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• CNET Editor rating:
  2.5 stars Average

  Overall score: 5.5 (2.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: Complete package, 1 user

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.8 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 30 reviews

The Bottom Line: Intuitive interface design and easy access to useful features make iWork the best office suite choice on the Mac. Though it lacks some of Microsoft Office's advanced options, iWork '09 is an emerging powerhouse in its own right. Read review

Specs: 1 user, Complete package, Apple MacOS X 10.5.6 or later, Apple MacOS X 10.4.11

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.8 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 15 reviews

The Bottom Line: Office for Mac 2008 may be the best pick for business users, but most people can get by with less costly alternatives. Read review

Specs: 3 PC in one household, Apple MacOS X 10.4.9 or later, Complete package

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.8 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 1.5 stars out of 1 review

The Bottom Line: Overall, Microsoft Office Standard 2007 is a worthy upgrade if you need to make sleeker-looking documents and presentations to share with others, and Outlook is better than ever, but you can stick to your current software if you don't feel that it lacks anything. Read review

Specs: Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or later, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP1 or later, 1 PC, License

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: 1 user, Complete package, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows XP SP3, Microsoft Windows Vista, Apple MacOS X 10.5.8 - 10.7, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.9 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 1.5 stars out of 38 reviews

The Bottom Line: McAfee Total Protection 2010 hits many of the right notes. It's easy to use and it's effective, but years of below-average releases will likely leave many users unwilling to give it a try. Read review

Specs: Subscription package, 1 user, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or later

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 1.0 stars out of 75 reviews

The Bottom Line: Ghost 10 uses sophisticated disk-imaging technology to create a robust, easy-to-use backup tool that protects your data against large and small disasters. Read review

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 2 reviews

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.8 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 1.0 stars out of 55 reviews

The Bottom Line: Office for Mac 2008 may be the best pick for business users, but most people can get by with less costly alternatives. Read review

Specs: 1 PC, Complete package, Apple MacOS X 10.4.9 or later

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 10 reviews

Specs: 1 user, Complete package

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 4 reviews

The Bottom Line: CorelDraw Graphics Suite X3 is a powerful and feature-rich bundle appropriate for home, business, and professional graphics. Read review

Specs: 1 user, Complete package, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Microsoft Windows XP

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.5 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 65 reviews

The Bottom Line: You can't beat the price. For a good, basic Internet Security suite, we recommend Trend Micro Internet Security 2009. Read review

Specs: 3 PCs, Complete package, Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (32/64 bits), Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (32/64 bits), Microsoft Windows Vista Business (32/64 bits), Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic (32/64 bits), Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 SP2, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2, Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 17 reviews

The Bottom Line: Photoshop Elements delivers the core image-editing tools needed by most nonprofessional photographers. But it's still too complex for most hobbyists. For a more kitchen-sink feature set, try Jasc Paint Shop Pro or Ulead PhotoImpact. Read review

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 1.5 stars out of 84 reviews

The Bottom Line: Windows Vista Home Basic is essentially warmed-over Windows XP, Windows XP SP3. If you're currently happy with Windows XP SP2, we see no compelling reason to upgrade. On the other hand, if you need a new computer right now, Windows Vista is stable enough for everyday use. Read review

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.8 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 1.0 stars out of 66 reviews

The Bottom Line: Quicken 2010 is a solid finance package, especially for novices, but offers little that's substantively new. Read review

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: Despite some compatibility setbacks, Corel Home Office suite is useful for creating documents. Its conscientious size, small-screen optimizations, and attractive price make it a good buy for a Netbook office suite, or for saving space by shedding advanced features. Read review

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: 1 user, Complete package, Microsoft Windows Vista (32/64 bits), Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or later, Microsoft Windows 7 (32/64 bits)

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.2 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 13 reviews

The Bottom Line: Trend Micro Internet Security Pro's broad feature set combined with its look and feel make it a serious contender, but questionable efficacy and middling performance mean it's a program we're not recommending for this year. Read review

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 104 reviews

The Bottom Line: Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6 is light and fast and consistently wins detection awards against the competition; it's worthy of our Editors' Choice designation. Read review

Specs: Subscription package, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition, Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 SP6a, Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP1 or later, Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP3 or later, 1 user

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 5.0 stars out of 1 review

The Bottom Line: If you work with 3D, Photoshop Extended is a must-have upgrade; ditto if you think you'd use more of Standard's tools if the interface were less opaque, if you need to upgrade other suite applications, or if you qualify for an academic discount. All things considered, while Adobe Photoshop CS4 makes some improvements over CS3, it might be worth skipping this generation and waiting for the next. Read review

Specs: Microsoft Windows Vista Enterprise SP1, Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or later, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1, Microsoft Windows Vista Business SP1, 1 user, Complete package

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 26 reviews

The Bottom Line: Adobe improves its popular midrange nonlinear video editor with real-time previewing, a new titling tool, audio effects, and DVD authoring. Read review

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 32 reviews

The Bottom Line: If you need the latest and greatest in Web site development, Dreamweaver is the best investment; but it's overkill for casual users. Read review