Office Suites
What Are They?
An office suite always consists of a Word Processor and a Spreadsheet. It usually also has one or more of: a presentation program; an Information Manager; a Database; or a Publishing program.
There
are several alternatives: Microsoft Office Standard or Professional, whether
you approve of Microsoft's virtual monopoly or not, is the best. That's why
most businesses and government organisations around the world use it.
It's also, by a considerable margin, the most expensive.
Office 2003 is probably the most ubiquitous version as we speak. Office 2007 was released in 2006 and is the current version. Many people, especially long time users like my geriatric self, prefer the earlier version.
Microsoft introduced a new interface in the 2007 version; it does away with conventional menus. They're replaced with the "ribbon" and many users hate it. Me included.
Other Options
Similar, less expensive, but not quite as powerful, is Corel WordPerfect Office X4.
An even cheaper alternative, adequate for most home users and very small businesses, is Microsoft Works Suite. This includes a less powerful spreadsheet, a basic database, and Microsoft Word, the Microsoft Office word processor. If you need Word this suite is worth every penny of the price. (You're welcome, Bill). It also includes a basic version of the excellent Microsoft Encarta encyclopædia.
Don't buy Microsoft Works Standard version, you need the Suite. Plain old Works doesn't have Word. Doesn't cut the mustard.
If
you purchase Microsoft Office or Microsoft Works Suite "bundled" with a new PC, you may
get it for a fraction of the full price. There are also upgrade options
if you have an older program.
Open Source (free)
Lastly, the open source (free software) movement provide an excellent suite equivalent to Microsoft Office Standard and arguably 90% as good. It's called OpenOffice.org 3.0 and is available to download from here http://www.openoffice.org/ Every few months it's published on the free disks which accompany various PC magazines. It's free, and it's as good as a lot of commercial programs. A little more about that here.
Just because it's free doesn't mean OpenOffice is no good. Many big companies and government departments around the world use it exclusively. It's an excellent program and I'd use it myself if I hadn't scored a free copy of MS Office 2007 by attending an overpriced Microsoft forum.
OpenOffice is available in both Windows and Linux versions. OpenOffice is supported only by volunteer work and donations. With any Open Source software, if you find it useful and it saves you paying for expensive proprietary software, please consider making a contribution.
Academic Prices
If you're a student or teacher, or if you're learning and are not intending to use the software for commercial pursuits, you can purchase Academic Versions of Microsoft Office Standard and Professional (and many other programs). These are the same software, but much cheaper than the full versions.
