Enact comes with the complete box and dice including application software, database, web-server and application server and the server can be run on a basic Windows XP Professional desktop. While the Java-based interface can be a bit buggy and slow at times, it is generally clearly set out and easy enough to use.

Support for latest video formats and a batch-media encoder, but supporting apps have seen little upgrading.

Written for fledgling test project managers, the book starts by defining the foundations of a test system and discusses the FMEA (failure mode and effective analysis) approach for defining quality risks

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

Like a project management tool for your brain.

Macromedia Flash (May 2002, page 60), Dreamweaver, Fireworks and FreeHand (Studio MX, November 2002, page 71), have all been given the MX treatment, and now it's Director's turn.

Project Arcade, subtitled Build Your Own Arcade Machine, takes a shot at being the definitive guide to sticking a PC into a wooden cabinet for the single purpose of playing retro arcade games. It's a big task, and author John St. Clair almost gets there.

Video editing can make or break those home movies of your latest adventure or that important business presentation. Until recently you only had the choice of some expensive professional, or some fairly crude software packages, but over recent years Ulead has put video editing within the reach of most video camera users, and at a reasonable price.

Director 8 Shockwave Studio is now the platform of choice for those sites determined to provide the richest possible Web experience

Daikin may be more familiar to some as the producer of Scenarist, a high-end professional package which has been used in the authoring of many major blockbusters.

PowerDirector 3 is the latest version of CyberLink’s DV editing application aimed at home video enthusiasts. It has been radically overhauled since the previous version 2.5, and includes many new features as well as a revamped interface. On the capture front, a new quick-scan option enables fast pre-capture preview of an entire 60-minute DV tape in just six minutes. There’s also a new title editor, Picture-in-Picture (PiP) motion effects can be easily added, a three-track audio mixer provides real-time mixing during playback, and you can now record voiceover narration during timeline playback of a project.

Ulead has often been quick to respond to market demand and DVD Movie Factory is no exception.

Some powerful improvements – but you won’t get the most out of this unless it’s used alongside other Adobe apps.

Like its direct competitor Ulead DVD MovieFactory, Pinnacle Express can be used to create VideoCD and SVCD discs as well as DVD titles. Unlike Ulead's program, however, it supports slide shows as well as video...

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

For: Uses the Doom 3 engine so it'll run smoothly and look nice. Attempts to be original.Against: Fails to be original. Succeeds at being a funless parody of the genrel imparts no sense of achievement.

What makes Publisher different is its automated approach to design through its colour and font schemes and huge range of publication templates. These are handled via the redesigned Task Pane, which now has a simplified Start panel offering drill-down access to project types split into print, Web and themed sets. Another ten attractive master sets increase the total to 45.

Sony's first Cineza, the VPLHS1, was an innovative projector: it featured 'sideshot', horizontal as well as vertical keystone correction which meant it was the first projector that could be placed in the corner of a room, and still project a perfectly rectangular image in the centre of a wall.

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

Encarta Premium Suite claims a base of 130,000+ articles, along with 25,300+ photos and illustrations and 1.8 million map locations. That's more than a bit of bedtime reading, although of course there are really only two reasons why people buy digital encyclopedias these days -- either they've got kids to educate, or they're after some verifiable and quotable facts for a research project. For almost anyone else, of course, there's Google.