FAVORITE VIDEO PRODUCTS
After months of working with Windows NT-based video products, I've decided there is a lot to like about video and NT. Most of the video-related products I reviewed in 1998 do what they were designed to do and do it well. Still, some products stood out from the crowd. My two favorites were Vista Imaging's ViCAM digital video camera and Galacticomm's WebCast Pro Server 2.0 video broadcasting software. I like the ViCAM because its cable provides a pass-through parallel port connection for a printer, and it is the only PC-based video camera that supports assorted lenses for close-up and wide-angle viewing.
I chose the WebCast software because it lets you broadcast video and audio, and create and distribute on-demand presentations. It's powerful software with an acceptable price tag. Although WebCast isn't the easiest software to configure, the technical support exceeded my expectations.
—Brian Gallagher
REVIEWED: Lab Reports, September 1998, page 81
CONTACT: Vista Imaging * 650-802-9685
WEB: http://www.vistaimaging.com
PRICE: $199
CONTACT: Galacticomm * 954-583-5990
WEB: http://www.gcomm.com
PRICE: $2995 (includes 26 broadcast licenses)
FAVORITE SECURITY PRODUCTS
I've looked at loads of security software over the past year, and no matter what new innovations emerge, I always like the security scanner products the best. These tools act as a check and balance to ensure that you securely configure each aspect of a system. Security scanner vendors are quick to incorporate fixes into the latest versions of the scanners as new security risks come to the surface. As a result, you can rest a little easier knowing that if you miss an important adjustment, the scanner will probably catch your oversight.
So in the scanner product category, my hands-down favorite product is
Internet Scanner 5.2 from Internet Security Systems (ISS). The tool goes a long way toward helping you keep systems secure. The product has lots of features, including the ability to generate some great reports right out of the box. One of the nicest benefits about using this scanner is that I trust ISS to stay on top of security concerns and to quickly incorporate any new security risks into its scanner for system security analysis.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
REVIEWED: Lab Reports, October 1998, page 104
CONTACT: Internet Security Systems * 678-443-6000
WEB: http://www.iss.net
PRICE: $4995 for a Class C license
COOLEST HARDWARE TOY
Choosing the coolest hardware toy was easy. The CrystalEyes stereo vision
eyewear from StereoGraphics was the coolest toy I played with in 1998. Having said that, I do realize the eyewear is not really a toy, but is meant for detailed analysis of everything from DNA molecular models to satellite images of Mars. However, using ERDAS's Imagine software and doing a virtual flyover of Palm Springs, California, and the San Bernadino National Forest, complete with 3-D effects, is a lot closer to fun than most anything I've been paid to do before.
—Brian Gallagher
REVIEWED: Lab Reports, August 1998, page 99
CONTACT: StereoGraphics * 415-459-4500 or 800-783-2660
WEB: http://www.stereographics.com
PRICE: $795 for the goggles; $200 for the emitter
COOLEST SOFTWARE TOY
"Hi, honey. Did you miss me?" Thanks to Seem Software's Truster 2.4 truth-verification software, you can now find out if your honey really did miss you. Truster detects truths, half-truths, and lies by analyzing microtremors in people's voices. To deploy this software, you need only a computer with audio input capability and a few MBs of free disk space. Truster works with a microphone or, to make life really interesting, you can connect the provided telephone adapter and use Truster over the telephone.
Truster is clearly not an enterprise tool (at least it's not in any
enterprise I'd care to work in). However, the software is a lot of fun to play with--as long as you're the one analyzing the conversation.
—John Enck
REVIEWED: Lab Reports, December 1998, page 98
CONTACT: Seem Software * 718-439-3917 or 888-279-3939
WEB: http://www.seemdirect.com
PRICE: $99
FAVORITE UTILITY
With so many companies marketing so many Windows NT-related utilities these days, finding a good, quality product you can rely on can be difficult. But of all the products I reviewed in 1998, the utility I liked best was Winternals Software's ERD Commander.
ERD Commander is a product that brings NT's command line to your boot-up process. After your system boots and displays the ERD Commander command prompt, you can perform various operations on your files. Since my review, Winternals Software has released a Professional Edition that supports password recovery, striped volumes, and chkdsk. If I could purchase only one utility for NT, I would buy ERD Commander.
—Michael Deignan
REVIEWED: Lab Reports, Web exclusive at http://www.winntmag.com, December 1998
CONTACT: Winternals Software * 512-427-5873 or 800-408-8415
WEB: http://www.winternals.com
PRICE: $249 (or $324 for the new Professional Edition)