Computeractive! Latest updates

Your top ten comments on Windows 7

Paul Allen — 2009-11-13T15:55:00.000Z

Paul Allen, Computeractive, Friday 13 November 2009 at 15:55:00

Computeractive readers respond to XP and Vista's successor

Whereas Vista was launched with a huge marketing campaign that promised to deliver the 'wow factor', Windows 7 traded PR hyperbole for a more mature and low-key arrival (if you can accept that the chilling Windows 7 party advert was genuine rather than a cynical car-crash viral).

The emphasis, Microsoft insists, was on listening to what customers liked and loathed about its products. The reception from Computeractive readers has been positive, although many have told us they will stick with XP or Vista. Some who upgraded have reported compatibility problems with older hardware and software but at nothing like the level seen when Vista launched.

If you are still weighing up the upgrade or are planning a PC purchase for Christmas, here are some thoughts from Computeractive readers for you to consider.

Proving its worth

I am a Silver Surfer who has recently made a clean install of Windows 7. Before starting I went on to the Windows 7 upgrade advice page and printed off the instructions for upgrading XP to 7. By following these instructions I found the whole process very simple. On completion of the install & adding in all my devices and programs I find everything works without any problems. This operating system I find very good & easy to use. As I bought the disc on preorder it only cost me £50. Money well spent. I have installed Microsoft's free security suite called Security Essentials and this too is proving its worth. Your magazine continues to provide ideas & advice for which I thank you.

Maurice Wood

Driver worries

From my point of view that it's pretty well all it is cracked up to be but with one or exceptions. What I was not prepared for was the lack of drivers for some of my programs.Paint Shop Pro X2 will not ,so I am informed by Microsoft, be compatible with Windows 7 unless I buy Paint Shop Pro X2 ultimate edition. My point is that some manufacturers should have been better prepared for Windows 7. I don't, however, regret installing it as I regard it as a great improvement over Vista.

Ian Newman

Ridiculous price

I bought a laptop 18 months ago that came with Vista Home Premium and I found no problem switching from using XP to using Vista. I have had encountered no real problems with Vista which I use alongside Office 2007. Most of the ‘additions’ to Windows 7 are not going to be that useful to a lot of people, me included, so why the new package and at a ridiculous price certainly one I cannot afford. Surely, if the ‘additions’ are important, they can produce an upgrade package at a more reasonable price?

Keith Tingey

Trust the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor tool?

When I ran this tool on my Windows Vista Professional PC it told me that some programmes might not run and that I should visit the manufacturer's website to download compatible software if it were available. So I then purchased a Laptop pre-installed with Windows 7 Home Premium - to try out various programmes for compatibility - some of which were more than 10 years old. I had no problems whatsoever in installing all the programmes I wanted - including the ones " flagged up" by the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Tool. By all means run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Tool but do not necessarily believe the results is my advice.

George C Griffiths

Waste of money

Maybe having a brand new computer and software will work ok but the Home premium upgrade is a complete waste of money. Before I loaded Windows 7 I checked with the Windows upgrade advisor which told me that only two of my programmes were not compatible. In reality only two were compatible and I was unable to use most of the links within emails and websites. I would encourage anyone considering upgrading to think again or at least to spend a long time on the internet checking the sites of every programme on their machine to check compatibility before even buying it. Microsoft are up to their usual trick of producing flawed programmes and expecting Joe public to sort them out'.

R. Fielding

Video evidence

Compliments on the excellent Windows 7 videos. I had been wondering what benefits I would get by upgrading from WindowsXP or Vista (I have both). The videos are worth thousands of words and so now I can see (apart perhaps for Libraries) there's nothing worth spending money on. I'll stay with what I've got thanks. At least until I buy another PC. That's how I got Vista.

Les Tonks

Six good reasons not to upgrade

1. Cost. Upgrading to Windows 7 will cost you a minimum of £58. Why bother if Vista is working well for you?

2. You will lose Windows Mail and be left with Windows Live Mail, which in my opinion , is a lesser product. I don't want a seperate inbox for all my e-mail accounts with corresponding deleted boxes. I just want all e-mails delivered to one inbox - as Windows Mail did.

3. I don't want to have to go into Windows Live Mail to access Calendar. I want to have a shortcut to go straight there (as I could in Vista).

4. I don't want to use Windows Live Movie Maker - I want to carry on using the old Windows Movie Maker - a much better program.

5. I want my laptop webcam to work.

6. I want to be able to have the option to have control panel etc in Classic View as I did in Vista.

Yes, Windows 7 is a much slicker, faster, leaner operating system and the new taskbar is brilliant. I would recommend anyone buying a new computer to choose it but for anyone considering upgrading from Vista to Windows 7 I would say no way! I now use Mozilla Firefox for internet browsing, Mozilla Thunderbird for e-mail and Mozilla Sunbird for calendar. Windows 7 is a godsend to Mozilla!

Chris Reynolds

My favourite improvements

Paint has finally got a nice overhaul sporting the Office 2007 Ribbon look, and it is actually a bit more useable with the inclusion of extra brushes such as the crayon. The calculator is particularly impressive, as it not only improves on the one in Vista, but it even has tools like the ability to convert units (i.e. Imperial to Metric, Angles), as well as a tool for working out compound interest on a loan. Word pad also has the office 2007 look, and can save in Rich text and Open Office format.

Windows Media Player 12 supports MOV, DivX and other formats out of the box. It also has Play To which enables streaming of music and video to other Windows 7 PCs and compatible devices. Windows 7 also comes with several Aero Desktop Themes – a warm welcome considering how few XP provided.

Hugh Marshall

Sort out folder views

One of the things I most disliked about Vista was the way it presumed it knew I want my folders to behave. I was really pigged off about the way all my folders (of any type) altered themselves to whatever settings I changed any other folder's to, despite having set ‘Remember Folder Settings’. Now in Windows 7 Professional it’s worse! Now I find that when I open a folder on the worktop, not only do the settings reflect any change made to another, but also the folder’s size, and I can't find ‘Remember Folder Settings’. Isn't it time Microsoft addressed the problem and fixed it? We've all paid enough over the years for a better product.

George Cane

Definite improvement

Windows 7 is all that Vista should have been from square one. I carried-out a clean install and already feel quite at home with the new OS. I really like the 'Libraries' which groups together and grants ease of access to multiple Hard Drives. In addition to the 4 default named libraries you can also create your own which is useful for any 'specialist groups' like Ancestry for example. The new Taskbar is handy in quite a few ways allowing ease of placement, with adequate sized views of all 'like windows' running and also by dragging-up the icon produces a 'jump list' of recent folders etc. The ability to easily snap 2 windows side by side to allow comparison without all that fiddly resizing is excellent. It's very early days yet and I fully expect to find other benefits with Windows 7; however, my first impression is that's a definite improvement over Vista and a dream to use.

Norman Knapp.

More Windows 7 help and advice.

Tell us your views on Windows 7.

Advert regulator to get more online powers

Dinah Greek — 2009-11-13T16:56:00.000Z

Dinah Greek, Computeractive, Friday 13 November 2009 at 16:56:00

New rules will allow ASA to regulate more website content

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) will soon be able to act on complaints about content and advertising on UK websites.

Proposed changes to the Committee of Advertising Practice's (CAP) code will extend the independent advertising regulator's power to cover content on companies websites.

Anyone who thinks an advert is misleading or offensive or in breach of another of the CAP Code's provisions can complain to the ASA, which adjudicates all complaints that fall within the Code's remit.

The ASA receives around 2,000 complaints about website content each year, but the regulator is unable to act on website content "except sales promotions and advertisements in paid-for space".

This means that, for example, banner ads appearing on a newspaper's website are within the ASA's jurisdiction but promotions by that advertiser or company on its own website are not.

Winston Fletcher, the chairman of the Advertising Standards Board of Finance (Asbof), which raise the funds from advertisers needed to run the ASA, said: " At the moment marketing on websites is totally unregulated – they are outside of the ASA's remit.

"The changes we are working on will extend the CAP Code and bring websites the ASA's remit."

He said sanctions are usually unnecessary because once a company has been informed about a problem it usually makes the required changes.

“But we can impose sanctions. This rarely happens but it can result in advertising space being denied to an advertiser or if the breach is serious, we can refer it to the Office of Fair Trading,” he said.

Full details of the proposals will be published once they have been approved by CAP, The Advertising Standards Board of Finance, the ASA Council and the Advertising Association, whose Digital Media Group undertook the original work on the remit extension.

It is anticipated that the extended remit will come into operation during the second half of 2010.

RSA shuts down scam site

David Neal — 2009-11-13T15:45:00.000Z

David Neal, V3.co.uk, Friday 13 November 2009 at 15:45:00

Job seekers scammed by shipping crims

RSA Security's research lab, AKA FraudAction, has shut down a scam involving reshipping and cash mules.

In a blog post, the firm said the scam involved a recruitment ad on a bogus web site for a fake parcel delivery firm. Luckily, the web site was so riddled with errors that most people who were lured to it got wise to the con.

RSA said that "candidates" were asked to send in their personal information as part of the application process. Apparently, 1,900 people fell for the ruse and lost sensitive personal information as a result.

The company said the site contained several tell-tale signs of fraudsters at work. "For example," it wrote, "the copy written in English is not very good, and there is too much of it. A new warehouse is noted in Latvia, a country where fraudsters often dwell.”

The blog post concluded with the warning: "What makes these scams even more attractive is that they offer 'easy money' while working from home. While these jobs may sound alluring, they can oftentimes be completely illegal."

BBC relaunches Wii iPlayer channel

Dinah Greek — 2009-11-13T17:05:00.000Z

Dinah Greek, Computeractive, Friday 13 November 2009 at 17:05:00

Free catch-up TV and radio service improved for Wii console

The BBC’s iPlayer catch-up TV and radio service is relaunching on the Nintendo Wii as a dedicated Wii channel.

Although owners of the games console have been able to watch iPlayer programmes via the Wii internet channel since April 2008, there have been a lot of reported problems; including interference and people found the interface difficult to navigate.

In addition, the service has been compromised with recent firmware updates.

The broadcaster said the new Wii version of the iPlayer has been designed with a full-screen user interface.

Erik Huggers, director, BBC future media and technology, said: "It's important that we offer audiences more ways to access the huge range of BBC content available, and this improved version of BBC iPlayer underlines our commitment to reaching new audiences by making BBC iPlayer available on as many platforms as possible."

Nintendo Wii users who want to download the iPlayer to their Wii console will need to have a broadband internet connection. They can then go to the main screen of the Wii Shop Channel and from there to the BBC iPlayer Wii Channel.

The iPlayer is free but once downloaded, users need to click on the BBC iPlayer icon to launch the new full-screen service, then select and play the BBC TV or radio programme they want to watch.

The iPlayer is also available on Sony’s Playstation 3 games console and the BBC also launched a trial of the service on the Freesat TV platform this month.

MPs urge Johnson to show clemency in McKinnon case

David Neal — 2009-11-13T15:11:00.000Z

David Neal, V3.co.uk, Friday 13 November 2009 at 15:11:00

Select committee want Home Secretary to block extradition

The Home Affairs Select Committee has urged home secretary Alan Johnson to reconsider plans to allow hacker Gary McKinnon to be extradited to the US to stand trial.

McKinnon is something of a cause célèbre and has gathered support from a wide range of factions, although what extra impact the intervention of this group will have is yet to be seen, especially since repeated attempts to stop the extradition have been rebuffed.

Committee chairman Keith Vaz has written to Johnson saying the extradition should be blocked on humanitarian grounds. In his letter Vaz writes: “Because of Mr McKinnon's precarious state of mental health, the Committee is of the view that he should not be extradited to the USA and that you should exercise your discretion in this case.”

However, Johnson is unlikely to be moved. Earlier this week he said the decision to extradite, and the rules surrounding the practice, were fair.

This morning, a poster on the Free Gary campaign blog wrote, "Why is it so hard for this Labour government to admit that they are wrong?"

The blog's mission statement reads: "It seems only just that Gary should face any charges in a British court, and to serve any sentence, if he is found guilty, in a British prison."

McKinnon is accused of "the biggest military hack of all time", although he claims he was only looking for evidence of extra-terrestrials.

Microsoft launches Bing in the UK

David Neal — 2009-11-13T12:06:00.000Z

David Neal, V3.co.uk, Friday 13 November 2009 at 12:06:00

UK Bing offers localised search and tweaks

Microsoft has officially launched Bing in the UK, but the release does not appear to have the same features seen in the US version.

Microsoft said today that Bing would help users to not only search, but also make more informed choices. Although the US version was launched some five months ago, leaving other nations waiting, Microsoft said that the time had been well spent as it carried out user research and behavioural analysis to provide a search and information site that was truly useful, locally.

Using a Europe-based research centre, Microsoft analysed three factors in order to launch Bing in a way that lets users find what they are looking for quickly and accurately: feedback from beta users, trends in their searching habits, and their individual requirements.

Microsoft concedes that this has resulted in changes to the way that its search site looks, feels and delivers results. Ashley Highfield, vice president and managing director of Microsoft UK's Consumer and Online business, said: “Bing is ready for the UK consumer, with our revolutionary way of searching the internet proving very popular. Features such as Categorised Search, Twitter and Visual Search are providing a different and intuitive experience, and are enabling us all to make informed decisions and discover more of the web – faster."

Bing's features include a local photo on its homepage; shopping comparison tools powered by Ciao UK; and Bing Maps, which has been improved with the addition of a number of new features, including transit information and local search tools.

Bing in the UK also includes Microsoft's visual search feature, which will let users find what they are looking for without having to use their keyboards.

"Removing our beta tag is merely the first step to signal Bing is here and already has features that are superior to those provided by other search engines,” added Highfield.

However the UK version of the site doesn't currently include Twitter feeds or Wolfram Alpha integration, both of which were recently announced by Microsoft and are available in the US.

Mental health data stolen from NHS trust

Tom Young — 2009-11-13T15:51:00.000Z

Tom Young, Computing, Friday 13 November 2009 at 15:51:00

Data not properly protected by NHS authorities

An NHS trust has lost data relating to 1,000 occupational therapy patients and staff members, according to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Great Yarmouth and Waveney Primary Care Trust (PCT) informed the ICO of the theft of two desktop computers containing sensitive personal data including information about people’s physical or mental health and trade union membership.

The premises did not have an intruder alarm system, the internal office doors did not have security locks and the computers were not protected with any form of encryption software.

Six desktop computers holding personal data relating to 2270 patients were also stolen from Gloucestershire PCT.

The computers were used by medical secretaries for preparing letters and notes relating to diagnosis and referral of patients.

Although the computers were password-protected and held in a locked office, the ICO said patient data should have been held on a local server, rather than on the hard drives of the stolen computers.

Formal Undertakings have now been signed by both trusts committing them to take a number of steps to ensure that personal data is processed in compliance with the Data Protection Act.

"Both of these cases have put thousands of patients’ sensitive personal information at risk," said Mick Gorrill, assistant information commissioner at the ICO. "Personal information is valuable and keeping it safe and secure should be at the heart of good corporate governance. I am pleased these PCTs have taken steps to ensure patient data does not fall into the wrong hands."

Summit: Startup promises disc storage that will last for 1,000 years

Iain Thomson in San Francisco — 2009-11-13T06:12:00.000Z

Iain Thomson in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Friday 13 November 2009 at 06:12:00

Firm says its special DVDs will be readable in the next millennium

A US firm has started selling DVD storage discs that it claims will still be readable in 1,000 years.

Cranberry is touting the DVD technology as a way to guarantee that data burned onto their discs will still be readable by current players for 1,000 years, in contrast to many DVDs burned by computer that the Library of Congress warns may be unreadable in as little as five years.

“The Cranberry DiamonDisc is playable on most regular DVD drives today and will last as far into the future as we can imagine," said David McInnis, founder of Cranberry.

"Who wouldn't want to preserve their family or business legacy for generations to come?"

The company said that instead of using adhesive, dye or reflective layers that can deteriorate over time, its technology uses a new form of laser to burn data into a synthetic stone disc.

This, however, comes at a price. The discs themselves cost around $30 apiece and cannot be burned by standard computer technology. Instead the company burns the data itself and then forwards the discs to customers.

“CD/DVD experiential life expectancy is two to five years even though published life expectancies are often cited as 10 years, 25 years, or longer,” says the US National Archive on its web site.

“However, any specific medium may experience a critical failure before its life expectancy is reached.”

Visit our dedicated Summit web site for more news, views, analysis and video on the topic of Information Overload.

Transmute 1.65

Chris Wiles — 2009-11-14T15:53:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, V3.co.uk, Saturday 14 November 2009 at 15:53:00

Quickly convert your bookmarks between browsers

Most of us use the same web browser across multiple computers. Synchronisation tools such as Mozilla Weave or Foxmarks enable us to keep the same bookmarks across various computers where you have Firefox installed. It’s a seamless process. Just add a website to your bookmarks and, when you start up your other computer, you’ll find the same bookmark updated in Firefox.

Snag is, we don’t always use the same browser on every machine. Some users prefer Firefox on their Windows desktop and Safari on their Mac-based laptop. Now with Google Chrome, some users have moved to this as their browser of choice. Sadly there’s no Mac or Linux version available.

Synchronising different bookmarks across your computers is another problem entirely. You can’t synchronise your Firefox and Safari bookmarks, automatically.

Transmute is an answer to this problem. It is a simple conversion tool that enables you to import bookmarks from one browser and then export for another. For example, load the bookmarks from Google Chrome on your Windows desktop and export for Apple Safari on your Mac.

The only downside is that this app is Windows-only, so you can’t convert between your Mac browsers.

Transmute Portable 1.65

Lee Collins — 2009-11-14T11:54:00.000Z

Lee Collins, V3.co.uk, Saturday 14 November 2009 at 11:54:00

Quickly convert your bookmarks between browsers

Synchronising different bookmarks across your computers is another problem entirely. You can’t synchronise your Firefox and Safari bookmarks, automatically.

The only downside is that this app is Windows-only, so you can’t convert between your Mac browsers.

Note that this is the portable version of Transmute.

Wine 1.1.33

Chris Wiles — 2009-11-14T00:00:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, V3.co.uk, Saturday 14 November 2009 at 00:00:00

Run Windows apps on a Unix system

This is the software publisher's description.

Wine is an Open Source implementation of the Windows API on top of X and Unix.

Think of Wine as a compatibility layer for running Windows programs. Wine does not require Microsoft Windows, as it is a completely free alternative implementation of the Windows API consisting of 100% non-Microsoft code, however Wine can optionally use native Windows DLLs if they are available. Wine provides both a development toolkit for porting Windows source code to Unix as well as a program loader, allowing many unmodified Windows programs to run on x86-based Unixes, including Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, and Solaris.

The Wine project started in 1993 as a way to support running Windows 3.1 programs on Linux. Bob Amstadt was the original coordinator, but turned it over fairly early on to Alexandre Julliard, who has run it ever since. Over the years, ports for other Unixes have been added, along with support for Win32 as Win32 applications became popular.

Wine is still under development, and it is not yet suitable for general use. Nevertheless, many people find it useful in running a growing number of Windows programs. Please see the Application Database for success and failure reports for hundreds of Windows programs, as well as the Bug Tracking Database for a list of known issues, and the Status page for a global view on Wine's implementation progress.

Ashampoo Burning Studio 2010

Chris Wiles — 2009-11-13T12:05:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, V3.co.uk, Friday 13 November 2009 at 12:05:00

Burn audio or data discs quickly & easily with this full commercial application

Ashampoo Burning Studio 2010 is a simple, yet powerful suite that aims to get back to the disc burning basics. No bloat, no unnecessary features, no confusing options to get in your way, just the core functionality you need delivered through an easy-to-use wizard-based interface.

In just one click you can be creating a simple data disc, for instance (CD, DVD or Blu-ray). Drag and drop the files or folders you need onto the work area, and the disc can be burned in another two clicks.

It's just as easy to create an audio, Video or Super Video CD. Point and click, drag and drop your files, click Next > Write and watch as your disc is burned. The interface is virtually identical in every case, so once you've used one you'll feel at home with them all.

A handy design tool will help you create attractive disc covers, labels and booklets. (Don't worry if you're artistically challenged - there are plenty of bundled templates to choose from.)

There's all the usual supporting functionality you expect from any disc burning package: you can copy discs, erase rewriteable discs, rip audio CDs, and work with several types of disc image (ISO, CUE/BIN, ASHDISC).

And just in case that's not quite enough, Ashampoo also throw in a very competent backup tool. This displays the contents of your hard drive in an Explorer-like tree, letting you check boxes to decide which files and folders you'd like to back up. Customisable filters reduce the backup size by excluding files you don't need. Then the backup can be saved to CD/ DVD/ Blu-ray disc, with the program automatically splitting the backup across multiple discs if it's too large.

How Do Get Your Serial Code

You need a serial code to use Ashampoo Burning Studio 2010. Leave "Get full version key" checked during installation to start the process of receiving your free registration key

UPGRADE OFFER - save 75% on Ashampoo Burning Studio 9

Upgrade to Ashampoo Burning Studio 9 and you'll gain features like the ability to create animated DVD slideshows from your favourite photos. You can now create DVD movies from QuickTime source files (amongst many other supported formats), preview them with sound, then burn them to video DVDs. And the whole process has been optimised for even better performance and compatibility. The program would normally cost £34.99, but as a registered owner of Ashampoo Burning Studio 2010 you can upgrade for only £7.49, a chunky 75% discount. Click Internet > Upgrade to Ashampoo Burning Studio 9 to place your order.

SmartDraw 2010

Paul Rowlingson — 2009-11-13T00:00:00.000Z

Paul Rowlingson, V3.co.uk, Friday 13 November 2009 at 00:00:00

Drawing tool for business diagrams

Whether you need to design a flowchart, floor plan, map, flyer, timeline or engineering and science diagram, SmartDraw can help. The best part is that you don't even have to know how to draw.

Every possible graphic available is viewable within the useful graphic explorer at the side of a document, enabling you to see clearly the immense range of graphics available.

Simply drag-and-drop required shapes onto your document and, for the uninitiated, built in hints will guide you through every possible process. Fully compliant with Word, Excel and WordPerfect among many others, SmartDraw can be exported into these programs. Word and Excel documents can also be added to a SmartDraw diagram.

The new SmartDraw 2007 contains a number of new enhancements, including:

* Better Graphics with all-new special effects - see all the enhanced graphic capability built into SmartDraw 2007.

* Faster Results, thanks to SmartTemplates that almost automatically create correct flowcharts, Gantt charts, software design diagrams, electrical engineering diagrams, ecomaps, genograms, floor plans, and more.

* Easier next-generation user interface puts tools and functions into intuitive groups for quicker access. And, SmartPanels give you one-click access to the exact six tools you need to keep moving.

Note that the download here is merely a stub. When you've downloaded this stub, and install, the installer will always attempt to download the latest version.

Maxthon 2.5.10

Chris Wiles — 2009-11-13T00:00:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, V3.co.uk, Friday 13 November 2009 at 00:00:00

Alternative IE-based web browser

In the past, Internet Explorer has received a lot of bad press for lack of updates, security issues, poor CSS support and more. However, since the release of Internet Explorer 7, we now have a web browser that offers tabbed browser, a much improved web engine and enhanced security features.

When you install Internet Explorer 7 on your system, the installed HTML web core is built in to Windows (and this element is very hard to remove), there have been a number of attempts to create a replacement for Internet Explorer that take this core HTML engine and add additional features to produce a even better web browser.

Maxthon is one of the more popular Internet Explorer replacement browsers and is constantly updated.

The latest version Maxthon 2 contains a new streamlined interface, which looks a bit like a mix of the Mac OS X Safari web browser and Firefox. Other features include multi-user support from the same web browser, so each user has their own preferences. There are tons of other minor updates, too.

SUPER AntiSpyware 4.30

Chris Wiles — 2009-11-13T00:00:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, V3.co.uk, Friday 13 November 2009 at 00:00:00

Protect your system from spyware

We tend to overly rely on our anti-spyware and security software. For instance, we download the latest commercial security tool and then setup the application to automatically scan for Trojans and spyware that may have installed on our system, at the end of every working day.

This is fantastic and works well if we’re in the office. However, we often forget that we can be out of the office, other people use our computer or we simply finish work early, ending the day before the anti-spyware tool starts its automatic check. Result? Our system is only checked randomly, which means that the Trojan could have used that time to access our system and track our online activity, then reported our personal information.

SUPERAntiSpyware is another anti-spyware tool, but the free version requires you to manually check your system. It will look for and detect the latest worms, Trojans and other problematic applications, but it won’t block these on a ‘real-time’ basis, nor can it schedule to check on an automated basis. You’ll need to perform these tasks manually.

This is the ‘free’ version. The Professional edition will schedule, automatically check for Trojans and will update definitions automatically.

Kingston V-Series 40GB SSD Kit

Tom Royal — 2009-11-13T12:56:00.000Z

Tom Royal, Computeractive, Friday 13 November 2009 at 12:56:00

Give your computer a speed boost

Solid State Disks, or SSDs, are designed to replace hard disks in computers. Unlike hard disks, which have moving parts, they use the same type of memory found in USB memory keys.

At just £75 Kingston’s 40GB SSD kit is the cheapest we have seen.

The kit includes the disk itself, the cables and bracket needed to fit it into a desktop PC and a program that can copy the contents of your entire hard disk onto the new SSD in one go.

If you have less than 40GB of files on your hard disk this is a simple process, but if not you will have to move some to another storage device first – the process copies everything in one go.

The main advantage of an SSD is speed. We copied a new Windows 7 system from hard disk to the SSD: with the hard disk the computer took 52 seconds to start, but on the SSD this was cut to 35 seconds.

Files copied at 15MB/sec on the hard disk and 24MB/sec on the SSD. It’s also silent, and with no moving parts it should be more reliable than a hard disk.

By modern standards 40GB isn’t much space so this SSD would best be used to store Windows and programs, with your files stored on a separate hard disk. It’s expensive per gigabyte, but this is a simple way to give a computer a real speed boost.

Kensington Slimblade Trackball

Andrew Zarkesh — 2009-11-13T12:09:00.000Z

Andrew Zarkesh, Computeractive, Friday 13 November 2009 at 12:09:00

An alluring, but awkward alternative to the mouse

Most of us are used to using mice but there are alternative methods of moving the pointer on the screen. We have looked at graphics tablets recently, but an older device making something of a comeback is the trackball. These can be better for those who find mice hard or painful to use.

A trackball can also be a good choice for people who use photo-editing and graphics programs as it’s likely to allow more precise control of the pointer.

A good trackball will allow the user to move the cursor while their hand remains in a relaxed position, minimising the amount of stress exerted on the fingers and wrist and ultimately helping to prevent wrist injury.

The Kensington Slimblade’s grey casing and red ball look good and it has a low profile. However, this low profile made the Slimblade ucomfortable to use for long periods.

Due to the size and height of the ball in relation to the wrist rest, we had to raise our wrists to quite a sharp angle to use it properly.

Controlling the ball with the thumb was more comfortable, but this meant using the other hand to operate the left and right click buttons, which was awkward.

Those mouse buttons are located on the lower half of the device and two smaller buttons toward the top activate Viewing mode and Media mode.

Viewing mode turns the ball into a scroll wheel, rolling it up and down to scroll on a page. It can also zoom in or out by rotating the ball clockwise or anti-clockwise but this did not work with all applications.

Media mode lets the user control volume and track selection using the ball and buttons. This only worked fully with iTunes.

Skipping between tracks using the ball was too vague for our liking – it was hard to select a particular track – and having a volume control on the trackball was of little benefit. Annoyingly, the buttons cannot be customised any further.

There are good alternatives to mice, but sadly the Slimblade is not one of them.

Apple Mac Mini

Tom Royal — 2009-11-13T11:46:00.000Z

Tom Royal, Computeractive, Friday 13 November 2009 at 11:46:00

The former mini marvel doesn't look quite so impressive

When Apple first launched the Mac Mini back in 2005 very small desktop computers were rare. These days alternatives are available for as little as £150, making this latest version look rather expensive.

The difference, however, lies in the processor inside. Most cheap mini desktop computers use low-cost, low-power processors such as Intel's Atom. This latest Mac Mini uses a far more powerful Core 2 Duo chip of the type you'd find in larger computers.

The version we tested runs at 2.53GHz, with 4GB of memory and a 320GB hard disk. There is a fast network socket on the back, or it can connect to the fastest type of wireless network, 802.11n.

Despite the Mac Mini's small size it's fast enough for tasks such as editing video files, taking around 90 minutes to convert a DVD into a file suitable for playback on an iPod.

Try this on an Atom-based computer and you will be in for a very long wait. It's also beautifully quiet: although not entirely silent, it's hard to hear when the DVD burner is not in use.

With five USB2 ports and one Firewire 800 socket adding peripherals is easy, and the latest version of the Mac OSX operating system includes plenty of handy software.

There are some annoyances though. Adding your own keyboard and mouse is easy, but with only mini-DVI and Mini Displayport connectors on the back plugging in a VGA or HDMI monitor will require an extra adapter.

And although the Mac Mini itself is tiny, its power supply is rather large and will need tucking neatly out of sight. The built-in speaker is poor, and although it will suffice for the occasional system sound it might as well have been omitted.

And finally, of course, there is the price: you can buy a far more powerful desktop computer for £649, and the cheaper £499 Mini is limited by a measly 160GB hard disk.

Apple doesn't offer Blu-ray drives in any of its computers at the moment, and upgrading the parts inside the Mini's tiny case is tricky.

This is an impressively quiet and smart computer, but it's not particularly good value.

Canon Digital Ixus 120 IS

Gavin Stoker — 2009-11-11T16:30:00.000Z

Gavin Stoker, Computeractive, Wednesday 11 November 2009 at 16:30:00

Canon’s smallest wide-angle compact camera yet

Canon’s cute Ixus 120 IS has a 4x zoom lens, equivalent to 28-112mm on an old film camera, with 12-megapixel images from a body only 2cm in depth.

It’s the manufacturer’s slimmest wide-angle camera to date and has no optical viewfinder.

The combination of the 28mm wide angle, suitable for panoramic views or group portraits, and the credit card-sized dimensions make it an ideal companion for travellers.

Build quality is excellent thanks to a largely metal construction. This explains the fairly high list price, even if the finish does little to hide scrapes and scratches.

Photographs can be composed and reviewed on the 2.7in rear screen that, on our review sample at least, displayed an image slightly warm in appearance.

It powered up in just under two seconds and features Canon’s Smart Auto feature, in which the camera recognises common subjects and types of scenes and alters its settings accordingly.

With this mode selected, all we had to do was point and shoot. The highest resolution pictures were saved to the memory card in less than three seconds.

Even though pictures from the IXUS 120 IS were not the sharpest we have seen, they were detailed and the colour was natural. And noise didn’t become a problem until we used the highest light sensitivity settings (in low light conditions).

Like its rivals the Ixus 120 IS features three fashionable must-have features: face detection, high-definition video at the 720p resolution (a HDMI port allows the camera to be hooked up to a flat-panel TV) and blink detection, which warns the user when a subject has their eyes closed.

There’s also automatic red-eye removal.

A brief description of each icon popped up while we scrolled through menus, which meant we didn’t have to wade through the manual supplied on CD. More experienced users can choose to disable the help.

All these features eat up power, though. Canon promises 220 shots from a freshly charged battery, so if you are going on a trip take the charger too.

If cool design and portability top your wish list for a new digital camera, this latest IXUS fits the bill.

Verbatim Executive Portable Hard Disk

Paul Allen — 2009-11-11T16:01:00.000Z

Paul Allen, Computeractive, Wednesday 11 November 2009 at 16:01:00

Back up and synchronise data with the disk's included tools

Verbatim's Portable Hard Drive Executive is a 2.5in disk that can store 500GB of files and plugs into a USB socket using the supplied cable.

Unlike some portable hard disks, it can draw sufficient operating power from the older USB1 sockets too, although you may find it slower to copy files over such connections.

The disk is small enough to fit in your pocket and comes with a soft, padded case to protect against minor knocks. However, there is no space for the connecting lead inside this case.

The Executive comes with two pieces of software to help make the most of the disk: Nero's Back It Up 4 Essentials for simple backups, and Verbatim's own synchronisation tool that keeps documents, emails and a calendar up to date when working on more than one PC.

This information can also be encrypted in case it is lost or stolen. No manual, printed or PDF, was provided for the Nero software but it was fairly self-explanatory in use.

The disk also contains a program that claims to speed up data transfer over USB but our test showed no difference.

If you need to carry this much data around regularly then the Verbatim Executive is capable enough, if a little pricey.

But if all you need is extra capacity at home, products based on the larger 3.5in disks are better value.

Mobiu Smart Key

Paul Lester — 2009-11-10T16:47:00.000Z

Paul Lester, Computeractive, Tuesday 10 November 2009 at 16:47:00

Back up and securely access files from any computer

If you work away from home or the office with sensitive information, you may be concerned about privacy and leaving traces of what you are doing, or leaving important documents on a temporary computer.

Security company Mobiu’s answer to this is the Smart Key, a device that combines the Pin security you might find on a bank card with online storage of documents to bring convenience and peace of mind when working from an unfamiliar location.

The device comes in the form of a 1GB USB memory key and offers 1GB of online storage by default. When connected it requests the user to enter a pin to grant access to a screen from which files can be accessed.

Backups can be created from relevant folders on your computer’s hard disk and when documents are changed on your usual computer they can be refreshed to bring the online copies up to date.

It’s also possible to save multiple versions of your documents so if you make a change you don’t like you can go back. There is no restriction on the size of each file or the number of files that can be uploaded.

When you access a document from a different computer it is temporarily downloaded to the storage on the Mobiu device while you work on it. The Mobiu interface also offers dedicated, secure software to handle common documents.

A word processor, spreadsheet and presentation package are included and offer a wide range of features as well as full support for common files such as those created by Microsoft Office.

It also includes a web browser, archive software and a PDF reader so a wide range of documents can be retrieved and modified without any trace being left on the host computer.

You can even invite other Mobiu Smart Key owners to access your storage at the same time, which makes it an effective way for business users to work on group projects.

The Mobiu Smart Key is very effective if you need security for your documents while on the move. It’s easy to use and offers all the tools required.

Nikon D3000

Tom Royal — 2009-11-10T15:00:00.000Z

Tom Royal, Computeractive, Tuesday 10 November 2009 at 15:00:00

Don’t need video from your camera? The D3000 may be for you

Lately, more and more digital SLR cameras shoot high-definition video, but the new Nikon D3000 bucks this trend to focus purely on photos.

The D3000 replaces the D60 at the bottom of Nikon’s range. Its body is clearly derived from those of the D60, D40x and D40. It’s impressively small and light with a small protruding grip for the right hand and very little bulk to the left of the lens.

This small body necessitates a relatively small optical viewfinder, but it’s still better than composing images on the screen.

The controls are simple with only one command dial – the D90, a couple of models up, has two. It offers a mind-boggling array of scene modes including Guide, which explains how to pull off simple effects such as soft backgrounds or sharp pictures of objects in motion.

Nikon is selling the D3000 body in a kit with an 18-55mm lens that includes its vibration reduction stabilisation technology. Like all previous versions of this lens it’s hard to focus manually but works fine with the camera’s autofocus system.

With no motor in the body the D3000 can autofocus only AF-S lenses, but its 11-point focus system was more than adequate.

We were happy with the 10-megapixel photos produced by the D3000, and the Automatic mode produced decent results.

The kit lens is not perfect, with some very slight colour fringing near the edges of a few test shots, but the results are generally sharp and well exposed.

Those looking to move up to an SLR from a compact camera will be impressed.

But is it good value? At the recommended retail price of £500 this kit looks like a stretch, but it was easy to find online at around £400 in most shops.

Around £150 more will get you the video-ready D5000, but for those looking to move up to an SLR for stills only, this is a great rival for Canon’s EOS 1000D.

Oregon Scientific WMR100 Advanced Weather Station

Simon Williams — 2009-11-06T17:26:00.000Z

Simon Williams, Computeractive, Friday 6 November 2009 at 17:26:00

Compete with the Meteorological Office with this complete local weather station

It’s common to see desktop weather monitors that include a thermometer and barometer and predict fine or stormy weather based on changes in air pressure.

This Oregon WMR100 Scientific weather station goes further. Although its base station has the same type of screen display, there is a lot more on it, as it connects wirelessly to two external sensors to monitor wind direction and strength as well as temperature and rainfall.

These sensors took some assembly and careful mounting, with staples and guy ropes in the case of the wind sensor. All the kit is well made with – for example, a three-piece steel pole to mount the wind monitor on and a mesh gauze to filter detritus out of captured water in the rain gauge.

The electronic set-up was made particularly easy by the automated nature of the system. The wind and rain sensors connected automatically and were calibrated with minimal intervention, though we did have to use a compass to tell the wind sensor which way north was.

The base station picks up the time from the atomic-radio clock at Cumbria and adjusts its calendar and moon phase display as soon as it gets an accurate time.

There is a mini-USB socket on the side of the base station which connects to a PC and, once you have downloaded the display software from the Oregon Scientific website, it’s possible to feed weather data through to this program for logging and display.

From a usability point of view the software is the weak link as it has a much more complicated – and rather untidy – design and little of the automated setup that was such a strong feature of the rest of the package.

The users have to determine arcane settings such as which Com port the base station is connected to (not obvious with a USB connection) and the latitude and longitude of your location, together with its height above sea level.

If you get around this lot, the software is pretty thorough. It can log readings from the weather station so you can see how weather events progress over time. It will not necessarily help with prediction, but the whole station is more about monitoring and recording than guessing tomorrow’s weather.

Incomedia Website X5 Evolution 8

Simon Williams — 2009-11-12T17:19:00.000Z

Simon Williams, Computeractive, Thursday 12 November 2009 at 17:19:00

Make a website easily with a template-based program

There are two basic categories of website creation programs: the kind which starts with a blank page that the user fills with text, graphics, menus and links, and there’s the template-based type, in which most of the design is already done and the user just changes the words and pictures.

The first is usually more complex, more expensive and suited to advanced users, with programs such as Adobe’s Dreamweaver or Serif Webplus X2, while the second includes programs such as Incomedia’s Website X5 Evolution 8.

It comes with a printed manual and an irritating requirement to ‘authenticate’ the software before we could run it, which involved entering a 38-digit unlock code.

The program is template-based, with 1,400 of the templates supplied. You can modify these by changing the colour and adding your own graphics.

Menus are added automatically and a site map is used to provide a visual aid to the structure of the site. The page layout uses grids of cells into where page elements, such as text, pictures, slide-shows, audio and video clips can be loaded. Support for Youtube videos is also included.

If you are used to working with a page design program either for print or the web, this simpler way of working may take some getting used to.

None of the objects added are shown as they are made. They only show up when you hit the Test button that draws the current page.

The same applies to objects when they are edited. This can be annoying, but it is still a simple way of putting a site together.

Most of the extras you might want, such as RSS feeds, sound and video are available and there is a shopping cart system, complete with Paypal payment support, if you want a site that will sell things.

There is support for blogging, too, and the program can handle feedback from web surfers, with the ability for readers to post their comments. There is even a fun, though slightly gimmicky, page-peeling effect for adding adverts to your site.

Unlike some other systems, such as Mr Site, there is no need to rent space on a specific server to host your site. You are free to upload to any service you like and the program has built-in FTP software to handle the transfer.

M-Audio Pro Tools Keystudio

Cliff Joseph — 2009-11-05T11:55:00.000Z

Cliff Joseph, Computeractive, Thursday 5 November 2009 at 11:55:00

An affordable music keyboard-and-software package

M-Audio is well known in the music business for its music keyboards and other recording devices used in studios around the world.

Its new Pro Tools Keystudio is an attempt to make a more affordable music product for home users and less-experienced musicians.

The Keystudio package is good value. For just £79 it includes a music keyboard that plugs into a USB port on your computer (PC or Mac) and a powerful piece of recording software called Pro Tools Essential.

The keyboard is excellent. It has 49 keys covering four octaves (groups of eight notes), and it has an Octave button that raises or lowers notes by an octave at a time to cover a much wider range.

It’s also pressure-sensitive, which means that, like a piano, the keyboard produces notes more loudly or quietly depending on how hard the keys are hit (cheaper keyboards play at the same volume regardless).

If you don’t want a keyboard there is a Vocal Studio version for the same price that includes a high-quality microphone instead, or the Recording Studio package that provides a gadget for recording guitars and other instruments.

Unfortunately the software is not as attractive. The Pro Tools Essential program is very powerful but it’s also complicated.

When the program opens you are presented with two overlapping windows that contain an intimidating selection of controls and menu commands.

Matters are not helped by the half-a-dozen different manuals included on the disk in PDF format and people who have not used recording software before may struggle.

You also need to attach a special adaptor into a USB port to use the Pro Tools Essential Software. If you lose or damage this you will not be able to use the software.

We like the idea of combining music hardware and software into an affordable package, but the complexity of the Pro Tools Essential software and the need to plug in the adaptor before running it means that Keystudio is not user-friendly enough for newcomers to digital music.

Norton Internet Security 2010

Cliff Joseph — 2009-11-05T10:15:00.000Z

Cliff Joseph, Computeractive, Thursday 5 November 2009 at 10:15:00

A new approach to eliminating internet threats

Anti-virus companies such as Symantec employ large teams to monitor new viruses and other types of malware as they appear on the Internet.

However, Symantec says the virus threat has now reached the point at which it’s almost impossible to keep up with the thousands of new viruses that appear every day.

So, for its Norton Internet Security 2010 suite, the company has developed a new system called Quorum.

In effect, this is a huge database compiled using information drawn from the PCs of millions of people who already use Norton software

This information is provided on a voluntary opt-in basis, so users don’t have to provide any information if they don’t want to.

Whenever you download a file from the Internet, or open an email attachment or load a file from anywhere else, Norton 2010 checks the Quorum database to see if the same file has been found on any other users’ PCs, and whether or not the file has caused any known problems.

If the file has a bad ‘reputation’ on the Quorum database then the security software will automatically attempt to remove the file before it can do any harm.

If there is no record of a particular file on Quorum then it can use another new feature called Insight to analyse the effect the file has on the computer.

The software can remove files that appear to be slowing the computer down or taking up large amounts of memory.

And to avoid affecting the computer’s performance, Norton 2010 uses less memory for itself – just 10Mb – and can scan the computer’s hard disk more quickly to ensure it doesn’t slow you down while you are trying to work.

The Quorum system may take a little while to prove its worth, but Norton 2010 ran very efficiently on our test PC. Its quick scan took just a few seconds to run and managed to pick up a few worrying cookies that were attempting to store information about our web browsing habits.

As with most modern security software the £50 price includes a licence for protecting three separate computers, making it good for families or small businesses that need to protect all their computers.

Apple OS X Snow Leopard

Cliff Joseph — 2009-11-03T14:35:00.000Z

Cliff Joseph, Computeractive, Tuesday 3 November 2009 at 14:35:00

The latest Mac update adds little gloss but plenty under the bonnet

Sometimes, as the saying goes, less is more.

Like the new Windows 7, the latest version of Apple’s OS X operating system for Macintosh computers focuses on better performance rather than the eye-catching features we normally expect from Apple.

After you install Snow Leopard on your Mac the display on the screen will look the same as it did before – in fact, you might be wondering why you bothered to pay £25 for the ‘upgrade’ at all.

But while it looks the same on the surface, Apple has completely rewritten the Finder, the part of the operating system that displays the contents of the hard disk on the computer screen, in order to make it run much more smoothly.

The main area in which we noticed an improvement was when using the Quicklook option that allows users to quickly peek inside files and preview their contents without actually opening them.

When a user hits the space bar to activate Quicklook the preview window pops up more quickly, even with complicated files such as video clips.

It can also browse through long documents containing multiple pages, which is handy when you are looking for specific information. Other options, such as Exposé, which neatly organises all the open windows on the screen, also respond more quickly and smoothly.

There is one big new feature but it’s mainly suitable for business users. Snow Leopard now allows Macs to work with the PC-based Microsoft Exchange Server e-mail system that is used by many businesses.

Its new ‘autodiscovery’ option allows the Mac’s Address Book, Mail, and Calendar programs to automatically connect to Exchange Server running on an office network.

That means people can take their Macs to work – as long as their IT departments allow it – and easily exchange emails, contacts and calendar details with PC-using colleagues.

Snow Leopard requires at least 1GB of memory before it can be installed and it will only run on Macs that use Intel processors rather than the old PowerPC processors that Apple used until about three years ago.

But if you have a Mac that fits the bill then Snow Leopard is a worthwhile upgrade that will make your Mac run more smoothly and efficiently.

F-Secure Internet Security 2010

Anthony Dhanendran — 2009-10-29T13:04:00.000Z

Anthony Dhanendran, Computeractive, Thursday 29 October 2009 at 13:04:00

Comprehensive security and parental controls

Keeping a computer secure online is an ever-more-complex job.

The days of merely needing a firewall and anti-virus program are now over – with its various components F-Secure Internet Security is a good example of these changes.

The main screen is fairly simple with a large icon showing whether the computer is safe or not, accompanied by shortcuts to three main sections – status, tasks and statistics – and smaller icons for updates and settings. The large green tick denoting a safe computer still appears if scheduled virus scanning is disabled, although we would recommend running regular scans.

The Status screen gives an overview of the different kinds of protection offered. Virus and spyware protection are bundled together, while the firewall keeps an eye on what programs are trying to talk to the internet as well as keeping hackers out, and dial-up protection prevents modem users being scammed into dialling premium-rate numbers. A toolbar in Internet Explorer gives a warning of anything untoward in websites and checks search engine results and webmail, there is email spam filtering and, finally, parental controls.

The Deepguard protection is an interesting solution to the problem of malicious software being released much more often. Deepguard decides whether or not software should be allowed to run based both on lists created by F-Secure and on what the program is trying to do. Behaviour such as trying to change the Windows Registry would trigger an alert unless it is on a list of approved software, in which case there is no interruption to the user. Likewise, if the software is on a list of known miscreants it is blocked without question.

The parental controls have two levels of protection, for small children and teenagers. Each has separate limits for time spent online, though the restrictions don’t apply to chat or online games. Children are only allowed to browse sites in an approved list, whereas teenagers are restricted the other way round with full access except to some blocked sites.

There are free security tools available, but the full-on F-Secure package keeps everything simple and working properly. F-Secure Internet Security 2010 includes some useful tools and is easy to use.

Puzzle Kingdoms

Jonathan Parkyn — 2009-10-25T09:30:00.000Z

Jonathan Parkyn, Computeractive, Sunday 25 October 2009 at 09:30:00

This genre blender proves that looks aren’t everything

Take a spot of Bejeweled-style puzzling, then tack on an element of role playing and, by rights, you should end up with some kind of hideous hybrid aberration.

In fact, the relatively recent trend for mashing up these genres has produced several enjoyably addictive games such as the supremely popular Puzzle Quest.

Though not a direct sequel, Puzzle Kingdoms proudly professes to come from the same development team as Puzzle Quest and shares several characteristics with its forebear.

There’s a familiar fantasy setting, for example, and a similarly massive map to explore. More importantly, Puzzle Kingdoms has a similar focus on puzzle-based ‘battles’ against the computer’s AI, with the objective here being to match three coloured tiles on the board by moving rows to line up the colours.

Kingdoms goes one further than its predecessor, though, by adding elements of another genre: real-time strategy. It does this by providing simple army-building and troop-management features. The cash earned in battle pays for extra troops, while uncovering new areas unlocks different troop types and hero characters, both of which can use their unique skills to help you win in battle.

The battles themselves take on a strategic element too, since you need to try and prevent your opponent from amassing resources. Different colours represent power-ups for troop attacks – as well as powering up your own army.

Relatively crude graphics and low presentation values are the only things that let the game down. But what it lacks in visual finesse, Puzzle Kingdoms more than makes up for in originality and playability.

PEGI age rating: 3+

Section 8

Orestis Bastounis — 2009-10-24T09:30:00.000Z

Orestis Bastounis, Computeractive, Saturday 24 October 2009 at 09:30:00

Squad-based multiplayer shooting

Section 8 resembles old squad-based multiplayer shooters such as Starsiege: Tribes and Planetside.

The single-player campaign is no more than a tutorial that introduces the game’s concepts, and is quite boring when compared with playing against up to 32 human players.

Section 8 tries to emphasise good team play rather than accuracy and reflexes. When players zoom in, they automatically lock onto a target, removing the need for precise aiming. Some might consider this a dumbing down of shooting games, catering for console players who can’t aim as precisely with gamepads as PC gamers can with a mouse.

The game doesn't use pre-set character classes, but instead lets players customise their own combinations of weapons and equipment. Players are split into squads, and are dropped onto the battlefield in pods. Every player has a jetpack to leap over high walls and into enemy fortresses.

Money and victory points are earned for each round, from scoring kills and hacking into control objectives. This is then spent on vehicles and upgrades, such as a two-legged walker, a tank, or to deploy a sentry turret. Additional points can be earned by completing challenges within a set time limit, such as escorting a convoy or planting a bomb.

Section 8 won't be to everyone's taste: the visuals are fair, with some levels looking breathtaking and others merely bland. With good players, the multiplayer mode is great fun, requiring plenty of coordination and different tactics.

However, if you don’t have a good internet connection, avoid Section 8 as the single-player campaign is dull.