Features

• For IT professionals, engineers, and developers
• Provides the most comprehensive technical diagramming and drawing tools available
• Create and share complex information
• Allows for software diagramming and reverse engineering
• This is an upgrade--a previous verion of Visio is required

Reviews (3)

Beware!!! Not an upgrade for Visio 2003 Standard
I just purchased this thinking that "of course I can upgrade to Visio 2003 Pro from Visio 2003 Standard". Nope. This is just plain silly. I still am trying to figure out if I can even upgrade my Visio *2003* Standard version to Professional.

A Valuable Upgrade
I have been using the Visio diagramming software since the 2000 version. In my mind this upgrade is the best I have purchased.

The interface with the rest of the Office XP 2003 Suite is vastly improved. I can now take a diagram created in Visio and drop it into Word documents, PowerPoint Presentations and e-mails without having to reformat it. In the past the transfer was never clean.

Once the diagram is embedded, I can emphasize and clarify key points, gather input from team members and even share documents using SharePoint services. This is a huge timesaver for me.

If you embed your diagrams in other documents, you will love this upgrade.

Powerful, Versatile, Sophisticated Business Diagramming
Visio has always been an excellent solution for technical diagramming. Version 2003 is no exception and improves upon its predecessor with support for the web and integration with other Office applications. The program still lacks certain elements of Microsoft Office which I feel concerned about. Users are able to import Native Auto CAD drawings directly into Visio, and use the Visio tools to further customize and edit drawings to their hearts content. You can create custom stencils save them and share with other Visio users over a corporate network. You can export diagrams as a webpage so that users who don't have Visio installed locally on their machine can View diagrams through web browser at different resolutions with ease. The program enables IT Adminstrators to create Diagrams for Active Directory role outs for Windows 2000 Server and Server 2003. SQL Server or other third party database products such as Oracle and IBM DB2 can use the Visio functionality to outline a companies storage of data through active digrams that automate how data is stored and used. You can create simple project management task, and also export other Visio digrams to PowerPoint and further edit within PowerPoint or Word.Other features include searching for stencils online in the program, which makes it easy for you to find that particular diagram. Visio still lacks certain elements such as native support for WordArt. Overall, this upgrade is a must have for existing Visio 2000 or 5.0 users, but some 2002 users might not see any need for some of the functionality and might wait first to see if their diagramming and network infrastructure needs demand the new functionality and technology that Visio 2003 has to offer. ... Read more

Features

• Business-planning software with helpful collaboration tools
• 400+ sample plans; expert instructions and examples at every step
• Easily exports to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Adobe PDF
• Built-in Plan Review ensures bullet-proof financials
• 2 expert business and marketing planning books included

Features

• Write like a professional with Word 2002
• Get up and go with Streets & Trips 2005
• Edit and organize your photos with Picture It! Premium 10
• Explore the world with Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2005
• Get those finances in order with Money Standard 2005

Features

• Updated maps showing all highways, local routes, borders and exits in the U.S.
• Instant routing finds the fastest way to get to any destination
• Powerful search engine with multile zoom levels, for close-up looks at the roads you'll travel
• Millions of searchable points of interest -- from the newest restaurants to the closest gas stations
• Add your own notes and recommendations to maps

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

This comprehensive program provides up to 550 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, writing, and speaking. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists or drills. Previews, exercises, and tests accompany every lesson, and there are automated tutorials throughout the program. Graphical speech recognition displays your voiceprint and compares it with the native speaker to help improve your pronunciation. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Good vocabulary builder and refresher, not for serious study
I am actually reviewing the online version from Rosetta Stone Online, which makes the full Level I and II versions available by subscription.

Each section consists of a series of Listening, Reading/Listening, Speaking, and Reading exercises. The full version of this software consists of 19 units of 10-12 sections each.

In each exercise, you are given a series of activities consisting of a choice of four pictures and/or pieces of text and/or spoken dialogues (depending on which type of activity it is), and you must choose the correct picture/text/dialogue from the cues.

The exercises are very simple, suitable for children or for quick reviews. If you are new to Arabic, or refreshing your skills after a long period of disuse, the repetition will be useful in building your vocabulary (back) up. You are fed bits of grammar incrementally with each new unit. You start with simply identifying various people and objects, and then add a few adjectives, and then add a few verbs so you are recognizing simple sentences such as "The boy drinks some milk" or "The bird flies" or "This car is not red, it is white," etc. Each unit adds more pieces of grammar and more vocabulary, building up to more complex sentences, different verb tenses, and so on.

However, that is as far as it can take you. Diligently practicing all the exercises should expand your vocabulary and give you basic grammatical skills in Arabic. It will not bring you to the point of being able to carry on a meaningful conversation (unless your conversations are confined to describing objects and pointing at various people and animals and stating what they are doing), nor will it enable you to, say, read a newspaper.

For self-study, this software makes a good supplement to more robust texts and tapes. Don't expect it to bring you up to full proficiency. If you want to do more than recognize simple sentences and learn a lot of "everyday vocabulary," Rosetta Stone is insufficient. However, I do recommend it for the crucial repetition and "training your ear" that every language student needs, especially those doing self-study, if you are at a low to moderate proficiency level.

It is important to note that the text is entirely in Arabic script. You must be able to read Arabic before you can practice anything but the listening exercises. (Get a good book on Arabic script and learn it -- it's not that difficult, a serious student should be able to read the script fairly proficiently within a week.) Also, there are no English translations at all. This is not a bad thing -- the way the information is presented, you are expected to pick up the meaning as you go along, and if you practice the exercises seriously, you will. Just be aware that this software is based on the Audio-Lingual method, so you will find no glossaries or explanations of grammar.

Liked it but it needs a lot of patience and head scratching.
I bought the Rosetta Stone Explorer Arabic course and got through it with some difficulty (but it was fun for the most part).

I have lived and worked in Saudi Arabia and have studied the language and writing so I knew a little bit already. I found that several times it was difficult to determine the gender or ages of the people in the pictures. I also found that the small display (at least half the size of my laptop screen made it more difficult to see the pictures especially if the arabic script is on top of it. It would be helpful also if the Arabic script were larger. I would have liked to see a translation of the Arabic words into English as a way to clear up any confusion that does arise often. It would have been ok to rely primarily on the method that Rosetta Stone uses as long as you can look up the words in question. It would have been really super to be able to point and click on the Arabic script or on the specific images in the picture to get a translation.

It takes a lot of concentration to look at the pictures and try to associate the spoken or printed arabic words to just what is meant to be conveyed in the pictures. Often you have to go back and forth between two or more different pictures to see what is common to the Arabic words being spoken/written. The words are written only in Arabic script and unless you know that Arabic is written from right to left and know what the characters represent you can forget about associating the printed word to any meaning.

Finally, despite the relatively high price for the more advanced Level 1 and Level 2 courses I did enjoy the "Explorers" course and will probably buy them anyway. But first, I want to buy the Transparent Language Arabic course which is considerably cheaper. I also bought the Transparent Languages "101 Languages of the World" course which is the inexpensive intoduction to Transparent Languages more expensive and more in depth course which is much cheaper than Rosetta Stone. It also has immediate translations and a lot of other teaching methods that I find very good.

Good with other resources, but can't stand on its own
I've been using a number of different language software programs as research for a thesis. I've enjoyed using the Rosetta Stone software to study German, Arabic and Japanese. I have lived in Japan and I had studied Japanese for a number of years before I came across this software. It was my first time studying German and Arabic.

My biggest problem with Rosetta Stone software comes from the complete lack of any explanation of the basics of the target language. The theory here is that you will learn the language as a child does by seeing pictures, hearing the words and making the connection. This idea in practice can be a lot of fun and you should be able to pick up some vocabulary and sentence structures in a very short time (as long as the language uses an English alphabet). However, without a few basic pointers on the writing systems of languages like Japanese and Arabic, good luck figuring anything out. For example, if you did not know that Arabic is written and read from right to left with the letters joined together as in cursive English, you stand little hope of ever being able to break words and phrases down into the 28 Arabic alphabet's characters. It wasn't until I went to another source outside the Rosetta Stone software that I realised my massive error in trying to decipher the most basic script. This could have easily been avoided had the software offered a few pages of explanation, or even just the alphabet itself spelled out with English letter approximate equivalents and an arrow pointing from right to left. And Japanese? The same problem times 3 (the number of written character styles in Japanese) and just as confusing.

Final review then? The Rosetta Stone software by itself can be quite useful as long as you are after listening and speaking skills only AND you don't think you'll ever need to see and read the word as you hear it. However, if you were hoping to learn reading and writing in a target language that uses a writing system other than the English alphabet, be prepared to go hunting for additional resources as a primer before you start banging your head against this Stone. After an hour or so of basic tutorial from an Arabic alphabet website, I got back on track with Rosetta, but I was quite annoyed that I ever had to make that extra journey in the first place. A company should not try to claim that its software is an all encompassing program if it falls so far short of just that from the get go. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Descriptions Now is a fast and easy way to define jobs and hire more effectively. Simply choose from the library of thousands of jobs, answer relevant questions about qualifications, physical demands, supervisory responsibilities, performance competencies, and work environment, then edit, and your description will be generated automatically. From blank page to final description, you will be finished in minutes. You can also generate interview questions and speed the process of writing and placing job advertisements, so you can attract the right people, ask the right questions, and hire the right candidates. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

My team members love this!
I have Descriptions Now as part of the Ultimate Employer package. We wanted to use it to save time writing job descriptions and to be consistent as we wrote descriptions for people performing vastly different responsibilities. What surprised us was the reaction of our team members. They are much more confident in their work, in the company and are taking more ownership in their responsibilities. Great package. ... Read more

Features

• Searches Ancestry.com automatically to find your ancestors
• Compare new findings with your own data side-by-side
• Incorporate new information easily with the new Web Merge Wizard
• Easily navigate through generations in the new Pedigree View
• Quickly jump to people in your tree with bookmarks

Features

• Information management tool for delivering great customer service
• See customers at a glance and detailed information instantly
• Synchronize information between key applications
• Import contacts from QuickBooks, Microsoft Excel, Outlook, and more
• Create group mailings instantly; familiar look and feel of QuickBooks

Features

• Getting Started tutorial; 30+ videos for step-by-step instructions
• Software for home remodeling, design, landscaping, and decking projects
• 500 sample home plans; House Wizard for a customized design
• Library of over 3,000 items to create a 3D Model in minutes
• Automatically generate a materials list for project-cost estimating

Reviews (2)

Finally!
I've tried many home design programs over the last couple of years and have always been disappointed.I've downloaded many free trial versions and purchased a couple.My latest, Punch Super Home Suite, was OK for 2D stuff but the 3D was impossible and frustrating.I took advantage of their money back guarantee!

I just purchased Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer for $39.00 from a local retailer last week.While I still have lots to learn I love it!I'm amazed at the sophistication for the price.I was VERY leery of buying this based on only one 5 star rating but I did.Well now there are two 5 star ratings so hopefully this will help others.

There are still some things that are "tricky" to construct but I haven't found anything I couldn't create yet and I discover more useful features every time I use it.The training videos are a great way to learn the software quickly and it comes with a hard copy manual, which is getting less common these days.If you are looking for an inexpensive but powerful design program definitely try this one!

AWESOME! FANTASTICPROGRAM.......
Chief Architect tops them all! This program is great. It has a easy userface like 3D Home Architect version 4.0! This program is definitely worth the $ 59.00 I paid for it. Eventually I will upgrade to the next version. This version also offers designing tutorials. And the backdrops are really nice. BUY IT!!!! I have tried soooo many Home design programs and this is the BEST!!! I WOULD GIVE IT 10 STARS BUT THEY ONLY ALLOW UP TO 5!!! ... Read more

Features

• Personal finance software with award-winning Portfolio Manager
• Automatically consolidates online financial information
• Provides essential tools for planning financial future
• Integrated GainsKeeper for tax-smart investment choices
• Simplify taxes, maximize savings; achieve financial goals

Reviews (7)

Sorry... Final Draft is better... NOT Buggy
I tried this and Final Draft side by side while evaluating what to buy. Final Draft is just less buggy and more professional.

Movie Magic pops the cursor around the screen after an operation. It also has these windows 3.1 looking interface windows. The speech system is too dependent on windows and not self contained like Final Draft.

True, there is more customization with Movie Magic... but I like Final Draft MUCH better. Run them next to each other and u will see.

Mike

Professional's tool
I am both a working screenwriter and script supervisor. I use Movie Magic Screenwriter for both those jobs. Its an excellent, straight-forward, and cleanly built program for formating and writing professionally styled scripts.

Compared to Final Draft Movie Magic's formatting simply looks cleaner - with more accurate and useful spacing, sluglines, and transitions - and is far easier to use. Now this doesn't mean it will teach you how to write or what to write, but it does mean what you do write will at least look good.

Minor problems I've had and things that could change for the better...Screenwriter is a tad unstable with Windows XP and occasionally crashes at start-up (although I have yet to lose a file because of that). Some of the production tools - like scene numbering and CONTINUEDs - are buried deep in the program and not the least bit easy to get to. Also they still have annoying and non-standard formatting in there sluglines and transitions. For instance you can select Continuous and Moments Later for a time portion of your slugline. Any oen that works in production knows that there is no Continuous or Moments Later. Simply either DAY or NIGHT. For transitions they still have CUT TO which is no longer used.

Aside from those minor things Movie Magic is an excellent script writing program.

not as easy as they make it sound!
I am just getting started using the program so I can not yet judge the overall product. I can tell you that the product description said: just load the software and you will be writing scripts in minutes regardless if you are a first timer or a pro.

That is a stretch. I had to get a tech guy to load the program and then it really is not walking me through the "how to" part of script writing.

Just be prepared to spend some time at the beginning.

Good script writing software.
For years, I used to use Microsoft Word to develop all of my scripts in. While it could be done, it wasn't the best nor the easiest way to do it. I had always put off buying specialized software to do something that but the problem is that I spent more time formatting and paginating my scripts than I did writing.

Finally, I decided to break down and buy scripting software. But before deciding on which one to buy I did a little research on the titles that were currently available. I wanted to make sure I got the best product for the right price. What ultimatly sold me on Movie Magic Screenwriter 2000 was that both the Writers' Guild of America and Project Greenlight both recommend this software.

One of the claims made by the software company is the ability to get up and running right out of the box. I found this to be--for the most part--true. Upon receiving my copy, I was entering my first script in about 30 minutes (including installation time). There are some things that you may need to know, but the software company was intuitive enough to add booklets that contain this information in it so that you didn't have to hunt through the manual.

There are also a nice collection of templates included with the software that allows you to write for both movie and television (like I do). The templates for the TV shows comes in many different flavors (Sci-fi, sit-coms, dramas, etc.) and are even set up in the format used by several different shows.

What I especially appreciated was the fact that Screenwriter 2000 kept track of the names of my characters. I used to have to do this on scratch pads and Post-It notes or I would have to read back in the script to find a name. In Screenwriter 2000, I can call up a list of names to find the one I'm looking for. I'm able to do the same thing with scene heading, so I can keep my scenes in a consistant format.

Since I post some of my work on Zoetrope.com for review by other writers, the fact that I can create an Adobe file (.pdf format) was also of importance to me. While I could use a translation program to turn my Word document into an Adobe file, such translators have their problem and don't always retain the format that you created. With Screenwriter 2000, my Adobe documents come out looking the same as the original file. But this feature wasn't as intuitive as I had thought it would be. I was expecting this feature to be a part of the file exporting system. Instead, it's part of the print function. (You "print" a .pdf file.)

While there are a lot of pros about the software, there were also several cons, which is why I only rated it four stars. One is that this software is set up to installed on both the Mac and the PC from the same box. Becuase of that, they designed the user manual to address both opperating systems by printing it as a flip book. (One side has the instructions for the PC--flip the book over--the other side has the instructions for the Mac.) This means that the index is in the center. If you use an index as often as I do, plan on placing a bookmark there.

Another problem is that not all of the features available to the PC user is available to the Mac user. As of this review, only one feature--the Storyboard Linking--was not available on the Mac. However, this should be of little consiquence to the average user (unless you're a professional writer in Hollywood with a Mac).

Finally, one feature that was touted to me time and again was the voice readback capability. By using a Text-to-Speech engine, you can have your script read back to you, even to the point of assigning different voices to the different characters. It took a little effort to get this feature working on my PC, and when I did it sounded like a room full of Stephen Hawkings reading my screenplay.

Still, as softwares goes, this is possibly the best product out on the market.

Makes the act of film creation a breeze
I've been using this product for about a year and it's about as easy as a program like this gets without sacrificing its professional end product. It's a cinch to learn, with easy fast-keys, a WORD-like interface, and a ton of features you may never get to. Great for plays, video game scenario building, etc., but its strength clearly lies in screenplay creation. All I have to do is think of the story I want to tell, know a few choice commands, and I'm flying with this program.

Great paper tutorial and a reasonable price for this type of program. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Any business that requires documents to be shared, reviewed, and editedacross broad networks will undoubtedly benefit from Adobe Acrobat 5.0. If you'venever used Acrobat before, you'll be amazed at how easy it is to convert Officedocuments and Web pages to PDF files (portable document format). If you alreadyuse Acrobat, new features and enhancements--including the ability to uploaddocuments to Web sites and intranets--make this version a worthwhile upgrade.

Installation is quick and easy; within 15 minutes of opening the box we weresaving Web pages as PDF files and adding comments to our documents. New usersmay want to take a tour around the help sections (either online Help or tooltips) to get acquainted with the program. In addition, checking out the helpsection will ensure you don't miss out on some of the more hidden featureswithin the application, such as color management and timesaving Windows and Macshortcuts.

One of the most important new features of version 5.0 is the ability to developnew documents from PDF files. You can now save the PDF file to Rich Text Format(RTF), and then edit the document using your word processor. Another importantnew feature is the ability to create interactive forms, which actually look alot like their paper counterparts. And once you figure out how to upload theseforms to your company intranet, you can share them with all relevant teammembers. Team members can even sign these forms, using a password-protecteddigital signature.

As always, the ability to comment on documents and Web pages remains animportant reason to use Acrobat. A toolbar on the left-hand side gives userseasy access to the list of comment tools, which range from highlighting tools,note boxes, pencil and line tools, and strikeout tools which let you erase linesof text. Once you've marked up a file or Web page, you can send the file to teammembers, business contacts and clients. As long as they have the Acrobat Reader(available free from Adobe's Web site), they should be able to read these files. And Acrobat retains the quality of your documents when you print them, so youdon't have any nasty surprises when you pick up your documents from theprinter.

Companies with employees in different physical locations can only benefit fromAcrobat 5.0. While version 4.0 is obviously still a strong and very usefulproduct, upgrading to Acrobat 5.0 promises a host of Internet-ready new featuresdesigned to accompany your business to the next level of high-speedcommunication. --Gisele Toueg ... Read more

Reviews (60)

Much needed upgrade
Acrobat for Windows (and other Adobe software) is expensive. Way too much. Every Adobe program costs hundreds of dollars, and only recently they started offering product suites that greatly reduce the cost of ownership. Acrobat is included in every such collection. The problem with such collections (4 programs) is that the price tag approaches 4 digits. All of these suites contain Acrobat (4.0), the heading program of "e-paper solutions". If the changes from version 3.0 to version 4.0 were profound, then the change to version 5.0 is much more than substantial, it's overwhelming.

REMARKS FOR FIRST-TIME USERS: If you don't already know that, here is a short, but important message for newcomers to the PDF world: if you only need to read PDF files - you do not need Adobe Acrobat - just download a free Acrobat *Reader* from Adobe website. If you need to create the simplest possible version of PDF documents, there are free tools on the web that will allow you to do that. Acrobat is a powerful program that is designed to assist you in almost every aspect of publishing electronic documents online, or sharing them in a multi-platform environment. Hence, as this software is expensive - you might reconsider your purchase. If you regularly publish important stuff online and you work in a potentially multi-platform environment or the whole network AND you think seriously about your work, then Acrobat is for you (this is why I tested and bought yet another upgrade). Nevertheless, this powerful tool may be too much. If you need to distribute files among friends or post some messages online, you might consider using HTML (available even via any word-processing software like Word). PDF format is really designed to be multi-platform - and you have to pay a "nice" price for the opportunity to create such documents.

WHY IS THE UPGRADE WORTH YOUR ATTENTION: For the first time in Acrobat history you are able to RESTRUCTURE existing PDF documents. It's especially useful when you no longer have the original version of the file from which PDF was created. To this end, Acrobat uses the RTF format recognizable by every word processor. Acrobat can publish user-interactive documents online - with integrated (yet still limited) options used in productivity office suites: calculation, spell-checking, multi-user collaboration. You can specify permissions on distributed documents, like allowing/disallowing printing, changing or copying text to clipboard. Newly supported encryption is now 128 bit. Finally, FINALLY, Adobe decided to simplify the user interface a little. Now, more than ever, Acrobat toolbars are much more customizable - you can arrange them in the floating Photoshop-type way, or use all toolbars (including new formatting toolbar) at once, as in Microsoft software. This is a step in a good direction. Last, but not least, you have a PDF repair utility. It is especially useful when you use a browser plug-in (Acrobat integrates with MSIE and Netscape) to save a web page, or capture it and convert to PDF. There is a high probability that the file will include unnecessary portions of html code, including scripts. That's a very good reason to upgrade, if not anything else.

REMARKS: PDF writer (a simple PDF-producer included as a "virtual" PDF printing option) fails more often than not and in order to have correct results, it's better to use Distiller (a full-featured virtual PDF printing engine) which may be not user-friendly to new users. Still, in this version 5.0 the old truth remains the same: not every graphics object you have in your document will be converted - sometimes you will get a blacked area instead of the picture. There is no other way around than experimenting with the file type, which may be confusing in some productivity applications.

SUMMARY: Powerful tool for those who really need multi-platform secure document creation and distribution. It's still relatively-user unfriendly. If you have already used a previous version, 4.0., do not hesitate. If you are contemplating first-time purchase, read the above remarks and think twice. That's of course if you have enough money to buy Acrobat.

For functionality and reliable cross-platform compatibility.
Acrobat 5.0 can convert any file type from its application's print command into a PDF, which, when viewed by someone with the free Acrobat Reader, will look the same as you created it, irrespective of their monitor's resolution setting, or computer platform. This means that a document containing text and images will look correct on screen and when printed. At present, the Adobe PDF format is the only means of achieving this.

You can create a navigation path within your PDF using the Bookmarks feature. Highlight and add annotations to sections of the document. And include hyperlinks as in an HTML page, etc.

Using Acrobat to create a bookmarked photo-gallery, for example, will result in a file much smaller than an equivalent HTML item when you use Acrobat's screen-optimised Distiller settings, and with all the images retained within the PDF itself, instead of split between a contents folder and its associated HTML page. The PDF can be secured so that your images and text are secure from simple pilfering.

The security settings in Acrobat 5.0 are a little more comprehensive than was available in 4.0. Examples being password encryption at 128 bits, and print resolution options of high and low. Even so, PDF security is a matter of hot debate at present, as is security in any computer format. So don't get overly confident. Only regard a secured PDF as being safe from access or tampering by Joe Public. In the case of my photo-gallery example I can secure the PDF from interference in the Reader and the application by using a password. But the images can still be extracted in a PC by simply hitting the print-screen key and then pasting the clipboard contents into an image application such as Photoshop. This also applies to text which can then saved as a TIFF file and processed in an OCR application such as Fine Reader 5.0 Pro, or by straight transcription.

Some features are now more easily accessed: Distiller and Security settings being two.

Whether or not Acrobat 5.0 is a major improvement over 4.0 is superfluous, since 4.0 will soon be unavailable. 5.0 does everything that 4.0 did, and more, but some of the features are not backwards compatible with earlier versions of the reader. Users of your files will have to be forewarned if you are using such features, to upgrade their reader. Adobe claim over 200 million Acrobat Reader installations, but that includes readers of 3.0, 4.0, and 4.05 vintage. An example of incompatibility would be an access password set at 128 bits. The recipient must have the 5.0 reader installed to gain entry. Sorry to rabbit on about this, but it is a current point of contention as to why PDFs are not used as often as they might be. Joe Public seems to have an aversion to updating even their internet browser, which is why web-masters have such a fun time keeping their web-sites as compatible as possible. PDFs can be used instead of HTML pages on your web-site but for maximum compatibility you will have to ensure that all important features can be read by a 3.0 reader. Bit of a pain, but there you are. Keep your PDFs simple and there shouldn't be a problem.

When you buy Acrobat 5.0, and you haven't any prior experience, I would recommend that you buy and work your way through Adobe's Acrobat 5.0 - Classroom in a Book. This, in conjunction with the Acrobat help guide ( Help > Help guide ), will tell you all that you need to know. Methodically work your way through the classroom book first though. It'll be a lot easier if you do.

A well designed PDF is the best way for you to communicate your intentions whether that be an e-book, technical supplement, or a photo-gallery

This is the best deal going right now for Acrobat
By the time I was done reading the reviews for Adobe Acrobat 6.0 I was depressed. Not only do I not have Windows XP, or Windows 2000, or NT installed in my machine (The only operating systems that will work with 6) I also couldn't muster up the confidence in the product after so many people were giving it the thumbs down. I want to create an eBook, and Adobe Reader is the most popular reader out there, with some 400 million, to a half a billion users with it installed. What a dilemma. I kept coming back to read some more. Finally I found the answer. I bought a new Adobe Acrobat 5.0 here at Amazon from one of their vendors, and it works great with my Windows 98SE. I planned on buying the 6.0 upgrade after they got the bugs out, and or I got a new computer with XP. Then I found out that 5.0 was the only version before, and that was the professional version. 6.0 Standard is a geared down version of 5. Ok, so it has some additional features, but it is missing all the rest of the professional features that 5 has.
So what's the skinny on the deal? For what I paid for a new 5 that is the full program, unregistered, and upgradeable, plus what I would have to pay here at Amazon for the 6 Professional Upgrade, I saved 80 bucks, and wound up with both versions 5 and 6 pro. Which as I mentioned are both professional versions. If I bought 5 and upgraded to 6 standard, I would only spend a little more for both versions. (About 4 percent more for standard, and about 20 percent less for professional) That way if 6 standard turned out to be as bad as many were saying it is, I would have 5 also.
In the final analysis, I am using 5 and am super excited about the new capabilities that Adobe Acrobat gives you. I'm hoping that by the time I get a new machine with XP on it, Adobe will come out with 6.something, or a second edition of 6 etc. with the fixes built in.
I'm not the only one to come to this conclusion. I noticed in the sales rank at the time I bought it and wrote this review, that 5 was outselling 6. Also I noticed that in the "Those who bought 5 also bought this" section, it had a special note that said, 47% of the people who bought 5 also bought the 6 upgrade. If your running XP, 2000, or NT, get them both. That way all the bases are covered.
Check out the reviews on 5 you'll be surprised how everybody raves about it. To be perfectly honest with you, if I had an XP machine, I would have ordered the 6 upgrade at the same time. Hope this helps.

Merely a Stepping Stone
Since, for some unknown reason, Adobe doesn't offer a direct upgrade path from Acrobat 3 to Acrobat 6, I bought this Acrobat 5 Upgrade merely so I could qualify for a free upgrade to Acrobat 6. Not only is this silly of Adobe, it's also expensive. Instead of buying an Acrobat 6 package, sticking my old Acrobat 3 CD into the drive, and continuing on my way without further hassle or expense, I had to buy the Acrobat 5 upgrade, go to the Adobe website to find their customer support phone number, call them via their 800 number, get them copies of the receipt, pay a token shipping cost, and then install the new software. What's even worse is that I've spent over six weeks trying to do that. Amazon got me the package immediately. But, so far, I've had to talk to Adobe (at their expense) five times. The first time was to find out that the upgrade existed and get the instructions for faxing the information to them. Supposedly, my fax never arrived. Then, I had to talk to them about that and get a snail-mail address. Supposedly, THAT package never arrived. Then, with my next call, I managed to get an email address to send the documents to. Again, supposedly, that never arrived. Finally, I talked to a person who had me re-fax just the receipt and my Acrobat 3 serial number. She called me back within a half an hour and we completed the whole process (confirmed my shipping address and got a credit card number for the shipping fee). Besides the hassle I had to go through, this upgrade must have cost Adobe a bundle in phone and support personnel costs. The free upgrade period from Acrobat 5 to 6 is over now, but Adobe really needs to come up with a better way for their old Acrobat 3 customers to upgrade.

Newbie to Acrobat
Yes indeed Adobe Acrobat is too expensive, but, when considering the alternatives of buying other brands of PDF software that have less than pleasing quality, it all boils down to choosing the product that has the highest quality. To my knowledge, Acrobat is still the best PDF software available.

My personal needs are to create PDF files, encrypt them, require passwords to view, and restrict the user from printing and copying. After testing a couple other PDF products, I quickly discovered that their security was overly easy to bypass, no I take that back, they were *ridiculously* easy to bypass. Adobe's security has so far proven to be usefully solid.

Since Adobe provides limited public information about their products, I recommend that you first buy a book teaching how to use an Adobe package and read it through so that you will know what the software actually does and does not do. Yes, I agree, having to purchase a book and spend the time studying is not the prefered way to learn about any product, but the few dollars invested can easily pay for itself by your knowing which software to buy (or more specifically, what not to buy!).

What has amazed me the most with my Acrobat experience is when I had to call Adobe customer service to get a complex upgrade to version 6. Not only did the girl answering know what I was talking about, she also accomplished the entire order within that one phone call! WOW! Customer service like that is unheard of today. Apparently Adobe does care about its products enough to hire quality employees, and with that level of care, I feel more confident that I made the right decision choosing Adobe. Too, I purchased Acrobat from Amazon for the same reason of wanting quality service.

There are other PDF products available, some are even free, but for those of us who prefer quality and usefulness over initially lower costs, Acrobat is an intelligence choice. Choosing the right product today, the one that does not crash nor take time away from our work to fiddle with settings, gives us more time to whine about the costs later. If Acrobat were less expensive, I would give it five stars. ... Read more

Features

• Efficiently organize, find, and share paper and PDF documents
• Exceptional document management system; high-speed scanning
• Quickly and easily create PDFs from Windows applications
• Assemble scanned and digital documents with drag-and-drop simplicity
• Find documents, PDF files, photos, and paper instantly

Amazon.com Product Review

Your yard has always been good to you, giving you space to play with your kids, barbecue, and even sun-bathe on those lazy summer days. But now you're ready to bring some creative elegance and flair to your outdoor living. And you don't want to spend a mint just to have a landscape designer or consultant tell you what you want. If you know what you want, but you just need a little help turning that vision into reality, the Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer Bundle is just for you.

Better Homes and Gardens, the number one home and garden publisher, has partnered with leading software designer Chief Architect to bring you the Landscaping and Deck Designer Bundle. This program can help you transform your yard space into the landscape of your dreams, at a fraction of the cost of what a professional would charge. Using the software's fun, intuitive, and easy-to-use tools, you'll quickly be on the way toward becoming the envy of your neighborhood as your backyard barbecues in the sun turn into elegant moon-lit affairs on your new deck.

With the Landscaping and Deck Designer Bundle, you don't need any design experience to plan your new landscaping, deck or patio areas. In a few easy steps, you'll be able to take care of site planning and cost estimating. The software will give you everything you need, from conception to planning to pricing.

With a huge library of over 1,200 plants at your disposal, you won't have to be stuck with the same old options the local home and garden shop offers. You can create beautiful landscaping with trees, shrubs, water features, and flowers of your own choosing. You can even import your digital photos and add your own custom landscaping features to your plans. To keep those plants thriving, you'll want to install a sprinkler system. The "sprinkler designer" feature can help you lay out sprinkler zones for optimal watering. A "furniture" feature allows you to project a wide variety of backdrops, objects, images, and textures onto your designs. It's never been easier to select the right patio furniture for your new deck or out by the swimming pool.

As you plan your new outdoor living area, the software can project 3D models of your plot and perimeter designs, giving you realistic images of what your designs will look like. A "terrain" feature can help you build fences and driveways, and the software will help you choose the best materials for the pathways you design through your gardens. You'll even have a special "fence tool" at your fingertips that will help you to choose from several different custom fence and gate styles.

In addition to the software, you also get the latest edition of The Better Homes and Gardens New Garden book -- a wonderful way to inspire and provide ideas for your outdoor living spaces. With over 600 pages of great ideas and glorious color photos of more plants and landscaping arrangements than you could ever need, this book will provide you with an endless fountain of inspiration.

In short, with the Landscaping and Deck Designer software at your fingertips, you can say good-bye to all those cookie-cutter yards that populate new developments. You can finally say hello to an outdoor living area that not only reflects your dreams and visions, but that also reflects how your outdoor area should be experienced, day in and day out, for years to come.

Features:

• Get invaluable design ideas from The Better Homes and Gardens New Garden book
• Landscaping templates designed by Better Homes and Gardens help you to quickly place your landscaping beds
• Use the Better Homes and Gardens Design Planning Center to guide your designs with tips and advice
• Choose from a library of more than 4,000 items for your designs, including over 1,200 plants
• Plant Hardiness Zone reference maps helps you choose the most appropriate plants, and a Plant Chooser feature helps you search for plants based on climate, drought tolerance, deer resistance, and much more
• Layout sprinkler zones quickly and efficiently
• Design single or multi-level decks with Deck Designer
• Assign the materials you want for your new patio design
• Quickly lay out your deck, add stairs, then place and arrange furniture
• Deck foundations automatically generate to match sloped lots
• Design and visualize your areas in 3D
• Import your own photos of houses, plants, people, and more
• Produce realistic images of your outdoor projects
• Easily create hills and valleys for custom landscapes
• Automatically generate materials list to estimate costs
• Includes free How-To Tutorial CD

Features

• Project 2003 is the a powerful new tool for project leaders who need to manage projects independently, but still stay on top of what's going on!
• Organize your work more effectively with new scheduling tools -- Track schedule and resource changes to yourproject plans quickly
• New display options lets you show individuals the project information they need to review
• Increase your impact at work and create better presentations to print compelling and succinct copies of schedules and goals
• Move information easily between Project 2003 and other Microsoft Office programs, such as Excel

Reviews (1)

Fosters Team Integration
This upgrade is worth its price.

Used in conjunction with Project Server and Project Professional 2003 the program now allows project tasks to appear in Outlook calendars and messaging. As a project manager, I find this feature eases communications with team members and fosters greater team participation.

This ease of communication saves time and money. If you have doubts over this upgrade, my unequivocal recommendation is to proceed. The software's tight integration with other Microsoft Office Products, including Outlook, enables you to focus on project goals, not the technology that supports them. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

This comprehensive program provides up to 550 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, writing, and speaking. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists or drills. Previews, exercises, and tests accompany every lesson, and there are automated tutorials throughout the program. Graphical speech recognition displays your voiceprint and compares it with the native speaker to help improve your pronunciation. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Features

• Comprehensive finance solution for small companies
• Categorize income and expenses; handle billing effortlessly
• Get expert advice from current news and useful articles
• Keep up with taxable expenses automatically
• Free financial services, including 1 year online payroll from PayCycle

Reviews (20)

Easy fixes that are never implemented....
ACT is a great concept and has moved the CRM world. BUT it has changed little in the last 10 years and desperately requires a new release. The three most important updates required are a) better e-mail - integration with Outlook would be fine, b) much improved mass maintenance, lookups, and reporting and c) a more stable and robust data platform. Continued reliance on what are essentially DB 2 files (anyone out there remember them?) is silly and is the reason that file corruption and data loss is endemic with ACT. ACT is a goldmine for BEST and it's being milked, but one wonders how much money is being invested in improving the product. A little attention to fixing the product's many problems would give a significant boost to the software. I have to believe that a mass upgrade from version 6 would also be good for BEST's profits.

These problems have existed for a long, long time, and users have waited for the ACT people to resolve them. 6.0 was an exercise in half measures and disappointment. For that reason, we've come to believe that BEST Software has broken trust with us as their customers. They have broken trust with their certified consultants by being unresponsive to them. Many of us have concluded that they don't deserve our business anymore. We're looking for others that do. And when we find our solution, we'll buy through Amazon, a company that constantly tries to provide better service and a better platform for its customers.

Website needs better product description
ACT! 6.0 for 2004 includes ACT! For PalmOS for free. Why couldn't I have learned by reading the product description on Amazon.com BEFORE the product arrived at my house? I didn't appreciate paying for extra/unneeded copies of ACT! for PalmOS when it was included for free in the main product.

ACT 6.0 Service Trap, beware of hidden fees!
Pure Crap! Be aware that Amazon offers a great price, but the product comes with zero support. Upon receiving ACT, I intstalled it and tried to sync the database with others in our office. With no success after following the on-screen and manual directions, I called Best Software to ask for help.

There first question was "Where did you purchase the product?" When I told their rep that I purchased it from Amazon, she scolded me for not purchasing direct from the company. She then told me that ACT purchased through Amazon has no support and it would cost $199.00 to sign up for a one year support contract.

This is the first time I have ever purchased software from a company and had them refuse to answer a simple question in the first week of trying to use their product.

Over all, a very poor experience and I am sure we will not waist our time purchasing another product from Best Software. Simply calling a company "Best" does not insure that they will live up to their billing.

Very good CRM software
I like this software because of the features that are very important for my business. I recommend this software if you are not using Outlook or any other contact management software. Unfortunately it is price is a bit high.

Nightmare
If you want to store contact information, using the old pen and paper is better than ACT! We have an ACT database storing roughly 3,000 contacts. It is EXTREMELY slow. Integration with Outlook 2000 or 2003 (havent tried xp) is just about inoperable. I recommend that if you have to the tools and knowledge to create your own contact database, do it. It can then be tailored exactly to how the user needs it. ... Read more

Features

• Streamline database development and maintenance
• Deploy customized kiosk and runtime applications
• Debug scripts with systematic tests and troubleshoot scripts
• Re-use calculation logic across tables, only change in 1 place
• Develop and troubleshoot solutions more effectively

Reviews (3)

Dual Platform
Previous produt from Filemaker (version 6Dev) is overall satisfactory.
Even if the way of building tabs might take some work, other improvements do largely compensate for this weakness. To avoid the "flicker" one has just to be precise to the pixel in the placement of the layout elements. And FM does offer tools to do so even in version 6!
Previous versions and information from Filemaker Inc. clearly state that the intaller is dual platform, Mac AND Windows on the same disk. So, unless amazon is marketing a special version this product should also work for Mac computers.

Great Development Tool
Now that you've read the previous 0 star rating, (tab buttons - give me a break), realize that FileMaker 7 is a great database development platform.

Just a few of the upgrade's improvements:

No File Size Limit (that's a heck of a lot of recipies Bob). The days of needing to migrate when a file hits the 2 Gig file size wall are OVER. Your database can grow to fill the largest hard drive a computer can support.

Multiple data tables per file.

Improved browser support of buttons and scripts through instant web publishing feature.

Improved security.

And if one is really worried about lining up their "tab buttons" on layouts, FileMaker offers a free 30 day evaluation for download from their website.

In fact, the only negative comment I can make is that the Server version won't be available until this summer.

Developer edition is an oxymoron
I purchased and installed this product and ran into a brick wall, that precludes its use as a serious development tool. My real rating is 0 stars.

Filemaker does not use tab controls. It gets around this shortcoming by requiring that a separate layout be designed for each tab. Importantly this is not just for the information on the tab, BUT FOR THE WHOLE COTTON-PICKIN layout!!!

Then when a user clicks on the tab "button", a new layout is repainted over the old. Even though Filemaker provides the ability to copy a form, I have found that the repainted forms "jump" and give an entirely unsatisfactory visual experience. Like watching a web form flicker repaint over a slow dial up connection.

Filemaker appears to be a maintenance nightmare. If you have a layout with header information and with a five tab area, and you wish to change the header information (field width, color, etc.) you have to change it five times on each layout!

I thought the purpose of databases was to normalize information, that is to reduce redundancy in data storage. Filemaker may reduce this redunduncy, but it it adds it back in spades when it comes to application development!

The screen flicker caused by full screen repaints and the large number of forms required to accomodated simple tab displays makes this a no brainer. Filemaker is fine for your receipe or CD collection database, but forget about using it for serious development. ... Read more