ZeusDraw is a very accessible tool for anybody wanting to get their hands into vector drawing. We really liked the feel of the different brushes and the set of options offered like path tools or gradient. You can also measure the length of lines, angles and stamp your own graphics. The multiple windowed interface means everything is just a click away. The devil is in the details and this is where ZeusDraw shows its true colors with features like blend modes, soft edges, tiled output and a number of layout and construction aids.

We’ve all read reams about how the blogging community has exploded over the last couple of years, but one of the more interesting developments in this field lies in a change of dynamic in the software that drives blogs. When members of the mainstream web community first decided to write about what their cat was doing for its birthday or purvey their views on the state of the candyfloss industry, the application of choice for creating a maintaining a blog was Six Apart’s Movable Type. After dominating the market for a long while, however, the app started began losing ground to WordPress, which tempted users away from the hosted, subscription-based model of MT with a tasty open source alternative.

Now Movable Type is looking to claw its way back to the top of the tree after releasing a Beta version of version 4 of the program, and announcing that it will once again be free to run a limited number of blogs using the service. The decision of whether to plump for MT or WP has split the blogging community for some time now and there some fairly solid arguments for and against using each app.

Adobe have announced a new plug-in for Photoshop CS3 Extended which will enable users to import a huge range of 3D images from Google's 3D Warehouse. With the plug-in, users will be able to query and download free 3D content from Google's online repository for 3D models and content. The 3D Content can then be placed, manipulated and used in composites within Photoshop CS3 Extended.

Mark Limber, product manager at Google said of the deal:

The Google 3D Warehouse repository, combined with Photoshop CS3 Extended, allows creatives, architects, manufacturers and others to find exactly what they need to bring their virtual worlds and conceptual designs to life.

3D Warehouse is a free service which allows anyone to search for and download 3D models. Users can also submit their own models to share within the community by uploading them from Google SketchUp into the 3D Warehouse. Models include everything from buildings and houses to people and pets. If the model has a location on earth, such as a building in New York city, you can also download and view it in Google Earth.

This announcement does at least justify some of the extra cost between Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended. However, at a whopping $999, it doesn't come cheap and I'm sure many Adobe fans will be less than impressed at what may be seen as a token gesture. It also raises the question, is this really necessary when After Effects can manipulate 3D images anyways, albeit mainly for video?

Wouldn't your Mac look cool if you could use your screensaver as a wallpaper? Wallsaver is a very simple, one click application that serves exactly this purpose. You can set your screensaver as wallpaper in one click and restore it to the original background simply by pressing restore. If you really like your screensaver, you shouldn't have to wait a few minutes to enjoy it. Set up Wallsaver and you'll be able to enjoy it all the time.

Rapidweaver is an intuitive WYSIWYG editor only for Mac. You can use it to create your own blog and add podcasting, RSS or tags. At the same time, a simple structure means that you don't have to go digging into code to get everything right. The latest version, 3.6.0, brought a lot of significant changes, among which a sleeker interface that will immediately attract basic users. Here's what you can expect in this new release:

• Customizable theme styles
• Drag and drop snippets of code anywhere on your page
• Flickr photo sharing
• New transitions, background effects and Ken Burns effect
• New upload client to view your files easily
• Multiple tag and category support
• 8 different list styles

In 3.6.0, it seems that the developer has made a real effort to simplify the whole interface and make it more attractive for beginners. We found it really easy to store and upload files and to customize any part of our blog, whether changing color, theme or adding effects. If you want to get into blogging, and want to have control over the design, Rapidweaver is a good place to start before getting closer to HTML or CSS.

While many web developers are heralding the latest version of Dreamweaver as the greatest editor of all time, the more financially-challenged members of the design community are left sighing in frustration. Adobe has certainly made its mark on the program in this first release since the company acquired the product from Macromedia, offering much tighter integration with Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash, as well as improved Ajax support. However, the software giant shows no signs of reneging on its quite ludicrous pricing policy, commanding $200 dollars for an upgrade, or $400 for the full product which puts it out of reach for many budding web designers.

The key benefit of Dreamweaver is the way it allows you to create pages within both a visual and a code-based environment, which eases the learning curve of mastering complex code, while still giving you precise control over your pages. Thankfully though, there are plenty of cheaper (and in some cases, free) alternatives to the program that offer a combination of a GUI and a text editor. Top of the pops is Amaya, an open source app created by the W3C, which allows you to design and code within a flexible environment while adhering closely to web standards. Here’s our run-down of the top freeware and shareware web page editors on Softonic:

1. Amaya - Easy-to-use HTML Editor 2. WebXselerator - Create rich data-oriented web sites 3. DHE Editor Site Builder - Excellent and easy-to-use development visual editor 4. CoffeeCup HTML Editor - Intuitive two-in-one HTML editor 5. Spider Writer - Powerful editor suporting many formats 6. HTMLPad - Sophisticated all-in-one HTML, CSS, JavaScript and XHTML editor 7. Web Builder Deluxe - Generate HTML pages from your database 8. Araneae - Simple, yet powerful multi-language coding editor 9. VisualScript XML - Program XML more easily through a visual interface 10. Alleycode HTML Editor - Quicker and better web programming

Now featuring support for AJAX and more, this state-of-the-art web editor allows you to design and maintain websites and online apps from beginning to end, working either in a raw source code environment or an easy visual interface for the not so geeky audience. Use it alongside other Adobe tools such as Photoshop or Flash and enjoy a perfectly integrated workflow with professional results.

We've never had such a wide range of powerful graphics programs, yet it can still take hours to create common effects. particleIllusion takes all the hassle out of producing amazing effects such as explosions, smoke, fire, sparkles, motion graphics backgrounds, space effects, creatures, and abstract artistic effects.

The latest version of the Mac OS X app, particleIllusion 3.0.5, promises to operate 10 to 20 percent quicker than the previous release and comes with a dazzling array of different preset effects. Since particleIllusion is a standalone application, you can use it with any video editing or compositing software. You can bring your movies or image sequences into particleIllusion, add the particle effects you want, then save the output movie or image sequence.

Adobe has decided to pull the plug on FreeHand MX, their vectorial application aimed at designers. You’ll still be able to download and use the program but version 11.0.2 will be the last release. As John Nack, developer at Adobe, reveals on his blog, the company will "continue to sell FreeHand MX, and will offer technical and customer support" yet strongly encourage users to make the leap to Adobe Illustrator CS3 by offering an update for $199.

The decision comes as no surprise considering that FreeHand MX hadn’t been updated for four years. Adobe is pushing users to use their new Creative Suite 3, which has seen a reshuffle in applications. It appears that there wasn’t much room for FreeHand MX anymore, with Illustrator CS3 covering most of the creative design and page production needs of users. Adobe has already set up a number of guides to help users easily migrate from FreeHand MX to Illustrator. Rest in peace, FreeHand.

Big news for WordPress bloggers around the world - WordPress 2.2 has been released featuring widget support, enhanced Blogger integration and and over 200 bug fixes. Probably the most interesting development is widget support which will users to easily rearrange and customize areas of their blog (usually sidebars) with drag-and-drop simplicity. The developers have also made a more aggressive bid to attract Blogger users by making it much easier to import posts and comments from the software.

There are a few other really useful additions. WordPress has been optimised to speed up response time between your blog and host server which means navigating WordPress sites should feel quicker. I particularly like the fact that the developers have now made Wordpress 'idiot-proof' - i.e. it won't let you install extensions or plugins that could break your blog or stylesheet.

This new release signals that WordPress is attempting to make itself more user friendly in an attempt to attract those bloggers who've maybe spent some time using Blogger but now want to take the step-up. Many who have tried find the gap difficult to deal with but adding better Blogger integration and drag-and-drop style widgets may encourage them to have another go. It's advisable for current users to upgrade anyway as many of the big fixes concerned security flaws that could leave your site vulnerable to attack and spamming.

Popular 3D modelling tool, Blender, has a new version out which includes not only the expected bug fixes but also a few interesting new features. The most significant additions are complete 64-bit compatibility and the brand new Subsurface Scattering material option which is designed to help with rendering of complex surfaces like skin or marble.

Full list of additions and updates:

• Fully 64-bit compatible
• New modifers were added ("Smooth" and "Cast")
• A couple of composite nodes were added
• A revamp of the old mesh primitives was done
• Blender 2.44's new long-awaited but unexpected feature: subsurface scattering (SSS) support!
• Bullet physics engine updated

Designers in Europe have finally had enough of Adobe's international pricing policy and are petitioning the European Commission to investigate the company. The software giant understandably bumped up the price of its Creative Suite following the release of CS3, which now contains Flash and Dreamweaver, along with Photoshop and Illustrator. But what's really getting to users is the fact that buying the software in the US is up to 190% cheaper than across the Atalantic. Upgrading to the latest version in the States now costs from $599, while in the UK the price is $1,178.

Adobe has been in a priveleged position for a while, as programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator have long been the defacto standard tools for the graphic design industry. Since its acquisition of Macromedia it holds even more bargaining power with control of the most popular web development apps. There was always a risk that Adobe would hold its loyal users to randsom and it seems it's the Europeans that have come off worst. It's unclear whether the petition will ultimately have any effect on Adobe's pricing but at the time of writing, almost 10,000 users had signed up, so hopefully the European Commission will have a closer look at the link between Adobe's pricing model and the monopoly it has on the design software industry.

Although many image editors offer screenshot capture facilities, if you’re regularly taking grabs of your desktop, applications or web pages, then it’s probably worth investing in a stand-alone capturing tool. There are dozens of them around, and believe it or not, there are considerable differences between most of these programs.

We’re called upon to nab screenshots on a regular basis, and the two most popular apps in the Softonic offices are SnagIt and HyperSnap-DX, both of which have their own merits. Both programs can be picked up and used very easily and include a variety of different methods for capturing screenshots, including time delays, full-scrolling web page screenshots, and the ability to define an area of the screen to shoot.

HyperSnap includes an amazing voice capture mode, allowing you to perform program functions just by speaking into your PC's microphone. Although you’ll need a decent mic and must speak slowly and clearly, it’s a great addition and perfect for people who have difficulty using a keyboard or mouse.

Adobe has revealed that it plans to open up its Flex platform, allowing developers to access the platform under an open source licence. Flex is a solution that allows programmers to develop interactive Flash applications in a more refined manner than simply using the Flash GUI and ActionScript. Under this new arrangement, Adobe will make Flex’s source code available to everyone in line with platforms such as .Net and J2EE.

Although it’s been a long time coming, this represents a big step forward for Adobe, who was perhaps getting a little twitchy about the impact that new open source technology, such as AJAX and Ruby was having on the world of Flash development. By allowing developers to access the code improvements can be made to Flex that will benefit the user community as a whole, and the burden on Adobe’s in-house team will be eased.

Many within the Web development community will argue that Adobe still isn’t doing enough to open its technology to the masses. Maybe not, but it’s definitely a refreshing move, and it’s a good indicator that the company is committed to the needs of hardcore application developers rather than just designers who want to do a bit of programming on the side. Flex could be a very important tool for the future of Flash-based site creation and by building an open source community the platform should go from strength-to-strength. Now, Adobe, how about opening up the Flash runtime environment itself?

Not content with monopolizing the search world, Google is now busy making a splash in several other areas including, rather bizarrely, 3D design. Tradtionally, 3D modelling software commands a pretty high price and SketchUp aims to provide a basic alternative to industry mainstays like 3DSMax and Cinema4D – for free.

3D illustration can be a complex affair, but SketchUp keeps things as simple as possible, making for a far less daunting experience than you’ll get with many professional 3D apps. Technical jargon is kept to a minimum. For instance, the ‘Extrude’ tool is renamed to the more obvious ‘Push/Pull,’ and there are countless other examples.

The hand-holding doesn’t stop there, as the program features some rather helpful guide-snapping when you draw rectangles, and circles. For those unfamiliar with drawing in a 3D plane this is a god-send as the program helps you find the end and middle points of lines and squares and tells you if you’re on the right track. The program is able to predict where you want endpoints to meet and snaps them shut for you, saving lots of time.