Windows Me is basically Windows 98 with a fancy new name to allude to the year it was released (2000)…it was just some PR stunt. As with Windows 98, Windows Me is crash prone…so expect to see one BSoD (Blue Screen of Death) after another. I tried Windows Me back when it was released…I went right back to Windows 98…and since then I have migrated to Linux. Really, there is no reason to use Windows 98 or Windows Me on ANY computer.

Man, Ubuntu just keeps getting better! It’s easy to install. It includes a LOT of extra software including the awesome OpenOffice.org office suite. You get a lot of games including Aisleriot Solitaire which includes TONS of different solitaire games from Thirteen to Klondike to Golf and so on. You also get the award-winning Firefox web browser for virtually worry-free web surfing. For the multimedia lovers, Ubuntu includes a nifty iTunes-like music player (Rhythmbox) and a nifty movie player (Totem), both of which can play popular multimedia formats - including MP3s, AACs, and DVDs - once you install the necessary multimedia codecs.

Nobody likes viruses and spyware, so those of us who use Microsoft Windows know that antivirus software is essential for online security. With Trend Micro Antivirus + Antispyware, you get very good protection from viruses and spyware. Trend Micro is one of the best. It’s always a good idea to update your virus and spyware definition lists because new viruses and spyware are being created on a seemingly basis. Don’t be fooled by the low price.

Man, Ubuntu just keeps getting better! It’s easy to install. It includes a LOT of extra software including the awesome OpenOffice.org office suite. You get a lot of games including Aisleriot Solitaire which includes TONS of different solitaire games from Thirteen to Klondike to Golf and so on. You also get the award-winning Firefox web browser for virtually worry-free web surfing. For the multimedia lovers, Ubuntu includes a nifty iTunes-like music player (Rhythmbox) and a nifty movie player (Totem), both of which can play popular multimedia formats - including MP3s, AACs, and DVDs - once you install the necessary multimedia codecs.

I tried McAfee LiveSafe on my Android phone (HTC Desire), my new Windows 8 tablet, and my Macbook. It was easy to use on all three devices, even on my phone. However, on my Windows 8 tablet, I felt that Windows Defender suited my needs better, and I felt it was unnecessary on my Macbook. However, it’s easy to use, so that may justify the purchase.

I liked all the options in this software. There were a lot of filters you could use. You could transfer objects in and out and change things you don’t like. You can work in layers. I thought this was very user friendly. Of course I needed some instruction and had to get used to it but overall it was not as difficult as some of the other photo editing programs I have used.

I used to swear by Norton Antivirus because in 2 years working for a government agency that will remain nameless in the early-mid 2000’s their network went down 4 times and every computer on it was infected with a virus except for mine which I had uninstalled McAfee on and instead installed my own copy of Norton (though I’ll never admit that to the system administrator). But AVG blows Norton out of the water.

I get all the updates to this software because it just gets better all the time. I’ve used all the major family tree packages and this one is just the best one available. The linking to Ancestry.com isn’t perfect, but it does work and with some extra steps to save things you can make it work very well.

For about the same price as this, you can get Quickbooks. Quickbooks has the same features, but is more user friendly (IMO). Quicken is much cheaper, and has about half the functionality, in case you feel that you this is overkill. And Timberline and Starbuilder are much more money, but with a ton more features. So YMMV!

If you are used to Photoshop, don’t go down to this. If you are used to Digital Darkroom, don’t go down to photoshop. However, if you are new to photography, you can use this software as a good starter. For those people who don’t have the technical skills, the time, or the paitence (I fall into this last category) to use Photoshop or Digital Darkroom, this program gives you an affordable way to do 80% of what the pros do (and 200% of what you’ll probably want to do) in one easy to learn package.