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Hi, gudrun45. You must be very excited about your new 350. I can understand your confusion. Technically all you need is the Sony Reader Library software. I use it the majority of the time. You can manage all of your books with it. That includes books from the Sony store, books from the library, books with ADE DRM from other stores like Borders or Kobo, and books in the public domain (or your personal folders) without DRM.
Many people don't like the Sony software. They think it is too basic and slow. So they use calibre to manage their library. Calibre is very powerful with lots of user control. You can use it to convert books from one format or another. You can change the formatting of your books like the font and line spacing. You can revise metadata like the title or book cover image. However, calibre cannot handle DRM books on its own.
If you use DRM books, you still need either ADE or Sony. These software tools apply the encryption to the book. Once the encryption is applied and the EPUB or PDF book is stored to your hard-drive, then you can use calibre to add the book to your calibre library and transfer it to your ereader.
The exception is library books because it has a special time-expiration date. Library books have to be transferred via ADE or Sony software.
In summary, Sony software is stand-alone and also required for Sony bookstore downloads. Calibre is stand-alone for non-DRM content. You need calibre + (ADE or Sony) for DRM content.
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