As is now sadly the norm with seemingly every media-related program that we install onto our test machines, Nero 8 is keen, upon installation, to be the default app for every form of media possible on our PC. It's got manners, so it does give you the option of changing what it associates itself with, but the default list of audio, video and image files that pops up is eye-watering.

It's also indicative of how Nero has grown - in many senses - over the years. As with its ongoing main rival Easy Media Creator, Nero has long since eschewed its roots as a simple burning application. Now it's more of an all-encompassing suite, with individual tools to help you capture and edit audio, manipulate your images, design disc covers, record DVDs, back-up your computer, stream media and play back movies and music.

You can access all of these functions individually through the start menu, or there's the now-traditional Nero StartSmart that makes a really good fist of gluing all of the parts together. StartSmart is one of the few areas of Nero to undergo any kind of notable change, and it's a treasure-trove for the less experienced user, allowing them to choose what they want by function rather than meaningless program name. Logically laid out, it allows you to perform a basic burn from its menu screen, but also gives easy access to the sizeable number of functions that Nero can support. It's a good improvement on the more cumbersome equivalent from Nero 7.

Once past the StartSmart screen and into the applications proper, though, it does become tricky to isolate what's actually changed in any meaningful way. Vista enhancements, for instance, are all well and good, but they don't seem to affect functionality.

Granted, the program feels a little quicker to work with thanks to decreased loading times (on one of our lesser test systems this was particularly welcome), but it broadly performs in much the same way that's made it so popular for many years. Happily working on two levels, with detailed options for the experts but simplicity and speed of use for the more experienced, Nero 8 is a polished and strong application. We've long been fans of the core burning application, and are so again here, but the additional tools we warmed to as well, particularly the backup utilities.

There's a continued accusation that can be levelled against applications such as Nero that as they get older, they do tend to get more bloated. It's hard to deny that the once-slimline burning tool of old hasn't significantly evolved, but in this latest suite, it does get away with it.

The tools are effective, breezy yet powerful when it matters, and while the price tag isn't cheap if it's just some burning you need to do, you do get a lot for your money. The challenge now will be to provide a more meaningful improvement next time round, without overbloating the package.

A smashing box of tools, made all the more user-friendly by an improved SmartStart screen. Not too much else has changed, though, although Nero is unlikely to shed any of its sizeable fanbase off the back of this release.