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UberSmart Math Basics allows users to practice their math skills using a flash-card-style activity and to test themselves on what they've learned. The program's options and layout make it a great choice for kids who are working on their math skills.

The program's interface is simple and attractive, with all of its features easily accessed. Users can view flashcards for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, all organized in number sets from 0 through 12. Users click through the flashcards at their own speed, coming up with the answer in their minds and then checking against the flashcard. … Read more

Bling Clock helps users keep track of time with simple commands and functions. This program is simple and effective enough that users of all skill levels will enjoy it.

The program's interface is sort of rough and will take some getting used to. Most options fade to black when the mouse isn't over them, which we found slightly annoying. However, when we could see things, the program was very intuitive and didn't require a trip to the Help file. The clock consists of a large black clockface and giant red digital numbers. Users can choose to run … Read more

GenSmarts allows users to import family trees from popular ancestry research programs and then analyzes the data to give users further research ideas. Although many of the suggestions may be things that users have already tried, the program has the potential to provide clues in their research that they hadn't already considered.

The program's interface is not entirely intuitive, but it opens with a welcome wizard and has a comprehensive built-in Help file, as well as links to online tutorials demonstrating the program's features. We decided to try the program with a family tree that we had … Read more

Build your skills for spelling with this interesting tutorial program. While its commands are confusing at times, the results are hard to beat. Users will be able to find help by utilizing this program.

The program has a sleek look, which gives a professional impression. However, users will be wise to look over the massive Help file for directions on how to create their own word lists, since there is no direction on how to navigate the various boxes and command buttons to do so. Users must start by creating one of these lists, so they can focus on words … Read more

Science Data Reference System provides scientific minds with a quick reference sheet and a helpful hand with equations. With a simple layout and topics appropriate for young scientists and those in collegiate-level courses alike, this is a great tool.

The program's interface is a breeze to master thanks to its simplicity. Its scientific focus is divided among four tabs and within each of the tabs, users navigate with a menu along the left side. Each menu is managed differently, depending on what help it gives, but thankfully, all are simple enough to utilize independently, since there is no Help … Read more

Shape Collage sets itself apart from the competition thanks to its lack of cute add-ons, and thanks to professional results. Users may never look back because this program is easy to use and looks so good.

At first glance, the program's interface is slightly confusing, with a lot of white space and few command buttons. The biggest hurdle is that there is no guidance on how to download photos and make a collage. However, with a glance at the Help file and some random toying around, we felt instantly at home here. Most photo collage programs we've tested … Read more

PhotoShine allows users to place their photos into 700 different templates (the trial limits you to 102). The quality of the templates varies greatly; some look pretty nice and could conceivably be printed and framed for display. Others...not so much.

Though the interface was somewhat ugly, it was uncluttered and easy enough to use. The templates that purport to make your photo look like it is featured on a magazine cover are particularly bad, with terrible text and the occasional spelling error. Many of the other templates seem to be made for teenage girls only, which is fine if … Read more

File recovery has never been easier thanks to Pandora Recovery. The program's wizard-like approach to finding and retrieving lost files will appeal to all users.

The user interface is about as straightforward as it gets. Clean and simple menu and command buttons run across the top of the paneled window, while a tree-menu containing hard-disk folders to browse resides in a sidebar. But what stood out the most was the program's wizard, which walked us through the process of locating long-lost files. It first prompts you to check your Recycle Bin, which sounds obvious, but is a necessary … Read more

Its emphasis on getting screen captures and screencasts shot and shared makes the freemium application Jing extremely quick and easy to use for Mac and Windows users. I use its big brother, the professional capture app Snagit, at work (we take a lot of screenshots in these parts,) but I've often installed Jing on laptops and on other peoples' computers when I need something light and free.

The one irony for Windows users is that if you don't have the .NET framework installed, it adds a few more minutes of set-up time and a heftier footprint. The benefit … Read more