As I get to see more and more programs, work with them and acquire experience, I begin to consider even complex applications to be "easy to use", but no matter how experienced you are, some programs are trivial. Take Notepad and Paint as examples, but there are plenty of them around, and the one I got here today is a fresh banner creator, that has just seen the light of day. Its name is Easy Banner Creator, and I hope to be a pleasure using it. Now, let's see...

Setup

When talking about Easy Baner Creator, 1 seems to be a magical number. Since this seems to be the first public release, the version number is, obviously, 1.0. Even more, the archive containing the setup package has also exactly 1MB in size, and there is only one major task that can be accomplished using this program, but we'll talk about that later.












<-234x60 Half Banner - left->The trial version of the program can be used for as long as you like, but it doesn't allow you to save your work to a GIF file until you pay the 15$ registration fee. Installing the program is very easy - just download the archive containing the kit, unpack and run the file called "setup.exe", then follow the instructions. Nothing easier, as you can see in the shots above...

Interface

If I didn't pass through a time gate, we're in 2007. When I look at the screenshot to the left, I think that I may be missing something, so I check the date again. No change, it's the 12th of September, 2007. Well, it seems there's nothing wrong with me, but Easy Banner Creator looks like a software application from the past. We get a menu bar with only 2 items, and the main window looks like a desert - a lot of empty space, without any chance to see it used, in the current version. Anyway, the good part is that even my grandmother should be able to use this program in a snap, if the can read the small texts from its interface, of course...

Features

Now, let's create a banner, quickly! Once you have fired up the program, a new document is automatically created. There are 4 attributes you need to set so that you obtain a nice banner, or even an animated one.

First, you shuold enter the size of your banner. This can be done manually or by selecting one of the predefined banner sizes. Unfortunately, this program doesn't seem to have built in the sizes defined by IAB's standards, but I don't think that Easy Banner Creator's users are people that care about the Interactive Advertising Bureau's directives, either.

Next, you should pick the background color of the banner, but you can also use a gradient or a background picture. There are some background pictures included with the program, not many, nd most of them are really awful.

The third thing your should take care of is to add some text, choose its font, and set those basic shading options (shade color and depth).

At last, you can optionally enable the animation for your text, and choose one of the 8 animation directions available, from Right to Left Top. Usually, last step would be to export your work to a GIF file, but since this option is disabled in the trial version, you can save the project as a Banner project file (*.ebc) to use when you'll purchase the program... or simply forget about this program, as I will, for now.

The Good

Easy Banner Creator is extremely easy to use and worked without problems during the time I spent with it.

The Bad

The price of this program is incredible, considering what can be done with it, the built in graphics are really bad (I found that only one or two background images can be used in a banner without being ashamed of your work) and the features are very limited.

Conclusion

I know it's hard to develop a program on your own and to get profit out of it from the start, but setting a price higher than the rest of the market won't take you anywhere, especially when your features and interface are taken right out from average banner creators that were very popular more than a decade ago! I don't want to be rude, and I hope that Easy Banner Creator will get better in the future, but as it is now, I wouldn't pay a single dollar for it, and I wouldn't recommend it for anything else than a try. Of course, you can always buy the program and consider you made a donation to Image Tools Group, so they can improve their software, because I am sure they can do it.

Developer: Image Tools Group
Price: 15$
Trial Link: Download

For most people, burning CDs and DVDs is not something to do every day, and I can't say I burn optical discs more often than changing my socks, but it's always wise to use the best tools for your tasks, even if you leave them untouched for weeks or even months.

Now, that Nero reached version 8 and, to be honest, I didn't like what I have seen and heard about it so far, looking for a light weight, easy to use and reliable burning software should get a higher priority in your daily schedule than before, but since you're here, let me show you what I found today...

Setup

SilentNight Microburner is the name of the program I have here, and its last version is 6.0.22, released on the 12th of March. This software is priced at 29$, but a free demo version with various limitations and nags is also available, and that's exactly what I got here.











The setup package is very small, for a CD/DVD burning software suite like this one here, with less than 2MB in size. Once you have downloaded the file, the rest of it is very easy, without any special things to do, as you can see above - just another Windows software installation!

Interface

While I find Microburner's interface to suffer from various consistency problems, I love it. There are three skins available at this time, and I hope to see more added in the future. From the "launch center" that you can see in the screenshot to the left, you can choose the task you want to run or fire up the File Splitter/Joiner, the only tool available in the menu with the same name. Getting back to the consistency problems, I have to tell you that each tool seems to have its own layout - some have big windows, some are small, and I don't appreciate this, but you shouldn't have big problems because of that, anyway.

Features

Now...each time you choose a task in the launch center, an evaluation nag screen appears, and you have to wait for 5 seconds before being allowed to press the Continue button.

I was happy to see that the Audio CD/DVD burner has a player built in, but I also got a cold shower when I noticed that losless files can't be added to my audio CD compilation (I tried with APE and FLAC files, so I guess other formats, less popular, are not supported either).

Using the data and audio burners is very easy, and the settings of this pgoram are excellent. If you don't know what a certain option is for, you can simply right click it to get all the information you need about it.

The Backup tool is a very good addition to this suite, but it can only save data to CD/DVD and tape drives. I am not looking as far as FTP servers, but at least the chance to save backup ISO images would be nice.

At last, you get a cover designer that allows you to load image files from your hard drive or from a scanner and, of course, turn them into covers for your discs. An impressive amount of file formats are supported for opening and saving by the cover designer, yet a message in the status bar says "This part of SilenNight Microburner is under Construction!". Well, I hope they'll get it all done until next version...

The Good

SilentNight Microburner looks good, is easy to use and comes with a lot of features for its price.

The Bad

I can't help to notice that the interface has some problems, and while I was using it, the program even crashed on me once! Fortunately, I wasn't burning any disc at that time... The lack of Blu-Ray support is also a serious drawback.

Conclusion

I hope I didn't judge SilentNight Microburner too rough, because I usually have Nero in mind when I review data burning software. Since Nero is priced around 80$, and this one here is almost 3 times cheaper, all I can say is that, while it can't compete with Nero and other similar suites, SilentNight Microburner 6 remains a very good choice for its price!

Developer: SilentNight Multimedia Tools
Price: 29$
Trial Link: Download

Moonday! Since I am not Garfield, I don't hate Mondays at all. Usually, I have no problems to get started, and when I have the chance to start my week playing with a very good FTP client, I get really happy. Today's reason for my happiness is called SmartFTP, and in this article I hope we'll all get to see how smart this program can be...

Setup

In this moment, the last stable version of SmartFTP is 2.5. If you're really into statistics, then you should write down the full version number, which is 2.5.1006.38, but for most people, 2.5 should be enough.












The trial version has no functional limitation, but you'll have to purchase a license after 30 days, if you want to continue using this program. The setup package has 4.3MB in size, and installing it is pretty easy. I used the Complete install mode, but there's no big difference between the components installed in Typical mode and this one. I checked the Custom mode to see what you can select to install, and there are only two options - the program files, and the Backup tool.

Interface
In the past, I had the occasion to use SmartFTP a few times, and I remember that its interface was simple, easy to use and highly customizable, but now I think it looks much better than before. All the toolbars can be resized, moved, and even detached from the main window, and the 4 auto layouts available allow you to quickly load a predefined layout for the main window. Also, you can swtich between the handsome tabbed interface that reminds me of CuteFTP and the classical one.

Features

As usual, I'll start telling you about the features of this FTP client with one of the most important characteristics - the support for various connection types. In this case, there's not much to say, because SmartFTP supports only regular and secure FTP connections, but for most users, these should be enough.

Another useful thing to look for is a library of built in FTP servers, nicely organized in various categories. Unfortunately, SmartFTP only has 2 predefined connections categories, with 8 sites. Of course that you can add your own favorite FTP locations, but I would like to see more built in ones included in the program in future versions.

The Backup tool that I mentioned earlier can't be used to backup your files to a remote server, as I was thinking. All you can do with it is backup the configuration of the FTP client to a folder on your drive, to load it on another computer or restore it on your PC if something goes wrong.

The statistics about past operations of the program can be checked in the Log window, and you can also view a very good speed graph. Additional features include a transfer queue manager that's very easy to use, scheduled downloads, including recurring ones, and very detailed and powerful configuration options.

The Good

SmartFTP looks good, is highly customizable, reliable and decently priced. Beginners shouldn't have any problems learning how to use it, and advanced users will love it too, I am sure. This program is certified for Vista, and is also available for 64-bit operating systems.

The Bad

I would like to see more connection types and built in FTP locations added in the future versions.

Conclusion

Now, I think I can answer the question asked in the beginning... SmartFTP is not brilliant, but it's exactly as its name says: smart. If you're still looking for a good FTP client, give it a try, because I am sure you won't be disappointed.

Developer: SmartSoft Ltd.
Price: 36.95$
Trial Link: Download