There are many photo editing packages available today for the home user. Picture It! 2000 is the new version of Microsoft's attempt at providing an easy to use package. Though the package lacks the features of professional photo editing software, it makes up for this with ease of use.

Picture It! 2000 is aimed at beginners who may not have used photo editing software before. The program uses step by step wizards to guide users through most features. This makes some effects very easy to create, however it can be time consuming for more advanced users, as the wizards cannot be avoided.

Helpful movies are included in the package, which show off all the different features included. There are eleven movies in total and are an easy way to learn about the software.

New special effects are available to enhance your photos. Included are over 100 illusions, such as black and white photos, that can transform your images. You can also add sound, animation, photo strokes and 3D text to your photo projects. Standard photo editing features such as red eye reduction and tinting are also included.

The catalogue system used by Picture It! 2000 has been improved from previous versions. This makes it easier and quicker to organise and find photos from any application by name, date or caption.

A new tool of Picture It! 2000 is the Mini Lab, which makes it easy to edit multiple photos. You can correct brightness, rotate, crop, contrast and tint all your photos at the same time. This tool becomes extremely useful when a whole series of photos have a similar problem, such as over exposure.

Picture It! 2000 includes 400 project templates and 950 photo objects and backgrounds. The number of objects and backgrounds is much less than many competing packages, with contain up to 10 times as many. However, the projects are well varied and simple to follow.

The Web publishing tools allow the creation of Web pages with slide shows and makes sending e-postcards a matter of clicks.

Overall, the experienced user will find limited functionality in Picture It! 2000. But for the complete beginner, it is a good package that is very easy to use.

More information about Picture It! 2000 can be found at http://www.microsoft.com.