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Ability Office 4
Price: £30 inc VAT

Features
Performance
Ease of use
Value for money
Overall

Reviewed By: Andy Shaw

This review updated: 02/09/2004
Featured in magazine:
Issue 91
Manufacturer Contacts:
Supplier: Ability
Tel: 020 7231 1004
Web Address: www.ability.com


Most people use their PCs for more than just entertainment. As fun as surfing the net or playing games can be, there are times when your PC gets used to help with more menial tasks, like applying for jobs, balancing your home accounts or keeping track of your insured valuables. At times like this, a suite of office software with a word processor, a spreadsheet and a selection of other handy office tools comes into its own. The standard edition of Microsoft Office costs nearly £300 on Amazon.co.uk, putting it out of the range of most individuals. Ability Office 4 is available from £30.

Features
The suite contains the key programs you're likely to need, including word processor and spreadsheet software. Then, depending on what else you want from your computer, there's a selection of different bundles to provide serious business applications like presentation and database software, or more home consumer oriented software like image editing.

Performance
None of the software in the suite has the power of Microsoft's significantly more expensive rival, but most Web User readers won't need some of the complex features of Word or Excel. The Ability versions are cut down without losing any of the basic requirements, so as long as you aren't creating publications with hundreds of pages or balancing the budget of a large company, you're not going to miss much. It can open and save to popular formats (including Microsoft's own) with ease, so there's no need to worry about compatibility.

Ease of use
Anyone who has used an office suite before will be able to plough straight in to Ability Office without any bother. Microsoft Office goes out of its way to provide help for beginners, such as the love-it-or-hate-it helpful paperclip, and Ability has none of this. However, the product is simpler and has a decent digital manual to guide you through most of the issues you're likely to run up against.

Value for money
The price of the bundle depends what software you want included in your package. All the options include a word processor, spreadsheet and photo organiser. Add in more specialised programs like database, presentation and photo manipulation software and you can increase the price to £50 (presuming you want everything). Compared to Microsoft Office it's an absolute bargain, but remember you can always get the slightly lesser-featured Open Office free of charge (www.openoffice.org).

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