MediaHome starts off by searching for media files automatically (after your OK). From this home, you can open any of the suite's other tools with a selected photo, video, or song. The more powerful MediaHome is actually available as a free download from Nero (it was formerly known as KwikMedia), with extra-cost add-ins like the ability to play and burn Blu-ray. It's little more than a File Explorer window with the added ability to find content by faces and ratings. MediaBrowser is a subset with a smaller window, that, as its name implies, is just for seeing what's in your collection. MediaHome and MediaBrowser MediaHome is Nero's media manager for all your video, photo, and music files. I'll discuss each of these in sections below. Each tile includes an "i" button that tells you what it does. The first column features newer media apps in the suite-MediaHome, MediaBrowser, and Blu-ray Player.
Unlike previous versions, however, you can't customize which software tools get tiles.Īs you can see, the tiles are logically arranged in columns for Manage and Play, Edit and Convert, Rip and Burn, and Backup and Rescue. Tiles for 10 apps appear above a line in the full-screen windows and tiles for ancillary functions like update, tools, tutorials, and product news appear at the bottom. The startup interface sports that clean, simple look of tiles and bold colors inspired by Windows 8. And the first time you run a suite app, a dialog will ask you to register online, with an email address, name, and location. Interface On first run, a message box asked me to check for updates, which makes sense, since the software could have been updated since the disc was pressed. The installed size of the program was a hefty 1.1GB.
Installing took 4:45 minutes on my quad-core 3.4GHz Windows 8.1 system with 8GB DDR3 RAM and an Nvidia Quadro 2000 graphics card. The process also installs Direct3D 10.1 Extensions, which seems odd on a Windows 8.1 system that comes equipped with DirectX 11.2. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security SoftwareĪn Installation Settings dialog lets you choose which of the suite's seven components (plus help and an auto-updater) you want installed.