Cyberlink DVD Suite 7 Ultra performs just about every disc-related task that the competition can handle — and does so extremely well. Include it in your comparisons with Roxio and Nero when you shop; it's that good.

It's tempting to see Director's resurrection as a timely response to the focus on rich-media online and offline applications, which has been sparked by Adobe AIR and Microsoft Silverlight. However, aside from workflow enhancements and some changes to scripting and physics, there's nothing groundbreaking in this release. The logical next move would be to beef up the feature set with something really novel.

Cyberlink’s MediaShow v4 provides home users and beginners with a comprehensive solution for photo and video management. While there are some shortcomings in terms of format support, the software remains an ideal option for families.

On the whole, we have very few criticisms of iLife. As ever, it represents superb value for money and the new versions of iPhoto, GarageBand and even iWeb are impressive (barring a few iWeb glitches of which you need to be aware). Even the minor upgrade to iDVD is worth having. iMovie '08, however, sticks out like a sore thumb. It may indeed offer a new approach to video-editing, but that doesn't alter the fact that -- in its current form, at least -- it simply isn't ready to act as a replacement for iMovie '06. Hopefully future iterations of this program will bring it up to scratch -- and at least it doesn't erase the old version when you install it.

If you've got the right machine for the job Encore DVD 2.0 is one of the best options around for DVD authoring.