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Introduction

I first came across Easy CD Creator back when it was an Adaptec product, before the company spun off the software division and called it Roxio. Even then, in its early incarnations, it was simple to use, offering an easy way to create data CDs and packet written CD-RW discs using the Direct CD part of the package.

Easy CD Creator won plenty of mindshare due to bundling deals with new CD writer drive manufacturers, giving Roxio plenty of potential upgrades to future versions, if users liked what they got in the box. To do that, Roxio needed to offer a little bit more than simple data disc creation and packet writing. Users tempted by Ahead’s Nero software would find a package that could burn more image formats than Creator, the ability to directly burn audio CDs from mp3 files without converting to .wav format beforehand, and software that was arguably easier to use.

Creator 5 seemed to be a stepping stone product for Roxio, as it represented the first solo version of Creator without the backing of Adaptec. It seemed to largely flounder, surviving via bundle deals with drives, while Nero earned more converts. So the question is whether Version 6 can tempt some potential users away from Nero.

Installation

Installation is a little more involved than Nero, however only due to a second reboot to allow Roxio Assistant, a helper application that ensures everything is installed as it should be, can write some registry settings that need a reboot to take effect. Otherwise installation is very similar with the CD key entered and the installation granularity identical to Nero. The optional components in the Creator suite are presented in custom installation mode and you can choose to leave them out or install them. Naturally the default installation mode installs everything.

It takes up a whopping 820MB of hard drive space in default installation mode, but in these days of 250GB hard drives we feel that’s not too bad. Indeed, certain recent game installa make 820MB look decidedly trim.

Creating Discs

As with Nero, the Creator suite is aimed at the non power user segment of the market. Upon installation, Roxio’s packet writing system is available immediately, with a cute little interface called Drag-To-Disc available on screen for you to drag and drop files. Drag-To-Disc is also installed as an extension to Windows Explorer, so that you can use any rewritable media that way.

Creation of movie DVDs takes a slightly different direction to the application supplied with Nero, NeroVision. Both Creator and NeroVision make use of Windows Media 9 technologies to directly capture video from a camcorder or other digital video device, along with native burning facilities to create the final disc. What sets Creator apart is its ability to allow you to edit the menus that you’ll be able to navigate on the disc, something NeroVision can’t do. You can use many different fonts, background graphics and fade and transition effects to create your masterpiece. Creator also supplies some good looking introduction sequences for use on your own DVDs, to add a little touch of class. The interface is much like a DTP application and very easy to use.

It’s the DVD features that helps to separate Creator from Nero While you can get DVD Video menu creators from third parties, having such an application bundled with Creator, sharing its inherent ease of use, is a distinct selling point for the Roxio application.

Just like Nero, you can write created projects to an image file stored on your hard disc for burning later. It’s here that a system like Alcohol 52% or Daemon Tools would be desirable, offering you the ability to use created hard disc based images without the need for a physical disc copy. However neither Creator nor Nero provides such a system. Something for future versions we hope.

With Creator’s default task based interface being much like Nero’s StartSmart in terms of functionality, both suites are very easy to use.

It’s a simple two click affair to burn a created project with Creator, which automatically detects the correct compatible speed between drive and media, spitting out your created disc with the minimum of fuss.

Creator is able to burn ISO images to DVD or CD, along with its own image format, but stops short of being able to burn the wide range of image formats that Nero, or applications like Alcohol 120% can. However if burning those types of image formats is a common occurrence, it’s less likely that Creator will be a target product for you, possibly vindicating Roxio’s decision not to extend Creator’s capabilities in that direction.

Overall, given the ease of use remit, Creator excels in creating data, data backup, audio and DVD Video discs with little to no fuss.

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