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New Zealand PC World Readers' Choice Awards 2002 Your pick of the best hardware, software and internet services of the year.
The envelope, please. Here's how you called 'em. Our 13th annual PC World Readers' Choice Awards proved lUCky for some, including Macromedia, whose Dreamweaver 4 stole the Best Web Design Software crown worn last year by Microsoft's FrontPage. And in the Best Internet Security Software category, a talented scrappy upstart — the freeware ZoneLabs ZoneAlarm — pushed Symantec into second place. Another first-time winner was NZoom, which took the Best New Zealand Website Award, won last year by Xtra's homepage. In a more shocking upset, TL Systems won Best Home PC, a title claimed by HP last year.
THE BUSINESS Best Operating System was, as ever, a Microsoft vs Microsoft affair, but is notable this year for Windows 2000's victory — the first time the business-focused NT line has beaten out the Soho-leaning 9.x family. And maybe it won't be Microsoft vs Microsoft forever: Linux continued its modest encroachment into the Best OS category, clocking up 9% of the vote.
THE FIGHT-BACKS Borland was another insurgent against the Microsoft monolith, with Delphi 6 regaining the Best Development Tool trophy. Compaq, meanwhile, took back the Best Corporate Desktop title lost to Dell last year. HP was only third, but is looking to remedy this situation by buying Compaq.
THE NEWBIES There were several new categories this year. ClearNet picked up the inaugural gong for Best e-business Solution Provider; Nokia took Best DSL Modem (beating off a strong challenge from Dynalink); and the crash-tastic Netscape 6 took Loser of the Year (readers, why didn't you dump on those free ISPs?).
THE SCANDAL Dragon NaturallySpeaking kept its Best Speech Recognition Software title, but the news will do little to alleviate the gloom at its parent company, Lernout and Hauspie. It filed for bankruptcy in October following the arrest without bail of its Boston-based CEO, plus Belgium founders Jo Lernout and Pol Hauspie, on the small matter of a missing $US100 million. What would HAL say?
THE RULES As usual, voting was open to PC World subscribers only, so votes could be cross-referenced against our circulation database to prevent duplicates or vendor voting. Votes were counted by an independent third party, Information Tools, and the random voter prize draw supervised by Hayes Knight. (Where votes add up to less than 100%, votes for other prodUCts account for the balance.) -- Chris Keall
Winner of the year As voted by PC World readers.
| AMD | 51% | | JetStream/JetStart | 22% | | Bill Gates | 19% | | XML | 4% | | Pocket PC OS | 3% |
Loser of the year As voted by PC World readers.
| Netscape 6 ("the crash machine") | 27% | | Napster | 25% | | the letter "e" | 15% | | Apple G4 Cube | 12% | | Clippy | 11% | | Judge Thomas Penfold Jackson | 8% | | Free ISPs | 1% | | Anyone who bought tech stocks | 1% |
| Most promising newcomer As chosen by PC World staff. Microsoft DirectX 8 If you've followed 3D rendering programs, games or web plug-ins over the past few years, you've seen the realism of computer-generated 3D objects grow by leaps and bounds. With DirectX 8, 3D is poised for another giant leap forward. Working with 3D software developers and hardware industry leaders like NVidia, Microsoft completely rewrote the way 3D happens on computers, giving developers flexibility to add new levels of realism to their creations.
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| Personal Computers |  | | Best Corporate PC |  | | Compaq Deskpro series | 36% | | Dell Optiplex series | 24% | | HP Vectra series | 12% | | |  | | Best Small-to-Medium Business PC | | Compaq Deskpro series | 21% | | Dell Dimension series | 18% | | The PC Company Value series | 14% | | |  | | Best Value Notebook |  | | Toshiba Satellite series | 31% | | Acer TravelMate series | 24% | | Dell Latitude C500 series | 15% | | IBM ThinkPad I series | 11% | | Compaq Armada E500 series | 8% | | |  | | Best PDA |  | | Palm V series | 30% | | Compaq iPAQ series | 27% | | Palm m100 series | 11% | | HP Jornada 700 series | 7% | | Handspring Visor series | 6% |
| | Best Home PC |  | | TL Systems Dream series | 29% | | Dell Dimension series | 21% | | Gateway Performance series | 16% | | |  | | Best Power Notebook |  | | Toshiba Satellite Pro series | 27% | | Sony Vaio series | 13% | | Compaq Armada M700 series | 11% | | Toshiba Tecra series | 9% | | Toshiba Portégé series | 8% | | IBM ThinkPad T series | 8% | | |  | | Best NZ PC Manufacturer |  | | The PC Company | 41% | | TL Systems | 23% | | PB Technologies | 7% | | Advantage Computers | 5% | | Arche | 5% | | Cyclone | 4% |
| Internet |  | | Best Internet Service Provider |  | | Xtra | 36% | | paradise.net | 23% | | ihug | 13% | | Clear Net | 13% | | Voyager | 4% | | |  | | Best Broadband Internet Service |  | | Telecom JetStream | 49% | | TelstraSaturn/paradise.net broadband cable | 18% | | ihug Ultra | 17% | | Telecom JetStart | 16% | | |  | | Best e-Business Solution Provider |  | | Clear Net | 44% | | Xtra Business | 39% | | eSolutions | 10% | | |  | | Best New Zealand website |  | | NZoom.com | 15% | | XtraMSN.co.nz | 12% | | |  | | Best Email Software |  | | Microsoft Outlook | 69% | | Qualcomm Eudora Pro | 10% | | Netscape Mail | 8% | | David Harris Pegasus Mail | 8% | | |  | | Best Web Browser |  | | Microsoft Internet EXPlorer 5.5 | 82% | | Netscape Navigator 4.7 | 10% | | Opera Software Opera | 54% | | Netscape 6 | 4% |
| | Best Web Server |  | | Microsoft Windows 2000 Server/IIS | 45% | | Apache Software Apache Server | 39% | | Macromedia Cold Fusion Server | 16% | | |  | | Best Web Authoring Tool |  | | Macromedia Dreamweaver 4 | 53% | | Microsoft FrontPage 2002 | 34% | | Adobe GoLive 5 | 15% | | |  | | Best Web GraphiCS Software |  | | Macromedia FLASH 5 | 63% | | Macromedia Fireworks 4 | 25% | | Adobe LiveMotion 1 | 11% | | |  | | Best Internet Security Software |  | | ZoneLabs ZoneAlarm 2.6 | 49% | | Symantec Norton Internet Security 2001 | 18% | | Network ICE BlackICE Defender 2.5 | 13% | | Symantec Norton Personal Firewall 2001 | 11% | | McAfee Personal Firewall 2.5 | 9% | | |  | | Best Web Media Player |  | | Microsoft Windows MediaPlayer 7 | 51% | | RealNetworks RealPlayer 7 | 22% | | Nullsoft Winamp 2 | 20% | | Apple QuickTime 5 | 8% |
| Peripherals |  | | Best Digital Camera |  | | Sony DSC Cybershot series | 33% | | Kodak Cybershot series | 16% | | Canon PowerShot series | 14% | | Fuji FinePix series | 13% | | |  | | Best Web Cam |  | | Logitech QuickCam USB | 70% | | Dynalink DSC-350 | 15% | | Intel Pro PC | 15% | | |  | | Best Dial-up Modem Brand |  | | Dynalink | 59% | | 3Com/US RobotiCS | 34% | | |  | | Best DSL Modem |  | | Nokia M11 series | 38% | | Dynalink ADSL series | 36% | | D-Link DSL 200 USB | 8% | | |  | | Best CRT Monitor Brand |  | | Philips | 42% | | ViewSonic | 25% | | Sony | 23% |
| | Best LCD Monitor Brand |  | | Philips | 35% | | Sony | 30% | | ViewSonic | 15% | | |  | | Best GraphiCS Card |  | | Matrox Millennium G450 series | 35% | | Creative 3D Blaster GeForce series | 31% | | Ausus AGP-V7000 GeForce series | 26% | | |  | | Best Sound Card |  | | Creative Sound Blaster Live! | 95% | | |  | | Best Removable Media |  | | HP CD-Writer Plus CDRW series | 70% | | Iomega Zip 250 USB | 15% | | Plextor PlexWriter series | 7% |
| Business Software |  | | Best Operating System |  | | Microsoft Windows 2000 | 43% | | Microsoft Windows 98 | 36% | | Microsoft Windows Me | 12% | | Red Hat Linux 7 | 9% | | |  | | Best Office Suite |  | | Microsoft Office 2000 | 71% | | Microsoft Office XP | 14% | | Sun StarOffice 5 | 12% | | |  | | Best Project Manager |  | | Microsoft Project | 84% | | |  | | Best Personal Information Manager | | Microsoft Outlook 2002 | 83% | | Lotus Organizer 6 | 17% | | |  | | Best Contact Manager |  | | Interact Commerce ACT! 2000 | 70% | | Maximizer Enterprise 2000 | 30% |
| | Best Speech Recognition Software |  | | Dragon NaturallySpeaking 5 | 79% | | IBM ViaVoice Millennium | 13% | | Microsoft Office XP | 7% | | |  | | Best Personal Finance Software |  | | Microsoft Money 2001 | 57% | | Intuit Quicken Deluxe 7.5 | 43% | | |  | | Best Small Business Accounting Software Company |  | | MYOB | 44% | | Quicken | 20% | | NZA Gold | 17% | | |  | | Best New Zealand Software |  | | David Harris Pegasus Mail | 43% | | Marshal Software MailMarshal | 18% | | Qbik WinGate | 16% | | RoboForge | 14% | | Exo-net 3000 | 4% | | CommSoft NetMaster | 3% | | Picdata Time Disciple | 1% |
| Hard Copy |  | | Best Personal Monochrome Printer | | HP LaserJet series | 66% | | Brother HL series | 14% | | Oki Okipage 8 series | 7% | | |  | | Best Personal Colour Printer |  | | HP DeskJet series | 47% | | Epson Stylus Color series | 30% | | Canon BJC series | 21% | | |  | | Best Scanner |  | | HP ScanJet series | 43% | | Microtek ScanMaker series | 16% | | Canon CanoScan series | 15% | | Mustek Paragon series | 14% | | Epson Perfection series | 5% |
| | Best Office Monochrome Printer |  | | HP LaserJet series | 71% | | Brother HL series | 9% | | Kyocera FS series | 9% | | |  | | Best LCD Projector |  | | Sony VPL series | 65% | | Epson EMP series | 17% | | Compaq MP series | 16% | | |  | | Best Office Colour Printer |  | | HP Color LaserJet series | 36% | | HP DeskJet series | 23% | | Epson Stylus Color series | 16% | | Canon BJC series | 14% |
| Networking |  | | Best LAN Operating System |  | | Microsoft Windows 2000 Server | 61% | | Novell NetWare 5.1 | 24% | | Red Hat Linux 6.2 HA Server | 15% | | |  | | Best Workgroup Software |  | | Microsoft Exchange | 59% | | Lotus Notes | 24% | | Novell GroupWise | 17% |
| | Best Network Server |  | | Compaq ProLiant series | 52% | | HP NetServer series | 26% | | IBM Netfinity series | 22% | | |  | | Best Remote Access Software |  | | Symantec PCAnywhere 10 | 81% | | Microsoft Remote Access Server | 19% |
| GraphiCS |  | | Best DTP (Low-end) |  | | Microsoft Publisher 2000 | 53% | | Adobe PageMaker 6.5 | 40% | | Corel Ventura 8 | 6% | | |  | | Best DTP (Professional) |  | | Adobe PageMaker 6.5 | 80% | | QuarkXPress 5 | 10% | | Adobe InDesign 1.5 | 10% |
| | Tools and Utilities |  | | Best Antivirus Software |  | | Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2002 | 74% | | NAI-McAfee Virus Scan | 17% | | Computer Associates Vet | 4% | | |  | | Best Utility Suite |  | | Symantec Norton System Works 2002 | 57% | | Symantec Norton Utilites 2002 | 34% | | McAfee Office 3 | 9% |
| | Best Development Tool |  | | Borland Delphi 6 | 38% | | Microsoft Visual Basic 6 | 23% | | Microsoft Visual Studio | 19% | | |  | | Best Fax Software |  | | Symantec WinFax Pro 2002 | 57% | | Cheyenne BitWare | 23% | | Microsoft Outlook 2002 | 20% |
| After Hours |  | | Best Game |  | | Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2 | 33% | | Counter-Strike | 20% | | Black and White | 15% |
|  | Service |  | | Best Systems Integrator | | Compaq | 26% | | Computerland | 20% | | HP | 19% | | IBM | 16% | | |  | | Best Service & Support (Hardware) | | Dell | 8% | | HP | 7% | | Compaq | 7% | | The PC Company | 7% |
| | Best Service & Support (Software) | | Microsoft | 15% | | Symantec | 7% | | Computerland | 6% | | |  | | Best Service & Support (Internet) |  | | Xtra | 29% | | Paradise.net | 23% | | Ihug | 13% | | Clear Net | 12% | | Voyager | 2% |
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