Windows Phone Thoughts: Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition

"Microsoft typically supplements its operating systems with a retail grab bag of utilities and entertainment-oriented applications called Microsoft Plus. For Windows XP, it has released not one but two such packages. The latest, Microsoft Plus Digital Media Edition, sports nearly a dozen perks, toys and tools for those who use their PC as a multimedia companion. Though some will find the program packs its fair share of incidental "fluff", anyone into photos, video or music will undoubtedly find several components both useful and enjoyable. Digital camera buffs will quickly take to Photo Story, wherein they can organize their favorite pictures in slideshow format, add narration, and create a dynamic sense of motion by manually or automatically zooming or panning across each shot. The end result is flowing and compelling and far less stagnant than a standard still presentation."



You've probably all seen this by now, but if you don't yet own it, for $9.95, snap it up for Photo Story alone. It's a wonderful tool for making quick slideshows with the Ken Burns effect, and it has a Pocket PC export option that looks amazing in full-screen mode on a Windows Mobile 2003 Pocket PC. If you're looking to digitize old analogue source material (tapes or LPs), the Analog Recorder works quite well - it has a pop/hiss filter that cleans up messy source material and makes it palatable. [Affiliate]

UPDATE: Amazon bumped the price from $9.95 up to $17.95 in the time that I wrote this post before it went live. Sorry about that... :oops: