Cyberlink Media Suite 9 Ultra music and video software

The tools built into Windows for playing video vary: Windows XP can't play DVDs as standard but Windows 7 and Vista can, though in XP a free program such as VLC will add DVD capabilities.

Cyberlink's PowerDVD plays discs but Media Suite 9 Ultra is a collection of programs that includes PowerDVD and adds many new features such as the ability to edit in high definition (HD), create Blu-ray movies, convert video between formats, edit audio files, create photo slideshows and print labels.

Media Suite is big – over 1.2GB, so it could take a long time if you're downloading it – and aggregates the various programs included into a single, animated panel with sections for video, photos, music and so on. Alternatively, each program can be started individually from the Start menu. Confusingly, while PowerDVD is up to version 10, Media Suite version 9 includes the same features.

The interface is a bit of an adventure that entertained and frustrated us equally. It had fancy animations and effects that made it fun to use, but there were too many confusingly named features and instructions that didn't quite make sense.

But there is a lot that Media Suite 9 can do, but some features require extra components or a high-powered PC. For instance, to play play Blu-ray movie discs you will need a Blu-ray drive and compatible graphics card, and to edit HD video you will need a HD camcorder and at least a dual-core processor. Similarly to get smooth playback, transitions, soundtracking and more in the video editor, a fast PC is required.

In any case, working with video can be slow even on a fast PC: converting a video file for playback on an Apple iPod Nano worked perfectly but was slow, taking about an hour per hour of video. While the program can copy video DVDs, it will only work with ones that aren't copy-protected, which excludes almost all shop-bought films and TV shows.

Photo-editing software is also included but it's not up to much - certainly not as good as a dedicated program such as Photoshop Elements.

This kind of ‘suite' that collects lots of other programs can often be full of useless features and programs, but we liked Media Suite 9.

The photo editing is the weak link, but otherwise if you want to work with music and video, share it with others and enjoy it on different devices, it's a good fit.

Several versions are available: the Ultra edition we reviewed includes everything, while ‘Pro' (£70) can make Blu-ray discs but doesn't include Blu-ray playback so would be better for those without Blu-ray drives.

The low-end £50 ‘Centra' version skips Blu-ray and file conversion and is of less use overall.