Just a couple of years ago, the PC speech recognition and dictation market saw four key players jostling for position, but today the contest is just between IBM and one other player, Dragon.

Four USB ports on the rack also turn it into a useful powered hub

Getting your PC to meaningfully accept voice commands or dictation has been a benchmark for futuristic computing since time immemorial. Dragon NaturallySpeaking (DNS for short) has been a leader in the field for some time now, and is rapidly becoming devoid of competition.

Lacks in power, but terrific hardware design makes this an intriguing take on the Eee brand.

A beautifully tiny computer-on-a-board that you should only consider if you have a specific use in mind

Despite the somewhat dubious branding the GeForce2 Ti cards are not actually Ti 500 cards, hence the inclusion of the forward slash in the name - Gainward is an old stalwart in the graphics game even though it doesnt enjoy a big profile here.

ABIT's new NVIDIA nForce2 motherboard, the NF7-S, supports the AMD Duron, Athlon, and Athlon XP, and also features dual 400MHz DDR memory controllers.

The Korean-made JNC SSF-70 is very cool, neat and bursting with goodies – it comes with 128MB of MP3 storage plus voice recording plus a built in FM scanning tuner plus a built in auto-charging battery – all in a tiny tube designed to hang ‘round your neck on a special earphone/neck strap combo.

Script triggering and interface changes headline an upgrade that’s good for developers and users alike

Fantastic looks and comprehensive features Lightroom is a winner for improving workflow efficiency.

Microsoft finally recognises that web authoring needs a standards-compliant tool, albeit on its own terms.

Existing export capabilities and new support for dynamic components make this a must for professional users

Surround-sound support and mastering-quality plug-ins mean Sound Forge is better than ever.

A new interface delivers significant improvements, but the bundling of separate apps for related tasks raises concerns.

New multiple page support and improved text handling, but the program’s main strength remains its underlying speed.

New image editing tools and a more powerful library mode makes Lightroom 2 compelling. It's also compatible with Vista 64-bit.

A useful, versatile partition-management tool that can cope with most current file and disk systems.

Ongoing concerns about the security of wireless networks and an increasing demand to be able to connect remotely to office and home networks has forced many people to look for a reasonably priced VPN solution. Virtual Private Networks use the Internet to establish a secure link between an external PC and a local network.

Simple to use and great performance without being locked to a provider.

There is little doubt that digital photography will take over from film, and it will happen sooner rather than later. As more people buy and start to use digital cameras there is an ever increasing demand for simple-to-use photo editing software that will allow them to get the best out of their photographs.