Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very capable office suite., March 26, 2002
By A Customer
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.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
SmartSuite ***** Microsoft ** <----- That's my vote!, June 24, 2002
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!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I am SOLD, March 22, 2002
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.
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