Sony's Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition offers an uncomfortable glimpse into the latest tactics from software publishers to get you to register your software.

The main Movie Studio Platinum 8 application, one of the very best video editing tools on the market, should you choose to decline its offer to Register Online straight away (you have the increasingly obligatory 30 days to activate the software) instead asks you to type in an extra 54-character authentication code. That's in spite of the fact that you've already needed to tell the software a 16-digit serial number.

Naturally, as part of the registration process, it's compulsory to fill in a form giving Sony your name and address, which is horrendous overkill for a £70 piece of software. Then there's the fact that this package includes three separate applications - DVD Architect Studio and NewBlue MSP Effects & Transitions are also provided - and they also have separate serial numbers (and in the case of DVD Architect, another 54-character code to fill in if you don't want to register).

It's a flat-out disgrace, bluntly, and enough to make us suggest you turn your attention to an alternative application that doesn't impose some draconian and unwelcome security measures on legitimate paying customers. Which is a pity, as Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition is a very good piece of software. Also available without DVD Architect for £10 less, it's a powerful suite of video editing and output tools at a very reasonable price.

The main editing package is angled towards the intermediate user rather than the beginner, although the inclusion of some excellent tutorials, with a Show Me button available at key moments, does help soften the learning curve. The cluttered opening screen, though, instantly targets the program at someone who knows the basics, with an assortment of working timelines in the top two-thirds of the screen, and a file window with preview window occupying the rest of the real estate.

The power under all of this is undeniable. Those who work in high definition in particular will appreciate the improvements made in Vegas, with far more assured and speedy handling of HD materials and added support for AVCHD 5.1 soundtracks also present.

In action, once you've got used to the workings of the application, Vegas Movie Studio is as good as anything else in this price range. It's feature-rich, but crucially it makes it remarkably straightforward to produce some excellent end results. The stability of the software shames the likes of the otherwise-excellent Pinnacle Studio too.

DVD Architect hasn't changed much since we met it last, but that's not a huge problem, given that in our last meeting we felt it was as powerful a DVD authoring tool as we'd ever used. Our opinion is pretty much unaltered.

With the bonus addition of the aforementioned NewBlue Effects, Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition is quite a package. It's sublime and strong at its main job, and a terrific tool for reasonably competent amateur video editors. It's just a mystery as to why Sony has chosen to cripple it with a staggeringly demanding installation and registration routine.

A genuinely strong piece of software that may not have jumped massively since last time, but is still as good as anything in its genre. But the demanding registration process leaves a very sour aftertaste.