Rating: 
Summary: Microsoft Office or Corel WordPerfect Office
Review: A user said approach is easier than Microsoft Access, I have a certain feeling that person was not using Access at all. Microsoft Office is considered the best Office Suite by users around the world. Why? Because of its friendly graphical user interface, that is available throughtout all the applications. If you are running a business 90% of that organization is probably using MS Office. In Lotus the procedures to using the applications in the suite are too cumbersome requiring too much clicking. If you enter Word Pro a dialog box appears asking you what type of document you would like to create, duh of course I am going to use a blank doc to type something, the thing is Word Pro acts too much like a Database Management system, you have to always select the type of project, not convenient at all. I think the integration across all the applications in MS Office is very flawless, sharing data between Excel and Word is just a click away. PowerPoint has more effects its more intuitive, easy to use and learn than Free Lance, Free Lance is like your using a Windows 3.1 era application. Of course Outlook is the best PIM out their for organizing and scheduling your life. Last but not least Lotus SmartSuite comes with a lot of computer packages. Tell you what, save your money towards Microsoft Office, it is worth it if you are a first time user buying a Office suite or you want better productivity and ease of use out of your applications.
Rating: 
Summary: Thank you God! An Alternative!
Review: A very intuitive program compared to others...very easy to learn. I use an IBM with this preloaded for home use along with Windows/2K. Approach database is much friendlier and does great meaningful searches, HTML is rendered in a much more efficient realistic code(It works with Frontpage). Tired of the yearly exponential "improvements" of the others which very few ever make use of. Let's face it..if you don't use a feature regularly...it's gone! I've read that the newest version does a better job with e-mail and was happy also to read that IBM/Domino is backing this product up...I've used Lotus since the 123 dos spreadsheet days...always a Great price and takes minimal HDD space...I am forced to use Microsoft at work..and feel more at home and less frustrated...at home with Lotus.
Rating:
Summary: I am SOLD
Review: At first, being used to MS Office, I did not like Lotus SmartSuite when forced to use it at work. Keystroke commands and macro recording are different; In the version I use, WordPro and Notes do not correct for grammar (I sent out several form letters that informed customers that they would love the "many service we provide" before I caught the error; MS Word would have notified me immediately.); and, you do loose some stats tools in 1-2-3 available in Excel's Analysis Tool Pack add-in. Shortcomings aside, however, now I love the programs, especially Approach. Building an Approach database is 100% easier than MS Access. In a week, I built a complex database. I loved the intuitive tab format for navigating between forms (I hate having to define subforms and macros to link data in Access). Further, OLE linking is much easier in SmartSuite than Office. As for data analysis, the tools you really need for basic number crunching are available: basic distribution analysis, multiple regressions, etc. As to the grammar, I simply print and proofread more carefully! In short, SmartSuite is a pleasure to use. It offers full functionality at a fraction of the price of Office Professional. Now I know why my company uses it: It makes sound financial sense without sacrificing functionality. You do, however, sacrifice MicroSoft's questionable business practices. Not too great a sacrifice, needless to say.
Rating: 
Summary: New Package, Same old software...
Review: At least it looks the same to me. I'm sure the folks at Lotus could spend hours telling about how the suite has been reworked, but the <same> problems exist that were there in the previous <upgrades>. I bought the ME edition, hoping that I would now be able to overcome some of the old bugs that I had been trying to deal with, only to find that <nothing> (that I could see) had changed.
Since I believe its past time to start demanding software developers should be held accountable, I returned the software for a refund. I only hope their refund department is more capable than their research and development dept. Mike
Rating:
Summary: Very Smart Suite
Review: Faster, Cheaper and more intuitive to use than the largest seller. There are differences in how tasks are accomplished from one suite to the next but that would be case with any different office suite. Just about any task is less difficult to achieve with Smart Suite. From picking the right font to Creating a data base. Try Lotus Smart Suite for a month and you'll never go back.
Rating:
Summary: SmartSuite ***** Microsoft ** <----- That's my vote!
Review: I do not understand these people so completely bambooselled (is that a word, and is it spelled right? I'd know if I was in WordPro). Microsoft Office is a complete system hog, crashes your system if you don't run it the way it wants you to and the programs require a lot of going to this menu and that menu to customize a document. In WordPro, for example, you click one button on the tool bar, a little menu appears with sections for type size, color, font, paragragh formatting and more. You can create as many styles as you want and apply them throughout the whole document and/or to sections as you go along. If you don't want the menu open, close it. When you click on that one, single button to reopen the menu again, all your styles are still there. Easy!!! In Word, this kind of thing is a nightmare. Microsoft Office definitely has it's good points, it is just that they are not enough to make up for the simplistic power of the very stable SmartSuite package!
Rating:
Summary: SmartSuite ***** Microsoft ** <----- That's my vote!
Review: I do not understand these people so completely bambooselled (is that a word, and is it spelled right? I'd know if I was in WordPro). Microsoft Office is a complete system hog, crashes your system if you don't run it the way it wants you to and the programs require a lot of going to this menu and that menu to customize a document. In WordPro, for example, you click one button on the tool bar, a little menu appears with sections for type size, color, font, paragragh formatting and more. You can create as many styles as you want and apply them throughout the whole document and/or to sections as you go along. If you don't want the menu open, close it. When you click on that one, single button to reopen the menu again, all your styles are still there. Easy!!! In Word, this kind of thing is a nightmare. Microsoft Office definitely has it's good points, it is just that they are not enough to make up for the simplistic power of the very stable SmartSuite package!
Rating:
Summary: Lotus Approach is the worst software I've ever used
Review: I have never used such a poor piece of software before. I have to use this junky program at work. I always hangs, freezes, and otherwise stops responding. I have to restart the program or my computer several times each day to keep the program working. It cannot run when other programs run. It uses almost all my system resources. It makes random changes to database records. It has all kinds of wierd random behaviors. For example after doing a find and then browing the results the program freezes. The program is not user friendly and is showing its age. MS Access is a much much better desktop database program. If you need a modern desktop database program go with Access. Avoid Approach like the plague!!
Rating:
Summary: A very capable office suite.
Review: I'm a satisfied SmartSuite user. At my workplace I am obligated to use software of another maker, but at home I can use whatever I please, so I have selected a product that I enjoy using, SmartSuite. For over five years, I have been using Lotus SmartSuite, and I can say that this is a fine product and getting better. I have used all of the SmartSuite components and can't say anything bad about any of them. Unlike one other office suite, the default configurations are perfectly usable right out of the box. The user interface is also highly consistent among different applications, and more intuitive than another well-known word processor. The pop-up formatting boxes are easy to learn and very convenient. Lotus Freelance has become one of my favorites recently. It is particularly useful for its ability to create simple web site slide shows. Lotus has a Freelance viewer downloadable for free on its website so users may exchange Freelance presentations with associates who don't have SmartSuite installed. Late last year, I prepared a lengthy consulting report with numerous tables and footnotes. Using WordPro it was a snap to assemble the final document from the separate files in which I had written the various chapters. WordPro properly indexed cross-references and placed all endnotes where they belonged and in proper format. One more thing: SmartSuite is highly stable, and it doesn't crash my system. For the money, SmartSuite is also the smart buy.
Rating:
Summary: Lotus Smartsuite Highly Underrated
Review: I've been using components of Lotus Smartsuite since the demise of Visicalc (and THAT goes back a long way.) Compared to other software, Lotus is easier to use, crashes WAY less often (almost never, in fact), handles complicated formatting better, and is all-around easier to use. Lotus 1-2-3 is, hands-down, the fastest spreadsheet program to use. Gone are the ridiculous required mouse movements that infest other programs. A simple /-command and I've reformatted, moved, copied, pasted entire columns, rows or sheets. I can keep my hands on the keys and finish my work, rather than figure out why some editing commands are under "edit" and others are under "font" and others are under "format" - ugh! WordPro is far superior to other "Word" processors for many of the same reasons. I prepare an exhaustive audit and budget report each year with embedded charts and tables. I once mistakenly tried to migrate it to Word, but simply could not tolerate Word's eccentricities. Why did that graphic link to the page and not the paragraph? Why does inserting a line make this graphic move UP and the other graphics move DOWN? Where are the formatting commands - aAArgh! WordPro gives me none of that headache. Given the choice, I would choose SmartSuite over any office suite out there. It helps me get more work done - period.
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