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Multimedia tools are nothing new to Corel, a company now responsible for titles in the Ulead family and Video Studio Pro. But the particular combination of features in Corel Digital Studio 2010 (Windows) is something new. Or rather, a it's a fresh take on Corel's existing technology.

The software suite marries editing and project creation tools for photos and videos, giving the application interfaces a tinted look and rounded corners that share the philosophy of Apple's iPhoto and iMovie. Corel's goal was to provide an entry-level media manipulation package for home users that is also appealing to look at and natural to get around, and the company has largely succeeded.

Corel Digital Studio 2010 is comprised of main four applications: the photo studio, video studio, DVD burning app, and WinDVD, Corel's video player. (There's also a desktop gadget with its shortcut buttons to each of the four programs.) With them you can open media from just about anywhere, edit videos and photos, and fashion a whole lot of fun photo and video projects. The video studio, known formally as Corel VideoStudio 2010, has a built-in movie maker that looks good and is approachable for novices looking to get their feet wet. There are a few templates (but a few more wouldn't hurt), for automatically creating videos out of video clips or photos, or both of them together--you'll have an opportunity to tweak transitions and other details later.

The photo app harbors a creation workshop for collages, cards, calendars, and photo books, all of which you can print from your home computer or order from Corel online, if you'd like to turn your digital media into physical form. As with the movie maker, there are templates for getting started (the same ones, in fact.) The limited templates may get old pretty soon.

Corel Digital Studio 2010--screenshots

The other options for releasing photos and videos from your desktop include burning them to disk (with Corel DVD Factory 2010), e-mailing them, copying them to a number of devices, including the iPhone and Sony PSP, and uploading them automatically to Flickr, Facebook, and YouTube. We had some trouble uploading to Flickr in our initial tests, but according to Corel, the bug we encountered is unusual.

Corel Digital Studio has a few other rough spots. We've mentioned the premade project templates, which could be more numerous. We feel the same way about the number of effects in the photo editor--there are a meager four. The software could run a little faster, and there are a few tweaks we'd make to some of the tools; for instance, if you could adjust aspects like saturation and brightness by typing a value into a blank field in addition to the current method, where you set it with a slider bar.

Each application's tool set in Corel Digital Studio 2010 is much beefier than your basic freeware apps like Google's photo manager, Picasa, and Microsoft's recent Windows Live Movie Maker. Compare the features with other multimedia suites in its price class, and the $99.99 studio falls in the middle. Part of that is intentional. By slimming down the feature offerings, casual consumers won't get lost in a morass of menus. Make the product too simple, though, and nobody will buy it. Corel has struck a fair compromise that will give the company's home user audience plenty to do to, both in terms of editing media and in terms of ultimately sharing that media with others.

(Credit: Corel)

In the end, Corel's new multimedia studio doesn't introduce any groundbreaking capabilities to the field. Comparable software suites, like Roxio Creator 2010 and Apple's iMovie/iPhoto combo, have the sharing features, automated movie makers, photo book and calendar creators, and then some. Roxio Creator 2010 also has several more audio tools, extra copying options (like to TiVo), and express burning you can jump-start from the desktop or even automatically from the DVD drive. iPhoto and iMovie include sundries such as detecting recurring faces in photos, and more advanced video editing options that take the audio track into account.

At this point, it may seem that we're a lot further away from proclaiming that Corel has largely succeeded in its mission to create a solid, user-friendly multimedia app than we were at the beginning of this review. However, we're still of that original opinion. Those folks seeking more advanced tools, like that separate audio track and finer tuning, should seek a different media suite that's more consciously geared to enthusiasts or professionals. What Corel Digital Studio 2010 offers is a navigable, eye-pleasing design for people who want one place to go that gives them beyond-the-basics tools without opening too many cans of worms. (The package is an especially fair price if you were planning to buy DVD-playing software for your computer anyway--don't forget that it includes WinDVD 2010.)

There's much more to explore in Corel's quadra-app suite, and some system requirements that you should be aware of before you download even the trial. For details, tune into the First Look video above, slide on over to the photo gallery, or read our hands-on review. If you'd like to test it for yourself, Corel Digital Studio 2010 is free-to-try for 30 days.

(Credit: CNET)

Every computer user needs a basic text editor for Readme files and simple note taking capabilities--that's why Windows comes with Notepad. But if you want added features like a tabbed interface, search and replace functionality, or extras that help you with coding projects, you need to look for the more full-featured alternatives. The best editors come with numerous features and work great for editing code for Web sites, but also for simply writing quick notes, and pasting excerpts from the Web when aggregating research for a project.

Fortunately, some of the best software in this category is free, but you can also use "Light" versions of paid software and still get most of the useful features.

(Credit: CNET)

NoteTab Light offers a tabbed interface and adds several libraries of premade code bits called "clips" you can access through a pull-down menu on the left side of the interface. These clips can be anything from commonly used code to quick formatting tools available at a click of your mouse. You can also quickly preview your work in your default Web browser from within the interface. NoteTab Light offers a lightweight footprint and is a huge upgrade from the Notepad included with Windows.

(Credit: CNET)

TextPad is another excellent text editor with a "light" version that most users will find offers plenty of features. Like NoteTab, TextPad offers a host of features like a tabbed-interface, and helpful formatting tools for indenting, line numbering, character transposing, and condition-based word wrapping. TextPad will bug you with a nag screen periodically, but most features are available even in this time-unlimited "light" version.

(Credit: CNET)

EditPlus is a text editing tool that's popular with a lot of people because of its ability to use simple FTP commands to get your files online from within the program. Powerful features for Web authors like a built-in Web browser for previews and syntax highlighting for HTML, CSS, PHP, ASP, Perl, C/C++, and many more make this program an excellent alternative. Added handy features like a Windows Explorer-like file directory built-in to the interface and a wealth of commonly used code clips (like NoteTab Light) make this software particularly appealing. EditPlus is a 30-day trial, but with all of its useful features, the $35 price tag is more than worth it.

(Credit: CNET)

Notepad++ is a popular choice among serious code crunchers because it's loaded with useful features and it's completely free. It supports several programming languages, offers syntax highlighting, drag-and-drop functionality, and you can easily launch a preview in IE or Firefox from within the software. As a free option, anybody wanting to see what it's like using a text editor even if it is for making lists or doing Web research has nothing to lose with this excellent text editor. But the popularity of this software among serious coders is definitely warranted, with more than enough features for most projects.

There's undoubtedly something striking about the style of photography that draws attention to a focal object by making the rest of the scene black and white (here's a good example). This kind of selected colorization is within reach on your iPhone if you use ColorSplash for iPhone, a relatively new image-editing app from the developer of Juxtaposer and Juxtaposer Lite, two other image editors for iPhone photos.

After you load an image, ColorSplash will turn it into a black-and-white photo--but not permanently. Your full-color image will remain in your iPhone's camera roll. You use your finger as a paintbrush in ColorSplash, and with every swipe, more of the photo's original color is revealed. Keeping control over the brush strokes was our biggest challenge. While pinching and pulling the screen to zoom in is the recommended way to paint the object you want to emphasize, this was in many cases laborious, certainly more so than it would be to choose a smaller brush size.

Although you can't cut a slimmer swath with the brush, you can choose among four brush types that include hard and soft edges and varying transparency levels. An even better feature is the masking button, the red circle on the top navigation bar that lets you see the area you're coloring in bright red. The crimson hue is a sure way to catch your mistakes, especially if the area you're working in is light or the boundaries between areas is otherwise difficult to detect.

While we didn't encounter issues with photo size, the developer's notes warn that images exceeding 1,024 pixels will be shrunk down in the app. ColorSplash can save newly tinkered images in your Camera Roll alongside the originals, and can even let you reload sessions to edit your work. If you frequently share your mobile images with others or online, ColorSplash could be a creative way to add some zing to your photo, though it's not as practical on a daily basis as a classic photo-editing app like Picoli, that will sharpen and color-correct images.

If you have to ask yourself why out of the teems of top-notch freeware image editors at your disposal, folks consistently choose IrfanView, then you don't know IrfanView.

It may not be the slickest-looking app by a long shot, or even the most complex. But its combination of simplicity and strength make the classic image viewer and editor a middleweight favorite. It doesn't hurt that the feature set has some unique extras in addition to the regular touch-up tools. Check out IrfanView in this First Look video.

Other great image-editing applications
-FastStone Image Viewer
-GIMP
-Paint.NET
-Picasa

(Credit: in Xile Entertainment)

Even in the Web 2.0 universe, a literally two-dimensional concept can give way to a cult classic, provided it contains a compelling kernel of originality and ways to brand the finished product as your own. The sledding game "Line Rider" humbly began as an online Flash game in which a boy sledded down a track of your design, but it quickly garnered fans who created fantastically creative tracks across which the rider dramatically tumbles and swoops.

It's only fitting that "Line Rider" make the leap onto the iPhone. "Line Rider iRide" ($2.99) lets your fingers draw the track, pinching and pulling the iPhone screen to zoom in and out for a closer look. The basic controls to draw freehand, lay down a straight line, and erase lines are there. So are buttons to undo lines, move around the screen, leave a placeholder, and flag the rider's current position. If you have a LineRider.com account, you can make a name for yourself by sharing your sledding course, or download someone else's track to admire.

Although you can give your courses limitless scenery and outlandish jumps, the ride itself will be staunchly guided by Newtonian physics. Make your pawn fly too high, fall too far, or loop at unnatural angles, and he'll skid, thud, or somersault to his demise. Keeping him going right-side up is addictive--and harder than you might imagine. Just consider that the next time you hurtle down those snow-covered slopes.

You must have treated somebody well this year, because you've got a new computer to start 2009 off right. In this edition of the Download.com Windows Starter Kit, we've expanded our collection to include both the recommended free programs you've come to expect from us, and suitable alternatives if our choice doesn't make your grade.

This year's categories include Web browsers, e-mail clients, office and productivity tools, parenting, image editors, music jukeboxes, video jukeboxes and players, file compressors, chatware, torrent clients, and seven five-star, must-have utilities.

Notice the lack of security programs? Check out the Security Starter Kit for our freeware choices to help keep you safe when you surf.

Only two and a half months after announcing Picasa 3 beta, Google has done the uncharacteristic and on Thursday has issued Picasa 3.

Here's the clincher:Picasa 3 is the exact same desktop organizer and editor it has been under the beta flag. (This is a good wagon for the Gmail team to climb aboard--Google's e-mail service has been in beta since 2004 and its latest releases have been earthshaking themes and emoticons.)

Although Version 3 beta users won't see changes in this release, those switching from Version 2.7 will enjoy the substantial boost in features. Version 3 stacks on over a dozen more tricks to refine the editing, creative, and sharing options in what has for years been a solid consumer app. Highlights below.

With a little creativity, you can make gorgeous collages like this in Picasa 3.

(Credit: Tara Morrison/Google)

Syncing and sharing
Instead of manually uploading new photos to Picasa Web Albums from Picasa 3, you'll be able to click "Sync to Web" to keep the folder automatically updated. You can exclude photos by right-clicking and choosing "block from uploading" from the context menu.

Sharing has also gotten much easier. In previous versions, you would upload the photos from Picasa and then click within the Web album to e-mail the link to friends. The 'Share' button next to Picasa's syncing button helpfully auto-uploads the album and sends the Web link without compelling you to go online.

No more leaving Picasa for the Web to update or share photos.

(Credit: CNET)

Movie Maker
A terrific but light addition, Picasa 3's new movie maker can take videos from your digital camera and other clips and intersperse them with any other file Picasa supports. You can then upload your video to YouTube or to Picasa Web, or share via e-mail.

Bare-bones editing tools will trim the clips and add a song for background. However, they don't do fading and there's no template to carry your caption style from frame to frame. Video output is currently only the WMV format, and encoding takes a little time--be patient while it renders.

Drop Box
Drop Box is the new default storage locker for newly uploaded photos, for pictures you don't want to assign to an album, and for multitaskers who tell Picasa to take it easy on the bandwidth so they can simultaneously surf and upload. The Drop Box also holds photos uploaded via Orkut, ShoZu, and other third-party photo uploading services that integrate with Picasa Web Albums. This is one of those features that some users will love and many will ignore.

Screenshots
Picasa 3 hooks into your keyboard's PrintScreen key to index captures of your screen, Webcam input, or a video. For casual users, this feature may replace independent screen-capturing software like Gadwin PrintScreen, Capture.NET, and SnagIt. Those who continue to use those apps may find the cataloging amusing or mildly annoying.

You can upload photos to the drop box and start making a movie from Picasa 3's toolbar.

(Credit: CNET)

Other notables
Picasa 3's red-eye reduction tool detects and auto-corrects all the red-eyes in a photo. This substantially cuts out the hassle of clicking and dragging over individual eyes to wipe out the redness, and it works well most of the time. For blotchy faces and other minor blemishes, the retouch tool will awkwardly but fairly effectively let you blot out problem areas.

Finally, the collage tool has gotten more customizable. Before Picasa 3, you couldn't delete, drag, angle, or print in full resolution. Now you can. These substantial additions make the tool an easy way to get really creative (see photo).

There's always room for improvement, especially with the movie maker and red-eye tool, which could use some more precision controls, but this Version 3 release is an excellent effort that will give people much greater control over their photos and Web albums without sacrificing simplicity. All without clinging to beta.

>>Want more detail? See the full list of additions and changes in Picasa 3.

This image editor earns kudos for its impressive feature set. Before it launches, FxFoto offers to scan your PC for images and gives you the option to view a detailed tutorial. The cluttered interface might make you wary, but it's not as bad as it looks.

FxFoto has just about every image-editing tool most folks will need. You can automatically or manually improve shots, remove red-eye and blemishes, apply a number of effects, add frames and borders, correct colors, and alter white balance. FxFoto supplies a standard set of drawing tools and lets you add captions to any of your shots. The handy zoom tool provides a great deal of control over magnification. Once you've tweaked pictures to your liking, you can create a slide show with transitions, though you can't add your own music or narration unless you upgrade to the pay version.

You also can design a photo collage and share it via e-mail, burn it to CD, or upload it to one of several sharing sites. FxFoto is a fine tool for lightweight image-editing tasks.