Totally Free Burner is a burner that is very easy to use and targets an audience that lacks the knowledge to operate more advanced applications. The program is free but is also supported by advertising third-party applications.
Installation & Requirements
While the setup for the program is simple, users need to be careful about the third-party app offerings that will pop up after the installation is over. An active internet connection is needed to complete the setup as some components need to be downloaded. Depending on your Windows version you might also need a third-party extraction tool in order to extract the downloaded files. Totally Free Burner should work on pretty much every version of Windows.
Interface
The self-described clean user interface of the application is without a doubt the simplest one I have seen in a burning program. There are four options corresponding to different burning tasks and clicking at any of them will take you to the actual configuration window where you will be able to add files and burn them on a CD or DVD.
Although some people might appreciate this look, I think it looks a bit unprofessional, especially considering the fact that it is not exactly responsive. For example, the first time I tried to click on the Options menu, the program launched my web browser and redirected me to the product’s website because the background of the interface is one giant URL. After managing to click on the Options menu, the only setting in there was the name of the disc. The rest of the window simply told the user that each burning window has its own settings.
Unfortunately, that is not really true. None of the burning utilities provides an options menu. It seems like so much care has been given into making the application as easy to use as possible that the burner actually suffers for it in multiple departments. I do understand that some users will appreciate the simplicity of the application but I doubt most of you will be looking for a program with no configuration options at all. On the other hand, burning data to a disc or making an ISO image is a fairly intuitive process that the program succeeds in.
It is a shame to see the other flaws of the application because there is much potential here. The burning process is fairly fast and the interface of the actual burning utilities is quite nice. It has been catered into a very specific audience and I guess that crowd will find things to love about the program. However, even video burning is limited to MPEG files, a strange design choice that goes along with how the rest of the program responds.
Pros
-Extremely easy to use
-Decent burning speed
-Has potential
Cons
-Very limited
-Unintuitive interface
-No configuration options at all
-Almost amateurish design
Conclusion
If your CD and DVD burning needs are at a bare minimum, you will probably enjoy Totally Free Burner’s simple yet effective offering. The limited features, however, will surely deter the more advanced users who are looking to have control over their burning.
