Unlike previous versions which used a standard Windows interface, I find the latest incarnation completely out of keeping with other applications which all keep to roughly the same, familiar user interface. Perhaps old age it starting to catch up with me but even after a year of usage I still find myself spending what seems like an eternity looking in vein for even the most basic of functions. Software for the Windows Operating System has always adhered to a certain menu layout so that users could quickly and easily pick up a new application, but it seems Microsoft now require us to spend weeks figuring out where they’ve moved a basic function such as ‘find’ which should be located in a drop down ‘edit’ menu.

OpenOffice does include almost everything that you could require from an office suite and fortunately the interface is laid out in a fashion becoming a Windows application so it shouldn’t take long to pick up. The applications below shouldn’t be considered cut down versions of the Microsoft equivalent; this is a powerful piece of software in its own right and most users won’t notice any difference in functionality:

Writer: The equivalent to Microsoft Word which includes all the usual features such as AutoCorrect, AutoComplete, AutoFormat, Styles and Formatting, Spellchecker, Grammar Checker and illustration tools. Unlike many other applications (including previous versions of Microsoft Word), Writer can also open and save the .docx format that is used by default in Office 2007.

Calc: Similar to Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet application, Calc includes all the standard functions as well as more advanced features such as an Intelligent Sum button and Scenario Manager.

Impress: This is designed to replace Office’s PowerPoint presentation application to allow you to create multimedia applications using a combination of clipart, drawing tools, animation, transition effects, text tools and special effects. Work can be shared using a number of formats such as the standards .pdf, .html and Flash.

Draw: Does pretty much what it says on the tin; Draw allows to create graphics including sketches and plans quickly and easily.

Base: An advanced database application for managing raw data, forms, queries, tables and reports which also includes a number of wizards that should get newcomers up and running immediately.

It’s at this point that the penny drops and I realise that there is something missing; unfortunately an e-mail client as an alternative to Microsoft Outlook appears to be absent which for an Internet company such as Refresh is a big issue hence why we probably haven’t yet made the switch. While there are free alternatives available such as Outlook Express and Mozilla Thunderbird I personally have never found they come anywhere close to Outlook in terms of functionality.

Perhaps for the next incarnation they will consider the inclusion of an e-mail client but this omission aside, OpenOffice is a near perfect application which can be downloaded free of charge from www.openoffice.org. The 142mb file size, whilst large, shouldn’t take more than about half an hour, even on modest broadband connections.

Firefox 2 was an excellent browser however having been released towards the end of 2006, it was certainly due an update. It’s not so much that the browser looked dated as it was still an incredibly capable application but I just got the impression that perhaps it was losing a little ground to several alternatives that were starting to snap at its heels. With Internet Explorer 8 on the horizon Firefox needed to reassert its position in the industry and hopefully this new release will go someway towards achieving this goal.

In terms of the user interface I can’t help but feel that it does still does look a little dated; there’s not anything particularly wrong with it I was just expecting something a little more radical. I suppose it goes back to the old adage ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ which I suppose is quite fitting in this instance.

More important than the appearance has got to be the functionality and there are certainly a number of new features which deserve a mention:

- The address bar is substantially improved so that rather than simply accepting URL addresses you can type in any text. Firefox will then come up with suggestions on the fly by referencing your previous browsing activity and saved bookmarks. If, for example, you remember viewing a website discussing a particular topic then rather than having to remember the website address, simply start typing the subject or some relevant keywords and the correct address should be located automatically.

- In addition to the phishing protection provided in Firefox 2, this new version also includes malware protection which is designed to warn you when visiting sites which may take advantage of Operating System, application or browser vulnerabilities.

- Whilst it may seem like a basic thing, the zoom function has now been vastly improved. For us at Refresh Creations, a common issue is working to ensure that a webpage can be scaled up for those with impaired vision. Most browsers simply scale up the text leaving the pictures exactly the same size which more often than not completely ruins the page formatting. Firefox 3 has replicated the enhanced zoom of Internet Explorer 7 by scaling up the ENTIRE page, pictures included.

- The download manager now supports pause and resume features which can be useful if you are downloading a particularly large or multiple files.

One issue that I had with Firefox 2 was that it did tend to hog a great deal of memory if you were using it all day every day, especially when using large numbers of tabs. Firefox 3uses less memory to start and then releases the memory properly when a tab is closed; this and a number of other fixes results in both the browser and your computer remaining responsive throughout the day. Firefox now handles like greased lightning and feels as solid as a rock.

I’m writing a day after the official release of version 3 and in this time it has already been downloaded over eight million times. It is also nice to see that the Microsoft Internet Explorer development team sent them a cake by way of congratulations for making the release. I still firmly feel that Firefox has a strong part to play in the development of the Internet and I would encourage you to download it free of charge from www.mozilla.com

I very quickly got sidetracked when I stumbled across an application called ‘Joost’ which is still in beta (testing) stage; after spending over an hour playing around I decided that it would make a good inclusion for Click. You may remember that, several years ago, I reviewed an application called TVexe which was good in principal but lacking in the design of the user interface. Joost is very much along the same lines as TVexe in the way that it brings together hundreds of different TV channels from both on and off the web but it does it in a much more user friendly and organised fashion.

The user interface of Joost is unlike a conventional Windows application in that it launches up in full screen mode, and there aren’t any drop-down user menus to speak of. What you are presented with instead is an interface that looks more like Windows Media Centre with large, self explanatory icons which seamlessly hide themselves when not required. I personally think that the interface is very slick and makes navigating through the channels and programming as easy as when using a conventional TV.

According to their website, Joost includes more than 20,000 shows and the list is growing daily. Unlike a large amount of Internet programming, Joost is a relatively closed platform, and as such it is ultimately up to them what material users can and cannot get access to. There is, for instance, no facility to upload your own amateur footage however I think that this can potentially be seen as a positive thing because as a result it may achieve greater approval by mainstream audiences. Open programming is fantastic because it gives everybody a voice but we already have YouTube, and I like the fact that Joost is seemingly more like conventional and commercial television.

On the subject of commercial, I should point out that Joost is supported by a very small amount of advertising. Whilst I wouldn’t usually recommend a piece of advertising supported software, I appreciate that revenue is required at times and companies can’t always be expected to give us something for nothing. Joost is a piece of commercial software by the co-owners of Skype and as their first venture since eBay acquired Skype for $2.6 billion in 2005, I’m not surprised they have expectations of making some money from this. The advertising is very, very minimal and is no where near as much as on conventional TV so as long as it stays this way then I’m happy.

In terms of actually choosing what programs to watch, Joost isn’t like conventional TV in the fact that it’s not broadcast live. Rather than tuning in at a specific time you simply select your channel and then you will be presented with a list of programs on that channel to choose to watch from the beginning.

The software is still in beta mode and as such it wasn’t the most stable application that I’ve ever used and it has to be said that the quality of the video isn’t presently up to what we would expect to see on TV. This having been said, I am excited by this application as it is the closest I’ve seen to Internet TV being a sustainable commercial enterprise. Unfortunately I haven’t had time to scratch the surface of what this application can offer but I think it will be one that will really be worth downloading, providing you have a broadband connection. It is available from www.joost.com for both Windows XP/Vista and Mac OS X computers and consists of a relatively small 10mb download.

GIMP is ideal for many home users as it is a small and free application which boasts a large number of features that would probably prove sufficient for who needs something slightly more than Microsoft Paint but less than Photoshop. My only reservation with the application was that the UI (User Interface) was a little bit inconsistent with the overall feel of Windows and as a result it takes a while to get to grips with and often feels alien to the average PC user.

This week I stumbled across another very capable application called Paint.NET which once again is free to download and use. Unfortunately it is not quite as powerful as GIMP but for most users this will be compensated for by the fact the interface will be extremely familiar to the average Windows user, to the point where it is almost intuitive, resulting in a much easier learning curve. The majority of users will find the features of Paint.NET more than enough for day to day photo manipulation however also thrown in to the mix are a number of extremely powerful tools.

First and foremost the application supports layers; unless you’ve ever used layers it’s difficult to explain in words exactly what they are and how they can help you. The simplest analogy would be to think of them as a number of transparency slides, which when all stacked and viewed together form the basis of a whole image. If you change one of the individual slides the overall image will look different, but no changes will be made to the other slides. This means that changes that you make to one layer which are later altered won’t result in a trial of obvious damage to the image caused by previous alterations.

Another nice feature is the way that the application handles multiple images; rather than having a number of windows that can be minimised and reopened as and when necessary, Paint.NET has a clever style of tabbed interface. In order to navigate between open files you simply click a thumbnail of the image from a scrollable selection on the top right hand side of the screen.

Additional features, updates and bug fixes are released on practically a monthly basis and there is an active forum that offers a number of plug-ins, should you require any extra functionality that isn’t provided as standard.

In terms of special effects, the application has a large number built in as standard; ink sketch, oil painting, blurs, distortions, noise control, red eye removal, sharpening, softening and so on. The image can also be manipulated by way of adjustments such as hue, saturation, level, brightness, contrast and sepia controls. The standard drawing and selection tools are provided and of course the intensity, tolerance or size of these tools can all be easily adjusted as necessary.

One selling point of GIMP was that it is cross platform compatible however Paint.NET can only be used in Windows and more specifically in the later versions, either XP or Vista. This is unlikely to be a problem for most my readers so if you found GIMP a little confusing and don’t have the time, patience or money for Photoshop then I would urge you download this tiny 1.6mb application by visiting www.getpaint.net.

The iPhone looks very different to other mobile phones that we have become accustomed too as rather than using a keypad underneath a conventional screen the iPhone dispenses with buttons altogether. This has been achieved as happy have made the device essentially one big touch screen – The obvious advantage to this is that the device can remain the same size as existing models on the market whilst giving the user a larger screen and a larger user interface.

With regards to actually navigating around this phone you can move through the menu options by using a system called ‘multi-touch’ which doesn’t just sense you touching the screen but also in what way you are moving your fingers and how many of them you are using. The system is intelligent enough to detect accidental clicks and when you go to actually make a call the phone will sense that you have moved the phone to your ear to prevent you touching buttons on the touch screen with your face.

As one would expect from a modern day phone the iPhone supports Bluetooth, has a 2 megapixal digital camera and includes a host of applications but there are several extras that you’d be hard pressed to find on any over phone in the market at the moment which I’ve covered below.

First off we have the widescreen iPod function and whilst it is true that most modern handsets include an MP3 player these often lack in terms of the interface used and the screen employed by the phone. The iPhone benefits from a large 3.5 inch screen which means that not only can you easily navigate your favourite songs but you can also watch movies in widescreen on the unit.

Additionally the handset supports Wi-Fi and has a built in Safari browser. Existing handsets have typically stumbled at providing Internet access due to slow connection speeds, a limited display size and problems using a simple keypad to navigate your way around. With an iPhone however you could connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot and then browse the Internet at high speed on the large touch screen.

There are of course a number of downsides to this particular phone and unfortunately these are so serious that they could possibly constitute a death warrant. The iPhone itself will most likely not enter the UK market until the end of 2007 and as at present the US version is set for a costly $499 purchase price in addition to a 12 month contract. Additionally in the US the phone is only being made available to one selected network and if this is the case in the UK then coupled with the high release price Apple may find it very difficult making sales.

To allow these above factors to worry those wanting such an advanced handset would be a little bit premature. The reason for this in my mind is that the important consideration is that we’re looking at a product which will become available to us in the future and not something we could realistically go out and buy today. Technology has a habit of being copied very quickly and efficiently and now the iPhone has been announced you can be sure other manufacturers will be scrambling to create their own versions which will most likely be cheaper and available on all networks – excellent for the consumer.

I know that you’re probably bored of me talking about software provided by Google but it really does seem that a large amount of the good quality free software out there at the moment is produced by this one company. I’ll be honest in saying that I don’t understand their business strategy as you’d have thought a company making billions from search engines wouldn’t concentrate on developing free software but I don’t think any of us are complaining.

SketchUp is a 3D modelling application that allows you to mock up pretty much any object from a football to an entire house. The software itself is a rather modest 19mb in size so on a broadband connection you should be able to download and install it in less than 10 minutes.

Most 3D software is fairly complicated for the newbie to use – I’ve tried my hand at it several times and have always given up within an hour or so. Google SketchUp is a little different – just by finishing the short tutorials that come bundled with the program you will immediately have a fair idea of what you’re doing. The program uses a fairly minimalist approach when it comes to the user interface which leaves maximum room available for the canvas area however if you don’t mind cluttering your view and wish to add additional toolbars this is of course possible.

To start drawing simply use the mouse to draw a two dimensional shape and then select the push/pull tool to extend the shape into the third dimension and once you’ve created your shape it can be painted or have a material effect added to it. For example if drawing a house you could dip into the materials palette to quickly and easily add effects such as sandstone bricks and a green grass garden. Additionally artwork can be easily imported from other applications and SketchUp will automatically change the perspective to suit your model.

As you would expect shadows can be added to all objects and a nice additional touch is that you can set the time of day and the month of the year to project realistic shadows based on these options.

Once you’ve finished creating your scene an accurate render of it can be viewed using the free Google Earth application or alternatively you can upload and share your model with other users via the free storage space provided by the associated ‘3D Warehouse’ website.

If you need further help using SketchUp there is an animated instructor panel present within the application and additionally the support website includes a searchable knowledge base, FAQ section and an e-mail support link.

Should you have a pressing need to design a new project on paper before beginning it in reality or simply fancy dabbling in learning how to use 3D software head to http://sketchup.google.com. To summerise, the simplicity of Google SketchUp lends itself to the novice user and the fact it is free of charge makes this an incredible application.

The main difference in this new incarnation of Office as far as I can tell is the user interface which Microsoft has dubbed the ‘ribbon’ interface. It has been designed to replace the existing system of menus, toolbars and dialog boxes with a less cluttered system that allows you easy access to the more advanced features of the applications. I think the main drawback with the old system was that whilst it was fine for a while, as more advanced features were integrated into the program it became increasingly difficult for Microsoft to provide the user with each access to them.

The traditional menus and toolbars have been replaced with a set of command tabs that graphically present the most relevant features you require access to based on the program you are using. For example the command tabs in Word will be geared around writing and page layout whereas the same commend tab in Excel would encompass features such as chart and table creation. Additionally these command tabs will change based on the context in which they are being used – For example clicking on a chat will cause the command tab to include options predominately focused to chart editing.

Office 2007 will be provided in seven different versions from the Basic (Word, Excel & Outlook) which the majority of home users will probably end up owning right up to the professional Office Enterprise Edition which includes applications such as Publisher, PowerPoint and InfoPath.

The default file standard for Office 2007 will be XML which Microsoft seems quite keen to start promoting as a viable alternative to current binary formats. XML differs from the current Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats in that it is smaller and the file format allows for easier recovery of damaged files. Of course you will still be able to open the older formats such as .doc, .ppt, and .xls in the new version of the software. Interestingly Microsoft has also added support for the popular Adobe PDF format– this is a welcome addition that is long overdue.

At the current stage of development there doesn’t seem to be anything else remarkable to note about this new version of Office but then again the differences between Office XP and Office 2003 were extremely subtle so this doesn’t surprise me too much. The main thing to write home about is defiantly the new User Interface but whilst I’m sure it will be easier once you’ve got used to it, I am expecting it to upset those that have grappled for years to get used to the old interface that up to now has been standard in so many Microsoft applications! As always I’ll keep you informed over the coming year to any new developments as they are announced.