Great for anyone who wants to jump straight into Flash animation without becoming an expert in or needing the benefits of advanced scripting or complex interactivity.

System Mechanic 6 Professional

System Mechanic 6 Professional offers the best package of utilities for optimizing and protecting your hard drive, but the software's lack of documentation makes it poorly suited for the average computer user.

Editors' Choice

Adobe Acrobat 9

This update should be worthwhile for security-minded businesses and creative firms. With Acrobat 9, Adobe brings new Web relevance to print-ready PDFs by enabling embedded video and animation. Forms, security, and overall ease of use are also enhanced.

Logic Pro X

Logic Pro X 10.1 from Apple is a self-contained music studio that offers tremendous flexibility and power -- once you get past the learning curve.

$99.95 MSRP

QuickBooks Simple Start 2005

QuickBooks Simple Start is easy to learn, but the lack of budgeting, payroll, and Excel-import tools limits its usefulness. We recommend a more powerful accounting app, such as QuickBooks.

$799.95 MSRP

QuickBooks Point of Sale 4.0

The well-designed QuickBooks Point of Sale Pro 4.0 is a cash register on steroids--a hardware and software system for managing a retail business.

Editors' Choice

$599.99 MSRP

OmniPage Pro 12.0 Office

If you've outgrown the starter software that came with your scanner, OmniPage Pro 12.0 Office is your best next step.

Editors' Choice

$609.00 MSRP

Adobe Photoshop 7.0

If you're an advanced photographer and don't have Photoshop yet or if you need natural paint tools, version 7.0 is a must-have; otherwise, version 6.0 will do the trick.