ProShow Producer

ProShow Producer allows users to create impressive-looking slideshow presentations that blow Microsoft PowerPoint out of the water. But all this power comes at a price as its many features might easily overwhelm users.

The program's interface is attractive and sleek, but it contains a lot of options and it's not immediately obvious how a user should begin. A visit to the built-in Help file offers guidance and allows users to get started creating slides. The basics are easy, but users will need to take some time to figure out how to best exploit the many features that the program offers. And what a lot of features there are. All the standard slideshow features are here, but ProShow Producer contains many extras, such as the ability to upload your slideshow to YouTube or convert it to Flash. And even the standard features offer almost infinite tweakability, which is both a blessing and a curse; novice users will likely be confused and overwhelmed by all the options. We found the caption editing function--a pretty basic feature for any such program--to be somewhat awkward to use, which is a definite drawback for text-heavy presentations. But overall the software performed well, and the features proved to be as functional as they are numerous.

The software has a 15-day trial, which is likely not enough time for novice users to explore the full range of its possibilities. We recommend ProShow Producer for intermediate and advanced users who need to create complex multimedia presentations.