Software Reviews

Photos: Ubuntu 7.10

Photos Ubuntu 7.10 (a.k.a. 'Gutsy Gibbon') is released today (18 October). Here's a screenshot gallery showing the popular desktop Linux distribution in action.

Microsoft's unified communications suite

Tech Guide Microsoft's Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 enable IT departments to provide presence, instant messaging (IM) and voice functionality to users located on either side of the corporate firewall.

Office Communicator 2007 review

Review Office Communicator 2007 is Microsoft's latest desktop tool for instant messaging and internet voice and video calls. At a basic level it provides a viable alternative to Skype and its ilk. However, linked with Office Communications Server 2007 it offers a range of additional features that will be attractive to business users.

Office Communications Server 2007 review

Review Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS 2007) provides an array of enterprise-level communications functionality. It also hooks into a number of other Microsoft products, so the adoption of OCS 2007 comes with strings attached.

Nanoethics review

Review In the technology world, it's rare for people to predict the potential impact of their work in detail, as they do in this book. You may think the future projected here sounds more like science fiction than science fact. But if it happens, at least you were warned.

Google Enterprise Search gets social

Preview Google's Enterprise Search Appliance customers are to get a free upgrade that adds new features to the buttoned-down, behind-the-firewall search appliance designed for large companies and their IT departments.

Inside Firefox 3 Alpha 8

Photos The latest build of Firefox 3, Alpha 8, makes bookmarking easier and boasts enhanced security features.

Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2: a first look

Preview If you're keen to create applications specifically for Windows Vista, you need to check out Beta 2 of Microsoft's forthcoming Visual Studio 2008. Otherwise, wait for the release version.

Photos: installing Vista SP1 beta

Photos We've downloaded the standalone installer for Windows Vista SP1 build 6001.16659 and installed it on a few systems. Here are some of the most significant changes.

Buzzword: a first look at Adobe's new word processor

Preview Adobe looks set to enter the online office suite market, following the acquisition of a web-based Flash word processor.

Alternatives to Microsoft Office

Buyer's Guide In the world of productivity suites, you don't need to pay a lot to get the basic tools for reading, writing and arithmetic. Read our reviews and previews to discover what's in each bundle, from the freebies to the full-featured suites.

Lotus Symphony: a first look

Preview Although it's still in beta testing, IBM's Lotus Symphony offers strong alternatives to Word, PowerPoint and Excel with more features and nicer interfaces than most other free software.

Open-Xchange Express Edition review

Review Open-Xchange Express is an excellent substitute for Microsoft Exchange for small or medium-sized businesses that don't need a big-company feature set.

Double-Take for VMware Infrastructure review

Review This is an excellent tool for replicating virtual machines (VMs) running on VMware ESX Server 3.x and VirtualCenter 2.x. Although the suite is relatively new, impressive usability features hint at Double-Take’s long history in replication.

Inside iWork '08

Photos Apple's office productivity suite now handles spreadsheets in addition to word processing and presentations. Check out our screenshot gallery.