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Filemaker Pro 11 Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)Here we are on version 11 of Filemaker, one of the only desktop databases for the MAC.
But this is one of the worst products from an Apple owned company I've ever seen. It's far from intuitive. It's still not SQL compliant. Many of its drivers are buggy and crash prone. It still even requires Rosetta years after Apple abandoned the power PC architecture. Here we are on the cusp of OSX Lion with no Rosetta support and while Filemaker claims Filmmaker 11 doesn't require Rosetta, that isn't quite true. When I upgraded to Filemaker 11 the major reason was Filemakers misleading claim that it no longer required Rosetta.
The truth is while Filemaker can run withhout Rosetta, many importing and exporting functions still require Rosetta and when you ask Filemaker how they will support these critical functions in Lion their silence is profound. Makes one wonder if the small Fllemaker update for Lion they are talking about will simply disable the critical items in Filemaker that require Rosetta.
I'm not sure why there are so few desktop DBs offered for the Mac. I use Filemmaker because it's the best I could find. But that's not saying much. Maybe Microsoft will rescue us eventually with Access for the Mac.

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FileMaker Pro is powerful, easy-to-use database software that helps you and your team get any type of task done faster. Millions of people in business, government, and education use FileMaker Pro to effortlessly manage all their information on Windows, Mac, and the web.

Upgrade to FileMaker 11 If you have FileMaker Pro 10 or 9, you are eligible for upgrade pricing on FileMaker Pro 11. Attention FileMaker Pro 8.5 and 8 users:you are eligible for upgrade pricing until Sep. 23, 2010.

* Limited time offer; after Sep. 23 2010 purchase full version for US$299. As of September 23, 2010, technical support and replacement media will no longer be available for any FileMaker 8.5 or 8 products.

Tackle Any Task on Windows, Mac, and the Web
Chart a whole new course for your data FileMaker Pro 11 comes with brand new features to help you create eye-catching reports, boost your productivity, and build better databases.
Create eye-catching reports with FileMaker Charts using bar, line, area, and pie charting styles. Make reports in a familiar spreadsheet-like format, or build customized reports with the improved Layout/Report Assistant. Set up Recurring Imports with your Excel or text files. Plus save your data as Snapshot Links to create personal reports or collaborate with other.
Boost your productivity every day with new tools to help you build and use your databases more easily including Quick Find, Inspector, Object Badges, improved Quick Start Screen, a new Invoice Starter Solution, and text highlighting.
Build better databases faster with new features for the more experienced developer such as Layout Folders, Portal Filtering, scripting enhancements, file security, and variables in find requests and merge fields.
Tackle any task Get over 30 professionally designed templates to help manage your tasks in minutes.
Create custom databases Build a database tailored for your unique needs. To get started just drag and drop Microsoft Excel data into FileMaker Pro.
Produce reports Get step-by-step reporting tools to help manage and automate tasks. Even easily create and email reports in Excel or PDF.
Share in a couple of clicks Safely share with both Windows and Mac users. Plus share your databases over a network with up to 9 other users.
Publish data to the web Securely publish your databases to the web in a few clicks. Create surveys, registration sites, customer feedback forms, and more.
Top new features in FileMaker Pro 11 Get more innovative features to help you create databases like never before:
New--FileMaker Charts Create eye-catching reports using bar, line, area, and pie charts.
New--Quick Reports Create reports in a spreadsheet-like format. Group and summarize data on the fly.
New--Recurring Import Automatically import Excel and text files every time you open your database.
New--Quick Find Search for information just as you would in a web browser.
New--Inspector Manage your layout tools all in one convenient place.
New--Layout Folders Organize layouts into folders with easy drag and drop.
Why FileMaker Pro?
Cross-platform--use on both Windows and Mac OS
Works with your Microsoft Excel files--just drag and drop
Built-in peer-to-peer sharing over a network
Easy web publishing in just a few clicks

Get results in minutes FileMaker Pro 11 comes with more than 30 ready-to-use Starter Solutions to help you get started fast. Simply open a solution and start adding information, or import your existing data from many popular formats.

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Corel PaintShop Pro X4 Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been using PaintShop Pro in most of its variations since the `90s and was asked to participate in the beta development of PSPX4. There is a lot to like in this latest version, for sure!
Let's start with speed - PSPX4 opens fast, loads images fast, and just overall performs complex tasks much more quickly and without a lot of the lag time found in other programs. The workspace is really streamlined and can easily be customized to your preferences. I use a dual-monitor setup for processing images and creating art and PSPX4 fully supports dual monitor. Set it up once and save it as a preferred workspace and it's always there when you want it. And if you're not using a dual monitor setup - well, try it - you'll see how a dual monitor setup and PSPX4 work seamlessly to further enhance your own particular workflow.
Most all the tools within PSPX4 have been upgraded as well! I like to bring in RAW images (I'm using Nikon's NEF format) and give an overall "fix" for things like brightness and contrast before bringing them into PSPX4's Edit mode. The larger preview area in the RAW Lab certainly helps! And the ability to work on 16-bit files is HUGE given today's cameras.
The HDR tools are also superb - I like to shoot a lot of "auto-bracketed" shots and using exposure merge allows me to find that perfect balance of light and contrast and sharpness - seriously, my images now seem to "pop" with color. I have complete control over the overall tone and mood of my images!
The Manage tab allows me to quickly scan for other images where I may want to use a certain element in the current project. Again - dual monitor support makes it easy to keep my windows where I need them - easy to see and easy to manipulate.
I think PSPX4's performance and speed has probably been the biggest improvement in this version. It helps to have a system that can take advantage of that, of course - but I will say the application is amazingly fast and the tools work without hesitation (none of that painful lag time) as I work on very large and complex images - large file size and multi-layer projects.
From simple tasks such as brightening your P&S camera images to full blown remodeling of large scale RAW images and everything in between - I'm finding PSPX4 handles it all. I can be as simple or as complex as I want and I don't have to worry about the software slowing me down or curtailing my creativity. Perhaps that's what I enjoy the most now with PSPX4 - I can focus on being creative instead of worrying about software constraints!
For me, PSPX4 gives me all of this and at a fraction of the cost of other more expensive programs.
Cheers,
Gino

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Toast 11 Titanium Pro Mac Review

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(More customer reviews)I was hoping this might actually be an improvement over the dire Toast 10. I've been using Toast 9 since realizing Toast 10 was a disaster. Unfortunately, version 11 is just a more bloated, flashier-looking can of worms and I'm about to run a clean install to make sure every trace of this hiccup-ridden software is removed from my system. By the way, if you were hoping that Roxio has fixed the crossfade function (that way back used to be the excellent JAM but is now a mess), the answer is it is still the same as in Toast 10. For those who are aware of the audible click-inducing problems of 10 in that respect, there's no need to try out 11 - they've done nothing to correct it. Disgraceful.

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Easy photo-editing tools.

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Sage ACT Pro 2011 Review

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(More customer reviews)I have used Sage ACT! 2009, 2010, and 2011. The product is a pretty good product, not very expensive, and customizable. I just purchased ACT! 2011 yesterday and have returned it today.
Sage is a horrible company to deal with! They push you in circles when you call for customer support. There will be a reason you have to contact customer support at some point in time....leave at least 2 hours in your schedule when you contact them. This was the third time I had an issue and each time took 2 hours to correct a simple issue. I don't care that I had to call, but I care that they obviously push people in circles and put them on hold for 20 minutes in hopes that they will hang up. Chat representatives take several minutes to respond to everything you type and phone reps are impossible to understand, unless you call the sales department which is obviously located in the United States. 2 hours of your time is worth more than the price of this product.
Beware of this before you purchase. There are other CRM programs out there that offer better customer service. Any product is only as good as the company behind it. I no longer support Sage since they moved their customer service overseas. Just be warned before purchasing this product.

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Mac Logo Design Studio Pro 2.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)I just bought Mac Logo Design Studio Pro (directly from the company in a bundle) and I'm thrilled.
I read the bad reviews here on Amazon and other places and really worried that it wouldn't work well. I'm not sure what the issues others are having, but I'm on a MacBook Pro Core2 running Snow Leopard and I'm whipping out logos left and right. So I really wanted to get a real review in on the product, since I almost didn't buy it based on what others said. Maybe the bad reviews are from a prior version, or people who have very specific needs, I don't know.
I'm a photographer that does his own logo, business cards and web site, and I bought Logo Studio because others are asking me to do the same for them. It takes me forever to come up with logo ideas from scratch and tweak them in Photoshop or Illustrator. I've spent days to come up with my logos in the past (you full time designers know what I mean!)... I'm a semi-pro at this design stuff and wouldn't even try to quickly make a logo for someone else without a jumpstart like this software.
Pros:
* Decent Price
* Mac version not just PC
* The logo templates are really first class, modern and non-cheesy (see the example on the Macware site, that's what convinced me to buy) **Best Feature!**
* Quick to make a logo based on template
* Easy to customize template
* The categories of templates are very helpful
* Easy to quickly create variations of a logo
* Seems to make good use of Macs filters, Quartz stuff and filter color modes
* The vector art elements can be tweaked... just like in Illustrator, grab bits, resize them, recolor them easily, etc
* Macware Customer Service took care of something for me, adding a bonus they didn't have to, which was honorable
Cons:
* Seems like the Mac version costs more than the PC (I haven't looked into a reason why & I got mine discounted in a bundle from Macware)
* Some things are not as intuitive and 'standard' as in other apps (the handling of layers and such seems a bit kludgy, but I'm still new to it)
* Company web site and discussion forums have that scary 'barely a legit place' feel... not very Mac, web 2.0 and slick... so it makes you wonder if they are a going concern... but the software is great :-)
Conclusion:
I used Mac Logo Design Studio Pro to create several options of logos for a new client, and it really felt like playing around, not a chore... and bang, the client loved one I had just whipped up in about 5 minutes. So this is a great product and will really jumpstart my ideas to make lots of new logos.

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Microsoft Office Professional 2007 FULL VERSION Review

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(More customer reviews)I feel like I really gave this version of office a fair chance. I have tried and tried to adapt to it, but I just can't get over the fact I have lost productivity based on having to relearn software I felt I was pretty good at using. I now do more hunting and clicking for features where I once knew where everything was and now the new interface is one gigantic mess. I feel that Microsoft really blew it this time; I suppose its par for the course with the rest of the lousy products they have released this year. (But that's another review). Clearly we have run out of ideas for evolving a word processor if you have to completely revamp the interface. I read an article once published by Microsoft indicating the reason for the redesign was because there were a lot of features buried in menus and dialog boxes that few people knew about. If people are not using certain features, maybe the majority just don't care and want to use a word processor for something like... oh I don't know, typing a document.
The new interface for Word and Excel I can deal with, I don't like, but if I had to keep it, I could deal with it. Access on the other hand is a complete disaster. I hate it. It appears to me that somebody got really board and went crazy with the outlook style collapsible sidebars. The interface is so convoluted; it used to be so easy to switch between forms, queries, and table with the tabbed window. I do like the new ability to save to previous versions of Access (finally).
So with that said, I must admit, I really like the new Outlook 2007. It is the only application in the suite that Microsoft actually improved the product and didn't butcher. I like the new side bars with the calendar events and to do lists. One option I wish Microsoft would implement is a way to configure all outlook folders to be the same settings when I change the settings for one folder. For example, I do not like the reading pane or the group by setting, which is the default setting for a new folder. It's a pain to have to go through each folder and set it up like my other folders.
Luckily we can have multiple versions of office installed on the same PC. I have removed Office 2007 and reinstalled Office 2003. BTW, a lesson learned: If you want both Office suites installed, install 2003 first then 2007. If you install 2007 first then 2003, bad things happen. So remove 2007 and install 2003 then 2007. I reinstalled Office 2003 on my PC and installed just Outlook 2007 and Word 2007. I wanted to keep Outlook 2007, but you will need Word as well for the spell checker (shared components) and Outlook also uses word as the email editor.
All in all, if you like Office 2003 or earlier and you want to remain productive without relearning software that you already know then I would recommend to stay away from this version. Other than Outlook, it really has nothing substantial to offer to make me want to stay with it, only misery, wasted time and headaches.
1 star for the Office Suite Applications (Word, Excel, Access) , 5 stars for Outlook 2007

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Microsoft Office Professional 2007Win32 English CD

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BitDefender Antivirus Pro 2011 - 3 PC-1 year Review

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(More customer reviews)It's money out the window.
I have had BitDefender Antivirus Pro 2011 for almost a month, and there hasn't been a day where I didn't have to deal with it in some way or another.
First of all it's conflict galore! It conflicts with Yahoo Messenger, it conflicts with Second Life Viewers and - it seems - anything media/online related.
Making exclusions don't solve anything. From day 1 I have had to seek user support for a whole bunch of various reasons: Because it was slow (14-20 hours to complete a full system scan), slowed down CPU and internet. And most of all - all the software conflicts.
Be prepared to uninstall whatever malware protection and security programs you have. Which is a problem, since BitDefender Antivirus Pro 2011 is not very good against malware. So that leaves you pretty much wide open to trojans and worms and trackers.
I can't recommend this to anyone seeking a quiet, low-ressource anti-virus program that you don't have to battle on a daily basis.

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