Hmm. The problem isn't quite as bad as I expected, IF everyone really has answered correctly. Still, 50% hit rates are pretty damned high....

Bret

we have another 6" or so... it was fun this morning as they hadn't ploughed much

Anyways, no serious issues as expected and another 4" or so should turn up over night. I'll be surprised if my train is late in the morning...
Might go out for a quick drive later to complete the white-out of the back of the car

Bret

put it on a sledge? I would have thought it's pretty simple. Shame we rarely have the right snow for snowmen....

Bret

snow is fine... the back of my car likes it, anyway

100km/h all the way down to the airport at -10 and again back up. Not an issue...

Bret

I'm biased. There are better and worse AVs out there....

Bret

no such thing here, but then I'd be surprised if it did.... maybe it'll melt again before Christmas but I'm not betting on it. We're due for four months of below freezing at this rate......

Bret

Since it's part of my day job to explain this kind of thing, I'll try and explain.

The DxO software installs with it some copy-protection software. If I've understood it correctly, the copy-protection software (DRM) essentially tries to hide itself from all users of the system and may not work correctly with Anti-Virus software (especially technically advanced ones with behavioural analysis).
The reason for this is the heart of the protection software - it needs to run or the software isn't protected. At least the trial version appears to need DEP turned off, which is specifically to protect against crappily written software writing where it shouldn't and therefore against exploits and bugs.

Issues in this case stem from the user's inability to uninstall the DRM software cleanly and not being able to install certain other software - if something else tries to take the settings "protected" by the DRM it may not work. This could mean that any other program which would be able to edit DNGs or PEFs may not work on the system.
The reason for this is to stop the electronic interchange of data within the system (this is also the reason there are no HDMI - VGA converters, as the HDMI stream is copy-protected).

This is very bad practice from the software company. Yes, it may be good software but if it's worth compromising your system's security for - well, that's your decision. A similar case from a couple of years ago: Sony and the von Hertzen brothers' CD.

Bret

So let's call it "Rootkit-like DRM software": and promptly the average user no longer understands what we're talking about....

A decent-ish description of rootkit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootkit

Bret

next thing will be complaints about being woken up in the night by loud snowploughs....

Bret

I would love to have used a K5 professionally for the last shoots and I would be able to tell you, but since there are essentially none in the country and rental was not possible, I have a 7D behind my desk.

The IS on the EF-S 17-55 works well to damp movement, which is what I was looking for. It's not perfect, but then neither is SR

Bret