Picks: Reviews of Selkie Rescue Data Recovery, VCW VicMan's Photo Editor, NextSTART, and Trellian Webpage.

Selkie Rescue Data Recovery, by Tugboat Enterprises Ltd. is a program I've reviewed before, but it just keeps getting better and I thought it was time to look at it again. Selkie Rescue Data Recovery has been given the "Tucows Editor's Choice Award" for excellence and it's appeared in our "Must Have Applications" also. The product is slick and easy-to-use, perfect for users with all levels of experience. If your computer is failing this is your solution. Anyone can use it and that's just one of the things I like about it. One of the benefits is that Selkie Rescue Data Recovery can recover your data even if the operating system won't boot. The program creates a bootable CD which gives you access to your computer even if Windows won't start. From there you have access to your computer and the program walks you through the process of moving data to another computer on your network. It's quick and it's painless. Even if you do regular backups, like I do, you'll still have files on your computer that you may want to save if you have a crash. Trust me, you don't always have warning when your PC is going to die. There are so many things that can cause your computer to crash. Power outages, viruses, rootkits, a failing hard drive, a burned out fan, and more. Sometimes the biggest problem is the ability to access the computer. Selkie Rescue Data Recovery eliminates that problem. It gives you nearly instant access to your machine and to your network. You don't even need any additional software because the downloadable package burns a CD for you. To me this is a program that everyone should have in their software library. Download it and check it out for yourself. I give it my highest recommendation.

System Requirements: Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/2003/XP/Vista

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If you're looking for a good way to edit images and photos then VCW VicMan's Photo Editor, by Vicman Software, might be the solution you need. The program supports a wide range of graphics file formats so you can work with the file types that you like. In testing it out I also found that it has a nice range of visual effects and filters that you can apply to your photos. You can really get some cool combinations going if you start mixing filters and effect. I like the fact that VCW VicMan's Photo Editor lets you preview the changes you've made before you accept them. That means if you turn your wifes face blue you can fix it. Everyone knows that I'm graphically challenged, but I found the program to be easy-to-use and intuitive, perfect for all users. You can use it to work on your photos or any other graphic image, like those you might have on your Web site. You can draw, select colors, insert text, select certain areas, move things around, fill in areas with color, and lots more. VCW VicMan's Photo Editor also lets you resize and crop your images. I also used it on some of my photos to adjust colors, contrast, brightness and more. It also has an "auto-correction" feature which works very well. So, if you're in the market for a full-featured program for working with images, VCW VicMan's Photo Editor might be just what you're looking for. Check it out.

System Requirements: Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP

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NextSTART 3.0, by Winstep Software Technologies is a nifty tool that really helps you spice up your desktop. What it does is let you reconfigure the way the Windows taskbar and Start menu work and look. It not only transforms the look of the Start menu, but also the function it provides. Really pretty slick. You can get a lot of skins from the company site and hence give your desktop a bunch of different looks. When you tire of one you can just switch to another. There are quite a few customizable options so you can pretty much make it work the way you want. NextSTART has support for drag and drop, multiple monitors, and lots more. The program is relatively intuitive and easy-to-use. So, if you're really tired of the way Windows looks you may want to give NextSTART a try. Also note that this is a part of the Winstep Xtreme package that lets you do even more things with skins, themes, and so on. Give it a try and see if you like it.

System Requirements: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/2003/XP

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Trellian Webpage, by Trellian Pty. Ltd. is a nice product for creating Web pages and it's absolutely FREE. The program interface is intuitive and it's really easy-to-use. You don't have to be a Web master to turn out a really nice Web page. In testing it out I found that it supports drag and drop so you can literally drag items to your Web page and drop them in place. I personally like that it utilizes split screen for page editing. That means that I can do the HTML code, but immediately see what it's going to look like in the other pane. Nice. Trellian Webpage has lots of nice features including support for Photoshop plugins, the ability to convert graphics images, a meta tag editor, the ability to import pages, and lots more. One cool feature lets you preview the page you're working on in different screen resolutions. That's a nice feature because what looks good at 640 x 480 might not look so good at a bigger screen resolution. Slick. I think Trellian Webpage is a great option for anyone who wants to create Web pages, but wants to keep the expenses down. So, if you've been wanting to get started on your Web page, give Trellian Webpage a try. You can't beat the price.

System Requirements: Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP

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