You don't read much about Microsoft Works anymore. This low-end, low-cost integrated package has been overshadowed by the big guns: Microsoft Office, Lotus SmartSuite, and the like. That's too bad. Works still offers one of the best power-to-price ratios of any software package currently on the market. Microsoft added to its 2005 suite edition of Works several items that make Works even more useful than ever.

You get the basic Works word processor, a spreadsheet, a database, a communications module, and much, much more. You'll also find in the Works Suite 2005 package Encarta Encyclopedia 2005, Money Standard 2005, Picture It Premium, and Streets & Trips 2005.

As if all this weren't enough in such an expensive software suite, Microsoft throws in a full-fledged copy of Microsoft Word 2002, a mainstay of the company's more powerful Office suite and simply the most popular and most powerful Windows-based word processor out there. New to the Works 2005 version is a dictionary that's completely integrated with the suite's Write module. The various Works modules are tightly integrated, and all features are designed to make beginning users productive from the moment they install Works on their PC.

Works users can also import and edit Word and Excel files, which makes it a useful home-based collaborative tool for anyone who uses these two higher-end Microsoft products at work. You can also view, but not edit, PowerPoint presentations using Works 2005.

A special Setup Wizard makes installing Works a no-brainer. Indeed, wizards--automated procedures that rely on a question/answer format to determine what you want to accomplish--abound in Works. The program's Task Launcher, which appears each time you start a Works session, lets you choose from an organized list what type of activity you want to perform. Simply select an activity, and Task Launcher advances you automatically to the appropriate program module.

The program also includes a number of wizards that can be used to automate the creation of documents, spreadsheets, and databases in a variety of popular formats. An envelope wizard, for example, remembers your return address and can find mailing addresses in the built-in address book.

Virtually everything you'll ever need to use your PC productively is contained in the Works Suite 2005 package, at a price that is very affordable. Here's a program that deserves to be on everyone's hard disk.


Pro: The best power-to-price ratio in today's market.
Con: None.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
800-426-9400
http://www.microsoft.com