The 'Other' Office Suite

If you think that your only business-productivity software options are an old version of Microsoft Office or a new version of Microsoft Office, think again: Corel has released a new edition of its venerable WordPerfect Office suite.

WordPerfect offers one key feature that Word currently doesn't: Reveal Codes, which allows you to view and make changes to a document's formatting. In my tests with a $300 shipping copy of WordPerfect Office 11 Standard, I found that function enhanced with the ability to print formatting codes, which allows multiple users to collaborate on documents more easily.

WordPerfect Office 11 also makes files universally accessible, no matter which office suite created them. The new WordPerfect Office Conversion Utility, for example, lets you convert batches of any type of Microsoft Office file to the WordPerfect format, and a new Document Map (similar to Microsoft Word's) makes it easy to move from page to page in lengthy documents.

Other updates: The suite's Quattro Pro 11 spreadsheet now features QuickSubtotal, which simplifies data analysis by letting you apply totals to a selected column. And the Show On The Go feature in Corel Presentation 11 converts presentations into self-executing slide shows that you can play on any Windows computer. Presentations even allows you to save your work in the PowerPoint 95 and 97 file format (.ppt), just as WordPerfect supports Word 2002 (.doc) and Quattro Pro supports Excel 95 and 97 (.xls).

In order to keep the cost of the office suite down, however, Presentations has dropped the graphics-file viewer that was included in previous versions. This means that the program can view only WordPerfect Graphics (wpg) files. You can rig a workaround to this if you have a copy of WordPerfect Office 8, 9, or 10, using that software's QuickView Plus feature. First, install QuickView Plus by putting the CD-ROM containing the older WordPerfect version into your PC and selecting Custom Install. Then select only QuickView Plus. Thereafter, you may use that utility to preview all graphics formats supported in previous versions of WordPerfect Office, although the experience won't be exactly the way it was within the Presentations program.

And for people who loved WordPerfect's old DOS interface (circa version 5.1), it's back. Just choose the Classic Mode option.

WordPerfect Office 11 is a slightly less expensive alternative that doesn't sacrifice functionality, many features, or any Microsoft interoperability.

SUMMARY

Corel WordPerfect Office 11 Standard Basic office-suite features and functionality for about $100 less than the market leader. Price when reviewed: $300 Current prices (if available)