Ability Office Business version 5.0 falls between unpolished free gems such as OpenOffice and Google Docs, and the ultra-expensive, feature intensive Microsoft Office 2007. But unlike free rivals, Ability is feature-rich and familiar to MS Office users. It will make a welcome, inexpensive and useful addition to almost every office workstation.

Intuit QuickBooks Pro & Payroll 2008's documentation is concise and very clear, and this really is one program that even the occasional user will be able to get to grips with when running their business. Expert users may prefer to stick with Sage, but for anyone else QuickBooks really is the most intuitive application in this field. The only negative is that, compared to MYOB, this is a touch pricey.

Project Server 2007 is not only a worthwhile upgrade to Project Server 2003 from a stand-alone perspective, it also has the capability to change how teams work and get managed when used in combination with SharePoint Server 2007. There's a definite learning curve here for server administrators as well as a meaty planning process, but the benefits of that work can be huge.

For Outlook users, using Translution Light is a no-brainer. It's free, it's incredibly simple to use, it works and you should get it right now.

There's plenty of work still to do on Office 12.0, and many features won't be finished until Beta 2.0. Outlook takes a big leap forward, and there are as many major advances to benefit home users as features aimed at big companies. The new interface will probably alienate some users, although we predict it's going to be popular in the longer term; once you're used to it you quickly start getting more done. And that's the real reason for productivity software in the first place.

It's free, available anywhere and it's quick in use, but Ajax13's ajaxWrite leaves a lot to be desired.

KOffice looks like it has a great future on all three popular desktop operating systems. The developers need to focus on optimisation and stability for it to be a real hit.

It lacks some of Excel's more high-end functionality and features, but EditGrid is a useful online spreadsheet application. And it's free. What have you got to lose?

The simplicity, interactivity, and unlimited free storage of Google Docs' presentation component will appeal to many people, but for power users it falls short. By comparison, Glide Present 2.0 has covered all the bases with a compelling Web-based offering that could emerge as a true replacement for Microsoft PowerPoint.

Most project-management programs are designed with the ideal situation in mind, but in reality, projects usually don't go as originally scheduled. LiquidPlanner allows more flexibility in organising and reorganising tasks in response to real-world delays and circumstances. With its easy-to-use interface, LiquidPlanner is a good team player, no matter what type of team you're on.

If your meeting invitees are all internal to your organisation and on the same Microsoft-based mail and calendar systems, Outlook 2007 may provide all the scheduling tools you need. But TimeBridge offers much more flexibility and time savings for people who collaborate in many environments and in various browser platforms.

Perhaps we've been spoiled. There are so many great Web services solutions out there -- most of them free like Microsoft Office Live Workspaces -- that our expectations keep getting nudged higher and higher. And with Live Documents just around the corner, it's hard to get excited about a technically inferior solution that's late to the party.