La Salle Copy Service Inc. : Resources & Support : Tips & Tricks : Software Reviews

When you are ready to purchase the most recent release of your graphic design or desktop publishing application to get the latest and greatest tools, make sure you know what you're paying for. We've taken a look at some of the most popular titles and provided a list of reviews from around the Web. Before you head off to the computer store, find out if the upgrade is worth the price or whether you might want to wait until the next version.

Adobe Acrobat 5 (designer-info.com)

Minor improvements across the board and some important behind-the-scenes advances make Acrobat 5 an even stronger publishing platform...
Photoshop 7.0 (cnet.com)Every new version of Photoshop has delivered significant, noteworthy improvements. Witness: Photoshop 4.0 unveiled Layers and Actions; Photoshop 5.0 brought us the History Palette and Layer Styles; Photoshop 6.0 introduced Shapes. Hence, Photoshop 7.0's perfunctory, should-have-been-there-earlier enhancements, such as the new file browser and updated paint engine, are a bit of a letdown. For the first time, we're not convinced that every Photoshop devotee and graphics professional must upgrade. But, as far as graphics apps go, Photoshop is still the best, most sophisticated image-editing software available. If you don't own an earlier version and want the best image editor on the market--or need it to run on OS X--version 7.0 is the best of the bunch........
Photoshop 7.0 Beta(pcreviewonline.com)

Photoshop 7.0 is nearing completion and is expected to ship in the next several months. Adobe was kind enough to send us a beta and it is this beta that this review is based on.
QuarkXpress 5.0(macbuyersguide.com)

Now that we've had some quality hands-on time with the final 5.00 version, we can confirm that the program hasn't lost any of the zip that made previous versions so popular with those facing tight production deadlines.......
Adobe Illustrator 9 (webtools.com)

After years of playing catch up with other Windows drawing programs, Adobe has finally managed to take a big stride forward with Illustrator 9...
Adobe InDesign 1.5 (creativemac.com)

InDesign 1.5 offers all the functionality and tools required to power a publishing house and easily more than answers the needs of design shops. It's equal to anything else on the market right now...
Adobe Photoshop 6 (designer-info.com)

Photoshop 6 redefines the standard with massive improvements in its user interface, layer handling, text control, workflow support and paper and Web-based output. And now it handles vectors too...
CorelDRAW 10 (about.com)

However tempted, I stop short of declaring that version 10 of CorelDRAW is a dramatic event in the life and history of the product...
Macromedia FreeHand 10 (pcworld.com)

Macromedia program renews battle with Illustrator and adds beefier drawing, productivity tools, and Flash support...
Microsoft Office 2001 Macintosh Edition (cnet.com)

Microsoft suffers from a deserved reputation for sprawling, clumsy, hard-to-learn applications bogged down by hundreds of unnecessary features. Not so with Office 2001 for the Macintosh...
Microsoft Office XP (windows-help.net)

Office is such a massive collection of applications, and the individual applications have such a huge number of features, it is nearly impossible to write a complete review...
Microsoft Publisher 2002 (zdnet.com)

With a robust toolset, highly automated design functions, and a low price tag, it is easy to see why Microsoft Publisher owns the low-end, Windows desktop publishing market...
QuarkXPress 4.0 (desktoppublishing.com)

The QuarkXpress 4.0 release offers a combination of 75 new features that outshines even its strongest rival, Adobe Pagemaker™, except for one area: web documentation...




				When you are ready to purchase the most recent release of your graphic design or desktop publishing application to get the latest and greatest tools, make sure you know what you're paying for. We've taken a look at some of the most popular titles and provided a list of reviews from around the Web. Before you head off to the computer store, find out if the upgrade is worth the price or whether you might want to wait until the next version. Adobe Acrobat 5 (designer-info.com) Minor improvements across the board and some important behind-the-scenes advances make Acrobat 5 an even stronger publishing platform... Photoshop 7.0 (cnet.com)Every new version of Photoshop has delivered significant, noteworthy improvements. Witness: Photoshop 4.0 unveiled Layers and Actions; Photoshop 5.0 brought us the History Palette and Layer Styles; Photoshop 6.0 introduced Shapes. Hence, Photoshop 7.0's perfunctory, should-have-been-there-earlier enhancements, such as the new file browser and updated paint engine, are a bit of a letdown. For the first time, we're not convinced that every Photoshop devotee and graphics professional must upgrade. But, as far as graphics apps go, Photoshop is still the best, most sophisticated image-editing software available. If you don't own an earlier version and want the best image editor on the market--or need it to run on OS X--version 7.0 is the best of the bunch........ Photoshop 7.0 Beta(pcreviewonline.com) Photoshop 7.0 is nearing completion and is expected to ship in the next several months. Adobe was kind enough to send us a beta and it is this beta that this review is based on. QuarkXpress 5.0(macbuyersguide.com) Now that we've had some quality hands-on time with the final 5.00 version, we can confirm that the program hasn't lost any of the zip that made previous versions so popular with those facing tight production deadlines....... Adobe Illustrator 9 (webtools.com) After years of playing catch up with other Windows drawing programs, Adobe has finally managed to take a big stride forward with Illustrator 9... Adobe InDesign 1.5 (creativemac.com) InDesign 1.5 offers all the functionality and tools required to power a publishing house and easily more than answers the needs of design shops. It's equal to anything else on the market right now... Adobe Photoshop 6 (designer-info.com) Photoshop 6 redefines the standard with massive improvements in its user interface, layer handling, text control, workflow support and paper and Web-based output. And now it handles vectors too... CorelDRAW 10 (about.com) However tempted, I stop short of declaring that version 10 of CorelDRAW is a dramatic event in the life and history of the product... Macromedia FreeHand 10 (pcworld.com) Macromedia program renews battle with Illustrator and adds beefier drawing, productivity tools, and Flash support... Microsoft Office 2001 Macintosh Edition (cnet.com) Microsoft suffers from a deserved reputation for sprawling, clumsy, hard-to-learn applications bogged down by hundreds of unnecessary features. Not so with Office 2001 for the Macintosh... Microsoft Office XP (windows-help.net) Office is such a massive collection of applications, and the individual applications have such a huge number of features, it is nearly impossible to write a complete review... Microsoft Publisher 2002 (zdnet.com) With a robust toolset, highly automated design functions, and a low price tag, it is easy to see why Microsoft Publisher owns the low-end, Windows desktop publishing market... QuarkXPress 4.0 (desktoppublishing.com) The QuarkXpress 4.0 release offers a combination of 75 new features that outshines even its strongest rival, Adobe Pagemaker™, except for one area: web documentation...