This latest version of Nero's all¬encompassing multimedia software brings with it yet more ways of managing and enjoying music, videos,and photos.

Long gone are the days when the name Nero was synonymous only with making CDsWith roughly 21 applications included (depending on how you count them), there's a very real chance that you'll never explore everything this vast suite has to offer.

However, this approach ensures there's something in it for everybody, whether you want to create your own DVDs with professional 3D menus or simply watch TVon your computer.

Keeping these many programs organised and accessible is no mean feat and the hub of the system, Nero Startsmart, provides access to all the functions from a single page.The user doesn't need to know which program does what - all they need to worry about is what they wantto do and it will guide them to the correct application.

Aside from some new applications, little has changed here since Nero 8. There are Rip and Burn,Create and Edit, Home Entertainment and Backup sections to choose from,and it's easy to customise the Start page so that it houses the most useful applications.

The Rip and Burn section is home to Nero's best-known function - burning stuff onto blank discs.This could be audio, video or any form of data you like, either from the computer's hard disk or ripped directly from another disc.

In the Create and Edittab,you will find everything needed to create your own DVDs,slideshows and movies as well as performing basic editing functions on media that's stored on the computer. Here, the video editing and disc creation capabilities have seen a major overhaul, with enhancements including automatic skipping of advertisements in recorded TV, better support for high-definition video and support for writing to Blu-ray discs. However, for fully featured Blu-ray authoring, you'll need to purchase an additional plug-in at a cost.



From the Home Entertainmenttab, you can watch and record live TV directly from within Nero, with support for up to four TV tuners installed in the computer.This is especially useful for Windows XP users who may not have the excellent Windows Media Center software available to do the same thing.There's also a utility on the way that lets users connect to live broadcasts in the sidebar in Windows Vista - although this remains to be added in a future update that was unavailable atthe time of this review.

Finally the Backup tab provides a simple way of backing up data either to a local hard disk orto Nero's online subscription-based storage service.You also now get a data recovery program. This is an invaluable tool, not onlyfor getting back any file you may have accidentally deleted, but also for retrieving lost images from camera memory cards. For full backup ofa whole PC, Nero's Backitup 4 software is supplied on a disc,although it's not integrated into the rest of the suite.

Nero Startsmart does a good job of simplifying what would otherwise be a sprawling mess of individual software applications and has seen some usability improvements since Nero 8. However,some functions can still be a little tricky to find and, because each application comes with its own separate PDF manual, there's no easy way of searching the suite as a whole if you're looking for a particular feature.

While Nero 9 is undoubtedly a better, more feature-heavy program than its predecessor, many of the changes are simply in order to keep up-to-date with current technologies and file formats.

If you wantto start using high¬definition formats, Nero 9 has a lotto offer, but if you're getti ng on just fi ne with Nero 8, we would recommend thinking twice before shelling out for the upgrade.