Microsoft Word is a powerful companion for all tasks related to creating, editing and checking text on your computer. It works with all popular document formats, including support to save files as PDF, or send documents by email through Outlook right after writing them.

Whether you create a text from scratch or use one of the many templates included, Microsoft Word will help you with a wide array of tools: tables, text formatting options, color schemes, support to insert images and clipart and more. Microsoft Word also includes a powerful spellchecker and tools to revise documents with marked text and personal notes. Support for video, however, is still missing.

In all, Microsoft Word proves to be an excellent tool for text processing, from a simple note to a complex report with images, graphs and tables.

Microsoft Word is such a popular word processor for a reason – it's both user friendly and full of advanced features.

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I tested both the Technical Preview and the Beta version released months ago, and happily I've found a bunch of new features and improvements in the final version. For starters, the Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Business pack includes five apps, namely Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote. If you need to test more Office apps, you can try Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus instead.

As regards appearance, all the Microsoft Office 2010 apps have been slightly modified. They still keep the "ribbon" interface – in a much clearer, almost minimalist style – but the Office button has been renamed to "File" and now shows a different pane. Not only does it include direct access to all document-related tasks, but also shows detailed information about the document you're currently working on.

Leaving changes aside, the truth is that Microsoft Office 2010 has pretty much the same features we already saw in the Technical Preview. The context menu in Word, for example, has been greatly improved and lets you see changes in real time as you browse through the different options. You can now add videos to your PowerPoint presentations, remove redundant messages from conversations in Outlook and insert small color charts inside cells in Excel spreadsheets. There are also tools to translate text, take and use screenshots, and apply special effects to the images you use in your documents. What's more, Microsoft Office 2010 now lets you save your documents on SkyDrive and share them online in just two clicks.

Regarding performance, Microsoft Office 2010 seems to be as fast and light on system resources as the Technical Preview. There's a significant improvement in the time the suite apps take to launch, and how they behave when working on your documents.

In all, Microsoft Office 2010 is an excellent productivity suite with great new features that make it easier and more comfortable to use, and also turn it into an even more professional solution for daily work tasks.

Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Business lets you fully test the new, long-awaited version of the world's most popular productivity suite.

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With spreadsheet sharing, Microsoft Excel is the ideal way of sharing, managing and analyzing information. This version of Microsoft Excel has improved access across the board, from a cleaner interface to better usability. The ribbon-like interface caused controversy when it was first introduced, but it's much easier to navigate for beginners, since you can now see all the options instead of having them hidden away in menus.

That's not to say the application has become any simpler to learn to use. Microsoft Excel is still a bit intimidating for beginners, although luckily it comes with tons of templates that help users get a better handle on it. One of the best new features it comes with allows you to restore spreadsheets you've accidentally closed. Consequently, it's now much easier to correct mistaken actions. The graphs and graphics you can add to your tables are also much improved.

Sharing data is easy as well, since you can use the Microsoft Excel web app, which allows any invited people to view or edit your spreadsheets. There are even mobile versions so you can access your spreadsheets on the move.

Microsoft Excel sets the standard in spreadsheet software. It comes as part of Microsoft Office 2010, which also includes other leading apps such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. It is incredibly powerful, and while there is a lot to learn in order to get the most out of it, anyone will be able to produce very attractive presentations with the data they enter into Excel spreadsheets.

Microsoft Excel 2010 is essential for many people at work, and there isn't a better spreadsheet application available.

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I tested the Technical Preview released a few months ago, and happily I've found a bunch of new features and improvements in this beta. For starters, the Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus pack includes a bunch of apps for you to test: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access, Publisher, InfoPath, Communicator, SharePoint Workspace and Outlook with Business Contact Manager - unlike the Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Business edition, which ony features five apps.

As regards appearance, all the Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus apps have been slightly modified. They still keep the ribbon interface – in a much clearer, almost minimalist style – but the Office button has been renamed to "File" and now shows a different pane. Not only does it include direct access to all document-related tasks, but also shows detailed information about the document you're currently working on.

Leaving changes aside, the truth is that Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus has pretty much the same features we already saw in the Technical Preview. The context menu in Word, for example, has been greatly improved and lets you see changes in real time as you browse through the different options. You can now add videos to your PowerPoint presentations, remove redundant messages from conversations in Outlook and insert small color charts inside cells in Excel spreadsheets. There are also tools to translate text, take and use screenshots, and apply special effects to the images you use in your documents. What's more, Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus now lets you save your documents on SkyDrive and share them online in just two clicks.

Regarding performance, Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus seems to be as fast and light on system resources as the Technical Preview. There's a significant improvement in the time the suite apps take to launch, and how they behave when working on your documents.

In all, Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus is an excellent productivity suite with great new features that make it easier and more comfortable to use, and also turn it into an even more professional solution for daily work tasks.

Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus lets you fully test the new, long-awaited version of the world's most popular productivity suite.

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Being the cheapest of all three editions, Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student is also the smallest one. It only includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote – unlike the Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Business edition, with five apps, or the Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus pack, which features the full collection. However, these four apps are more than enough to complete school assignments and take care of household projects – such as creating and maintaining a domestic budget.

As regards appearance, the four apps in Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student keep the ribbon interface – in a clear, almost minimalist style – but the Office button has been renamed to "File" and now shows a different pane. It includes direct access to all document-related tasks, and also shows detailed information about the document you're currently working on.

Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student has pretty much the same features we saw in the Technical Preview, and in other Office editions as well. The context menu in Word, for example, has been greatly improved and lets you see changes in real time as you browse through the different options. You can now add videos to your PowerPoint presentations, and insert small color charts inside cells in Excel spreadsheets. There are also tools to translate text, take and use screenshots, and apply special effects to the images you use in your documents. What's more, Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student now lets you save your documents on SkyDrive and share them online in just two clicks.

Regarding performance, Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student seems to be quite fast and light on system resources. There's a significant improvement in the time the suite apps take to launch, and how they behave when working on your documents.

In all, Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student is an excellent productivity suite with great new features that makes it easier and more comfortable to use.

Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student lets you fully test the latest, long-awaited version of the world's most popular productivity suite.

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Well, the answer is yes. OpenOffice.org 3.0 reveals itself as a very decent competitor: it's light on resources, easy to use and offers full compatibility with standard document formats – including the latest .docx, .xlsx, .pptx and so on from the Microsoft Office suite.

OpenOffice.org includes six different apps that enable you to work with text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, vector-based graphics and mathematical formulas, respectively. All six apps are easily accessible from a launcher (the Start Centre) with freshly designed icons, as well as from the Quickstarter icon in the System Tray.

OpenOffice.org's applications met our expectations in every regard: they're easy to use (especially if you're used to working with Microsoft Office) and feature all the necessary tools to create complete documents, spreadsheets, presentations, databases and more. What’s more, there is a great selection of OpenOffice templates, which means that getting started will never be a problem. The program is also thoroughly documented.

We particularly liked the wizard-style interface in OpenOffice Impress (similar to PowerPoint), which enables you to create presentations in no time. But the best thing about OpenOffice.org is probably the possibility to improve and customize your suite with new templates and extensions, downloadable directly from the developer's site.

OpenOffice.org made a great impression. It's a very decent alternative to other suites and can be easily customized with new extensions. Definitely worth a try!

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Though it’s a special version for students, Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Academic is not crippled in any way. It includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, InfoPath, SharePoint, Communicator and Publisher – a complete suite of apps to make your daily homework, assignments and papers much easier.

As regards appearance, all the programs in Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Academic keep the ribbon interface – in a clear, almost minimalist style – but the Office button now gives you access to a totally different panel. It includes direct access to all document-related tasks, and also shows detailed information about the document you're currently working on.

Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Academic has pretty much the same features we have seen in other versions of the suite. The context menu in Word, for example, has been greatly improved, and lets you see changes in real time as you browse through the different options. You can now add videos to your PowerPoint presentations, remove redundant messages from conversations in Outlook and insert small color charts inside Excel spreadsheets. There are also tools to translate text, take and use screenshots, and apply special effects to the images you use in your documents.

Regarding performance, Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Academic seems to be fast and light on system resources. There's a significant improvement in the time the suite apps take to launch, and how they behave when working on your documents.

In all, Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Academic is an excellent productivity suite with great new features that make it easier and more comfortable to use. Microsoft Office's innovations also turn it into an even more professional solution for daily homework and university papers.

Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Academic lets you fully test the new, long-awaited version of the world's most popular productivity suite.

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Well, the answer is yes. OpenOffice.org reveals itself as a very decent competitor, and this no-install, portable version is no exception: it's light on resources, easy to use and offers full compatibility with standard document formats – including the latest .docx, .xlsx, .pptx and so on from the Microsoft Office suite.

Portable OpenOffice.org includes six different apps that enable you to work with text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, vector-based graphics and mathematical formulas, respectively. All Portable OpenOffice.org apps are easily accessible from a launcher (the Start Centre) with freshly designed icons, as well as from the Quickstarter icon in the System Tray.

Portable OpenOffice.org's applications met our expectations in every regard: they're easy to use (especially if you're used to working with Microsoft Office) and feature all the necessary tools to create complete documents, spreadsheets, presentations, databases and more. What’s more, there is a great selection of OpenOffice templates, which means that getting started will never be a problem. The program is also thoroughly documented.

We particularly liked the wizard-style interface in OpenOffice Impress (similar to PowerPoint), which enables you to create presentations in no time. But the best thing about Portable OpenOffice.org is probably the possibility to improve and customize your suite with new templates and extensions, downloadable directly from the developer's site.

Portable OpenOffice.org made a great impression. It's a very decent alternative to other suites and can be easily customized with new extensions. Definitely worth a try!

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Microsoft Office is the most popular and widely spread productivity suite, both in home and professional environments. The utilities included in it depend on the exact edition you use (Microsoft Office Professional, Standard, Small Business or Home and Student) but they generally cover all major areas in your daily computer-related tasks.

Microsoft Office 2007 features a completely redesigned interface that features the so-called "Ribbon", a quick access bar that includes buttons to the most frequently used functions. While this new design is aimed at making workflow quicker and smoother, it also takes a while to get used to (especially after spending so many years with the same design).

No matter what edition you use, the main four applications in Microsoft Office are Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, which in some cases remain as industry standards for document creation and management: Word helps you deal with all sorts of tasks related to written documents, from simple text editing to complex documents including macros, tables, images and forms; Excel is the quintessential app to deal with figures, calculations and mathematical formulae, all in 2D spreadsheets or 3D colorful diagrams; PowerPoint helps you create attractive presentations with sound effects and transitions to accompany your talks and lectures, combining ease of use with professional results; and finally Outlook is the standard e-mail solution in many corporate environments thanks to its seamless integration with Exchange servers, support for digital signatures and powerful extra tools (Tasks, Calendars, and more). Microsoft Office is a complete productivity suite.

Whether you like Microsoft as a brand or not, Microsoft Office 2007 is undoubtedly an industry standard in productivity suites.

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IBM Lotus Symphony offers three tools: word processor, spreadsheet and presentations. It's true that other productivity suites are usually more complete. However, IBM Lotus Symphony stands out for a convenient, single-windowed interface from which you can launch the three apps. Simply click on the "Open" button and select the kind of document you want to open: the program's toolbar will change accordingly. What's more, you can have as many opened documents as you want at the same time, no matter which type, and switch between them in the top tab bar.

The IBM Lotus Symphony suite includes all the basic tools that you could expect in such an application: spell checker and tables for documents, pre-designed templates for presentations and charts for spreadsheets - to name a few - besides the usual configuration options as regards fonts, colors and the like.

In my personal opinion, I'm glad to have another possibility like IBM Lotus Symphony to choose from when deciding which suite I'm going to use. A little rivalry is always good and usually produces better and wider options for computer users. And it seems IBM is beginning to take the suite competition quite seriously, as can be seen with IBM Lotus Symphony.

IBM Lotus Symphony has left the beta stage behind and now offers a stable, highly functional productivity suite that, despite not being as complete as other suites, may perfectly fit your needs.

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Kingsoft Office Suite offers a number of features for creating, viewing and editing personal and business documents. Kingsoft Office Free 2012 includes Kingsoft Writer, Kingsoft Presentation and Kingsoft Spreadsheets which correspond to all the major elements found in Microsoft Office i.e. Excel, Word and Powerpoint. Kingsoft Office Suite is suitable for both personal and professional use although the professional version offers further features that will satisfy the demands of business users.

Most importantly Kingsoft Office Suite is compatible with the latest Microsoft Office file formats and can easily open, read and write documents created with Microsoft Office as well as a wide variety of other formats. In addition, Microsoft Office can also open Kingsoft Office files so you can send and receive files between the two suites easily.

Built -in PDF Converter

Kingsoft Office Suite also includes a PDF converter that can save files including Writer, Spreadsheets and Presentations in PDF format. Alternatively, you can convert Kingsoft Writer, Spreadsheets and Presentations to PDF files.

Automatic spell check

Kingsoft Office Suite includes a built-in spell checker that works in real-time by marking the incorrect words in red when typing. It also includes a limited thesaurus which recommends words to help in improving your document.

Multiple document tabs

Kingsoft Office Suite also features tools for switching between multiple document windows using tabs. The tab bar that appears above the editing area allows you to switch between documents quickly and conveniently.

Lightweight

Kingsoft Office Suite is in a remarkably small package at just 70MB which is a fraction of the size of other office software. This means that it also installs remarkably quickly.

Document encryption

You can protect documents that you create in Kingsoft Office Suite with an encrypted password. Or you can set a document to be opened with a password in read-only format.

Overall Kingsoft Office Suite is a powerful office suite for anyone that wants a cheaper alternative to Microsoft Office.

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In the same vein as other open source productivity suites like OpenOffice.org, LibreOffice boasts a comprehensive set of office management tools arguably on par with Microsoft Office itself. LibreOffice offers six different office management tools to meet your project management needs: Text Document, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Drawing, Database, and Formula.

Text Document is relatively synonymous with Microsoft Word, where Spreadsheet is like Excel. Presentation mirrors Microsoft's PowerPoint, and Database is similar to Access. Then you also have two additional programs in Drawing and Formula, which are an added bonus to the entire package. LibreOffice is compatible with Microsoft Office's document formats and also supports PDFs natively. It also has its own document format called Open Document.

Unfortunately, if you're unfamiliar with Microsoft Office products, this program might take a little additional time to get used to, particularly if you want to master some of its more advanced features. Regular Microsoft Office users will find LibreOffice's interface quite similar, however, and should pick up on how to use its various programs without too much difficulty.

A great alternative to Microsoft Office, LibreOffice is a must-try for managing your various office projects.

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Among these improvements you can find support for OpenXML and Microsoft Works files, an optimized Microsoft binary file support, and perfect import of Wordperfect graphics, among others.

You can also work with Excel VBA macros and Visio diagrams.