Happy customer

I'm not big user of office and mainly use it for typing letters and reading documents from work. However compared to office 2003 i find it more user friendly and visually looks a lot better. It does the job and am happy which is why 5/5 -

I don't understand why the low marks that outlook 2007 is not included when if you have windows vista it comes built in windows mail ( which is same as outlook express ) and far better email client then outlook 2007.

Before buying from amazon i search the web to see if i could find better price and by far amazon is lowest by at least 20-30pounds. Super-save delivery took about 4days -

Also had registry issues due to previous office causing problems after uninstall. Microsoft technical support was first class and resolved the issue within minutes.

Annoying

Very disappointing. Sends pop ups stating that the database is updating and then when finished updating it requests that you restart the computer!!!. Went through the complex menu to change the updating to weekly which I manged to do. Now it sends a popup every day saying the database is out of date. This is boring, boring, boring and very annoying. I think the free version is better than the premium version.

A great photo editing package for home users

Presently on PcPro's `A-List', Adobe Elements is a cut down version of Adobe's £500+ Photoshop/Photoshop Extended CS4, and costs considerably less while still having a lot of useful photo editing capabilities. Photoshop CS4 has a steep learning curve, but Photoshop elements is far more home-user friendly. A lot of the program is geared towards image storage and management of the photos on your hard drive, helping with emailing, web output and scrapbooks of your images. The program can auto-downloads your images from the camera to folders, set up using the date, and can even process the images, say automatically removing red-eye, while it does it. Using stacks you can set up image databases [smart albums] using keywords like names, places, events, etc.., and you can even search using visual tags within the image. That said, I shun the image database options offered by Photoshop Elements and Extended, preferring the simplicity of logical folder names instead. Also, like PhotoShop, the image database side isn't seamlessly integrated into the image editing side [to the point where it's actually annoying].

New to Elements 7 is a new Quick Fix tool to soften surfaces while keeping the edge and detail sharp - i.e. a blur tool, which can help to remove unwanted image noise. Plus there's a new Scene Cleaner tool that can brush away undesirable objects from a photo [so you can ditch that car or tourists from the view] and there's now a Smart Brush which lets you instantly apply effects to a selected area of the image. Plus Element's 7 sports a new single step `whiten teeth', 'make grass greener' and `make the sky blue' tool - but this is little more than streamlining tools within Quick Select and Adjustment Layer Presets that were available on Elements 6. Besides Adobe's suggestion of using the tool to whiten teeth and add a suntan to say Aunt Doris's face may make her look a little ridiculous. Also new in Element's 7 will be a free subscription to Photoshop.com, a special service Adobe has devised to bring friends together by providing quick access to on-line backup, storage, and sharing capabilities. You get 2GB of on-line storage, `enough for up to 1,500 photos', so you can view your photos from virtually anywhere. Thus Photoshop Elements goes `Facebook', allowing you to share your photos `in fun, interactive ways via invitation-only'. For these `Online Albums' you will get new [quite fun] animated templates delivered to Elements on a regular basis. There will also be a Photoshop.com ` Plus' membership offering 20 Gb [15,000 photos] of on-line photo storage, but that will require you paying an annual fee. The first year's 20 Gb subscription is included in Adobe's `Elements 7 Plus' [but not this standard version].

And all the old Element 6's tools are there as well. For editing you have a set of 'quickfix' options or you can load the full image editor for greater manual control: such as adjust sharpness, correct camera distortion, levels, hue and skin colour. Naturally you have standard tools like crop and adjust image size (pixels) as well. Plus there are step-through guides [guided edit] to help you get there. The software will also integrate with scanners twain interfaces if you are into scanning film, and the Fill Light [shadow/highlight] tool is pretty essential for bringing out detail in shadows from any slide/negative scan. Plus Elements can handle RAW camera images, although I use TIFF/jpg (Elements can save in any common image format).

System requirements are quite high: CD drive, 1Gb system RAM, XP or Vista, 2GHz processor, and a Direct-X 9 graphics card [and Adobe installers can reject systems that don't meet the minimum spec]. Elements 7 perhaps isn't a crucial upgrade from Elements 6 or even 5, but for new home users, or those with older versions, it's very powerful photo editing and image database software from the market leaders. The new 'Scene Cleaner' tool should have been the 'killer app' for those considering upgrading, but it is little more than Elements 6's old PhotoMerge Group application and it requires a series of photos where one has the background free to copy across [and it sometimes gets the exposure wrong making the added bit look rather obvious].

Adobe Elements 7 has only two real competitors at the price: Paint Shop Pro X2 and Serif PhotoPlus X2. Both these programs are also excellent and worthy of consideration, with PhotoPlus's strength being it's about as powerful but rather cheaper to buy and upgrade. Likewise Corel Paint Shop pro X2 occasionally offers a bit more than Elements [layer masks, and curves], is also cheaper and a tad easier to use, although it can be buggy [not Adobe's strong point on first version release either - so install those patches]. Professional users and some SLR enthusiasts will still head towards Adobe's semi-automated PhotoShop Darkroom 2.0 and the fantastically expensive Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended, although even at work we have Adobe Elements on a few imaging workstations for casual users, where the high cost of PhotoShop CS4 Extended simply isn't justified. That said experienced Photoshop CS4 users will rapidly find Elements 7 lacking in a few key features they are used to.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 is also available to buy as a cheaper double pack with the new Adobe Premiere Elements 7 video editing software, which should be even better value than this upgrade. Plus this double pack qualifies for a large educational discount for non-commercial use if you, or a child in the house, are in full time education [from primary school to college]. Similar large educational discounts apply to much of Adobes software. Those buying for College/School department use will save even more.

quick dispatch

I ordered this software on Wednesday, and now I have it on Saturday, thanks. Anyway this product looks professional, but I just start to use it.

treat with caution - see full review on upgrade 5 users version

THis caused us enormous problems. See our full review in upgrade 2009 - we returned to 2008 as all 5 of our systems failed using this product. I will be avoiding it.

Fast and unobtrusive, but slightly tricky installation

This seems to perform anti-virus checking very efficiently and am more than happy. I did have a problem with the installation as it broke my DNS so could not browse the internet (which is annoying when all the help in the world is on the internet). I had removed Norton before as instructed and rebooted - not sure if that caused the issue. But, after uninstalling Kapersky, rebooting, reinstalling, rebooting it came to life and worked.
Great value for money too.

A good application for the price

I am not very experienced with photo editing software, so bought this based on Amazon reviews, as I was looking for something I could easily use to improve my digital photos.

My first impressions are that the software is good, and relatively easy to use, but not particularly intuitive. You have to really spend a bit of time practising with this to become good at using it, it is not something you will master in five minutes. However this is relatively cheap compared to some editing software, so I cannot complain too much.

I think that as I spend more time with this programme, I will become more familiar with all it's capabilities, and from what I have seen so far, it does all of the things I need it to do, including a one touch, automatic photograph enhancer, which is very useful at times!

They should be ashamed.

I bought this because the kids need it for school and am amazed how dreadful it is.
First of all when installed it needs a 160Mb"critical" update.
This failed using the auto update (at 155MB). I then downloaded the latest update as a stand alone file from Microsoft. This failed at it could not find any office installation on my computer!
I tried the auto update again and this time it worked, but only after a cryptic"Microsoft does not understand this error" message.
This takes it to 12.1.
I now states that a 12.1.1 update is"Critical" and is another 150MB download.
The current version is actually 12.2 so goodness knows how long it will take to get there.
I have used Macs for 10+ years and never have I seen such shoddy, slapdash work.

They should be ashamed and Mr Jobs should have a word in their ear.

I haven't used it yet and it has been a day wasted so far.
Buy anything else unless you really, really need it.
I would give it no stars if this system allowed it.

Office 2007 Home and Student

Upgraded from Office 2003 mainly to keep in mainstream of product. Very surprised by the change of 'look and feel', with a lot of the functionality I have used for years within MS Office products moved or hidden (but still there when searched for, often with more functionality). Fits well with look and feel of MS Vista OS, not so well with Windows XP. Also more resource hungry (definite Core 2 processor with at least 1Gb memory as a minimum). Overall very good product, and the home and student licencing (ie non-commercial) made it an economical upgrade for three machines. Only downside, no MS Outlook (Microsoft oversight or a way to encourage us to buy more expensive version?), so still running Outlook from Office 2003 alongside.

Full of exciting, useful features.

Has all the features expected from MS for a product of this caliber and runs like a champ. Has added in the ability of sharing information with other users over the network.
I can say that Office 2003 Professional is one of the best office application out today.
Bottom Line: The best of the best in office applications...

Not as helpful as you might think

I took my test for a full car license several years ago, way before all these new fangled theory tests were brought in, but in the grip of my midlife crisis I decided to learn to ride a motorbike.

So I needed to brush up on the theory test for bikes and the hazard perception test. This was the only product I found dealing with the hazard perception part of the test.

Being unable to compare it with anything else makes objective comment a little difficult, but I didn't find the DVD much use at all.

That said, I'm not sure it's necessarily the DVD's fault - I think the hazard perception test itself is poorly presented and unclear in what exactly is being measured (I passed it first time, by the way, so this isn't sour grapes). Even after watching this DVD, taking the mock tests (which require you to click the OK button on your DVD remote when you spot a hazard) and then taking the real test, I'm still unclear what I could have done to ensure a perfect score.

That's really my gripe - I didn't feel sufficiently confident after running through this DVD that I knew exactly how I was going to be marked in the real test.

But maybe that's my problem, not this product's.

Final conclusion: worth getting because it won't do any harm and might do some good. And you get to watch Suzi Perry presenting the bits between the clips. I'd borrow this or buy it cheaper second hand if I were you.

One step forward, three steps back. Avoid.

+'s
. improved aesthetics.

-'s
. It crashes reguarly.
. It horribly bloated, if it is trying to connect to your server multi-tasking goes out the window - even using other applications is a no go. This hangs so often it is almost a given my laptop will become a frisbee at some point.
. it doesn't like HTML mails!!!
. the address system is retarded.
. it doesn't save drafts where you tell it to in the options.

Concl.
Buggy, bloated and overpriced. Stick with the old office.

(this is on new top end VAIO...)

The greatest role-playing game of all time

Two games you simply MUST play- Fallout 1 & 2 are the greatest role-playing games ever- the best games I have ever played, with amazing replay value. I have been through both games repeatedly and have now lost count- they are both dated now but the atmosphere is so intoxicating. The freedom of choice is captivating- such an open world and so many different choices to make, you will be immersed. Great characters, great stories, amazing game play- buy it, but it now for these games are true classics. 10 years on since I originally played fallout and I am currently replaying it ONCE AGAIN and still thoroughly enjoy it. Fallout 2 is so vast and fun it's hard to imagine these games ever being surpassed in their genre- it is yet to happen.

Slimmer of the year?

They claim to have done away with years of bloat and seem to be right. I've avoided Norton for several years now but am delighted with the 2009 version. It is light on use of system resources and runs quickly and efficiently where it used to be sluggish and slow my system right down. With 2009, my boot time hardly increased after installation; it is much faster than with ZoneAlarm Security Suite. RAM use seems to be down to less than 30MB. Scans only run when the machine is idle - excellent.

As well as the usual AV and Firewall modules, etc, you get a browser plug-in for IE and FF to detect phishing sites and similar nasties. You also get an"identity safe" for protection against key-loggers - this enables you to send your details over the web without typing them every time.

Negatives? Well, the price is on the high side. And the interface is perhaps a little busy, but it's perfectly usable and functional.

Overall, I'm really glad I switched, and will very likely stick with Norton unless it starts putting on weight again.

Norton The Silent Partner

Read all reviews and then purchased. Norton 360 loaded quickly, no hiccups, no nonsense. Am very impressed at how it works away quietly in the background with no reduction in speed of my laptop, in fact, in a few areas I believe it has quickened up. When it does prompt me, I am impressed at the level of sensibility of the questions. Very glad I purchased it.
I would add though, that I am using a laptop that is only 6 months old, and with 4gig memory that I upgunned myself, so I can understand some others gripes.
Lastly, somebody in Symantec may be listening: my disc arrived in a very small packet, no cardboard waste at all!

hats off, at last!!

after an unsatisfactory trial with Kaspersky I decided on a simple antivirus, this is good, very good, its quiet, the pc runs quickly and smoothly and it even monitors my wireless network. Happy to buy this. Worth a serious look if you don't need a full suite. Well done it's taken a few years mind you but I think they have cracked it at Symantec! Ill be watching very closely if the virus and spyware is better, 2008 suite installed on my new laptop missed a trojan here and there so well see if this is better, but certainly from a running point of view it's spot on!

Would have been 5 stars except.....

Was really impressed by the 15 day free trial available on the Acronis website so ordered two copies, one for use on a PC running XP and another for use on a machine running Vista. However, during the installation process you have to enter a 64-digit serial number that's printed on the CD slip. Unfortunately the installation program reported the serial numbers on both copies as invalid. No reference to this problem on the Acronis website and no response from the e-mail sent to tech support after more than 48hrs. Eventually got to speak to someone on Acronis Livechat and they informed me that the products had been shipped with defective serial numbers. Simple solution was to go to the link, which they provide, and exchange the defective serial number for a new one. Problem solved!!

As I said if it hadn't been for this incident I would have given it 5 stars as it's a really excellent product and easy to use (once you get it installed). Just left a little concerned that if, by the sounds of it, an entire batch of True Image 2009 has been shipped with defective serial numbers why hasn't Acronis done a recall or at least put a notice on their homepage on how to fix this?

Update: Looks as though Acronis have now ackowledged the issue with invalid serial numbers on their website. Go to the following tech support page if you're having the invalid serial number issue on installation of True Image 2009 - []