One day Microsoft might realise that forcing its customers to have a Bill Gates issued 'passport' to use services on the internet sticks in people's gullets like a jagged fishbone. In the case of Microsoft Money you need a passport if you want to take advantage of its online banking services, but once you do sign up you find that it is the one area of an otherwise excellent program that does not work properly.

You can't help but to notice the slim-line chassis with its brushed aluminium finish this machine sports. Flipping down the front panel reveals the front-mounted audio, USB, and infrared port, which is a nice inclusion for those corporate customers using PDAs or mobile phones with IR synching.

The annual battle of the small business accounting programs has flared again as both MYOB and Quicken roll-out their 2004 editions. While both have made several tweaks and additions to last year’s models, the main difference this time around is in MYOB’s new product activation model. While many users will consider it overkill, there is little doubt that MYOB and others have suffered as a result of software piracy over the years and this time MYOB is determined to stop it.

More tools and good support options are just some of the highlights of this server package.

There's no denying the appeal of broadband internet access and yet for a smart country Australia has been falling way behind our international counterparts.

A fairly straightforward site focused on savings, but it functions well.

Our first impressions of FoxTel's new HD box are positive - four TV tuners means more HD than you can handle, though it does miss some of the tricks of the TiVO.

One gigabyte of RAM is enough to get most applications running smoothly, but should you buy the cheapest or the fastest?

PreviewA good attempt at all-in-one system security, fully integrated into the OS.

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.

There was a time when semi-professional video editors and home-video enthusiasts had little choice but Adobe Premiere. Back then, video capture and output depended on proprietary hardware, which often only worked with its bundled software.

As well as being the first company to launch EIDE DVD burners into the mainstream IT marketplace, Pioneer is the company behind DVD-R and DVD-RW recordable media formats. In the last couple of years, it has fought hard to stave off competition from Philips' rival standard, DVD+RW, and until recently buying a DVD recorder meant locking yourself into one standard over the other.

IBM has a well-earned reputation within the corporate sector for providing exceptional quality desktop workstations. Their latest model – the ThinkCentre S50, is set to keep that reputation on track.

All three of the A-series 120GXPs showed excellent all-round benchmark scores,

All three of the A-series 120GXPs showed excellent all-round benchmark scores,

All three of the A-series 120GXPs showed excellent all-round benchmark scores,

All three of the A-series 120GXPs showed excellent all-round benchmark scores,

Ableton’s flair for innovation shows no sign of diminishing. This is the best version of Live yet.

Australians have another way to hire movies from the couch with the launch of TiVo's Blockbuster movie download service

Designed to sit between the low-end Inspiron and high-end XPS families, it comes in 15in and 17in flavours and its target audience could be pretty much anyone: few laptops are as customisable as this.