CD/DVD Burning Software
by David Ornowski
on
Apr 5, 2008 at 10:36:26 pm
I am a long-time windows guy, who recently made the switch to the Mac. I am 2 weeks into running Windows XP on my new Mac Pro, and everything is working great. It is, however, the first time I've done a clean install of Windows and while I am happy not to have all of the bloatware that has always come with my Compaqs, HP's, Gateways, etc., I am in need a solution for burning CD's & DVD's. I am looking for something lightweight for burning data discs, dvd volumes, and audio cd's. I'm interested in hearing what the rest of the community is using, and any good and bad experiences have been had. Thanks!
Re: CD/DVD Burning Software by Tim Wilson on Apr 5, 2008 at 11:38:27 pm
I haven't mentioned this yet, but I suspect that one reason Windows runs SO well on Mac is that it's such a lean install. Even the stuff that I don't use sits politely in place. Love it.
I assume that you're asking for something on the Windows side, yes?
For basic CD burning, iTunes is pretty hard to beat, especially now that it supports true gapless burning.
If you something more, here's a great freeware utility (updated just a couple of days ago, actually) called Ashampoo Burning Studio Free. Tons of options, including Blu-ray, and it is -- yes, free.
Plusses: Free. Runs on Win2k, XP, and Vista. Supports tons of formats for music disks, including FLAC, Ogg Vorbis (I HATE that Mac supports these two so poorly), WMA, MP3, etc. -- but...
Minuses: ...no AAC, ALC. So if you want to burn CDs with those formats, by all means stick to iTunes.
Otherwise, I think Burning Studio Free is slick.
I don't know if you're in Vista, but if so, there's a handy "Burn" button at the top of each system window -- one of the nice things it swiped from, I mean, uhm, was inspired by, Mac. For straight-up data, it's hard to beat that built-in thing. The ones from both platforms work well.
If you're looking for something commercial for all of the above, there's no better software on either platform than Roxio Toast for Mac. If you burn a lot of stuff, definitely worth the extra it takes to burn your Win files in Mac. A bargain at $80 right now. That's with a rebate, so don't dilly dally too long if you're interested.
