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.

Once it gets going, the application gives you a handy way to share files. The ability to allow comments and mark up in Adobe Reader 7 also makes it easier than ever to get everybody's input.

If you need to digitise and archive documents using a scanner, create secure, extensible electronic documents, produce professional marketing documents and other publications and automate form and questionnaire creation, Acrobat 8.0 Pro will definitely suit you.

Zoho CRM is the most affordable hosted CRM solution on the market. The solution lacks a number of enterprise requirements including integration hooks, time-based escalation triggers, queued workflow and document management, but has much to offer SMBs. Highlights include an intuitive GUI, customisable dashboards, field-level security, rules-based task assignment, and easy-to-share reports. Initial configuration is a grind.

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

Anyplace Control will be suitable for occasional users who find themselves in a squeeze and don't want to spend too much on a service.

Users comfortable with Microsoft Office may find it takes time to get used to Apple iWork '08. Advanced Word and Excel users, especially those who rely on specialised features and functions, will probably find Apple Pages '08 and Apple Numbers '08 to be limited. If you do rely on specific functions in Microsoft Excel or features in any of the Microsoft Office applications that are even slightly outside the more general types of usage, you will probably want to download the Apple iWork '08 30-day trial to ensure that the tools you need are there before buying. And, to be sure, the process of having to export files when interacting with Microsoft Office users could get old quickly if you have to do that regularly. But overall, Apple iWork '08 is beautifully designed -- a compelling product and great value for consumers and small business alike. It brings tons of innovation over previous versions of Apple iWork as well as many office suites on the market. And it turns typical office tasks and documents into creative outlets. That it offers all that it does for $99 is, frankly, hard to believe.

For light users with even a passing knowledge of Microsoft Office, Ashampoo Office 2008 will be a decent buy that's familiar and easy to use (just as well, given the lack of documentation). In our tests we encountered no compatibility issues. But although $103 is a lot less than MS Office 2007's retail price of $690, similar products such as Star Office 8.0 ($69.95) are much less still. And if you're in the market for an inexpensive, stripped down productivity suite, OpenOffice.org and Google Docs, Spreadsheets and Presentations are so cheap they're, well, free.

Modest upgrade to a solid suite offers better (but not flawless) Microsoft Office compatibility.

Price-conscious buyers are more likely to look at completely free competitors such as OpenOffice.org and IBM Symphony. Nevertheless, WordPerfect keeps its best features and adds enough new ones to keep current users satisfied - and its increased compatibility with Microsoft Office is worth the upgrade fee.

Minor irritations aside, we think people who use their PC for business -- and who are looking for a real productivity-suite upgrade -- might very well find what they need in Corel WordPerfect Office X3.

EIOffice's familiar Microsoft-like interface makes the transition to an alternative office suite easier. However, the Binder system could scare off inexperienced computer users.