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Recently, I received a couple of emails about software for digital imaging and general computer protection help with Windows based computers. I do not confess to be a computer geek, although, I know enough to install programs properly, trouble shoot some errors and fix my own Windows Vista related problems.In my experience, there are plenty for sure, and if I could afford it, I would switch over either to a new Mac Pro laptop or a desktop. But in the meantime, I just have to suffer with the Vista curse on my HP desktop. So for now I recommend the following products which will work with Vista or XP SP 2. For serious editing photo editing: Photoshop CS3, if you have an older version such as CS2, CS or version 7 they will work as well with a XP SP2 machine, but more than likely will have issues under Vista. In fact, on my IBM Thinkpad laptop, running XP SP 2, I have the older CS version and I am happy with it the only reason why I got the CS3 is that it was Vista compatible, and due to Adobe's licensing (activation) Photoshop can be only loaded on one machine. Photoshop can be loaded with unlimited amount of custom filters, actions brush sets from other vendors. Thus, it can be tailored to one's particular needs. These add on's can drive up the price of an already expensive product, and lastly, Photoshop has a step learning curve. Due to constant Vista updates most of Adobe's programs tend to crash a lot more than in XP, and their forum is not always very helpful. When Vista Service Pack 1 was installed on mine, both my Photoshop and Acrobat Pro crashed, and took me over a day of trouble shooting before I got them working! So beware of such fun events due to Vista. Make sure your anti virus is turned off while installing these programs! For General editing: You may want to consider Adobe's Photoshop Elements for general editing and fixes. The earlier versions: such as 2 or 3, worked better for me than the newer ones such as the 6, but every body is different. Corel also makes fairly good photo editing software such as Paintshop Pro X or later versions, and these are about on the same level as the Elements. These programs are much easier to use than Photoshop but not as customizable, however they are also so much more affordable, about 20% of the the cost of Photoshop. These are available on line from Amazon.com at better prices than buying directly from Adobe or Corel. While you're at it check their selection of helpful books too about Photoshop. For Security and Firewall: For Vista or XP, I highly recommend ESET Smart Security or ESET32 Anti Virus Protector (both are free for a 30 day trial), over Symantec's Norton AntiVirus, ZoneAlarm, McAfee, Trend Micro or even over Kaspersky. ESET is not a well known product in North America, but it is well known in Europe and it is one of the best one can buy, and is the one I use. Most computers come with a Norton or McAfee trial subscription. For me, and for some of my friends Norton just slowed our systems down, it is a real resource hog, just like Vista, and while it is well known, I would not recommend Norton to anyone. To remove Norton is not an easy task, and you will need a registry cleaner to do a proper job, see my recommendation for that below. All the above named products can be found on the internet, just Goggle it. However do not fall for the "free scan your computer" by little known or even well known software makers. All they will tell you is that you are NOT protected unless you buy and install their product. Some of these products are nothing more than spy programs and loaded with malware thus you could end up with all kinds of added problems vs solutions. A free Firewall scan "Shields Up" however should be mandatory from GRC.com to check the security of your firewall settings. A misconfigurated firewall is no defence at all. Do not bother to do the test from Sygate Online Services, it used to be good until Symantec bought it. Now it just tells you, you have no protection and to buy Norton to solve your problems. The same goes for ZoneAlarm. Again, it used to be good, but I would not recommend ZoneAlarm anymore to anyone. It tends to crash the system with certain software it doesn't like, this happend to me a couple of times. ESET Smart Security's firewall is very effective and easy to configure and passes with flying colours! Registry Health: Registry errors tend to cause a lot of headaches. They can be difficult to correct if you are not too familiar; you can do serious damage to Vista or XP and your computer will not run. Yet, at the same time it is important to have a sound and error free registry. The only product I would recommend is jv16 by Macecraft Software.I use it myself simply because it is the best! Another excellent product from Europe. It is a very inexpensive program that you can try before you buy it for 30 days. Other software: As for other software there are lots of choices, some are better than others. Some are available for free; see this extensive list.
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