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.

Meets the needs of most PC users, at a bargain price.

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

Home PC users looking for a low-cost alternative to Microsoft Office will find Works Suite 2006 a capable option, and its extras would make it a bargain at twice the price.

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.

This feature packed offering from ScanSoft has something for both beginners and advanced users alike.

OpenOffice.org isn’t as refined as MS Office, but it’s certainly better value for money

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.

Google Docs' presentation tool is, ultimately, a rough draft that thoroughly deserves the beta label. Google reportedly plans to beef up the editing tools, eventually turning Google Docs into a richer environment. Judging from the slow-but-steady progress of Google Docs' word processor and spreadsheet, the presentation features probably won't acquire PowerPoint-crushing sophistication any time soon. That said, Google Docs should become only more useful over the coming months and, in the meantime, a lot of people are going to find it very useful indeed.

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.

The trade-off for Jarte's small footprint and shallow learning curve is a dearth of features. A paid-for version, Jarte Plus, offers more, such as automatic spelling correction, automatic outlines, the ability to save clipboard cuttings for future use and support for independent user profiles, which Jarte calls "personalities".

With its slightly unfriendly user interface, GoToMyPC is best for those that wish to work remotely but don't need to share files with others. The service is useful for remote troubleshooting.