AccountsEdge
RRP $595

AccountsEdge is one of the most fully featured Mac accounts packages from the people who know what they’re talking about, MYOB. It’s a snap to upgrade from an old version and import all your existing data, and the number of reports, management and tracking you can do is staggering. It suits a business with anything up to several dozen people, and although it’s overkill for a one man show, you can pick and choose just the features you want and it’s comfortably scalable. 4/5

Mac OSX Leopard
RRP: $158

Leopard is the new Apple operating system (version 10.5) and after installation it looks more different than any other Mac OS has from their respective predecessors. The dock now rests on a glassy surface with glowing spots to indicate open applications and both file icons and windows are subtler but more alive looking.

But is it worth buying for cosmetic changes? Stacks is a pop-up representation of the contents of folders in the dock and makes it easier to drill down into your data, but the most promising feature is Time Machine, Leopard’s automatic backup system that takes a daily snapshot of your entire system, allowing you to mine old content to retrieve data. Early reports have been sceptical about the amount of space Time Machine uses up on your drive, but if nothing else, Leopard is for you if you need a backup regime. 2.5/5

CardScan Executive
RRP: $349

It might seem steep to pay over $300 for a scanner only six inches wide when you can get a multifunction device that scans, prints, faxes and copies for less. But don’t judge this book by its cover. It’s not about the tiny scanner, even though it’s fun feeding cards through it. It’s a customer relationship manager solution, and scanning cards is just the start. There’s an OCR engine that converts the cards to editable text and manages them all as contacts. You can click on weblinks, dial phone numbers through a modem, and even sync contacts with your usual contact manager or email client. 3/5

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Gadgets & Hardware, Software, Tech, The West Australian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.