When it comes to choosing a word processor, it's almost a no-brainer. Microsoft Word isn't the only choice for Windows, and it's not the least expensive, but it certainly has the largest market share. It's the standard choice for most businesses, so if you're buying a word processor for home use, it makes sense to buy a product that you're already familiar with at work.

Word 2003 offers a powerful set of features in a relatively easy-to-use package. It keeps the most wanted word processing features at your fingertips, through the use of toolbars and menus you can customize to suit your style. It also offers multiple undos, although you'll still limited to only one redo.

Word processing tools include a variety of formatting options, a spelling and grammar checker, a thesaurus, and a track changes feature, which is handy if you collaborate with others, or just like to fiddle with your own documents, without losing track of what you started with.

In addition to using Word for word processing tasks, you can also use it as a basic (if somewhat unwieldy) desktop publishing program. You can't fine-tune type or layouts, but you can create simple newsletters, product sheets, and other similar documents. Inserting tables, embedded spreadsheets, and graphics is a snap.

New in this version is a new way to view documents, called Reading Layout view, which makes it easier to read documents onscreen. Reading Layout view splits the display into one or two screens or columns of text, similar to the facing pages of a book. You can increase or decrease text size, for easier reading, without affecting the document itself.

Also new are collaboration features, including Protect Documents, which lets you specify the formatting styles that other reviewers can use for markup purposes. You can also freeze certain areas, so they can't be changed at all. A Compare Documents feature displays the original and edited versions of a document side by side, making it easy to see what's been changed.

Pro: Offers advanced features for experienced users, but is easy for beginners to use. Compatible with a wide variety of document and image formats.
Con: Relatively few changes from Word XP. Unless you need the new collaboration, XML, or IRM features, there's not much reason to upgrade.