While Linux users are usually offered a wealth of options for burning CDs and DVDs using software that’s “automagically” installed with almost all modern distros, Windows users have usually felt compelled to go out and buy Nero or Roxio software to have more than the very basic burning included with recent versions of Windows. Now, Windows 7 does have more capable burning options than previous versions built into its default installation, and the Roxio and Nero softwares are certainly very capable, but… I want free and very capable.
DeepBurner is pretty good, and certainly surpasses the abilities of Windows’ built in functionality, but it’s just not good enough to have me use it in preference to the nearly good enough burning capabilities Windows has on its own.
Enter CDBurnerXP. All it’s missing as compared to Roxio or Nero are some audiophile-oriented recording and leveling tricks (and the free Audacity does a superior job with those things). This is one seriously good piece of free software. Using it to burn copies of a mix CD for Lovely Daughter’s wedding (2 weeks and three days away :-)) is an exercise in simplicity. Very nice. Handles creation of DVDs, audio and data CDs/DVDs, burns ISOs and creates bootable disks very easily, among its many capabilities.
Now, most of that is fairly easily done with Win7’s built in capabilities, but not all. Most can be done with DeepBurner–just not all, or as easily. Roxio’s and Nero’s solutions can do everything CDBurnerXP can do and a little bit more, of course, but why pay $50-$100 for capabilities that are available for free? Seriously, if Roxio or Nero want me to buy their product, they’d need to add some serious capabilities, like making my coffee or doing my laundry or some such. *heh*
Comparable capabilities via free software in Linux are almost too many to list (OK, I’m just too lazy to do so), but something this capable in free software for Windows is a nice find. I’d used earlier versions of CDBurnerXP some years ago and dropped using it because its capabilities just weren’t extensive enough at the time. Now? In Windows sessions, it’s my go-to app for burning optical media.
