Messenger Plus! Live is an add-on for Windows Live Messenger from Microsoft. Messenger Plus! adds numerous features to Messenger to make it more enjoyable. Features include the ability to have a multi-chat within one window, by making use of tabs to control your chat – much like the tab function you’ll see in Mozilla Firefox. No need to open a new chat window.
 

Add some high-def movie magic to your Xbox console

Sony’s Playstation 2 is often credited with having a big hand in the success of DVD, since the hugely popular games console featured built-in support for the then fledgling movie format.

It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that two new high-definition video formats are latching themselves onto the star power of the latest next-generation games consoles.
 

Web advisers rate 20 British web stores

The website of Marks & Spencer has been praised as the most accessible of 20 top British sites surveyed by a consultancy firm.

A survey conducted by 'accessibility consultancy' Webcredible looked at sites such as Woolworths, WH Smith, John Lewis and HMV, among others. It gave each website a score in 20 categories and these points were totalled to give a score out of 100.

 

Power up your DVD viewing with this movie player software

Virtually all computers these days come with DVD drives. You’ll also usually find some kind of DVD movie playing application supplied with a new PC or DVD drive.

The latest version of Roxio’s DVD creation software is its best yet

Windows' answer to Apple’s much-hyped iDVD software, Roxio’s MyDVD is now on version 8. The Premier release brings a horde of new features including support for high-definition video, improved editing tools and an all-new interface.

A great-looking six-megapixel camera with an iPod-esque touch control

For something sold as an ultra-compact camera, Canon’s six-megapixel, 3x optical zoom 'style cam' still manages to shoehorn a large 3in LCD into its minimal dimensions.

Microsoft's future of mobile computing may only appeal to select users

Windows has gone through several mobile guises over the years, with Pocket PC and SmartPhone devices being the most familiar platforms.  Microsoft's latest venture is the ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) and the Samsung Q1 is the first to take advantage of the technology.

A long optical zoom and a good macro mode in a reasonably priced digital compact camera

Ricoh's Caplio R4 looks suspiciously similar to many of its predecessors, particularly the R3.

In fact, the R4's case is almost exactly the same as its younger sibling, and the only significant change appears to be an increase in the number of megapixels the camera can handle - from five to six.
 

Banish blurred photos with Nikon’s Vibration Reduction technology

Fed up with red eyeballs and bleached out faces when using camera flash?

The obvious solution is to turn off the flash and boost the sensitivity of the camera sensor to cope, or a slower shutter speed to let in more light.

A compact camera with a huge optical zoom range

We were recently impressed with the Kodak EasyShare V570, which combines two lenses to give the effect of a 5x optical zoom.

With the launch of the 6.1 megapixel V610 Kodak has raised its game further.

A fully-featured personal finance manager for Windows, Mac and Linux

Moneydance is an easy-to-use personal finance manager. Whether you want to organise your finances, manage your budget, track your portfolio, or just automatically balance your checkbook, Moneydance is the solution for you.

A no-frills digital radio that punches well above its weight

If you were first among your friends to buy a digital radio, we’ve got some bad news: the latest DAB model from Pure Digital costs under £50. What’s more, it’s really rather good.

Forget about the wooden casing or retro styling of models such as the Pure Digital Evoke-3; the One is a singularly no-frills affair in a choice of white, fuchsia pink and TalkSport-branded black plastic casing.

Listen to music from your computer anywhere in the home

There's a gap in the media streaming market for devices that will easily stream audio from a PC to a hi-fi without looking like they belong in a computer showroom.

Apart from the Slim Devices Squeezebox 3, most of these devices are either too hard to set up and use or just don't look the part.

Haxdoor-IN alters registry files and installs more malware
 
A new Trojan was spammed out last night posing as a free wall chart that lets users track their team's progress in the World Cup finals.
 

Share and organise your bookmarks online
 
Yahoo's 'social search' engine is now available to British users.
 
The MyWeb 2.0 website allows users to save interesting finds on the web and share them with friends, family and others. It also contains links that other users have found.
 

Failing to compete with France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom

AOL is intending to pull out of France and Germany because it is struggling to compete with France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, according to industry rumours. 
 

Ageing IT equipment could cause a problem in schools and colleges
 
Many schools and colleges are not renewing their computer equipment fast enough according to a report from Becta, the government computer agency for education systems.

Find your way around Microsoft Office and Windows with this handy interactive guide

The six-disc package of Teaching You Office covers tutorials for Microsoft’s Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Access programs, as well as Windows itself.
 

A bedside radio alarm clock that will wake you up with music from your iPod

Waking up to the dulcet tones of your favourite radio presenter is like having that first cup of coffee. It's part of the morning ritual.
 

The National Geographic is to launch a competition aimed at amateur photographers.
 
The "Morning, Noon and Night " competition, which begins on 15 May when the website goes live, is sponsored by Fujifilm.