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Even for those of you not inclined to give Google Apps a second look, it is worth considering that Picasa does offer extra functionality that might not be found elsewhere including but not limited to access to Google's Web albums, password protecting your online albums and so on.

Acronis Disk Director Suite

Not something that I run myself as my PCs are dedicated Linux, Windows, or OS X (my wife's Mac) only, but Disk Director provides their users with one fantastic boot manager. In the Linux world, some boot loaders are better than others. Most experts will tell you to use Lilo over GRUB. But for the new Linux user, this is still more than they might want to take on -- especially when things go wrong.

So for those individuals bent on dual-booting at all costs, I recommend using the Acronis Disk Director Suite, because it allows the user to add and remove new Linux distributions easily, without a lot of "Googling around" and fighting with the old boot managers. It also means that when you decide to tri-boot Linux, XP, and Vista, you are not rolling the dice in hopes that the tutorial you are reading was not written by someone who clearly has no idea what they are doing.

Some of the more notable options that I like include:

Recover broken MBRs

Eliminate problem boot managers

Boot up operating systems that are presenting startup issues

OS cloning with a few clicks of the mouse

Disclosure: The downside is that you do need to use the initial installer from Windows. But once installed, OS management is then OS independent.

VueScan

Definitely an application that leaves a lot of people wondering why one would not simply use one of the SANE front ends such as Kooka instead? The answer is more or less based on the individual's needs. Most notably, it has been argued that VueScan provides a cleaner scan than you might get with the out-of-the-box FOSS scanning alternatives.

To be honest, I have found the stronger argument to be for those who are simply looking for a simpler-to-use application. The latest release of VueScan is vastly easier to navigate than the often-installed XSane, found with many Linux distributions.

So what makes this different? For most people, the GUI is so simple, than even the "Guide me" option would be seen as being overkill. The application is as simple or advanced as the end user needs. If a scanner is not working with one of the SANE front-end apps, often times you will have better success using VueScan, despite me not being totally positive as to how VueScan handles its own scanner support. Due to the closed source nature of VueScan, determining exactly how it works remains a bit of a mystery.

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