Platform: Windows XP

The native Windows XP support for CDRW's is very limiting, but in a small department where you want to support a single external USB CDRW drive, for example, it eliminates the software licensing complexities and troubleshooting problems of installing Nero or Roxio EZ CD Creator on multiple machines. Most users can deal with it nicely, but it doesn't support .iso files natively.

Thanks to Alex Feinman, though, there's a great freebie Power Toy called ISO Recorder Power Toy. If you have a need to burn .iso files (or copy CDs), this is just the ticked for doing it in the shell. Download this little gem from the ISO Recorder web site. I give it three thumbs up, and I've only got two!