Filemaker Pro 11

The FileMaker database enjoys pretty much the best of both worlds. It runs on Windows PCs and Macs, is powerful enough that some people and companies can make a living off the back of developing bespoke databases using it, yet remains friendly enough for Joe Schmo to knock up a simple contacts database, inventory or invoicing system without too much trouble.

Where version 10 revamped FileMaker's slightly eccentric interface and beefed up searching and scripting, this concentrates elsewhere. The headline new features are the support for charts so you can compare and contrast data graphically, quick reporting which makes it easier to produce quick-'n'-dirty spreadsheet-style reports, a beefed up Layout/Report Assistant which walks users through the creation of more complex reports, and what FileMaker calls ‘recurring import' so for example, you can suck in data from Excel and have it update whenever changes are made to the spreadsheet.

Elsewhere we found ourselves using the Quick Find feature all the time: it's like the find window you get in a browser and means you can search a data set without having to go into Find mode, and then deciding which field to search on. The re-vamped Inspector puts all of FileMaker's commonly used database design features into a single tabbed panel and saves space on smaller screens at the same time, while the ability to organise layouts into folders using drag and drop (and then edit, copy and delete them from the same window) is much more convenient.

The charting module supports horizontal and vertical bar charts, pie, line and area charts and, while not the most sophisticated offering we've seen, is well implemented and easy to use; more importantly it adds a valuable new way to analyse data without having to leave the program.

Things to be aware of? The recurring import feature is read-only and any edits can only be made using the original data source: this makes it useful for reporting and analysis but it's less convenient than proper two-way dynamic updating.

Similarly, advanced users may find the new reporting assistant a bit long-winded and smothering, although obviously once created, reports can be saved and simply re-used. More unhelpfully, the screen flicker reported by some Windows users hasn't been eradicated in version 11 so if you suffer from it now it'll probably continue to be a problem. (It's also worth noting that the Advanced version of Pro 11 has had substantial negative feedback from Windows developers experiencing problems with creating runtime versions).

Filemaker - Filemaker Pro 11 features - Verdict

While not as substantial an update as version 10, this nevertheless adds important new features to an already worthwhile product, notably charting, improved reporting, quick reports and quick find. If you're upgrading from version 8 or 9 then the upgrade's worth the £155.89 inc. VAT. However, if you're just upgrading from version 10, you need to reflect on whether the new features are worth that much to you. At least there's a generous 30-day trial so you can test drive it and make up your own mind.

F-Secure - Online Backup

Everyone needs a backup. If disaster should strike your computer, there'll be tears and tantrums aplenty if you haven't made a copy of those precious photos, documents and so forth. The solution for many people is copying everything across to an external hard disk, although even that isn't foolproof. If there's a fire in your home and your PC gets its silicon chips deep fried, if it's kept in the same location the odds are the hard drive backup will be crisped too.

The most secure solution is to keep a remote backup, and one easy way to do this is a utility such as this offering from F-Secure. Buying the package gives the user a year's subscription to an unlimited amount of online data storage and, aside from the security issue, the other bonus such a system confers is that file replication is a fully automated process.

F-Secure Online Backup is both PC and Mac compatible. Obviously an Internet connection is required to use the program, and broadband which can manage an upload speed of at least 192KB/sec is recommended. Users can specify a bandwidth limit to prevent the package hogging all the connection's resources, although during the initial backup it's a good idea to avoid the limit as it's a slow enough process even going full throttle.

This is because the first backup you run copies everything over wholesale onto the F-Secure servers. From then on, Online Backup merely monitors your files and re-copies any which have been modified, so activity levels are far less intensive and it doesn't make any noticeable intrusion into your machine's resources.
The program can be set to automatically backup various key categories; namely documents, pictures, videos, music, emails and important system files. Alternatively, you can manually mark the exact files and folders you wish to be covered.

Selecting the automatic route, the problem we encountered was that we have numerous games and pieces of software installed on our PC, many of which contain vast slews of tiny GIF icons, garbage text files and so forth. Online Backup dutifully went through and replicated all of these in their entirety, which is understandable, but it meant that during the first backup it took an absolute age to wade through all these pointless, bitty little files. In an hour the program only managed to back up 80MB of data.

We preferred the method of taking some time to initially mark up our important folders manually, and just backing these up. This amounted to 720MB of data, which took 3 hours and 20 minutes to process and upload, at a far more palatable 3.5MB per minute. Obviously speeds will be connection dependent, and for reference we were running an 8MB Max Premium ADSL line that generally gives us upload speeds of 600KB/sec on average.

Copying the files back onto your PC is simply a matter of clicking the restore button. If you delete a file on your machine, it's kept on the F-Secure server for thirty days, so essentially you've got a month's grace to recover anything you accidentally delete (or indeed that your wife / husband / kids / alien-visitors-in-the-middle-of-the-night might delete).

Microsoft - Internet Explorer 8 release candidate

The success of the Windows 7 Beta programme has clearly been a shot in the arm of sorts for Microsoft. Not only has the way in which the firm went about opening up the development of one of its core products won favour, but people tended to like what they saw when they got there.

Thus, the company spotlight has now switched to the latest test edition of its upcoming browser, Internet Explorer 8. The earlier beta releases have offered cautious optimism for the much-maligned browser, not least in its handling of Flash content, which avoids the lock-ups that continually plague the likes of Firefox in this department.

Now up to Release Candidate 1 and edging ever closer to its formal, final release version, Internet Explorer 8 has certainly smartened its game up, and not just in the slightly polished user interface.




This is Microsoft's big play towards standards-compliant browsers, many years after web developers wished it had been done. This, inevitably, is causing stability issues of its own, with sites optimised to run in the likes of Internet Explorer 7 having a little trouble getting up and running in the new IE, but this is still an important step that Microsoft needed to take.

The lock ups that Internet Explorer 7 and the early beta of IE8 generated aren't completely cured, but at least the software recovers from them quite well. It can recover browsing sessions on a tab-by-tab basis and we were quite impressed by how quickly and smartly it did this. Sadly, when fiddling with Google Analytics, we did end up feeling like we were playing Jet Set Willy on the Spectrum, as each recovery led to the same crash, but the feature still works well for the majority of the time.

The main new attractions, though, come in the form of a handful of key features. Chief among them is the InPrivate browsing idea, where for once you can use Internet Explorer without it scattering your Internet history right across your machine. You can enable InPrivate on a window-by-window basis if you want, meaning it's entirely feasible to have nine windows on the go, and only one set to private.

There's also an Accelerator feature, which is designed to quickly help you out with common tasks like translating words, finding locations, searching eBay and so on. The idea is that you highlight the word in question and then click on the accelerator icon. This then gives you one-click access to what you want to do, in theory. You can add fresh accelerators as you so desire, and it's a nice idea that we can see ourselves potentially relying on more in the future.

That said, we can't yet imagine turning our attention back to Internet Explorer over its faster-moving rivals. Its interface still seems to lag behind something like Firefox, and this later release candidate does seem to have slowed things down a little.

It's a sizeable overall improvement, and a step in the right direction from Microsoft, but there's still work clearly to be done. It's likely, ultimately, not to be enough for us, at least this time around.

Chrome 2 Beta

Google's attempt to muscle in on the browser market, and to take on the dominance of both Internet Explorer and the ever-growing Mozilla Firefox, certainly made a splash when it launched Chrome in 2008.

But that splash - and the millions of words written about the browser - failed to convert into anything more than 1 percent market penetration. Granted, that's no small feat in itself, but it's a certainty that Google is looking to fry bigger fish. As such it's readying Chrome 2, which it's now released in beta form pending a full release later this year.

At first the browser's characteristics and presentation appear the same, too. As with a growing number of applications, as part of the installation it asks if it can be your default program of choice, and then it goes about offering to transfer settings and suchlike. However, it's still a quick and breezy installation for a browser that retains a light system footprint.

Aesthetically the browser still keeps the same ethos, too. With no heavy menu at the top it's the address bar that handles the bulk of the work, from searching to direct navigation. More advanced menus are available via small drop-down icons, and tabs appear at the top of the screen, rather than a little way down it like Internet Explorer and Firefox. Furthermore, you can still make your home page a collection of thumbnails of your most visited sites, which, while borrowed from Opera, remains a nice and useful touch.

So what's changed? The most obvious initial difference is the speed of the browser, which contrasts well and currently gives it an advantage over its rivals. It zips around, only hindered really by the most Flash-heavy of sites, but even then it copes well.

Compared to the original Chrome, there's a slight but noticeable improvement, and not at the expense of that aforementioned system footprint. The full screen and zooming functionality is logical and tidy (although hardly radical) and it remains a friendly browser to use, with some solid thinking behind it.

But its flexibility, certainly against Firefox and Opera, is constrained by the lack of expansion possibilities thus far. There's no market for extensions and add-ons here, and while that keeps the core browser pure and slimline, it is nonetheless a notable restriction. There are other omissions, too, with RSS support still to be implemented, and we did pick up one or two small stability issues as we were using it.

Yet the problem Google may face here is that Chrome 2 simply feels more like Chrome 1.5. There are no big, necessary new features and it feels like a tuned up version of what we already have. Granted, new things have been added, but these are present in Chrome's competition, too.

Which leaves speed as the compelling reason to give it a try. That's not a bad reason, either, but as with the first version, it's a useful second browser to have on a machine but lacks the punch and possibilities of Firefox.

Opera 10

While millions of words a year seem to be devoted across the planet to the likes of Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and now Google's Chome, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that one browser has stood the test of time better than most of them: Opera.

While never threatening any form of mass-market breakthrough to the level of its rivals, Opera has in fact been around since 1996, and continues to impress its core supportive audience (and Nintendo DS and Wii users, given that it's the browser of choice for those platforms). It's also the product that first gave the browsing the world the likes of tabbed browsing and the kind of extensions that many Firefox users now take for granted.

The tenth version of Opera, therefore, presents a challenge: can its makers keep the innovations coming and, crucially, get more people to notice them? Certainly on firing up the beta version, Opera has put the welcome mat out. While nagging to become your default browser - although it's hard to grumble too much about that, as all of them do it - it presents a more polished look than we're used to seeing from Opera, and is clearly keen to win over some new friends.

A few headline features spearhead this new release. Firstly, it claims - as most browsers currently do - to make browsing faster, through tighter JavaScript support and compression technologies. And Opera is certainly brisk, even if it's not at the pace of current speed-horse, Chrome 2. The compression works well, though, and here you employ a Turbo mode that promises to load selected web pages quicker, with some of the graphics toned down. This was of limited use to us, to be fair, but isn't a bad feature to have in your back pocket if you're on a limited connection.

Furthermore, under the browser page tabs, you can activate a drop-down preview of a given tab in the form of a small thumbnail. This was actually our favourite of the features in this beta, and the one that we fully expect to see replicated among Opera's rivals.

Those familiar with the aforementioned Chrome will be familiar too with the ‘speed dial' grid that Opera employs, with the potential to set an opening screen with up to 25 web pages of your choice on it, waiting to be clicked on and jumped to. These are customisable, so you're not limited to the sites you visit the most.
On top of all of this are the usual Opera features, including its flexibility, that's been a cornerstone of its development for some time. But, crucially, there's no absolutely must-have killer feature here. In fact, while it's still a strong web browser, it's no closer to being vital.

Consequently, tight and useful though Opera 10 is, there's nothing compelling that's going to break it further into the mainstream. It'll still have its fans, of course. But perhaps not as many as Chrome, Safari and Firefox.

WinRAR 3.71

License: Shareware; $29.00 to buy
OS: Win95,Win98,WinME,WinNT 4.x,
Windows2000,WinXP
File Size: 1.15MB
Limitations: N/A
Last Update: 2010-05-04
System Requirements

Description

WinRAR is a powerful compression tool with many integrated additional functions to help you organize your compressed archives.

WinRAR puts you ahead of the crowd when it comes to compression. By consistently creating smaller archives, WinRAR is often faster than the competition. This will save you disc space, transmission costs AND valuable working time as well.

WinRAR supports all popular compression formats (RAR, ZIP, CAB, ARJ, LZH, ACE, TAR, GZip, UUE, ISO, BZIP2, Z and 7-Zip).

WinRAR is ideal for multimedia files. WinRAR automatically recognizes and selects the best compression method. The special compression algorithm compresses multimedia files, executables and object libraries particularly well.

WinRAR allows you to split archives into separate volumes easily, making it possible to save them on several disks for example.

WinRAR is also ideal, if you are sending data through the web. Its 128 bit password encryption and its authenticated signature technology will give you the peace of mind you have been looking for.

WinRAR is shareware, meaning you have the chance to thoroughly test it. The program can be used absolutely free of charge for 40 days!

WinRAR licenses are valid for all available language and platform versions. If you have purchased several licenses, you can even mix versions to meet your own personal needs.

Excel File Repair 7.05.01

License: Shareware; $49.00 to buy
OS: Win95,Win98,WinME,WinXP,
Windows2000,Windows2003,Windows Vista
File Size: 2.46MB
Limitations: N/A
Last Update: 2010-05-12
System Requirements:
Pentium II 400 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 10 MB

Description

Best excel file repair software to quickly repair corrupt Excel files. It is designed to restore and rebuild the damaged MS excel files.
Supports repairing of files created using MS Excel 2003, 2002, 2000, 97, 95. Software displays the recovered contents in advance and hence allows you to see the possibility of recovery before you actually purchase the software. It successfully repairs excel file showing errors such as : "Unable to read file", "EXCEL.exe has generated errors", ".xls cannot be accessed".
Key features include : Software recovers content from the damaged excel file and displays the preview of the recovered content.

iTunes

With almost an 80% market share in the digital music industry, iTunes Music Store has set the standard in digital media and has blazed the trail for many services that followed.
iTunes Music Store has more music titles and genres available than any other music service we've seen. The service also offers a strong feature set, including an integrated music player, in-depth information on artists and albums, music videos, audiobooks, movies, television shows and games.

Apple has recently negotiated a deal with the music studios to remove the digital rights management previously embedded in iTunes songs. Now all songs purchased from iTunes can be played on any MP3 player. Most songs are still $.99, but soon some will be available for $.69 and $1.29 as well. You can also upgrade your previously purchased songs at a nominal price.

iTunes and our other award winning music download services, #2 Napster and #3 AmazonMP3, have their pros, cons and various limitations. However, iTunes remains king of the music download realm.

Standout Features

• More than 8 million song library
• Completely DRM-free
• Additional content: Movies, TV, Audiobooks, Apps

MP3 Music Selection:

iTunes Music Store offers a substantial music selection. With more than 8 million titles, they have the largest music download library on the internet.

While browsing through its 20 genre categories, plus various categories including collections, Celebrity lists, iTunes U, iTunes Latino and more, you can find almost any kind of music imaginable. Also, whenever you log into the service, iTunes updates you on all the latest music titles added to the store.
All tracks sold through the iTunes Music Store are 100% DRM-free. That means every song you purchase can be transferred to any number of iPods, computers, CDs or other MP3 device.

Mozilla Firefox 3.0.11

License: Freeware; $0.00 to buy
OS: Windows2000,WinXP,WindowsVista
File Size: 7.20MB
Limitations: N/A
Last Update: 2010-05-04
System Requirements:

Description

Mozilla Firefox is a fast, full-featured Web browser. Firefox includes pop-up blocking, tab-browsing, integrated Google search, simplified privacy controls, a streamlined browser window that shows you more of the page than any other browser and a number of additional features that work with you to help you get the most out of your time online. Version 3.0.11 Fixes an issue where, in some specific cases, the bookmarks database would become corrupt, and several security issues and stability issues.

 

Yahoo Messenger 9.0.0.2162

License: Freeware; $19.95 to buy
OS: Win98,WinME,Windows2000,WinXP,
WindowsVista
File Size: 0.42MB
Limitations: N/A
Last Update: 2010-05-04
System Requirements:

Description

Yahoo Messenger is a free service that allows you to see when friends come online and to send them instant messages. It also can alert you to new e-mail in your Yahoo Mail or Yahoo Personals accounts, or when you have upcoming events recorded in your Yahoo Calendar. Yahoo Messenger offers firewall support, a standby mode that minimizes the program until an Internet connection is made, the ability to save and print your conversations, and a tabbed interface that provides quick access to your favorite stocks, news, and sports scores.

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic FULL VERSION [DVD] [OLD VERSION]

Windows Vista Home Basic (DVD-ROM) offers search and organize innovations as well as improved networking opportunities. Windows Vista Home Basic is the edition of Windows Vista for users with the most basic computing needs. The features in this user-friendly software also form the foundation of all of the other editions of Windows Vista, including Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate.

Windows Sidebar gives you quick access to gadgets like picture slide shows, Windows Media Player controls, or news headlines. You pick the gadgets you want to see in Windows Sidebar. View larger.

Use Instant Search to quickly find the information you need. View larger.

Compare Windows Vista editions.

Windows Photo Gallery gives you a whole new way to manage, find, and view your digital photos. View larger.

Manage your schedule, sync up with other calendars, and make sure you never miss another appointment using Windows Calendar. View larger.

Windows Mail includes features that help you minimize the annoyances and risks associated with using e-mail while enjoying the benefits of staying in touch with others. View larger.

Breakthrough Windows Vista Experience
Designed to help you feel confident in your ability to view, find, and organize information and to control your computing experience, all editions of Windows Vista introduce a breakthrough user experience. The visual sophistication of Windows Vista helps streamline your computing experience by refining common window elements so you can better focus on the content on the screen rather than on how to access it. The desktop experience is more informative, intuitive, and helpful. And new tools bring better clarity to the information on your computer, so you can see what your files contain without opening them, find applications and files instantly, navigate efficiently among open windows, and use wizards and dialog boxes more confidently. Secure and Effective
Windows Vista Home Basic helps people use their PCs securely and reliably, makes it simple to stay better connected, and, like all of the editions of Windows Vista, is compatible with the widest range of software, devices, and services that people use and trust every day. For those who simply want to use their PC to surf the Internet, correspond with friends and family using email, or perform basic document creation and editing tasks, Windows Vista Home Basic delivers a safer, more reliable, and more effective computing environment.
More Productivity
Windows Vista Home Basic helps encourage better personal productivity while providing digital entertainment on your PC through its improved reliability, security, and performance. It also helps you to accomplish tasks faster, with a rich new interface and innovative ways to organize and find the information stored on your PC.
Safer and More Reliable
Specifically designed to be the safest operating system Microsoft has ever delivered, Windows Vista Home Basic frees you from worry about the safety and security of your time on the computer. In fact, every edition of Windows Vista, including Windows Vista Home Basic, provides the essential tools and technologies to help protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting to a wireless network, or just reading e-mail. In addition, Windows Vista Home Basic includes innovative tools that warn you of impending hardware failures long before you have lost any important personal data. Additionally, this system comes equipped with up-to-date parental control features that allow you to manage and monitor your family's use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other activities on your PC that might concern you as a parent.
Easy Set-Up and Operation
As with all of other editions of Windows Vista, Windows Vista Home Basic makes your PC significantly easier to use thanks to helpful tools that let you painlessly move your personal files and settings from your old PC to your new Windows Vista-based PC. Additionally, Windows Vista Home Basic integrates new search tools throughout the operating system to help you quickly find the precise file or program you need. Even if your existing PC seems to be adequate for basic tasks such as reading e-mail and browsing the web, by upgrading your PC to Windows Vista Home Basic or by purchasing a new PC installed with this software, you will benefit from a better computing experience and more peace of mind.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 8

A complete solution for photos.

The newest version of the #1 selling consumer photo-editing software, Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 combines power and simplicity so you can easily tell amazing stories with your photos. Bring all your photos and video clips together in one convenient place where you can easily find, view, and manage them; protect them with automatic online backup and 2GB of free storage; and then dive right into a full range of creative activities. Make your photos look extraordinary with editing options that let you recompose photos to any size while keeping key subjects intact; combine multiple exposures into a single, perfectly lit shot; and quickly preview a range of adjustments before choosing the perfect one. And share your stories in unique photo books, scrapbook pages, slide shows, and interactive online experiences.

Extraordinary photos. Amazing stories. Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 software offers a complete solution for photos: Make your photos look extraordinary with easy-to-use editing options. Share your stories in beautiful, personalized print creations and web experiences, and share on popular devices. Easily manage and protect all your photos and video clips from one convenient place. Enjoy automatic online backup with 2GB of free storage, and access your photos and videos anywhere you are.*

Top reasons to buy Adobe Photoshop Elements 8

The toolbar says it all.

Quickly recompose your photos to any size. Click to enlarge.

Clean up and create composites with Photomerge. Click to enlarge.

People Recognition automatically identifies the people in your photos.

Showcase your photos in one-of-a-kind Online Albums, photo books, and more. Click to enlarge.

Do it all with one powerful yet easy-to-use product
Use Photoshop Elements 8 for all your photo needs. Manage, edit, and enhance photos; make unique photo creations; share in print, on the web, and on popular devices; protect photos with automatic online backup and 2GB of free storage*--enough for up to 1,500 photos or 24 minutes of DVD-quality video; and view photos anywhere you are.*
Experience the ultimate media management hub
Bring all your photos and video clips together in one convenient place, and easily find your best stuff fast. Then dive into a full range of creative activities and start enjoying your memories.
Go from flawed to phenomenal in seconds
Get just the photo fixes you're looking for with one-step shortcuts that whiten teeth and make skies a vibrant blue. And now, when you perform one-step photo adjustments--including color, contrast, and lighting--you can quickly choose the best result from a group of adjustment previews.

Go from flawed to phenomenal in seconds.

Adjust color, contrast, and lighting.

Whiten teeth.

Make skies a vibrant blue.

Dramatically transform your photos with easy-to-use options
Convert your color originals to elegant, nuanced black-and-whites, or use color curves adjustments to get the perfect exposure.
Count on step-by-step assistance
Want to touch up a scratch? Create a scrapbook page? Add artistic effects that make a photo look like a pencil sketch? Get help with key steps to get the results you want fast.
Easily create the perfect photo
Take advantage of amazing Adobe Photomerge technology to easily remove distracting elements from photos in just a few clicks, create perfect group shots and seamless panoramas, and combine elements of different faces for entertaining results.
Get creative inspiration
Bring your ideas to life with relevant tutorials that appear just when you need them. New tutorials help you explore creative possibilities.
Share experiences in fresh, exciting ways on the web
Showcase your photos in one-of-a-kind Online Albums with your choice of animated templates, including all-new options for sharing photos and videos together. Adobe Flash technology lets viewers interact with your photos for an entertaining experience. And share via public or private galleries--friends and family won't have to register to look.*
Show off your creativity with flexible layouts
Make amazing printed photo creations--like scrapbook pages, photo books, and cards--that you can customize to get exactly the look you envision. Get fun, fresh looks with new artwork and templates.

Top new benefits of Adobe Photoshop Elements 8

Recompose photos to any size--without distortion
Ever want to change the size or orientation of a photo to fit a certain frame? Now you can quickly resize--even going from landscape to portrait or vice versa--without distorting key subjects like people or buildings.
Get the best exposure
Want to capture all the details in a scene that includes light and dark areas? Snap one photo with flash on and one with flash off, and Photomerge Exposure will combine the shots into a single, perfectly lit photo.
Quickly find your best photos
No need to click through dozens or hundreds of shots to find the good ones. The Auto-Analyzer automatically tags your media so you can easily find your most interesting, highest quality photos and video footage.
Find specific people in a flash
Quickly find photos that feature specific friends or family members thanks to People Recognition, which automatically identifies the people in your photos.
Get the big picture
See the full effect of your photos and video clips from within the Organizer with new full-screen previews, which let you make quick edits to photos while viewing them.
See the same photos and video clips on every computer
Forget trying to manually maintain your photos and video clips across multiple computers. With automatic syncing, media added or edited on one computer will automatically be synced to another.*
Give your creations fresh looks
Experiment with new artwork and templates to give your printed creations fun and stylish new looks.
Enjoy support for Windows 7
Take advantage of support for the new Windows 7 platform and the hands-on capabilities of Windows Touch technology.
* Available in the United States only. Internet access required. Also available at Photoshop.com; no purchase necessary.

QuickBooks Pro 2010

The most popular version of America's #1 small business financial software helps make your business more profitable. New features show you exactly where your business stands and saves you time to focus on your business: organize your finances all in one place; manage and customer, vendor, and employee data; save money-track every dollar in and out; know where your business stands with real-time reports.

Easily print checks, pay bills & track expenses. Click to enlarge.

Track sales, sales taxes & customer payments. Click to enlarge.

Manage payroll & payroll taxes and offer Direct Deposit. Click to enlarge.

Save time when tracking your finances

Easily print checks, pay bills & track expenses
Easily print checks, pay bills & track expenses. Aggregate all your checks to be paid and print them in one batch. QuickBooks will keep track of each check so you can keep tabs on where your money is going. Enter bills from vendors. Since QuickBooks organizes everything in one place, you'll be able to access all past payments & bills for each vendor with just a few clicks.
Track sales, sales taxes & customer payments
Get rid of piles of paperwork. Easily enter customer payments. Since QuickBooks organizes everything in one place, you'll be able to access all past payments for each customer with just a few clicks.
Manage payroll & payroll taxes; offer Direct Deposit (additional fees apply)
Intuit QuickBooks Payroll Services (sold separately), QuickBooks Payroll for Mac powered by PayCycle (sold separately), and Payroll for QuickBooks Online (sold separately) save you time by eliminating steps and giving you the tools to get your payroll done right.
Create professional-looking invoices and forms
Select from Free professional designs to create a distinct look for your business across all your invoices, statements, and other forms. Apply across all your forms at once.
E-mail estimates, invoices, reports, and more
Create customer communications and e-mail directly from your QuickBooks using Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express using your existing e-mail address.
Organize and back-up documents by attaching them to your QuickBooks records
Document Management lets you save time by attaching any electronic or scanned document--to any customer, vendor, employee, account, or transaction.
Accept credit and debit cards right in QuickBooks
Process credit card approvals right in your QuickBooks software. If you use Intuit QuickBooks Merchant Services, the data is automatically recorded in QuickBooks when you make a sale. And, it has no teaser rates, no hidden fees, no cancellation fees, and no long-term contracts.
Scan and deposit your checks with Intuit Check Solution for QuickBooks (subscription required)
Easily scan and deposit your checks into QuickBooks with Intuit Check Solution for QuickBooks. Subscription required; scanner sold separately.
Track time, mileage, and expenses to bill clients
Record time and expenses by client job so you can easily stay on top of your projects. From there, it's easy to invoice clients in a few clicks so you won't miss any billable time and expenses.

Allow multiple users to work in QuickBooks at the same time. Click to enlarge.

Import data from Excel, Quicken, Microsoft Office Accounting & prior QuickBooks versions. Click to enlarge.

Get insights so you make better decisions

Allow multiple users to work in QuickBooks at the same time*
Multiple-user functionality enables more than one person to work on a company file at the same time, increasing collaboration and productivity. It ensures that all users are working on the most up-to-date data.
*QuickBooks Pro and Premier: Requires purchase of a license for each additional user. All copies of QuickBooks must be the same version-year.
One-click business reports
Get pre-designed, customizable business reports to gain insights into your business. See all available reports in one screen to easily choose the right one. Drill down with one click to see the detail behind the numbers. Export any report to Excel--your QuickBooks formatting and formulas go with it. Access industry-specific reports in QuickBooks Premier and Enterprise Solutions.
Import data from Excel, Quicken, Microsoft Office Accounting & prior QuickBooks versions
Get up and running fast by importing data from the tool you use to track your finances now. However little or much data you currently have, you won't have to start over from scratch.
Track inventory, set reorder points & create purchase orders
Easily track your inventory to avoid overbuying and backorders. Indicate re-order points for each inventory good and turn on reminders to automatically let you know when its time to reorder.
Download your bank & credit transactions into QuickBooks
Save time and avoid data entry errors. Instead of typing in your bank and credit card transactions, download them securely from over 3000 participating financial institutions and easily import them into QuickBooks. Learn More
Get an immediate view into your bottom line all in one page with Company Snapshot
Stay on top of your business by customizing your Company Snapshot. Choose at-a-glance reports of yearly expenses and income, expense and income details, and top customers.
Track international sales & expenses in multiple currencies
QuickBooks supports all global currencies and does all the currency calculations for you. You can even download exchange rates or do wire transfers from right in QuickBooks.

The QuickBooks Coach guides you step by step, so you can learn how to use QuickBooks features faster and explore QuickBooks as you enter your data. Click to enlarge.

Learn QuickBooks Quickly with built-in tutorials. Click to enlarge.

Help functionality allows you to find the information you need quickly and easily. Click to enlarge.

Easily Get Started

Import Data from Excel
Excel templates make it easy for you to import your existing customers, vendors, or product information into QuickBooks. You can also assign each column in your existing Excel spreadsheet to a corresponding QuickBooks column. Save these settings to use again the next time you want to pull in data. You can even preview your data before you transfer it.
Import Data from Quicken, Peachtree, and Microsoft Office Accounting
Access the Quicken conversion tool in QuickBooks to convert your data from Quicken 1998 through 2007. If you are currently running your business using Peachtree 2001-2008, Microsoft Small Business Accounting 2006, and Microsoft Office Accounting/Office Accounting Express, you can also easily convert your data into QuickBooks 2010.We've created a special site to provide conversion tools and information to help you easily move from your current accounting software to QuickBooks. Visit our Switcher center.
Get Set Up and Running Quickly
Answer a few basic questions, and get a customized setup you can change at any time.
Step-by-step Coaching for New Users to Help you Learn QuickBooks Faster
Get up to speed on QuickBooks easily. The QuickBooks Coach guides you step by step, so you can learn how to use QuickBooks features faster and explore QuickBooks as you enter your data.
Learn QuickBooks Quickly with Built-in Tutorials
Learn QuickBooks skills as you need them – in your own time, at your own pace. The built-in Learning Center offers short tutorials on basic and advanced features to help you get the most out of QuickBooks.
Upgrade your QuickBooks Effortlessly
Easily transfer your existing data file into QuickBooks 2010. Your company file and preferences will transfer automatically. In just a few steps, you can start working in QuickBooks using your information, including customer lists, vendor lists, balances, and inventory lists.

Get Help When You Need It

Find Answers Fast
Help functionality allows you to find the information you need quickly and easily. You'll find answers to most questions in QuickBooks in-product, onscreen Help. Type a question, choose from a list of topics, or search by keyword.
Connect with Other QuickBooks Users and Experts to Get Help and Share Ideas
Connect with a vibrant community of QuickBooks users, QuickBooks experts, accountants, and Intuit employees. Instant access to a wealth of questions and answers to assist with QuickBooks and small business problems.5

QuickBooks Pro Reports

With QuickBooks reports, you'll always know where your business stands. See who owes you money and how much. Find out who your best customers are and what they're buying. Learn where your business is profitable and where you're losing money. You can also customize report templates to best meet your needs.

• Profit & Loss Standard
  How much money did my company make or lose over a specific period of time?
• Company Snapshot
  Get an immediate view into your bottom line all in one page--tailored to your business. Choose the at-a-glance reports that are most important to you- including new reports for yearly expenses and income comparisons, detailed expense and income breakdown, and a top customer list.
• Inventory Stock Status by Vendor
  What is the detailed information about each inventory item, organized by vendor?
• Purchases by Item Summary
  For each item or service, how many has my company bought, and what is the total amount spent?
• A/P Aging Detail
  Which bills are due and overdue?
• Profit & Loss Budget Performance
  How do the actual income and expenses compare to what has been budgeted for the current month and year?
• Statement of Cash Flows
  What was the cash inflow (from profit and additional cash received) and cash outflow (cash spent) during a specific period of time?
• Income Tax Detail
  What transactions make up each amount on my company's income tax forms?

Learn how to do common tasks in the QuickBooks Learning Center. Click to enlarge.

Connect with other QuickBooks users and experts to get help and share ideas. Click to enlarge.

Self-Help Resources

Find Answers Fast with QuickBooks In-Product Help
Help functionality allows you to find the information you need quickly and easily. You'll find answers to most questions in QuickBooks in-product, onscreen Help. Type a question, choose from a list of topics, or search by keyword.
Learn to Complete Common Tasks in QuickBooks Learning Center
Learn how to do common tasks by watching interactive, in-product tutorials in the QuickBooks Learning Center. Learn how to record sales, bill customers, generate reports, and more.
Get Step-by-Step Coaching for New Users
Get up to speed on QuickBooks easily. The new QuickBooks Coach guides you step by step, so you can learn how to use QuickBooks features faster and explore QuickBooks as you enter your data.
Connect with Other QuickBooks Users and Experts to Get Help and Share Ideas
Connect with a vibrant community of QuickBooks users, QuickBooks experts, accountants, and Intuit employees. Instant access to a wealth of questions and answers to assist with QuickBooks and small business problems.
Get free Access to Our Support Website with Thousands of Answers
Visit the QuickBooks Support Website to search and browse thousands of detailed Support Topics and Frequently Asked Questions.
Get Personalized Help from QuickBooks Support Experts
Live technical support is available on a per-call basis or as part of a QuickBooks Support Plan Support Plans offer much more than just tech support! They include data protection services like online backup and data recovery to help protect your important QuickBooks information. Plus, they provide 24/7 access to trained support experts for an unlimited number of questions and issues,3,4 as well as tools to help you learn how to use QuickBooks and manage your business more efficiently. Fees apply.
Find a Local Accounting Professional
Find a certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor who can help you get set up and provide accounting advice tailored to your business.

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade

Upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium. Windows 7 Home Premium makes it easy to create a home network and share all of your favorite photos, videos, and music. You can even watch, pause, rewind, and record TV (a broadcast TV tuner may be required). Get the best entertainment experience with Windows 7 Home Premium. Do you use your PC for work, run Windows XP programs, or require enhanced security? Consider Windows 7 Professional.

Windows 7 is designed to make your PC simpler--to be more reliable, more responsive and to make the things you do every day on your PC easier. Click to enlarge.

Upgrade to Windows 7

All editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista qualify you to buy an upgrade license. 1. Choose your edition of Windows 7
Explore key features and choose the edition that's best for you. Be sure to check the expanded list of extended features in Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, and Windows 7 Ultimate. System requirements vary for each edition of Windows 7 because some features might require special hardware.
2. See if your PC has what it takes to run Windows 7
In general, if your PC can run Windows Vista it can run Windows 7. To make sure, download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to do a quick check. If you want certain features, such as HomeGroup or Windows Media Center, check to see if your PC has the hardware that's needed.
3. Check which operating system your PC is currently running
How you make the move to Windows 7 depends on your current operating system.

• Windows Vista
  The transition to Windows 7 should be pretty smooth, although you may need to update your system to the latest service pack first.
  
  
• Windows XP (or any other operating system)
  Windows 7 is best experienced on a new PC with the latest hardware, but if your computer meets the minimum specifications, you can install Windows 7 on a PC running Windows XP. Windows 7 must be "custom" installed (also known as a "clean" installation) over Windows XP. Before beginning the installation, you'll need to copy your files and settings to an external drive. After Windows 7 has been installed you will need to re-install all of your programs using the original installation media and then copy over the files and settings you backed up to your external drive. Because Windows 7 requires a custom installation, we strongly recommend that you get help with this process from your local computer service provider.

More work, more play, and more of everything in between. Click to enlarge.

Manage lots of open programs, documents, and browser windows easily with thumbnail and full-screen previews of open windows. Click to enlarge.

With Snap you can arrange two windows side-by-side just by dragging them to opposite sides of your screen. Click to enlarge.

Open files you use regularly in just two clicks with Jump Lists on the improved taskbar and Start menu.

The best entertainment experience on your PC

Easiest Windows to use ever

• Simplify your PC with new navigation features like Aero Shake, Jump Lists, and Snap.
• Customize Windows to look and feel the way you like by changing themes and taskbar programs.
• Setting up a home network and connecting to printers and devices is easier than ever.
• Windows 7 Home Premium supports the latest hardware and software.

It's faster

• Designed to make your PC sleep and resume quicker.
• Takes full advantage of 64-bit PC hardware and memory.
• Connecting to wireless networks is fast and easy.

Best PC entertainment experience

• Watch, pause, rewind, and record TV with Windows Media Center.
• Blu-ray read/write support for data files.
• Includes integrated video and Dolby audio codecs.

Simplifies Everyday Tasks

Simple to use

Preview
Manage lots of open programs, documents, and browser windows easily with thumbnail previews and full-screen previews of open windows.
Pin
Open files and get around your PC faster with the improved taskbar. You can easily pin programs you use often to the taskbar and launch them in just one click.

Windows 7 lets you peek behind open windows to get a quick look at your desktop. Click to enlarge.

Instantly locate and open virtually any file on your PC right from the Start menu with Windows Search. Click to enlarge.

Turn your PC into a TV with Windows Media Center, and enjoy your favorite videos and music with Windows Media Player. Click to enlarge.

Jump Lists
Open files you use regularly in just two clicks with Jump Lists on the improved taskbar previews and Start menu.
Snap
Windows 7 has simple new ways to manage open windows. For example, with Snap you can arrange two windows side-by-side just by dragging them to opposite sides of your screen.
Peek and Shake
Windows 7 lets you peek behind open windows to get a quick look at your desktop.
Windows Search
Instantly locate and open virtually any file on your PC, from documents to emails to songs, right from the Start menu, with Windows Search.

Easy to connect

Setting up wireless connections is easier with consistent, one-click connections to available networks. Click to enlarge.

Enjoy the photos, music, and videos on your home PC when you're away from home with remote media streaming. Click to enlarge.

Windows Touch makes PCs with touch screens easier and more intuitive to use. Click to enlarge.

Manage Backup and Restore and other features through Action Center. Click to enlarge.

Search, organize, and edit files across a network in the same way you would a single folder.Click to enlarge.

Wireless setup
With Windows 7, setting up wireless connections is easier with consistent, one-click connections to available networks, whether those networks are based on Wi-Fi, mobile broadband, dial-up, or corporate VPN.
HomeGroup
Connect Windows 7 PCs on a home network in just four clicks and easily get to the photos, music, and files on each one--even share printers--with HomeGroup.

Easy to browse the web

Internet Explorer 8
Visual search helps you quickly find the information you want by adding visual cues and previews to search results from top search providers including Live Search, Wikipedia, Yahoo, Amazon, and others.
Internet Explorer 8
Use Web slices to conveniently keep up with changes on frequently updated websites, like eBay auctions or traffic sites, directly from the IE8 toolbar.

Easy to communicate and share

Windows Live Photo Gallery
Windows Live Photo Gallery makes share your photos to your favorite photo site easy.
Windows Live Mail
Windows Live Mail makes managing multiple email accounts easy.
Windows Live Family Safety
Keep your child safe by managing what sites they can visit and who they can send/receive emails and im communications from.
Note: Windows Live components need to be downloaded separately.

Works The Way You Want

Faster and More Reliable

Windows 7 will help your PC sleep and resume more quickly. It is designed to respond to commands more quickly and will help your PC to be more reliable. Fewer clicks and less interruptions

Makes New Things Possible

Media on your terms

Windows Media Center
Turn your PC into a TV with Windows Media Center.
Windows Media Center
Watch shows for free when and where you want with Internet TV.
DirectX 11
DirectX 11 technology delivers breathtaking game graphics so real, it's unreal.

New ways to engage

Windows Touch
Windows Touch makes PCs with touch screens easier and more intuitive to use.

Media on your terms

Windows Media Player
More and more consumer electronics, from TVs to digital photo frames, can be connected to home networks. With Play To in Windows 7, you'll be able to easily send music, photos, videos from your PC to a networked device throughout your home.
You can enjoy the photos, music, and videos on your home PC when you're away from home with remote media streaming.

Work anywhere

Location Aware Printing
Windows 7 will automatically pick the right printer for you when you move from home to work networks.

Work anywhere with less effort.

• Instantly locate virtually any file, email, or document on your PC just by typing a word or two.
• Get around your PC faster with the improved taskbar.
• Open programs you use regularly in one click and files you use regularly in just two.
• Manage lots of open programs, documents, and browser windows easily with thumbnail and full-screen previews of open windows.
• Manage multiple email accounts, including Hotmail, Gmail, AOL, and Yahoo! Mail Plus, all in one place with one simple program.
• Get to the files, photos, and music on any PC with Windows 7 in the house from any other.
• Print to any printer in the house from any PC with Windows 7 in the house.

Safeguard your hard work.

• Windows Internet Explorer 8 helps keep your PC safer from malware and you safer from fraudulent websites designed to fool you into divulging private information.