iFR editors' review
Apple's iTunes is the 800-pound gorilla in the music and video jukebox world. The industry standard for more than five years, it has remained the trend-setter because of its connection to Apple's iPods and iPhone. This latest version sports one major new feature and several smaller ones.
In addition to the left sidebar, which was cleaned up in version 7, there's now an optional sidebar on the right. Called the Genius Bar, if you have an iTunes Store account it will offer up song and album recommendations for purchase. The Genius Bar, however, is only a derivative of the Genius Playlist, and that's the real biggie of version 8. To activate the playlist, hit the atomic symbol on the bottom right of the iTunes window while you're playing a song. The Genius algorithm will then create a playlist from the music already existing in your collection, made up of songs that it thinks have some connection to the first track. Since it's not limited solely by genre or other criteria, it can come up with some interesting choices.
Just as version 7 introduced the Cover Flow view, this update sees the introduction of a new art-based Grid view that can be used to look at your collection sorted by artist or album. Mouse over the art to reveal a play-it-now link. Other new features include a new visualization scheme called Magnetosphere, based on the iTunes plug-in of the same name, support for HD video, and the return of NBC to the iTunes Store.
For those unfamiliar with iTunes' base features, it makes video and music playback virtually identical. The iTunes Store replicates this experience, although be warned: it costs more to buy tracks that are DRM-free. Synchronization with iPods can be set to automatic or manual, and right-clicking a video clip lets you render it iPod-compatible. There are also smart playlists, CD burning, label printing, the ability to rip files in multiple formats except WMA, and network sharing. Rounding out the feature set are parental controls, integrated podcasts, and a smart-shuffle option. iTunes is sometimes clunky on Windows, and can cause significant processor slowdowns. Still, it remains a top-notch player and iTunes 8 should find a home on any media junkie's computer.
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Maxthon (formerly MyIE2) is a multipage browser based on the Internet Explorer core (IE 5 or 6 required). It can open multiple Web pages in just one window, and it takes only a few system resources when you're surfing with the integrated user interface. The application supports special plug-ins and IE extensions, and its features include autoscrolling, form autofilling, external tools, plug-in support, a newsgroup-browsing mode, mouse gestures, customizable skins, and an Autohide panel.
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An effective and easy-to-use firewall program, ZoneAlarm does a great job of keeping your PC safe from a variety of threats. ZoneAlarm uses a simple wizard to make configuring a firewall, which seems like a daunting task to many computer users, incredibly easy. 
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The beauty of this converter lies in its simple set up. By default, converted files are saved into the program's folder in My Documents, and they retain the name of the source video. The files are saved as MP3s, normal quality. These settings are easily changed, though, with quick-access buttons and a drop-down menu. The most work a user might have to do is fill out the fields in the optional Tags fields for artist, title, track, and other information.
