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Adobe Dreamweaver (formerly known as Macromedia Dreamweaver, but was acquired by its competitor Adobe Systems in 2005) is perhaps one of the most popular web development applications. Despite changing its name and company, it still remains as one of the strongest competitors in this field of programming. Adobe has quite a number of products that are specifically made to help in designing web pages such as Flash and Fireworks but Dreamweaver has to be the most ideal one for customising your own webpage. It is pretty simple to use and hence, could possibly be an appropriate choice for people to start off with - to learn about website designing from scratch using Adobe Dreamweaver.

Adobe Dreamweaver provides several templates for those who just started. It simplifies the entire process by providing such stuff and only requires the user to input several basic designs to kick start the webpage. For those who are already used to HTML and want to start from a blank sheet, there’s always the choice of an empty page, fully equipped with the basics to start anyone off.

Don’t worry if you have no idea about HTML, simply because of the very fact that Dreamweaver allows several views to the webpage, either in the design style (which is an easy way to view the webpage) or the HTML view (purely HTML data that would seem impossible to understand for someone who has absolutely no experience in it) and also, the mixed view. I would recommend you to use the design mode, since it is the easiest to play around with and you can actually see what you did to the elements of the page, unlike the HTML mode with, in order to make amendments, would require one to punch in the right data at the right place with the right codes, a hefty task for anyone.

Being a product of Adobe, it has the ability to incorporate the various functions of other Adobe products such as Flash into Dreamweaver. For example, if you need to edit a video inside the page, Dreamweaver allows the function to automatically import the video into Flash in order to facilitate video editing. Flash videos could also, vice versa, be imported into Dreamweaver to be added into websites, a function that I doubt other similar programmes could compete with.

Adobe Dreamweaver allows non-coders like myself to design our very own website. The simple layout of the webpage design allows movements to the slightest of details, by simply dragging the mouse across. It also allows previews in many other web browsers like Mozilla Firefox apart from the standard Internet Explorer. This function is triggered on once the browser is installed. The flexibility allows users to test out browsing through the various browsers and to find adapting issues such as add-ons like players, which some browsers may not have already incorporated into their systems.

All in all, Adobe Dreamweaver allows users without coding knowledge to play around and create a website they can call theirs, one that could fulfill many’s dream of having their own website to boast about.

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Azureus is one of the defining clients in the world of BitTorrent. It has a formidable armada of power-packed features, transforming Azureus into much more than just a mere download-client software. With features like podcast streaming and download, torrent importing and high-definition (HD) video searches, there is no wonder why so many people are choosing this over the myriad of other clients.

The most distinctive feature of Azureus is the ability to install plug-ins. Popular ones like SpeedScheduler and RSS Feed Scanner provide users with the ability to customize their Azureus clients and to tweak the various features to their liking. The SpeedScheduler helps the user to manage and track upload and download speeds over a time period, keeping them to the schedule laid down. There is even a plug-in which commands the software to send an email to the user once a download completes. This is a very handy tool of notification for the user to track download progress when he/she is out at work, for example. The possibilities are numerous - adjusting your disk cache, cap download and upload speeds, even setting parameters for seeding downloaded files.

At this moment it is called Azureus Vuze, which is a fusion between the standard Azureus client and Vuze. Vuze is a platform for searching and sharing HD-quality video clips using BitTorrent. So basically Azureus Vuze is an improved version of the original client with a dedicated service for sourcing video content. This seems like an innovation add-on to Azureus. For the avid video downloaders, this would be a welcome addition, however, for the ordinary masses this would be a rather redundant feature. Most content featured on Vuze are actually ‘indie’ content and are not wildly popular. Having said that, Azureus Vuze still remains ideal for sourcing for mainstream video content, music and computer games. With its sleek and classy user interface, it is not difficult to master.

From the point-of-view of hardcore BitTorrent users, this would seem like a godsend. Every single BitTorrent need satisfied in one complete package, be it HD-videos, music, e-books and others. Moreover, Azureus trumps other clients as it gives users so much more control over how torrents are to be handled. However, I am hardly considered ‘hardcore’. My BitTorrent activities are more fundamental - importing torrents and downloading music, videos, games and so on. I would rather something less fanciful and more basic. For Azureus, I ended up only making use of it solely as a download client. The search on Azureus Vuze itself seemed superfluous to me, as I relied on good old Google to find my torrents before importing them into the clients for download.

One big rant that I have regarding Azureus is that it eats up significant computer resources. Due to its numerous functions and features, it takes a substantial period to load up and slows down other computer processes. For a program that I only use for BitTorrent downloads, I would very much prefer something that uses minimal process and can run invisibly in the background. Also, I found that my download speeds were slower with Azureus compared to uTorrent. This might be because I did not configure the controls on download speeds, but that was one big hassle to deal with.

Feature-packed or just plain cumbersome? As the saying goes, one man’s poison is another’s nourishment. Many may like it, but this client does not get my approval.

Azureus Vuze can be downloaded from here
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Avast!’s default interface

An increasing number of digital threats becoming an ever-present danger to home computers have fuelled the growth of the market of counter-measure software. The emergence of many new and effective kinds of antivirus software has chipped away the dominance of the large corporations like Symantec (Norton). There has been an avalanche of software freely distributed over the internet but after careful sifting and selection, only few stand out as trustworthy and effective tools to defend against virus threats. One of the best of them is AVG Anti-Virus (in one of my preview reviews). Yet another good one is AVAST! Antivirus Home Edition.

Basically, all kinds of antivirus software have the same fundamental functions. First, it is to prevent viruses from entering your computer system. Second, it is to search and eliminate any viruses that get through the defenses, undoing any potential harm done. However, there are some intrinsic differences between the features and functions of the various kinds of software.

In the case of AVAST! Antivirus, its preeminent feature is that it offers a boot-up scan function. This is a supremely helpful tool but unfortunately, it is so rare, even on purchased software. Thus, the presence of this tool on a free software is a double plus point for me. The boot-up scan can definitely remove more stubborn viruses that other software might not be able to do, as it can eliminate resuscitators that viruses use to counter removal measures. In my opinion, scanning while booting does a great job of removing viruses during startup, allowing your computer to start on a clean slate.

Another key characteristic is the availability and customizability of the appearance of AVAST! Antivirus. It looks something similar to the Winamp design, and users have the choice of downloading new skins to change the interface to suit their preference. Looks wise, this resembles more of a music player than an antivirus program. The interface is relatively hassle-free and straightforward to operate. AVAST! can be programmed to run in real-time and in the background while the user does other things with the computer. While AVG’s full system scan slowed my computer noticeably, AVAST!’s scan seems to take up less computer resources and does not affect working speed considerably.

AVAST! Antivirus will prompt and request for a boot-up scan (scanning before the operating system loads) every time it detects malicious software or files in the system. However this function is compatible on with Windows NT/2000/XP. Standard email scanning is present as well, and AVAST! can block spam if too many messages are coming through in a short period of time. One thing to note is that AVAST! does not allow the scheduling of regular full system scans like AVG (AVG scans after Windows starts up by default). This function is present, but only in the Professional Edition.

One very useful function on AVAST! is the Virus Recovery Database (VRDB). This basically stores information of a file and saves that information as backup. If this certain file gets infected and becomes beyond repair, VRDB can undo the changes and restore the file back to its previous configuration. This is an extremely helpful tool, especially for backing up documents of paramount importance. The downside of VRDB is that it has a tremendous strain on the computer, taking up a significantly large amount of resources. More often than not, especially so for home users, the VRDB takes up too much system resources to be of a realistic help.

AVAST! Antivirus Home Edition is an all-rounded software that home users can depend on to ensure the security of a computer. It can definitely rival the popular AVG in the freeware market. The boot-up scanning procedure has the potential to transform AVAST! into a premier antivirus software, but regrettably it was quite disappointing. The lack of signatures was the cause of several malicious files getting past the defense system and not the working of the scanning function itself. At this moment, before any improvements are made to AVAST!, I would safely put my bet on AVG instead.

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In this day and age, computer users like you and me place immense value on information and data stored in the computer hard drive. Be it work-related or just for plain entertainment purposes, losing data can be excruciating. Virus, corrupt system files, operating system errors, faulty hardware - all these are possible causal factors. I definitely have been through the arduous task of having to rebuild and consolidate lost information and I would never want to experience that again. Fortunately, I stumbled on Acronis True Image recently and found a solution for all my data backup problems.

I found myself in the unenviable situation of having to deal with the possibility of losing all my game files, work documents and mail, and my entire library of music because of a corrupt system file. As I fervently sourced the internet for a reliable backup and recovery software, I found Acronis True Image. This is disaster recovery application and disk imaging software. In layman terms, Acronis True Image can create an image (a copy) of your drive (this includes whatever data that is inside) and allows you to put this image in another storage like an external hard drive. This image then becomes your backup. In event of any electronic disaster, this image can be used to restore your hard drive back to the original condition that it was before the event with all data fully intact.

Acronis True Image also equips the user with the ability to create boot-up media devices. This can be in the form of DVD-ROMs or a floppy disk or even an external USB hard drive. A verified system backup disc can prevent the significant loss of any crucial data from your computer. In the event of any failure, the image in the recovery media can be used to boot up your computer, restoring it the perfect health (at the point of backup). This means that the operating system will also be restored, with the relevant system and registry files. Furthermore, Acronis True Image, unlike Norton Ghost, can backup individual files or folders. Most of the time though, its function is fully utilized when being used to backup full drives or partitions.

Acronis True Image has functions to switch off the cumbersome Windows System Restore as well as the very handy ‘add new disk’ ability. This adds an additional hard drive to your system. True Image also can create backups in an Acronis Secure Zone. This is in the event that the entire boot partition is damaged and cannot be retrieved. Acronis True Image can then make use of backups in Secure Zone to boot when used together with Acronis Startup Recovery.

Acronis True Image 11 Home edition has been launched recently and this would be the perfect choice for the average consumer. It is my firm belief that every single computer needs to have a reliable disk imaging application for backing up important data on the drives. This can save plenty of headache and heartache, especially in this digital world teeming with spyware and viruses.

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Over the past few years, Bittorrent has gained much popularity among internet users. It is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol and many choose to use Bittorrent to download their software, be it programming software or music files. The main advantage of the Bittorrent protocol is that it distributes the load off the original host of the file, allowing recipients to transfer smaller portions of the file to newer recipients. This protocol requires the download of a ‘torrent’, which is then to be opened in a compatible ‘client’ program. As a result, many Bittorent client programs have emerged, riding on the wave of the Bittorent phenomenon. BitComet, Azureus and Bittorent Client are all names synonymous with peer-to-peer sharing. However, one client that has caught my eye is a late entrant into the Bittorent scene - µTorrent.

µTorrent (also microTorrent or uTorrent) is free software available for download straight off the internet. It is a Bittorent client program which is localized for numerous languages. The main distinction between µTorrent and other popular clients like Azureus is that it functions while making use of minimal computer resources. This means that even when running µTorrent to download files, your machine is not slowed significantly by the processes and you are still free to do other things while you download.

µTorrent also supports older versions of Windows, unlike other larger client programs. µTorrent’s features are also reputed to work with Linux and most Mac operating systems. This opens up a new dimension for µTorrent, appealing to audiences previously neglected. The tech-savvy would glad to know that µTorrent uses as little as 14MB of RAM under Windows 95 on an average processor.

Personally, I have been using Azureus client, before making the transition to µTorrent recently. It was simply a very refreshing and welcome change for me. Azureus is indeed feature-packed - it supports majority of all Bittorrent functions and has many useful features. However, I ended up only making use of the search and downloading functions. In retrospect, all the other add-ons were largely unnecessary, making it a very cumbersome program. µTorrent took a moment to fully initialize and load, already a huge change from Azureus’s slow loading. It is straightforward, displaying your downloads and uploads onscreen. The interface is idiot-proof and user-friendly. Basically, just add a torrent and let it download.

I found out that I managed to achieve much faster download speeds on µTorrent compared to Azureus, but I am not sure if this is related to the client, since download speed hinges directly more on the torrent than the client. All in all, a simple and hassle-free client that serves its functions effectively and efficiently. µTorrent gets my vote.

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