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Ari Pikivirta is a software developer and creator of several utilties for Windows-based computers. Where Pikivirta falls a bit short on depth as a developer, his verstality is immediately impressive upon surveying his catalog of software titles, which range in diversity from a thumbnail creator and an intranet “phonebook” to several server utilities, while providing mostly an introductory level of functionality, aimed more at the novice user. Among the latter named utilities, one of Pikivirta's more useful products is his Home FTP Server, which provides a very bare boned approach to personal file sharing. Most of what the casual user would want is in Home FTP Server, and the product's inclusion of necessities such as virtual directory support and file monitoring demonstrates Pikivirta's ability to fashion a viable if rudimentary product. Pikivirta meets similar level of baseline functionality with his Simple Backup Tool, which aims to provide a no-frills application for users who merely want to create back ups, with as few advanced options as possible. However, though the program has been praised for its small footprint and speed, Pikivirta seems to have confused “simple” with “minimal”. Editors at software review site Cnet.com call the program “counterintuitive” and “directionless” for Pikivirta's failure to include user-friendly features such as a help menu or click/drag support, certainly features that would help justify the program's intended simplicity. Likewise, even Home FTP Server has been knocked for its plain interface, as this seems to be an area that hinders the overall appeal and accessibility of Pikivirta's products. On the other hand, the developer freely admits that his creations merely constitute a “hobby” consisting of programs “I will probably never get finished”, and to that end, he at least provides many of his works with a fair amount of online documentation, such as downloadable user manuals and a hosted forum. Though none of his products seem to really stand out for their ability to provide much beyond a basic level of functionality, Pikivirta does a fair job as a developer in creating some functional utilities with some room for improvement as to their overall presentation, accessibility and design.