A complex but powerful tool that’s made simpler by its new Dashboard interface

Support for new file types and platforms plus improved 3D rendering, but director is yesterday’s tool – and it shows

A mixed performance undermines an otherwise good-value product.

Superpowered and workgroup friendly with great features, but with a steep learning curve for administrators. Find out what the "other" side of the server world looks like

Is it worth paying for the full version of AVG Internet Security?

The Vista version lacks many of the features of the XP suite, while slowing down the PC noticeably in usage

New wizards make it easier to use, and the range of operations is impressive for such a reasonable price

Improved interface and drawing capabilities, new photo matching and hand-drawn effects – and it’s still free

Yet another leap forward for After Effects, which cements its status as the leading PC video compositing tool.

A great choice for offices that need to recognise batches of documents, with its only real weakness being poor automatic zoning on complex documents.

A decent compromise between OCR value and features – especially as you can upgrade from the Sprint version.

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

Camcorder, still camera and portable media player all in one sleek package.

Expensive but potentially very useful for those whose Wi-Fi has failed.

It’s business as usual, but this consummate all-rounder continues to grow in power and value.

Nero 7 Premium Reloaded adds mostly esoteric features to regular disc burning.

Excellent value for money, but a few performance glitches.

A few usability niggles don’t detract too much from this great-value OCR package.

Excellent value for money, but a few performance glitches let BitDefender down.

With a fantastic new suite of plug-ins on top of an already hugely powerful production environment, it’s hard to imagine a musician for whom Sonar 5 isn’t perfect.