At the heart of the Nero 6.0 Ultra Edition suite is the old-school, power-user mastering program Nero Burning ROM, the friendlier-to-beginners Nero Express mastering program, and the InCD 4.0 packet-writing app, for using your CD or DVD rewritable discs like floppies. We're also still waiting for the single-pane, tunneling browser and disc layout windows in Nero Burning ROM that we put on our wish list in our review of Nero 5.5. While both are easy to use and highly capable, they force you through a step-by-step process, which could annoy or frustrate savvy users. One of our few complaints concerns the BackItUp backup utility and NeroVision Express 2.0. Nero 6.0 Ultra's interface is both pleasing to the eye and easy to use, although we did notice that text messages and labels were truncated when we set our Windows display driver to large fonts (125 percent or 120dpi). StartSmart will also let you know when an update for any of the suite's modules is available and direct you to the Web site for downloading. You can even configure it to show you only the apps you commonly use, which is more than Easy CD Creator allows.

Taking a page out of Easy CD Creator's book, Nero 6.0 Ultra Edition includes StartSmart, a window that offers access to all of the suite's numerous apps. We'd prefer a set-it-and-forget-it install routine for everything in the suite.

Unfortunately, you must wade through separate installation routines for three programs: NeroVision Express 2.0 (movie authoring), Nero Mix MP3 (an MP3 ripper), and InCD 4.0 (a packet-writing app). Installing Nero 6.0 Ultra Edition takes about 10 minutes (plus reboot time) and requires about 220MB of disk space.

Nero Express 6.0 is as easy to use as ever. Still, if you've been thinking about Easy CD Creator, think Nero instead. In fact, Nero 6.0 Ultra Edition would have been a landslide winner if it were not for a few minor bugs in our prerelease version and some quibbles with the interface in some apps. Toss in a slick, completely configurable launch applet, numerous helpful utilities, and a responsive bug-fix policy, and you get a hands-down Editors' Choice. In fact, calling it a disc-authoring app is a disservice, because the suite also offers a very capable backup program, a DVD-authoring app that compares favorably with all but its pro-level competitors, and even a VCD/DVD movie playback program that includes support for MPEG-4 (the compression scheme that gives you near-DVD quality on a CD). Nero 6.0 Ultra Edition is the most comprehensive, versatile CD- and DVD-mastering and packet-writing suite on the market today.

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