Nero Burning ROM

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Nero Burning ROM

Nero Burning ROM 7 on Windows XP
Developer: Nero AG
Latest release: 7.8.5.0 / March 20, 2007
OS: Windows, Linux
Use: Optical disc authoring software
License: Shareware
Website: www.nero.com

Nero Burning ROM is a popular optical disc authoring program for Microsoft Windows and Linux by Nero AG, formerly Ahead Software. Nero Express is commonly bundled as an OEM application with CD and DVD burners.[1]

Contents

[edit] Name

The program's name is intended to be a play on words.[2] Recording CD- and DVD-ROMs is often known as "burning", and the infamous Roman Emperor Nero is said to have played his lyre as Rome burned. This pun is more obvious in the original German as the German name for Rome is Rom (a literal English translation would be Nero Burning ROMe). Also, the program logo is an image of the Roman Colosseum in flames.

[edit] Features and availability

Since version 6, Nero has been bundled with many other sub-applications such as Nero Wave Editor (for editing audio files), Nero ImageDrive (for mounting virtual CDs), Nero BackItUp (for backup of filesystems or whole disks) and Nero Recode (for backup of unencrypted DVDs and MPEG-4 conversions). Since version 7, Nero Vision (DVD authoring tool) is bundled in the Premium package.[3]

Nero works with a number of CD-image formats, including the common ISO image and its proprietary NRG file format. [4]

NeroLINUX, the Linux port of Nero Burning ROM.
NeroLINUX, the Linux port of Nero Burning ROM.

A Linux port of the application (NeroLINUX) was announced as a free "upgrade" from the Microsoft Windows version in March 2005.[5] The application replicates most features of the Windows version, and uses the GTK+ 1 graphical toolkit.[6]

Nero software is available in multiple variations. The most common are the OEM suites, which are bundled with many CD and DVD recorders. Nero also sells full-featured versions, called Premium for the European market and Ultra Edition for the North American market. For reasons that are not entirely clear, North American purchasers of Nero 7 (Ultra Edition) are not entitled to LabelFlash or DiscT@2 support, although their European counterparts (buying Nero 7 Premium) are. This appears to be the only difference between Nero 7 Premium and Nero 7 Ultra Edition.

Early versions of Nero version 6 would only burn data DVDs using the ISO file system. Though DVD drives seemed to have no difficulty reading single-layer discs, the compatibility of dual-layer discs was more patchy.

Version 7.5.1.1 of Nero Burning ROM introduced support for LightScribe and Blu-ray Disc recording.[7]

[edit] Nero StartSmart

Nero StartSmart is a part of the Nero Burning ROM 6 software that refers users to a number of operations available to do with the CD-ROM inserted to the computer (a larger number of operations are available if you run the program in expert mode) and a couple of other operations related to the computer itself.

[edit] Version history

  • Nero Burning ROM 3.0[8]
  • Nero Burning ROM 4.0
  • Nero Burning ROM 5.0
  • Nero Burning ROM 6.0
    • Nero Burning ROM 6.6.1.15 - Last release of version 6 [9]
  • Nero Burning ROM 7.0[7]
    • Nero Burning ROM 7.0.1.2 (released October 31, 2005) - First release of version 7
    • Nero Burning ROM 7.5.1.1 (released September 18, 2006) - Introduced support for LightScribe and Blu-ray Disc recording.
    • Version number 7.5.7.0 (Release Date: 10-16-2006) - first version designed to run on Windows Vista
    • Nero Burning ROM 7.7.5.1 (Release Date: 01-18-2007 ) -Fixed all prior reported flaws. Updated Booktype support. Added further options for high definition discs

[edit] Criticisms

Nero has been accused of software bloat due to its inclusion of many burning-related applications which may go unused by many users, and its resulting large installer size (190MB for Nero 7).[10] This has spawned a niche of unofficial, more streamlined installers such as Nero Lite which include only features deemed to be essential, resulting in installer sizes as low as 13 MB for Nero Micro, featuring "just Nero Burning Rom with basic Audio/VideoCD support (English)."[11] While many components can be removed using the official installer, its large size and the inability to remove all undesired components via its interface make these alternatives desirable. Note that a valid Nero license key is still required for all installations.[10]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Perenson, Melissa J. "The Skinny on Burner Bundles", PC World, 2005-03-15. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  2. ^ Ahead Software - Nero Burning ROM review. IT Reviews (2000-04-05). Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  3. ^ Nero Vision 4. Nero AG. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  4. ^ Nero Burning ROM 7 - Features. Nero AG. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  5. ^ NeroLinux vs K3b. Flexbeta (2005-03-15). Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  6. ^ NeroLinux - System Requirements. Nero AG. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  7. ^ a b Nero Burning ROM 7 - Release Notes. Nero AG. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  8. ^ Gallery featuring Nero splash screens over time
  9. ^ http://www.nero.com/nero6/eng/prog_versions.php
  10. ^ a b Cassia, Fernando. "'Nero Lite' and 'Nero Micro': smaller sometimes is better", The Inquirer, 2007-02-27. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
  11. ^ "Acheron" (2006-03-13). [RELEASE] Nero 7 Lite Installer v7.7.5.1 (forum thread). Microsoft Software Forum Network. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.

[edit] External links