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Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP

Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP

List Price: $19.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good bargain if you'll use it
Review: I wouldn't say that this is the ULTIMATE add-on for Windows XP. It has its share of the usual Plus! fluff (Plus! Dancers?) but I use some things (Analog Recorder and Sync & Go) on a daily basis.

The Analog Recorder functions as a slightly fancier version of the windows sound recorder, but the added features make it useful. Besides simply recording the audio to a windows media audio file, it has options to automatically set the input level and, the feature I find most useful, separate it into tracks based on silent pauses in the audio. It can also try to take out pops and hiss if you want, but honestly I can't tell the difference.

The Sync & Go feature only works with a Pocket PC. I think it also requires a memory card (even if it doesn't, it requires enough storage space that you'll want one.) The content you want updated each time you sync your PDA is chosen from a list of windows media player playlists and a meager list of audio and video (~15 min of video from nbc nightly news, a short video of msnbc headlines, npr's hourly news update, clips from comedy central, etc) that is then downloaded from the internet to your PDA. The selection could be better (I do enjoy Tom Brokaaaw's daaaily dose, however.)

I haven't used the other programs included, but I use Analog Recorder and Sync and Go so much that I consider the money well spent. It's a bargain if you don't want to pay for a more full-featured version of one of these programs.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Now MS is Speaking my Lanuage!
Review: When I first heard about Plus! DME, I said not another...add on again. Well, I thought wrong, filled with an aray of useful intuitive accessory to make you enjoy your computer more, Plus! DME is the ultimate add on for Windows XP. It brings the digital divide together on your PC, making you more creative with the it. My favourite app has to be Photo Story, for people who don't have digital camcoder DME makes itself right at home with your images from your digital camera. With superb transitions and ability to add your favourite song in background make this product a true mater piece. Another favorite is the juke box which turns your PC literally into a kiosk, with backgrounds to suit you taste, you add personal text to make it even more interesting. Other, nice features such as analog recorder are great for turning analog sound or data into digital, also is alarm, which you can personalise with your favorite pack. Oooh, I forgot about the "Dancers, when you are playing your favorite song wither, hip-hop, classics, any style you can have someone on the desktop entertain with by dancing to that particular, their is one for every type of music, "plus" many more to download. The fat guy is my favorite! Comparing this to the [$] I paid for XP Plus for Windows, I think this is really worth your money, it has a useful feature that makes it a really great product for both the young old. Very entertaining, intuitive, and most of affordable.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Can I please get clippy?
Review: For the price that MS is charging for this product it is well worth it. The media converter is very useful to convert all my media into smaller files that can be played in my jukebox. PhotoStory rocks! You can make small movies and send them to friends instead of liveless stills. I can't stop looking at the dancers ha ha, they are very entertaining, can I just get clippy dancing? Pleaseeeeeeeee?

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Software excellent, ...
Review: Software includes some good SAMPLES of computer games, decent themes, cd labels/insert creator and such. I would recommend this item if you want something to play around with on your computer. But don't expect something wonderful and very useful. You get what you pay for I suppose...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I paid for this?
Review: This is sort of a wast of money is your not gonna burn 1,000,000 CDs and want labes for all of them, and/or if your an MP3 junkie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Better than XP Plus
Review: If you prefer applications to games and screen savers, I think DME Plus is a good value at [money]when compared to XP Plus. It provides Media Player 9 Party, an alarm clock, dancers and some neat digital photo options. I believe that it attemps to integrate media XP features into standard XP Home OS. That's not such a bad idea. The jury is still out on whether they have done this or not. I am glad that Microsoft tried and have rewarded them with my purchase. ...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Treasure Trove
Review: You can use the super easy Analog Recorder to transfer your lp's cassette, and whatever is shot out of your stereo, or any audio source through your computer's audio input.
You can create computer photo scrapbooks with music.
It has a converter to convert your .mp3, and .wav files in to .wma files, which really play well on Windows Media Player 9-Final Version.
For People that leave their computer on there is a cool alarm that you can set manually
There is more but I mainly bought it because I was curious about the Analog Recorder. I think just for this it was worth the purchase.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Fun, interesting, but not very useful
Review: The Plus Digital Media Edition programs aren't really junk, and if you don't expect Microsoft to give you very much for what they charge for these programs (and you shouldn't), then you won't be disappointed. The most interesting program (to me) is PhotoStory, which presents tantalizing potential but at this point is little more than a demo. You can make your own "PhotoStories" with your digital stills using pretty sophisticated pan and zoom effects and add narration and background music, but the program provides limited controls and, importantly, once saved the PhotoStories can't be modified at all -- fun to play with but not really very useful. The music programs all together are less useful than the PowerToys programs that Microsoft (uncharacteristically) gives away for free. If you like to play with little programs like the Sleep Timer, Alarm Clock or Party Mode Function, they can be fun, but don't look for anything very practical. The Plus! Dancers is technically impressive, but hogs an astonishing amount of disk space if you download all the dancers and really doesn't do anything except demonstrate the technical expertise of some of Microsoft's programmers. I don't use MovieMaker 2, so I don't know how much this package adds, but I'm guessing it's a lot less than the hype would suggest. The Sync 'n Go and CD labeler capability might be useful if you don't already have several programs that do the same thing, which most people do. In sum, this is an interesting group of programs, but it seems to me it would have made more sense if Microsoft had made DME available free as a demo to promote more full-featured versions of a program like PhotoStory for sale. Finally, I find it very annoying that the download version (which I purchased) is the same price as what they'll be selling in stores. Considering the savings in production, packaging and shipping costs, you would think they'd give download purchasers a small break. But I guess Microsoft doesn't give anybody a break. (NOTE: like apparently all new Microsoft programs, this thing uses the online activation requirement that precludes installation on more than one computer -- so don't plan on buying one copy and sharing it with your friends.)

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Waste of money ...
Review: When you purchase this online via Microsoft you are greeted with a 38.6 MB file full of nothing but junk. The only thing you are doing by purchasing this software is helping Microsoft test product activation. Regular plus for Windows XP is worth more then this. All you get is a bunch of demo oriented stuff. I would not buy this.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: It's not worth the money.
Review: I hate to say that after reading the many negative reviews here I gave Plus! a chance anyway because I thought that the negative reviews may have just been reflecting the "I hate Microsoft" attitude. I like Microsoft and their products and felt that this might be a welcome addition to a great operating system.
I was wrong. What a terrible waste of money. It is one big advertisement for 3rd party vendor's software with a couple of extra themes for Windows. The themes are why I gave it 2 stars instead of one. I can't believe how low that is of Microsoft to put this on the market for its loyal consumers.
I still like Windows XP but it was just fine before Plus! Save your money unless you don't mind spending some money for a few extra themes.


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