Top Desktop Recording Tools

A question I'm often asked when people are putting together their training content, is "What screen recorder should I use?".

I've compiled a short list of screen recorders that I know a bit about. Please do add more detail,
plus your own experience and suggestions in the comments section as I know there are a lot more on the market, free or otherwise. These are not product reviews, my post is just intended to make people aware of these products. Each person has a different idea of 'easy to use', so it's worth shopping around and making use
of those free trials:

For PC Users:

• JingProject
  Free 5 minute screen recordings with audio and a little Jing branding, which can be exported to .swf. You can also take screen shots which produce as .png. Plus, there's a
  Pro version for USD$15/yr with no branding, and more options including upload
  direct to YouTube and produce as MPEG-4 (or .swf). Super easy to use but you're
  restricted on editing/effects.
  
• DemoCreator
  Free 30 days trial available. Recording your desktop with audio, which can be publish
  to .swf or .exe. You can do the editing after recording. There are enough objects for you to decorate your recording and presentation. It is an easy-to-use screen recorder application with nice editing feature.
  
• Camtasia Studio 6
  Free 30-day trial available. It's quick to get started recording your interaction with the screen be it a PowerPoint or demo. Record or overlay audio, add effects and Picture-in-Picture (PIP) to produce high quality, professional looking videos. Once you get used to the timelines lay-out, they are easy to edit, cut and add to. Output to multiple different formats.
  
• Adobe Captivate
  Offer a free 30-day trial as well. There's an on-going debate between Camtasia and Captivate users as to which is better. Some say editing is easier in Captivate, but I think it may just come down to personal choice. Captivate is a winner when it comes to creating interactive content and instead of timelines, interactions are stored as a series of screens.
  

For Mac Users:

• Jing
  (As above)
  
• Screenflow
  
  Built for Mac OS X Leopard, it comes highly recommended for smooth captures and a wide variety of editing tools. Output screen recordings as QuickTime movie. Screenflow is a 'no go' on Power Mac.
  
• iShowU HD
  A very powerful piece of software, but has an optional low CPU usage mode. Once created
  sceencasts can be uploaded directly to YouTube, Blip.TV and other online video services.
  
  
• Copernicus
  (Danicsoft)
  Free product that captures screen and video, but no audio.
  

Free, web-based screen
recorders i.e. nothing to download:

ScreenToaster - designed to capture your screen activity, audio and images, then publish and share in blogs and websites. Works in all browsers.

Screenjelly - allows you to quickly record your screen and voice then share it via a link in Twitter and other social networks