A limited-functionality version of Nero Burning ROM is distributed as Nero Express, mainly aimed at the casual market. It has simplified, stream-lined menus presumably for a less computer-savvy audience.
The program's name is intended to be a play on words.[2] Recording optical media is often known as "burning", while pressed CDs were often referred to as CD-ROMs. The Roman EmperorNero has sometimes been suspected of setting the Great Fire of Rome. This pun is more obvious in the original German as the German name for Rome is Rom. The program logo is an image of the Roman Colosseum in flames.
Linux versions
A Linux port of the application, Nero Linux, was announced as a free "upgrade" from the Microsoft Windows version in March 2005.[3] The application replicates most features of the Windows version, and uses the GTK+ graphical toolkit. As of 2008-02-26 a trial version is freely downloadable.
Features
Image burning
Nero works with a number of optical disc image formats, including the common ISO image and Nero's proprietary NRGfile format. Depending on version more formats may be natively supported.
To use more formats, particularly lossless FLAC, Wavpack, and Shorten, it is necessary to install additional program modules. The modules, called plug-ins or codecs, are often freely available. Nero AG sells some video and proprietary audio[4] plug-ins.
Released as a major update under the name Nero 5.5. New features included Nero Wave Editor, Advanced Nero Cover Designer, Nero MPEG1 Video Encoder, VCD / SVCD Menu Creation, Audio Plug-In Interface, Embedded Nero API (Application Program Interface), Nero Toolkit
First release of version 6. Early versions of Nero version 6 would only burn data DVDs using the ISO 9660 file system. Though DVD drives seemed to have no difficulty reading single-layer discs, the compatibility of dual-layer discs was more patchy.
First release of version 7. For unknown reasons, Nero 7 Ultra Edition Enhanced (for North America) has no LabelFlash or DiscT@2 support, as opposed to Nero 7 Premium (for Europe).
Current version. Minor bugfixes while NeroShowTime gained a support for DXVA 2.0 and ATI™ UVD.
Note: Although Nero AG appears to no longer maintain a history of older versions on their website, release notes are archived by several third-party sites.[5][6][11][12]