For Software, this year is the first year we asked in more detail about the
software you use and how well you rate it. Not only will this help us provide
relevant how-to articles over the coming year, but makes sure we test
upgrades to the products you need and use every day.
We expanded our survey to include
more software this year, to get an
idea of the products you use and like
best. Categories we considered were
backup, office software, web browser,
creative software (such as desktop
publishing, photo and video editing),
security software including antivirus
and firewalls, and a catchall category
called ‘other software’ which included
products we've tested over the last year.
From each category, we picked the
standouts and put them head to head
to identify the overall best software.
Unlike with other categories, we've only
included the highest scoring products
here. For the rest, including category
breakdowns,you'll have to check online.
Backup software rated highly, with
both Time Machine and Acronis True
Image making it to our top selection.
In office software, iWork and Microsoft
Office 2007 took top honours.
Firefox was the runaway leader for web
browsers – not surprisingly, when over
50% of visitors to our site use it. It also
took top honours overall, with around
7500 of the 10,529 respondents very
satisfied with its ease of use, features and
overall performance.
In the creative category, things got
more interesting. Adobe CS3, Photoshop
Elements, Premier Elements, Corel Draw
Graphics Suite and Paint Shop Pro all
rated well, and there's little to pick as far
as scoring goes. Perhaps there's no such
thing as bad creative software?
When it comes to security, we
expected people to be less charitable in
their ratings, but overall products scored
well. Kaspersky, ESet, AVG and PC Tools
took the top spots. We've featured three
of the four on our cover disc over the
last year, and we'll look to covermount
those rated most highly in the future.
Google featured heavily in the top
five other software, with Google Earth,
Google Desktop and Gmail appearing.
Gmail takes top spot, with 2884 of
4859 users very satisfied with its ease of
use. Mozilla Thunderbird took number
two spot and third place went to
– Propellerhead Reason, a sound mixing
software suite. It only just squeezed in
100 users, but of the 106 who voted
in our survey, 55% were very satisfied.
Skype also scored well.
Overall the best software list is an
eclectic mix, but it would make a great
starter pack for a new PC.
