I always liked people able to organize their workflow using an elaborated set of rules that are well defined and flexible at the same time. I also think that brainstorming with a clear purpose without proper management of the ideas is pointless, and since mind mapping and brainstorming computer software is not a tool that can be seen only in Star Trek, that's what I target today - a program from a company known as Computer Systems Odessa, called ConceptDraw MINDMAP Professional.


Setup

The current version of MINDMAP Professional is 5.1.0.0, and the full version of this application is priced as high as $199, but it seems its price is backed up by some serious features and built in content. Anyway, we'll talk about those just a bit later...

The setup package comes inside a ZIP archive that has 32MB in size, while the executable file is only 2MB larger. The application installed itself pretty fast, without asking me too many questions. As you can see in the screenshots above, there's nothing out of ordinary about the setup process, so let's move on to the interface, as usual.


Interface

While MINDMAP's interface may seem cluttered and not so easy to understand at first sight, you get a lot of guidance all along the way, so in the end you'll conclude that using this program is pretty easy to use. The interface is highly customizable, as you can edit every toolbar present in the main window, and the various panels can be hidden or closed as you wish. When you start the program for the first time, the Welcome Screen that can be noticed in the screenshot to the left gives you all the information you need to find yourself inside a brainstorming session or editing a mindmap in no time.


Features

ConceptDraw MINDMAP Professional is a software based on the Mind Mapping theory, and allows you to easily organize and exchange information by combining images and words. For example, let's take the brainstorming tool...

Go to the File menu, choose New, and then Brainstorming. In this screen, simply enter the theme of the session and add as many ideas as you can, or try to beat the clock in a timed brainstorming session, and keep only the ideas that emerged during the limited amount of time you have set. When you finish, simply click the button labeled Finish Brainstorming, and you're going to find yourself inside the main window. Here, you can easily define relations between the ideas, arrange the map with a single click and pick a visual theme for your mind map (this is done using the Format menu's Map Theme option).

Leaving aside the themes integrated into the program and the excellent brainstorming mode, there are still plenty of things to enjoy, like the integrated image libraries or the mind map templates.

The image library is organized into individual categories, without tagged and searcheable items. While some people may find this handy, I think it would be nice to have tags for each image and a search feature in the next versions. After all, it's always easier to type the name of an object inside a search box, rather than looking for it inside a group of untagged items.

Once you have organized your ideas and notes into a mind map, the result of your work can be saved into a lot of formats, such as PDF, PPT, RTF or PNG. Even better, you can send the files straight to a FTP server from within the program, and this is only the beginning...


The Good

ConceptDraw MINDMAP Professional is a useful program for those individuals with lots of ideas and problems organizing them and, of course, for teams of people that work to achieve a common goal. This program works like a charm, looks great is pretty easy to use, and the trial version doesn't have any other limitation than the 30 days period.

The Bad

I know that considering all that you get included in the program, and the additional resources available on the official website, $199 isn't really a lot, couldn't there be a special pricing option for home users?

Conclusion

Every program that can help me get my ideas ordered makes me go "Wow", especially when it really does its job, and this time I found quite a little treasure. There's nothing else to say, because the best thing to do is grab the trial version and give MINDMAP a try, then get back here and share your opinion with the rest of us, of course!

Developer: Computer Systems Odessa
Price: $199
Trial Link: Download

In the near future, I'll have to reinstall my operating system, because I'll upgrade my computer. So far, so good, but it would be really nice to know that I can rely on a single tool for all those maintenance tasks I have to perform and I forget about them too often. Anyway, when my computer starts moving like a turtle on the highway, I suddenly remember to clean up all junk and fix my registry errors and today, I just got my hands on PC Health Optimizer, a maintenance and tweaking suite that I hardly wait to see what's capable of...

Setup

PC Health Optimizer is more than just a program, having more individual applications inside, so a size of 15MB for the kit of such a software suite shouldn't be considered too much. A problem that is worth being mentioned here is the download speed limitation of the official server to about 4-5KB/s (at least that's what I concluded to be the problem), which can be easily surpassed by using a download manager, such as IDM.
<-125x125 Button - left->
The last version of the suite is 1.6.31, but the applications inside it have various own version numbers (for example, the About screen of the File Backup program shows "PC Health Optimizer ver 1.0"). The same thing happens with the trial period, which should be 15 days, but it was really unpleasant to notice that some tools that should have been here are not included at all in the trial version. Well, you can pay up $39.97 and find out how they behave, since the product is also covered by a 30 day money-back guarantee...












Installing the suite is a piece of cake, as you can see in the screenshots above, and since there should be enough to discuss regarding the interface and features of this software suite, let's move on and check'em out!

Interface

PC Health Optimizer has a very nice interface, with great graphics and easy to use, but... some of its tools don't match the looks of the parent application - as an example, look at the Doctor Spyware Cleaner, and you'll get the idea... Other than that, most programs from the suite that I was able to use in the trial version that I have are very easy to work with, since they use a wizard-style interaction with the user. Apart from some minor display issues in the main window of the parent application, everything looks good, so let's see what do we have next...

Features

The first thing to do once the program has started for the first time is to check your computer for problems, by pressing the text link Scan Now in the main window. When this process is complete, you're going to see some results, as you can see in the screenshot to the left (I hope your registry is cleaner than mine, anyway). By pressing on the issues (the text in red), the right application for fixing them is started, so it can't get easier than that!

While most optimization suites come with a lot of tools, but only a few have an antispyware tool, it was a really nice surprise to notice that PC Health Optimizer has an antispyware tool and an antivirus included. Unfortunately, the antivirus was not included in the trial package, but I can tell you that the antispyware tool offers real time protection against threats, so everything start to look like a really good deal...












The main window has 6 areas, each with links to various tools. These areas are the following - System Cleaner, System Optimizer, Privacy & Security, Administer & Control, File Utilities and, at last, Backup & Restore (backup and restore programs aren't file utilities, after all?). Since you can see what these are about in the screenshots above, I'll talk only about the most interesting things, leaving the rest for you to discover (and maybe come back here and share the info with us, especially about the tools not available in the trial).The most useful tools in the trial version of PC Health Optimizer, in my opinion, are the antispyware tool, the backup application and the registry cleaner. It would have been great for me to try the application called Doctor Kids Control from the suite, but all I got was a MoleBox launcher fatal error "DLL CORRUPTED", so... maybe next time!











While jumping between nag screens and "This application is not included in the trial version" windows, I also noticed that the SMARTDisk Checkup button, located in the Administer & Control area, doesn't have any visible effect. Well, you can't have all the features in the world for 38 bucks and everything to be perfect, and I really hope that the full version doesn't have these problems...

The Good

PC Health Optimizer has a lot of useful tools, including antivirus and antispyware protection, as well as a parental control tool. Considering what you get, the good price and money back guarantee look just great, especially since everyone shouldn't have any problems using the tools included in the package.

The Bad

The trial version is very limited, the interface has some minor problems and, although it may look a minor issue, the official site shows the wrong size of the setup package, 25MB instead of 14.

Conclusion

PC Health Optimizer is one of those many application suites that would do anything to get your money, but at least it has some features that help it stand out of the crowd. At first sight, I was really crazy about it, but after trying it out, I think that Retina-X Studios should release a much better trial version, because the one available at this time shows a lot but only does a little...

Developer: Retina-X Studios, LLC.
Price: $39.97
Trial Link: Download

In the past, news groups and bulletin board systems were the best sources of information on the web, especially since the graphic user interfaces of that time were quite primitive. File transfers were usually done using the FTP protocol, and while the bulleting board systems as they were known in the 80s and the first half of the 90s are now almost extinct, FTP is still used on a large scale.

Moving into the present, I have to say it again: while the BitTorrent and verious new file transfer protocols are gaining ground, FTP remains a reliable way to transfer data, and so we arrive to the subject of this article, called simply FTP Now...


Setup

Currently, this program has reached version 2.6.73, and its trial version can be used for 30 days, without any limitations, apart from the nag screen that appears when you open or shut down the program. If you will consider purchasing this program, you should now from now that a single user license is priced at $29.95.

The setup package has only 1.7MB in size, and installing it is very easy, as you can see in the screenshots above.


Interface

FTP Now's interface is well organized, easy to use and fairly customizable. While you won't be able to choose an interface theme or edit the colors of various areas of the program, you can choose which panels to display and dock/detach toolbars and panels. The Connection Wizard makes using this program even easier, and if something still seems unclear, you can check the Help system to solve the problem. These being said, let's see what goodies we have hidden inside this average interface...


Features

The first thing you want to do after installing a FTP client is connecting to a remote server, of course, and when the program comes with a small yet useful set of built in connections, that's even better. Inside the Favorites menu, you can pick one of the exactly 18 FTP locations belonging to the following 4 categories - Game, Archive, Hardware and Software Sites. New categories and FTP sites can be easily added, directly from the Site Manager or by using the Connection Wizard.

The Connection Wizard is very easay to use, taking things very slow, step by step, but if you have a bit of experience with FTP clients, then you'll probably want to insert new sites quickly, right in the Site Manager.

The Site Manager opens when you click the Connect button from the toolbar or use the Ctrl+C keyboard shortcut, but this is not everything. You can also pick the item called Connect from the File menu or Organize Favorites (keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+E), from the Favorites menu, to achieve the same result.

Since the producer of this program claims one of the new features allows you to upload and download multiple files simultaneously, let me tell you what I had to go through, before moving on to the conclusions...

I connect to a server, select more files, and drag them to a folder on my drive. Nothing out of ordinary. The result? FTP Now starts to simultaneously download those files, but it also opens about two dozen transfer status windows, one for each file. Now, how's that? I think somebody that designed the user interface was playing Solitaire or Pinball during its work hours, I can't see any other logical reason for this major flaw to occur!


The Good

FTP Now is a very easy to use, fast and trustworthy FTP client software, with very low system requirements.

The Bad

Leaving the major interface flaw I mentioned above, I would like to see more FTP locations included in the Favorites menu, support for secure FTP transfers, scheduling and the ability to connect to multiple servers at once. At last, this program is too expensive for what can be done with it.

Conclusion

FTP Now claims to have the look and feel of Windows Explorer, and the unfortunate coincidence is that just like Microsoft's product, this program lacks a lot of features, and it doesn't look that great either. Well, it does its job the right way, and that's what really matters, in the end, so give it a try, if you have enough time for this.


Developer: Network-Client.com
Price: $29.95
Trial Link: Download

The optical media of today, like CDs and DVDs are really sensitive to touch and they can easily get scratched or damaged on the optical reading side. If a CD gets a small damage (while containing about 700 MB of data) – and it becomes unreadable, you can only imagine what the smallest rough touch can do to a 4.7GB (of data) DVD. Virtual CD is one of the programs that are “old in the business” – it has been on the market for a long time and each new version has brought new functions and improvements over the years.

<-125x125 Button - right->Since the “trend” for all software in the latest version is to work wonderfully under Windows Vista, Virtual CD makes no exception in its latest version 9.1.0.0. I remember how this program worked in its early days – when it was not so complicated and it had less function. If you look at it now and know some things about its history you cannot but wonder if the developers really wanted to implement everything you could possibly imagine and need while working with virtual CDs.

As you may notice, the newest feature that is meant to facilitate your access to various functions of the program is the Virtual CD Sidebar. It might be annoying though under Vista as it tends to go over the Vista Sidebar and thus over the gadgets as soon as you move the mouse towards the right edge of the screen. Putting that aside, you get access to the Tool Box – which represents in its own way another set of shortcuts to the various applications and functions of Virtual CD.

Although the program became famous under the Virtual CD brand name, it handles DVDs just as well, either by creating DVD images, loading them or simply by burning them onto the DVD burners. In the tool box shortcuts you will find a series of CD/DVD tools meant to facilitate and offer various pieces of information about your system – you can even manipulate/edit and save virtual images of removable discs.

The settings for the application can be tweaked and enhanced from the settings panel in the Tool Box. When you create virtual CDs, you can password-protect them, so that you would prevent unauthorized access. The life of the CDs/DVDs can be extended if they are well kept in their box, because it is enough to create a virtual image for each of them that can be used for unlimited periods of time.

Applicability: This type of software can be used in both home and corporate environments, especially those where handling and swapping a lot of CD/DVD discs is a daily task as it can improve and increase the productivity.

Pro(s): I really liked the list of functions and options that are available: unlimited number of virtual CDs, creating virtual CDs with any content, automatic recognition of title, album, and artist for audio CDs, virtual CDs can be organized in folders, supports up to 99 audio tracks per virtual CD, editing of existing virtual CDs with the Virtual CD Editor – and these are just a few!

Con(s): The sidebar was a good idea but also poorly implemented as it goes over the Vista Sidebar too much. The cluster of options and functions could be easily arranged in a more simple manner – because they look a bit randomly “thrown in”.

Official website

Buy: the price starts at $35.95

Download trial

The new tendencies of today when it comes to web-mastering a site is to bring something new and interesting so that you can have many visitors. Lately the videos from you tube have been embedded into web pages, but also audio players. The Flash Music Studio application gives you the possibility to create a very cool audio player that can bring a lot of audio features to your website.

  

The interface is very simple and effective – you do not need any special skills or knowledge to take some mp3s, load them into the application and build up the player with the interface of your own choosing and then putting it on your website. Of course, you can view the page on your computer too before you upload it onto the server of your site. 
 The only thing that should be taken into consideration is that you need to own the copyright for the MP3s you will be putting onto your site.

  

The first thing you will do is to load them into the application by using the green “+” button. After you have loaded the songs, you can reposition them or listen to them to decide upon the order in the playlist. In the settings panel you will manage the sound and player settings – you can adjust the quality of the sound and the shape and the colors of the player – you can use the default one or you can go with the stylish iPhone model – any way you choose you can’t go wrong.

 

If you wish to embed a typical sound watermark on the videos, you can choose one you previously created with the help of an audio file editor. Next, you’re given the saving options in the Publish panel – you must decide upon the path and the filename. The Audio swf files will be named after the original audio files.

Applicability: Bring some of your music on the website you own – that is the main purpose of this application: musicians, singers, digital audio artists who wish to present to the web public their audio creations will very interested to use such a program.

Pro(s): The interface is Vista compatible and it has simple options that make you think of little secrets that bring big effects on any website.

Con(s): I would have liked to see even more options that could help in customizing the player, and not to use just the existing templates.

Official website

Buy: $29.95

Download trial