Works Suite 2003 DVD (Word, Money, AutoRoute, Encarta, Picture It, Works) by Microsoft

Description

Microsoft Works Suite 2003 is a set of five CDs which comprises Works 7.0 with its integrated word processor, spreadsheet, database and calendar and adds full copies of Word 2002, Encarta Standard Edition 2003, Money 2003, Picture It Photo and AutoRoute 2002. Given the individual retail cost of these extra products, it represents excellent value for money.

The Works 7.0 core is very task-based. For example, if you choose to “Manage a club” you'll end up using the spreadsheet to track finances, the database for membership records, Word to design the newsletter and Picture It to handle your club photos. By organising its interface around things to do rather than old-style menus of programs, Works encourages novices to explore its wide range of features; once you know what you're doing, you can use the programs menu to jump straight to the applications themselves.

The extras (even the year-old AutoRoute) are really worth having. Word is the most widely used word processor in the world and it never hurts to have a copy on your home PC, while Picture It Photo has a decent selection of mainstream photo projects (calendars, address cards, flyers, kids ID cards and so on) to go with its easy-to-use editing features for removing red eye, adding picture frames and text to photos, cropping and framing photos or preparing them for use on the Web.

Elsewhere, Money 2003 remains the friendliest of home finance programs with good investment tracking and an excellent, customisable front summary page. AutoRoute 2002 still sets the pace for getting from A to B in Europe. The standard version of Encarta 2003 is a good study aid for juniors upwards; it's updatable via the Web and incorporates more than 30,000 articles and images along with videos, animations and audio.

Microsoft Works Suite 2003 is simple enough to allow beginners to accomplish a wide range of home computing tasks. Thanks to the inclusion of Word, it will also appeal to the workaholic who just won't let go. —Rob Beattie

Platforms

Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP