Nero 9

Hersteller Beschreibung:
NNero bietet ein Komplettpaket für Multimedia. Ursprünglich als reine Brennsoftware entwickelt, hat der Hersteller Ahead Nero mit zahlreichen Funktionen zu einer kompletten Multimedia-Suite ausgebaut. Nero fasst mehr als 20 Module für alle Belange von Audio über Video bis hin zu Fotos und Live-Multimedia unter einer Oberfläche zusammen.

Das Herzstück des Rundumpakets heißt NeroStartSmart. Als Einstiegsportal zur Nero-Welt greift man von dort aus auf alle Einzelkomponenten des Pakets zu: CDs und DVDs erstellen, Musik, Tonspuren und Videos wiedergeben, Multimediamaterial bearbeiten, durchstöbern und verwalten – es gibt kaum etwas Multimediales, das Nero nicht beherrscht.

Englische Beschreibung:
As well as the classic Nero Burning ROM tool – which now includes support for Blu-Ray – Nero 9 includes pretty much everything you need to make the most of your music, photos, videos and creativity. You'll be able to carry out complete multimedia projects, from ripping your favorite audio CDs and mixing the tracks with Nero SoundTrax to creating videos with your photos, and even design CD artwork (top and back covers, booklet and CD sticker) by yourself with Nero CoverDesigner.

All these tools are conveniently available from Nero StartSmart, a handy app launcher with two main toolbars: on top of the window, shortcuts to Nero's apps; on the left-side menu, direct access to the most frequent tasks (data burning, audio burning, copy disc, etc.) than open right on StartSmart's main area.

Nero 9 features other interesting tools that try to cover even more areas. You can use the built-in Nero Backup tool to make safety copies of your most important data, for example. Nero also includes an embedded video player and a photo editor (known as Nero PhotoSnap) though these two apps are quite basic and could have probably been left out without much remorse for the user.

Talking about extra apps, Nero has often been accused of being bloatware, and this version won't change that. It does include a large array of tools, though to be honest they're all quite straightforward and easy to use. I guess the discussion about complexity versus simplicity will still go on, but my view is that Nero 9 is no longer a simple burning tool: it's a full-featured suite that happens to include a burning app, plus many other features that make it an excellent application for all your multimedia projects.