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In software, upgrades were the big theme of the year, along with mergers and acquisitions

The adage, "Intel giveth, and Microsoft taketh away," is a light-hearted reference to that fact that as our computers grow in power and capabilities, so does our software. Which is a good thing, because without software, computers wouldn't have much to do.

This ongoing cycle of improvement has given birth to another inescapable facet of computing life – the perpetual upgrade. Few of the software products in this year's Standing Ovation Awards are actually new, first-generation releases. Almost all land somewhere between version 5 and version 10 in their ongoing evolution. As new computing capabilities become available and user feedback is processed, features are tweaked, added or dropped as the march of the programmers continues, progressing forward as it does to the counterpoint drumbeats of Moore's Law and Silicon Valley capitalism.

Mergers and buyouts

Another feature of Silicon Valley capitalism that made headlines throughout the year was a flurry of mergers and buyouts. At times it seemed as if the biggest competition was between companies trying to buy other companies and companies that were desperately trying to be bought.

Avid Systems, known for its high-end video-editing programs, purchased Pinnacle, known for its pro-sumer and consumer video-editing lines. The spunky little Jasc software is no more; its "can do things as well as Photoshop" applications are now a part of Corel's growing product line. And by far the biggest news of the year was Adobe's brash purchase of Macromedia, defying many an analyst's prediction that it would never happen – or, if it did, it might work the other way around. The deal itself took place so quietly that on the day it was announced, some publicists for Adobe and Macromedia didn't even know it had happened.

The year in software

Bets on how all this market activity is going to play itself out will have to wait until 2006.

For now, let's look at what 2005 brought us. The plug-in field for PowerPoint had a very good year, with several new offerings to give presenters a little extra oomph on those PowerPoint slides. The field of digital imaging saw some key releases, and was one of the few areas that saw some actual innovation, not just upgrades of existing products. Microsoft and Apple showed they do more than just platforms, with Apple releasing a slew of new applications in between iPod announcements, and Microsoft offering sneak peeks of a whole new Office suite, slated to hit desktops in early 2006. This was also a year when cross-platform applications truly worked, making Mac and Windows more compatible than ever.

Our choices for best software releases of the year grow out of this creative tension between markets and machines. And yes, some of the choices might surprise you — but we all know that deep down, you really like surprises.



Our choices for best software releases of the year grow out of this creative tension between markets and machines. And yes, some of the choices might surprise you — but we all know that deep down, you really like surprises.