letting them to work seamlessly. But it also has a prioritization feature that lets you set up to-do lists and reminders. The data is easily exported to other Microsoft products. My favorite function, however, is the calendar. This is an essential tool to keep multiple tasks on track. The addition of the ability to track sales campaigns, add customer ticklers and to-dos, and view a sales pipeline with PROBABILITY is awesome.

I know there are fans of this software, and it’s a good buy, but I prefer Photoshop Elements (Adobe) and can’t get into the PS Pro interface. It’s ok but I find it slower and clunkier than Photoshop Elements. I suppose it’s what you are used to, that is, a matter of taste. However, it will do the job of editing photos. Meh.

I want software that plays media, including BluRay, on any device. I don’t want malware, ads, software that insists on interfering with my firewall; in short, this program is invasive and not the kind of thing I want installed on the computer. I couldn’t de-install it fast enough. Not recommended.

This is a cross-platform internet security package (devices like phones are covered) and it resembles the standalone antivirus package. I’d never been a fan of McAfee, but it seems to be on par with Norton for security and has a lot of features I like. There is a vulnerability scanner, a virtual file shredder, and a cleanup tool to remove the leftover bits of files that are remaining when you delete or de-install software, and you can scrub traces of your online activity.

A short history of upgrading the OS for MAC. When I upgraded from TIGER to Leopard X, the upgrade that was recommended essentially wiped my hard drive clean so after installation was complete, I had to reinstall my OFFICE for MAC and other programs. Sometimes history does not repeat itself. Snow Leopard installed fully in approximately one hour. With little effort on my part the installation went flawlessly and no programs (or even icons) were lost in the process.

Good but not great.nIt loads easy, and manages to get you up and running with a minimum of fuss.nBut the screens are overloaded. The expert user wants a few choices - MONEY gives you everything. Yes, you can customize it but when you first start out (and all you really want to do is pay your bills on line), it is a bit overwhelming to see so many things on one opening screen.

Perhaps I am jaded but again it seems that Microsoft has cranked out another product that looks and acts so much like its predecessor that you wonder at first if you loaded it onto your computer properly. Office 2003 gives you what you already have in Office XP (and a few earlier versions) so learning how to use it is never going to be a problem. In virtually every way the program looks and feels like the previous Office versions.

I started with Windows 3 and upgraded myself past the much-heralded Windows 95, the Millennium edition, straight through to Vista (which was supposed to eradicate the bad taste that was affixed to the word Windows). After awhile, they all became a blur with features being added, and then dropped, without rhyme or reason. Overall, however, there was nothing that really made it a better version of Windows. Windows 7 shows proof that Microsoft listened to the customers and decided to give them a product that met their needs.

Yes, Office XP performs all the tricks so that any document, presentation and/or spread sheet looks like a million dollars but how many times is Microsoft going to slap a label on a product and declare it to be a major improvement?nThe features found in Office XP are almost a clone to the previous Office suite’s. Yes, you can now hold 24 items in your clipboard and that is indeed something but isn’t that a nifty trick that could have been added as a download?

Perhaps I’ve become so jaded that all Windows systems now look the same.nI’m ashamed to say just what was the first version of Windows I used but I will go on record stating that I have owned Windows 95, 98, ME and now XP.nAs it is an Upgrade, I suppose that’s why there is no significant difference once I get going. On the plus side however, there is a big improvement on starting up.