TuneUp Utilities 2009 8.0.3300

Reviewed by: iFR

To call TuneUp Utilities 2009 useful would drastically understate the situation. The app provides users with a powerful, well-designed utility that accesses the entire Windows maintenance tool set and more in a fast, organized, and easy-to-use series of connected modules.

Temp file management, registry cleaners and start-up program controls are the bread-and-butter of these utilities, and these basics work in TuneUp more quickly and easily than most. However, the app also sports great add-on tools you don't usually see in a utility program. It offers a variety of Internet and program-acceleration tweaks as well as Windows performance enhancers. The crash-preventing MemOptimizer, a file shredder, deleted file recovery, and a respectable uninstall utility round out the suite. You even can automate maintenance tasks with the scheduler or tweak Windows' appearance with the styler tool. The built-in RescueCenter can restore all changes completely or one by one.

The system-analyzing wizard, with its thorough reporting and upgrade suggestions, is worth the program price alone. Between the guts of steel and the stylish, logically arranged interface, TuneUp Utilities suits all users--from complete beginners who will appreciate the one-click optimization to more daring users who will experiment with all the settings.

Publisher's description

From TuneUp Distribution :

You can easily solve PC problems and at the same prevent others while effectively increasing the system's performance with TuneUp Utilities. Your PC intelligently adapts to your individual needs. The new TuneUp Start page, the new TuneUp Speed Optimizer, and the improved 1-Click Maintenance make the optimization of your Windows system even easier, faster, and more comprehensive.

Version 8.0.3300 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.

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Ulead GIF Animator 5

Reviewed by: CNET Staff

This tool creates Web-optimized animations more effectively than a general image editor does. Ulead GIF Animator's clean interface keeps you oriented among the multitude of tools, frames, and objects. You can edit images within GIF Animator or invoke an external editor. Adding banner text with neon, scroll, or zoom takes mere seconds. The 130 transition and filter effects make creating animations easier. The program optimizes the GIFs in a variety of ways for faster download, and preview helps you to judge whether the quality remains high enough. You can also view animations directly in the browser. Besides GIF, you can output your work as Flash, video, or even standalone EXE files. The start-up wizard ensures that designers of any level, from beginner to expert, will find GIF Animator worth its price.

Publisher's description

From Corel :

Ulead GIF Animator 5.0 makes it easy to create fast-loading, high-impact Web animations. Version 5.0 cuts production time in half with simple drag-and-drop object-based editing, round-trip auto-updating from external image editors, and tweening features. Advanced optimization delivers the smallest possible file sizes, while output to video, EXE, and Flash formats makes it one of the most versatile animation tools available.

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Microangelo Toolset 6.10.0070

Reviewed by: iFR Staff

With four extremely intuitive icon-processing utilities, Microangelo Toolset works like the Swiss Army knife of icon and cursor manipulation. Its Studio and Animator components let you create and edit icons and cursors, while the Explorer and Librarian components help you find and manage icons on your system. For producing high-quality custom icons and cursors quickly, it's hard to beat this top-rated utility.

The program includes image-editing features such as effects, filters, rotation, and cropping, as well as a huge color palette. Each component performs specific functions, but it might be less intimidating to first-time users if they were bundled in one interface. The Studio/Animator and Explorer/Librarian combinations seem ripe for integration into two tools. The extensive help files, which now include specific valuable information about creating icons for Windows Vista, are quite beneficial for users who need to familiarize themselves with the program's many features.

There aren't step-by-step wizards for novices, but the addition of project templates in version 6 make it easier to create the full icon sets you need. Also lacking is an uninstall icon, so to remove it you have to go through the Control Panel. Nevertheless, would-be designers willing to learn and power users alike should appreciate the wide range of Microangelo's functionality.

Publisher's description

From Eclipsit :

Create icons and cursors for Windows with Toolset's icon editor. View, locate, extract and replace icons, eliminate duplicates, and manipulate all image formats. Toolset provides an icon creator plus The Master's set of icon tools, specifically designed to make icons for all Windows platforms. Officially "Certified for Windows Vista" by Microsoft.

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Snagit 9.1.2

From TechSmith :

Capture anything you see on the screen. Edit and combine those captures. Share them via your favorite applications. Organize and find them again later. The more you use Snagit, the more ways you'll find to use it! Want to get a laugh? Add a speech balloon to that photo of your cat and fire it off in an instant message. Need to make an impression at work? Capture that sales chart and point out important details with a sleek-looking arrow. Snagit can turn a simple screenshot into a powerful information graphic. Snagit is versatile, yet surprisingly simple.

From iFR:

SnagIt 9 makes screen shots as glamorous as they'll get, letting you capture any part of your screen, from a partial image to the entire contents of a scrolling window. You can grab images of Web sites and software applications or pictures from scanners and digital cameras. You even can capture video and record screen action in AVI format.

Version 9 completely overhauls the interface to bring the wide range of editing tools and effects to the surface with a simplified, icon-oriented menu structure that makes SnagIt even more flexible and easy to use. Tools to draw, resize, recolor, and annotate the images are there, as is a menu to add rollover hotspots for linking an image to a URL.

SnagIt 9 also adds automatic image-tagging, a library for saving and indexing every capture, and an image tray for getting to the most recent opened captures. Balloon tips, wizards, and an online video tutorial make it simple for beginners, and its sophisticated capabilities will satisfy advanced users.

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