Productivity and efficiency are the name of the game, and nothing affects companywide efficiency like an office suite. In choosing a comprehensive office suite, IT and business managers look for something to give their companies a competitive advantage. The question then comes down to, When does it makes sense to upgrade, and when should you leave well enough alone?

In an effort to give loyal customers compelling reasons to upgrade, Corel Corp.'s WordPerfect Office 2002 Professional Edition includes a diversified set of supporting applications and utilities to increase individual productivity and corporate usability beyond that of previous versions. In an effort to become more attractive to corporate America (read Microsoft Corp. Office users), WordPerfect Office 2002 now includes administration enhancements and expanded communications capabilities with the addition of CorelCentral Mail and Admin to put it on par or close in amenities with Microsoft Office.

Longtime users will find the core applications in the WordPerfect Office 2002 are relatively untouched from a user perspective. The overall enhancements are relatively minor, and unless a feature such as knowing the specific formula of a WordPerfect table cell is important, you will be hard-pressed to find productivity innovations with the suites enhancements.

In short, for loyal users with specific document needs, we recommend the upgrade. For users considering converting from Microsoft Office, we suggest taking some time to test run the product prior to jumping in. As the latter market comprises the vast majority of our readers, we gave WordPerfect Office 2002 a rating of Consider.

Good, but late to the game

Right off the bat, current users of the WordPerfect Office suite will find seamless migration to WordPerfect Office 2002; and through utilization of the same file format as earlier versions, they will reap the benefits of backwards compatibility, including document sharing with users who have yet to upgrade. Along with addition of the Microsoft Windows Installer, WordPerfect Office provides a system administrator-friendly upgrade that will minimize installation complications and maximize user-information sharing.

IT will be happy to know that security has been beefed up in the release as well. Protection of intellectual property via encryption, digital signatures, secure file sharing, virus protection, and secure e-mail transmission are all included in the latest release. This feature set provides businesses a formidable wall as protection in front of proprietary and confidential information at the individual and the network level.

But the most notable productivity gains to WordPerfect Office 2002 come from the addition of CorelCentral Mail and Admin, Dragon Systems Inc. Naturally Speaking 5.0, and, to a lesser degree, Net2Phone Inc. functionality.

Although late to the game, CorelCentral Mail and Admin are full-featured, robust e-mail applications ready for corporate use. CorelCentral Mail includes all of the expected features such as the capability of managing multiple e-mail accounts, organizing and prioritizing e-mails, viewing attachments, and integrating with the CorelCentral address book, calendar, and day planner.

CorelCentral's Admin functionality is a separate module intended for system administrators trying to set up corporate databases, accounts, and permissions for individuals, groups, or other company-specific resources within the CorelCentral Mail application.

Although seemingly consumer-oriented in nature, the ability to dictate through Dragon Naturally Speaking 5.0 and to call contacts over the Web with Net2Phone were surprisingly simple to use and will undoubtedly lead to productivity increases, however slight.

In addition, Corel has done a terrific job with its accessibility feature set for various users. Keyboard access, high-contrast displays, sound alternatives, system setting for calibrating keyboard and mouse, text dictation, customization of the UI, and automating complex tasks are just some of the features Corel has included to make WordPerfect Office 2002 easily accessible to those with specific needs.

Despite these leaps beyond previous versions, tardy inclusion of must-have features is the overarching theme of WordPerfect Office 2002. Although the ability to communicate and share documents between WordPerfect Office 2002 and Microsoft Office, including Microsoft's upcoming release, is easy and seamless and its accessibility features are admirable, there are no revolutionary improvements in WordPerfect Office 2002 to convert Microsoft Office users.

Corel is making strides, albeit small ones, in its effort to match the functionality of Microsoft Office, but it still has a way to go. Although integrated solutions such as Dragon Naturally Speaking and Net2Phone add functionality for specific types of users, it will take some time to see if they make a productivity difference. However, Corel's focus on corporate usability through the utilization of compatible file formats, open standard adoption, and significant system administration functionality allows corporate users to rest assured that their WordPerfect Office 2002 documents will easily leverage the Web and communicate seamlessly in the Microsoft world.

» posted by abennett

InfoWorld

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