best database connectivity
volatile connections. fibplus (from devrace) moves up to first place to take the category easily with nearly a quarter of the votes (last year it finished second). runner-up goes to newcomer direct access components for mysql (from microolap technologies) with 12% of the votes.
best database engine
muscling in. this category has featured close competition between dbisam database system (elevate software) and advantage database server (extended systems) for four years running. this year, dbisam takes first place again, while advantage ties for runner-up with new player, nexusdb (from nexus database systems).
best database tool
pulling away. after last year's close finish, ib expert (hk-software) wins again, this time in convincing fashion with 25% of the votes. woll2woll's infopower takes runner-up (again) with 13%, edging out developer express' expressquantumtreelist (again) with 11%.
best debugging tool
role reversal. transposing last year's order, automatedqa's aqtime steps up to finish first with 25%, while raize software's codesite drops to runner-up status with 22% of your votes. interestingly, newcomer eurekalog (from fabio dell'aria) finishes a respectable third with 17%.
best globalization tool
another switcharoo. this is getting kinda weird. first and second place swap out in this category as well, with tsilang components suite (sicomponents) taking best with 31%, and multilizer vcl edition (multilizer) following closely with 29%. for the second year running, localizer (korzh.com) takes a close third with 24%.
best help-authoring package
help yourself to more. for the third year in a row, help & manual (ec software) dominates this category - and with a higher percentage than ever (59% this year, 51% in 2003, 29% in 2002). helpscribble (jgsoft) and last year's runner-up robohelp office (macromedia) tie for second this year with 12% apiece.
best imaging tool
a new look. things got tossed about a bit in this category, with last year's third-place product, imageen (hicomponents) taking best with 29%. meanwhile, last year's winners (it was a tie for first), imagelib corporate suite (from skyline tools) and leadtools imaging toolkit (lead technologies), now tie for runner-up with 20% apiece.
best installation package
dominance. installshield places first again with an even wider margin than last year over runner-up wise for windows installer. installshield won last year by 19%; this year the margin is 35%.
