Software Reviews

HotBot Deskbar review

Review HotBot Deskbar would be a strong contender for the search toolbar throne, were it not for its patchy performance.

MSN Toolbar review

Review MSN's fair-to-middling toolbar lags well behind its still competition, but its one-of-a-kind highlighter viewer wins an honourable mention.

Ask Jeeves Toolbar review

Review The Ask Jeeves Toolbar has plenty of specific search options for news, images, video and MP3/audio, and the toolbar lets you zoom Web pages in and out. But its too-big search box and annoying frames around search result pages wore on our nerves.

A9 Toolbar review

Review Fans of A9's innovative search capabilities will warm to this search engine's toolbar, but those needing specific search types should keep looking.

AltaVista Toolbar review

Review AltaVista's toolbar gets the job done, but it does little to stand out from the crowd and is marred by some clunky features. We recommend a more feature-rich toolbar, such as Yahoo's.

Mandrakelinux 10.1 PowerPack+ review

Review It may lack the high profile of other Linux distributions, but Mandrakelinux 10.1 is one of the easiest to get to grips with -- if not the easiest of the lot. This new release also has lots to offer both novices and experts alike.

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition RC1 tested

Tech Guide Release Candidate 1 (RC1) of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is now available: ZDNet has put Build 1289 through its paces.

Tech support for your parents

Buyer's Guide Visiting the parents at New Year? If you're likely to get a request for technical support, read our handy guide first.

Migo Personal for iPod review

Review There's more to an iPod than just music. A Migo-powered iPod transforms any Windows XP/2000 system into the image of your own. And it works well.

SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 review

Review This is a significant update, with important scalability and management enhancements positioning it ahead of the competition, and as a rival to Microsoft's latest Windows Server 2003 product.

Painter IX review

Review If you're interested in digital artistry, you need Painter, although you'll pay a lot for this upgrade.

Who needs an OS?

Tech Guide Many notebooks can play CDs without booting into Windows. And now there's a utility to let you access Outlook's email and calendar too. So who needs an operating system?

VMware Workstation 4.5.2 review

Review VMware Workstation is a powerful virtual machine application that enables you to develop and test even the most complex networked server-class applications running on Windows, Linux or NetWare -- all on a single desktop.

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum review

Review New technology is great, but why does it have to be so user-hostile? In this book, Alan Cooper examines the business and technical cultures that create such impenetrable products, and offers a remedy.

iZito review

Review iZito is a meta search tool with added extras, notably the ability to 'park' relevant results for easy retrieval and to customise the way they are displayed.