Yowser! I must admit that a free version of Nero’s burning suite caught me by surprise. I suppose it shouldn’t have, as there are enough free disc burning alternatives out there–and enough articles pointing to them–that this was probably inevitable. Inevitable and welcome. There’s absolutely no questioning Nero’s expertise with all things optical.
Basically a stripped down version of the Nero StartSmart control center, it only creates CD/DVD data discs: no audio ripping or burning, no VCD/SVCD support, and no DVD movie burning from existing files, though it will copy all those types of discs. I wasn’t shocked that the free version of Nero lacked almost all the functionality of the pay version, but I was a tad surprised at just how limited it was compared to other free programs such as DeepBurner Free, ImgBurn, and InfraRecorder Portable. The program was also a bit of a tease. It recognized the Lite-on WH08LS20 Blu-ray burner on my system as well as BD discs. I was hoping that like ImgBurn it would burn Blu-ray data discs–however, it did not.
Despite its highly-limited functionality, hefty 130MB install footprint, and dead-end buttons encouraging you to buy a full version, the extremely reliable free Nero is a welcome addition to my toolbox. It’s nice having something around that I know will work (I’ve had some problems with other freebies and late-model drives recently), even if it’s not my first option. Now if they’d only make a portable version…
Note: The Nero Free install routine wants to install the Ask toolbar. If you don’t want said toolbar, be sure to de-select this option.
–Jon L. Jacobi