Cheetah CD Burner

Despite a somewhat counterintuitive design, this program makes a capable CD burner. When we first launched Cheetah CD Burner, we were surprised to find the pane for exploring our PC on the right and the contents of the new CD on the left. We're used to seeing such programs arranged the other way around.

The application can burn data and audio CDs at speeds of up to 40x, and we appreciate having the option to add files to a project by simply right-clicking them. You also can make a boot disc or copy an entire CD. Clicking the Settings tab lets you finalize your disc and use buffer control. The CD ripper encodes files in both MP3 and WAV formats and can access an online database for track and album information. The program also has tools for extracting audio from AVI video clips and converting audio files among such popular formats as MP3, WMA, and OGG.

The Cheetah Web site currently has a deal offering the app for free, if you post a link back to their Web site. All things considered, we think Cheetah CD Burner makes a fine choice.