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Software Reviews

by estople

The reviews and opinions below are posted by SnapFiles visitors. They do not necessarily reflect our opinion, and are solely based on the experience of individual users.

Ad-Aware 2007
  • Freeware
  • Win2000/XP/Vista

qleft  Terrific, if a bit daunting  qright

Ad-Aware 2007 version 1.06 SE Pers.
  • Interface: 4
  • Features: 5
  • Ease of use: 4
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 5

A solid performer that catches some things others don't, but all the options are a bit unexplained and a little much for the average user. Fast scanning, but that annoying sound upon detection takes a little effort to change. Could use a more in-depth help file and real-time protection not available in the free version. Full scanning for the retentive is slow and hasn't found anything for me that a smart system scan didn't. Great cookie scanning, but still best if used with other similar tools.

    Review date: Dec 01, 2005

Spybot - S&D
  • Freeware
  • Win98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista

qleft  Really, really good  qright

Spybot - S&D version 1.4
  • Interface: 5
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 5
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 5

A great tool that after a period of update inactivity is now back in the saddle and stronger than ever. I don't use the skins or the resident protection, but its core is solid and effective. Kinda slow, updates fail once in awhile and it complains when you disable certain XP SP2 security features. Scanning and removal are thorough and unobtrusive, Ive yet to have it fail to excise a detection. Advanced mode offers some neat tweaks, but it's still simple enough to be used by nearly anyone. Best used in conjunction with other similar tools, but still really, really good.

    Review date: Dec 01, 2005

ZipGenius
  • Freeware
  • WinWin (All)

qleft  Ok, you got me  qright

ZipGenius version 6.0.2.1060
  • Interface: 4
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 5
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 5

It was wrenching to go from [..] to [..], and it wasn't any easier going to ZipGenius. Once you get used to a compression tool - trusting all your files and data to it - its hard to switch. [..]'s annoying registration process made me look for an alternative to going through it all again when I upgraded to XP. ZipGenius makes me very comfortable and is now on every machine I own. Its different, to be sure, but in many ways that's a good thing. The XP-only interface style was tough to get used to, but its very complete and jam packed with goodies; everything [..] was and more. Highly recommended.

    Review date: Nov 22, 2005

Internet Explorer
  • Freeware
  • Win98/ME/2000/XP

qleft  Wait for ie7  qright

Internet Explorer version 6.0 SP1
  • Interface: 2
  • Features: 3
  • Ease of use: 3
  • Value: 3
  • Overall: 3

Yea, 7 will only be available to XP SP2 and later users, but who isn't upgrading? IE6 has severe code bloat and is the hackers' favorite target. Still, its what everybody uses and, as a result, what everybody (should) write for, so its an essential part of every desktop, as some sites just don't work anywhere else. Plug-ins and 3rd-party apps are way legion, and its just about as fast as can be. 7 will be better, though CSS support will still be spotty and all those horrible Windows tie-ins will still be with us. Hey, its the standard, whadda ya gonna do?

    Review date: Nov 22, 2005

Opera
  • Freeware
  • Win98/ME/2000/XP/Vista

qleft  Solid, with growing pains  qright

Opera
  • Interface: 3
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 3
  • Value: 3
  • Overall: 3

Opera is now a pretty solid browser and it has some features others don't have like the ability to disallow frames, but it still has its problems. While it will use older Windows media players, it chokes on V9, and has trouble with some standards like CSS2. As the web matures, Opera is struggling to keep up and add new, distinguishing features, but doing a pretty decent job. Can't stand the ad, though, and I'm too into free to pay to remove it. I've kept it for testing purposes, but I never browse with it. Its not something I'd put on my Mom's desktop. [Editor: the latest version of Opera does not display ads anymore]

    Review date: Nov 22, 2005

Mozilla Firefox
  • Freeware
  • Win2000/XP/2003/Vista

qleft  Better every time  qright

Mozilla Firefox version 1.07
  • Interface: 5
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 5
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 5

We switched from Netscape 7.1 to Firefox 1.0.4 and haven't looked back. Features aren't as hot, but as its standards compliant (and so are we), we love it. Better support for CSS than most any other, and some terrific little features that you do have to go looking for. Easy to use even for the first timer, the "Clear Private Data" and "Options..." tools are worth the download, but the advanced tab browsing is killer! Yep, its slow to load and its still got some plug-in issues (Acrobat Reader makes it skip a beat now and then), but its still better than IE7 and should get better as 1.5 and 2.0 are released. Highly recommended for anybody.

    Review date: Nov 22, 2005

Avira AntiVir Personal
  • Freeware
  • Win2000/XP/Vista

qleft  Whadda ya want fer free?  qright

Avira AntiVir Personal version 6.32.00.51
  • Interface: 3
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 3
  • Value: 4
  • Overall: 4

Occasional false positives (the Java SDK is one of its favorite targets), rather slow scanning, misses every once in a while, updates can take a looooonnnnggggg time, the resident guard gets deactivated sometimes (though an update usually fixes it), and it consumes some system resources. Still, for free, AntiVir ROCKS! Easy to install, frequently updated, better detection than most other freebies, VERY configurable, and its positively anal about security. One of the best (if not THE best) free anti-virus tools out there.

    Review date: Nov 22, 2005

BRS WebWeaver
  • Freeware
  • WinWin (All)

qleft  Lacking functionality  qright

BRS WebWeaver version 1.32
  • Interface: 2
  • Features: 2
  • Ease of use: 2
  • Value: 2
  • Overall: 2

Lots of features promised that don't work yet, like web-based configuration management and operation as a service (at least under NT). Very fast, but a pain to set-up and will only run under the account its installed under. Couldn't get past the opening problems to evaluate in full, so YMMV.

    Review date: Nov 22, 2005

Abyss Web Server For Windows
  • Freeware
  • WinWin (All)

qleft  Solid performer  qright

Abyss Web Server For Windows version X1 2.0.6
  • Interface: 4
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 3
  • Value: 4
  • Overall: 4

Sets up in just a few minutes, and has a lot of great features like aliasing, IP permission control and web-based configuration management. Kind of a memory hog on occasion and it can be slow, but it still runs semi-comfortably even on minimal PCs.

    Review date: Nov 22, 2005

Auto Movie Creator

Auto Movie Creator

Create movies using video clips, photo images, and music files.

Demo Builder

Demo Builder

Create interactive Flash movies and tutorials to show how applications and systems work.

RoboTask

RoboTask

A powerful, yet easy-to-use tool to automate any series of tasks you can do on your computer.