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Service Pack 2 for SiSoftware Sandra XII Released

London, UK, April 7 2008 - We are pleased to launch Service Pack 2 for SiSoftware Sandra XII, the latest version of our award-winning utility, which includes remote analysis, benchmarking and diagnostic features for PCs, servers, and networks.

With this service pack, not only have we increased support for new hardware and software, but we have also been looking at new ways to return value to our users. We added a killer functionality that we’re so excited about it just could not wait until the next major release: we wanted to get it out there now! We have taken Sandra to the next level, making the software aware of the ‘bang-per-buck’ school of thought.

For all of the 21 benchmarks you can now get a whole new view of the hardware you have - or the hardware you could have - with comparisons of the following:

* Performance vs. Power (aka Power Efficiency)
* Performance vs. Price (aka Cost Efficiency)
* Capacity vs. Price (aka Size Efficiency)

While, for a fortunate few, money is no object, and they can have any computer hardware money can buy, cost is an important factor for most users. With over 10 years of experience in benchmarking “how fast things go,” we have now added a new string to our bow with cost benchmarking.

There is more to a product’s “cost” than price alone. Consider the environmental cost of wasted power, causing greater energy bills and CO2 emissions. This is often overlooked, especially when the buying decisions are not made by those who pay the bills. The new Performance vs. Power tab allows this comparison.

The next in the cost benchmark armory is one that will touch the hearts of many (by way of their pockets), and that is Performance vs. Price; at what point do I get the computational horsepower (MIPS, MFLOPS, MB/s, etc.) per dollar or pound?

Finally, Capacity vs. Price removes the need to use a calculator or spreadsheet to determine the price per unit of capacity (per-GB, per-MB, etc.), making it easier than ever to find the best value in this regard.

Of course, what would be the point of all these new cost-benchmarking features without the ability to actually follow-through and purchase the item in question? By utilizing the Just Relevant price comparison engine, we can offer users the ability to compare costs and then buy at that price from any of the merchants listed.

The pricing functionality is brand new to Sandra and currently supports UK and USA customers purchasing in GBP & USD. Other regions will be enabled in due course.

New Modules since base release

1. Wireless Performance: A new, dedicated benchmark, which tests the performance of wireless adapters and access points or routers.
2. Tape and DAT Performance: A new, dedicated benchmark which tests the performance of tape backup devices, against their DAT rating and power.

Top 5 New User Functionalities

1. Determine the value for money products ("bang per buck") and most efficient products (least power) by comparing performance against speed and power.
2. Compare and contrast benchmark results with the community (friends, colleagues, reviewers) by exporting your own results and importing results from others.
3. Measure the performance of your wireless and backup solution with the brand new benchmarks added in SP1.
4. Get support for the latest hardware and software released, as well as new reference benchmarking results.
5. Enjoy the increased performance and reliability improvements implemented in SP2.

Top 5 New Reviewer Functionalities

1. Import or Export benchmark results between tested computers (XML, CSV, TAB) or import into other programs.
2. Customise benchmark result parameters (name, speed, power) to add or modify.
3. Save charts to images (GIF, PNG, JPEG) to make publishing easier.
4. Brand charts (eg. title, background image, etc.) for Internet publication.
5. Use common network database (through SiSoftware Data Service) to store all benchmark results from all tested clients, to easily compare, contrast or create reports.

http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/?dir=new...ii_sp2_release

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