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