As a comfort blanket for checking documents before you send them on, WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive offers more than MS Word. It's full-featured and easy to use and picks up basic mistakes. But WhiteSmoke suffers from problems intrinsic to all automatic editors; without a human to make judgements, it will never be infallible. At $136.99 WhiteSmoke 2008+ Executive seems a little expensive to us, but the $79 General Writing version may suite your needs just as well.

Version 2.0 of the Java-based community application includes several dozen significant new features. Topping the list are workable project management, document sharing with users outside the organisation, and personalised layouts. Expanded user profiles help others find expertise within an enterprise. Clearspace 2.0 integrates with Microsoft SharePoint, allowing users to search and link to documents in the portal from their Clearspace areas.

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.

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.

Suitable for occasional use. LogMeIn also allows you to view a personal email archived in your Outlook folder.

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.

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.

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.

It's not a perfect suite. Some advanced features, such as using wild cards in a find-and-replace operation, aren't supported. Neither is conditional formatting in Sheet. Even so, if your editing needs end with the 5 per cent of Office features most of us use most often, Zoho may be all you need.

ThinkFree works without a hitch. It's responsive, works perfectly saving new documents and importing those created in Office 2003. Its surprisingly well-rounded feature compatibility makes it the suite of choice for online work

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