An improved working environment and ground-breaking colour handling make Illustrator fresher than ever.

Photoshop moves beyond photo editing to conquer completely new territory.

With its improved interface, colour handling, image adjustments and brush-based artistic creativity, DrawPlus moves onto a new level.

A new interface, drawing engine and programming language, but surprisingly little new power.

Adobe Photoshop is so dominant when it comes to print and Web-based bitmap-editing that, in many ways, it has come to define the whole field...

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

Built-in tracing and improved drawing, formatting and colour correction make X3 the best CorelDRAW upgrade in years.

The Quark-killer has finally landed. For the last year, the hype about Adobe's replacement for the worthy but old-fashioned PageMaker (reviewed issue 22, p108) has been building to fever pitch.

Improved media handling, Flash video support and greater interactivity see Captivate extend into new areas of training.

Company vows to fix address handling flaw.

Efficient photo management and sharing, but let down by some surprisingly underpowered editing.

With its enhanced interface, support for transparency and new collaboration features, it’s the best release in years.

FreeHand has had a long, distinguished career since its launch 15 years ago, but time has caught up with it. While Macromedia concentrated development on its Web-oriented MX applications, FreeHand was put on the back burner and fell seriously behind its main rivals CorelDRAW (see issue 60, p54) and Adobe Illustrator (see issue 51, p88). So, is this latest release evidence of further decline, or has FreeHand finally risen to the challenge?

When you think of photo editing, the chances are you think of Adobe Photoshop. However, the majority of non-professional users don't need Photoshop's high-end power and can't justify its cost. That's where Paint Shop Pro (PSP) comes in. Its low price is definitely its initial attraction, but that has never stopped it aiming high. At times, as with version 6's introduction of vector layers, it has even left Photoshop trailing behind. However, version 7's minor fiddling was a serious letdown and as time passed, it began to look as if PSP had run out of steam. Version 8, though, shows this isn't the case.You begin to realise how fundamental the overhaul has been as soon as you load the application.

Ever wondered what a particular acronym stands for? Find the answer in our comprehensive reference guide to computer industry acronyms. RTFM!

Microsoft prepares to march into Adobe territory with its forthcoming suite of graphics and web development software.

Good performance and handling, low price and far better quality than any digital compact.

This monitor aced many of our image quality tests, handling fine colour transitions with ease and producing sharp images.

The Barracuda ST3160023AS is a fair performer in our labs, ranking fourth and above average when it came to handling the binary.

We’ve all heard about the Dell fireball. But in some workplaces, a computer could cause a giant, apocalyptic explosion. Ed Dawson has the details.