Microsoft Works Suite 2005

Microsoft packs a virtual truckload of software into Works Suite 2005. Even if you don't want to use the project templates and links to Microsoft sites that come in the package, you may still want it for high-quality programs such as Microsoft Word 2002, Streets & Trips 2005, Encarta 2005 Encyclopedia Standard, and Picture It! Premium.

All these, plus the low-powered Works spreadsheet (from the standalone Works 8 package), can be launched either from their own Start menu entries or from a graphics-heavy Task Manager that organizes hundreds of activities under categories such as "Pictures & Photos," "Events & Planning," and "Research," each leading to headings such as "Home Lists" or "Travel Journals" that in turn lead to templates, Web links, and documents that open in one of the programs. The Task Manager is meant to be beginner-friendly, but it may leave you feeling more overwhelmed than helped.

The included Word 2002, while not the latest build of the stalwart word processor, has more features than most people will ever use. The Works spreadsheet, which doubles as a flat-file database, is more than enough for household tasks. It's not nearly as full-featured as Excel or Corel's Quattro Pro, however. Streets & Trips is the slickest and most detailed street-map program available, and the version in the suite includes GPS capabilities. (You'll have to spend about $100 on a GPS receiver if you want to use them, though.)

Before you can get anything done in Works, you'll have to close a blizzard of pop-up dialogs urging you to pay $99 to upgrade to the full Digital Image Suite, the premium version of Encarta, and Money Premium. For most users, the versions in the suite are powerful enough: The standard version of Encarta provides far more information than the limited Britannica version in Corel's suite, complete with online integration that (for example) displays the current weather in any city you look up.

Unless you have complex, rapidly changing financial assets, the standard version of Money provides all the banking and budget features you'll need, in a smooth-running package. Picture It! Premium delivers a decent mix of image-management and touch-up features, and is far more automated than Corel's offering—though it's still no match for standalone offerings such as Adobe Photoshop Album 2 or Jasc Paint Shop Photo Album. The Corel photo software has a wider range of image-manipulation effects, but everyday home users may not need that.

Instead of an overall manual, Works Suite gives you Getting Started booklets for the suite itself and for Streets & Trips, plus a thorough manual for Picture It!. For assistance with the other programs, you'll need to rely on the help screens. Microsoft's suite is dazzlingly feature-rich, but many users will prefer its superb component parts to the overloaded project-based Task Manager that holds it all together.