Acronis True Image Home 11

Great at backups, but its interface can be confusing.

Now in version 11, Acronis True Image is the most powerful consumer imaging program on the market. It runs from within Windows or from a Linux-based boot disc, creates full and incremental images (backing up the entire drive and subsequently adding new and changed files), and offers the usual compression and encryption options.

If you choose the more expensive Workstation version and purchase a Universal Restore module, you can restore images to a PC whose hardware profile differs from the one on which the image was created.

Version 11's interface is friendlier than earlier ones, though still unintuitive at times. Its new Try & Decide mode works like a virtual machine, writing disk changes to a hidden recovery partition, and committing them later only at your discretion. Turn it on before you install unfamiliar software or browse to dubious Web sites. In the gold beta we tested, the feature exacted a noticeable performance hit, but it's still a nice safeguard.

You can also now restore individual files and folders from a full image within the main program, perform a quick system-state backup, and take advantage of improved filtering for file and folder backups. The interface may be befuddling in spots, but True Image is the best all-around backup utility available. Find a demo of it here for download.