You can find plenty of programs to handle your CD- and DVD-burning tasks, but few have as many features and cover as many aspects as Nero. Beyond burning CDs and DVDs, you can back up your computer, create artwork for your CD and DVD cases, make complex mixes with Nero's built-in mixing software, and even check your hardware specs to make sure everything is up to speed. We like the comprehensive coverage of all things that have to do with burning, making it possible to avoid juggling several programs to make a single CD. We're also fans of the Nero PhotoShow Express module, which lets you manage your digital-image collection and create custom slide shows. One of Nero's greatest features is its MPEG-4 encoder for copying noncopyrighted DVD movies to CD-R/RW and several other media formats.
We were skeptical of the fact that Nero might be trying to stuff too much into its software, but the StartSmart GUI opens a clear path for both beginners and advanced users to every aspect of the software suite. We would like a 30-day trial rather than having the demo expire at the end of the month, which gave us only four days from our installation. Overall, this great suite of programs covers all your CD- and DVD-burning needs, and we recommend it to anyone with a writable drive.
Watch the CNET video review of Nero 6 Ultra Edition:
The Nero 6 Ultra Edition is your all-in-one solution to Data, Audio, Video, Photo and BackUp. Ahead Software has combined their best applications to satisfy ALL your digital media needs and made them accessible through Nero StartSmart, the central starting point and command center for all tasks. Now you can capture, edit, author and burn your photos and home videos without buying different software packages. And now, you get even more with your Nero 6 Ultra Edition! Nero Recode 2 provides top quality audio and video for your home theatre! You can make backups of ‘non-copyrighted’ DVDs without any visible loss of quality. You can fit a whole movie on a normal blank DVD (4.8 GB) and still enjoy the same great quality as well as 5.1 Dolby surround sound. With Nero Digital, the world’s fastest MPEG-4 encoder, you can now convert DVDs to Nero Digital files and fit an entire movie on only one CD.
