My Favourite SW

Work Programmes:
Opera:
Opera is a cross-platform web browser and Internet suite developed by the Opera Software corporation. Opera handles common Internet-related tasks such as visiting web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, IRC online chatting, downloading files via BitTorrent, and reading web feeds. Both Opera for desktops and Opera Mini for mobile phones are offered free of charge, but editions of Opera for other platforms are not.

Opera runs on a variety of operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris. It is also used on mobile phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants, the Nintendo DS and Wii video game systems, and interactive televisions. In addition, Adobe licensed Opera technology for use in the Adobe Creative Suite.

Opera has had limited success on desktop platforms in the face of competitors such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. However, it has enjoyed greater success on mobile device platforms and more recently the Nintendo DS and Wii gaming systems.

Trillian:
Trillian is a proprietary multiprotocol instant messaging application for Windows created by Cerulean Studios that can connect to multiple IM services, such as AIM, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Bonjour, Jabber, and Skype networks (the latter four with Trillian Pro which allows for additional plugins).

Initially released July 1, 2000 as a freeware IRC client, the first commercial version (Trillian Pro 1.0) was published on September 10, 2002. There are currently two types of Trillian available, the original and free Trillian Basic 3 and the commercial Trillian Pro 3. An upcoming product called Trillian Astra (4.0) has been announced and is currently in alpha testing.

Adobe Photoshop:
Adobe Photoshop, or simply Photoshop, is a graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Systems. It is the current market leader for commercial bitmap and image manipulation, and is the flagship product of Adobe Systems. It has been described as "an industry standard for graphics professionals." Although originally designed to edit images for paper-based printing, Photoshop can also be used for a wide range of other professional and amateur purposes.

The current (10th) iteration of the program, Photoshop CS3, was released on 16 April 2007. "CS" reflects its integration with other Creative Suite products, and the number "3" represents it as the third version released since Adobe re-branded its products under the CS umbrella. Photoshop CS3 features additions such as the ability to apply non-destructive filters, as well as new selection tools named Quick Selection and Refine Edge that make selection more streamlined. On April 30th, Adobe released Photoshop CS3 Extended, which includes all the same features of Adobe Photoshop CS3 with the addition of capabilities for scientific imaging, 3D, and high end film and video users.

Adobe (Macromedia) Flash:
Adobe Flash, or simply Flash, refers to both the Adobe Flash Player, and to the Adobe Flash Professional multimedia authoring program. Adobe Flash Professional is used to create content for the Adobe Engagement Platform (such as web applications, games and movies, and content for mobile phones and other embedded devices). The Flash Player, developed and distributed by Adobe Systems (which acquired Macromedia in a merger that was finalized in December 2005), is a client application available in most common web browsers. It features support for vector and raster graphics, a scripting language called ActionScript and bi-directional streaming of audio and video. There are also versions of the Flash Player for mobile phones and other non-PC devices.

Strictly speaking, Adobe Flash Professional is an integrated development environment (IDE) while Flash Player is a virtual machine used to run, or parse, the Flash files. But in contemporary colloquial terms "Flash" can refer to the authoring environment, the player, or the application files.

Since its introduction in 1996, Flash technology has become a popular method for adding animation and interactivity to web pages; several software products, systems, and devices are able to create or display Flash. Flash is commonly used to create animation, advertisements, various web-page components, to integrate video into web pages, and more recently, to develop rich Internet applications.

The Flash files, traditionally called "Flash movies" or "Flash games", have a .swf file extension and may be an object of a web page, strictly "played" in a standalone Flash Player, or incorporated into a Projector, a self-executing Flash movie with the .exe extension in Windows. Flash Video files have a .flv file extension and are utilized from within .swf files.

---

Games:
Battlefield 2:
Battlefield2 (abbreviated to BF2) is a computer game in which players fight in a modern battlefield using modern weapon systems. Battlefield 2 is a first-person shooter with some strategy and RPG elements. Battlefield 2 was developed by Digital Illusions CE (DICE) with a custom game engine. During development, Trauma Studios contributed to the development of the game after it was acquired by Digital Illusions CE. BF2 is published by Electronic Arts as the third full game of the Battlefield series, released in late June 2005. The first two installments were Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield Vietnam.

BF2 includes a single-player mode with three difficulty levels and multiplayer mode via the Internet or a LAN. Both player modes use the same maps and use Battlefield's conquest game mode. Single-player mode allows 15 computer controlled players, while Internet mode allows up to 64 players. Players can choose to play 3 factions: United States Marine Corps (USMC), People's Liberation Army (PLA), and the fictional Middle East Coalition (MEC). Additional factions are playable through the expansion packs.

A console branded version also exists (for Xbox, Xbox 360 and PS2), named Battlefield 2: Modern Combat. Although they both share the same name, they differ quite considerably in execution, content, and gameplay.

Unreal_Tournament_2004:
Unreal Tournament, abbreviated UT, (sometimes referred to as UT99, UT Classic, UT1, or UT:GOTY to differentiate from Unreal Tournament 2003, Unreal Tournament 2004, and Unreal Tournament 3) is a popular first-person shooter video game. It is Epic Games' 1999 follow-up title to Unreal and focuses mainly on multiplayer action. It was launched in direct competition to id Software's Quake III Arena which was released ten days later. Although Quake III Arena was considered to have better graphics, streamlined gameplay and a widely adopted engine, UT had superior bot AI, "alternate fire" for weapons which introduced a further element of strategy, and a larger variety of multiplayer capabilities.

As with the original Unreal, the ease with which players can create and release mods to the core game is a key factor contributing to UT's longevity. UT improved upon the mod-friendly nature of its predecessor with support for mutators such as Sniper Arena, Instagib, BunnyTracks, MonsterHunt, Jailbreak and more. Further, UT clans, or gaming teams, and a score of UT dedicated clan and fan community sites continue to sustain Unreal Tournament's popularity years after its initial release.