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.

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.

Who should use OpenOffice? Anyone who needs an office suite but doesn't require the more sophisticated features of Microsoft Office. It's ideally suited for home users, students, and small businesses who don't want to pay the hefty fee for Microsoft Office. If you plan on purchasing an ultra low-cost portable such as the Asus Eee PC, the suite is ideal - it's free, doesn't require an excess amount of RAM, runs on a variety of operating systems (including Windows, Mac OS, and Linux), and won't take all of your precious hard disk space. Even on a normal PC, it's a great alternative to Microsoft Office. Enterprises, though, may have already standardised on Office. And even if they haven't, there simply aren't the support tools and support ecosystem for OpenOffice as there is for Microsoft Office. All in all, OpenOffice 3.0 shows that you don't have to pay a bundle for a great office suite - in fact, you don't even have to pay a penny.

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?