Paul's Picks

Google Pack with Sun StarOffice
Pros : A free, full-featured office suite, selective application installation.
Cons: Few applications are sophisticated or enterprise-friendly.
rating: ◊ ◊ ◊
Recommendation: Google Pack is a free, consumer-oriented collection of software provided by or recommended by Google, and would normally only interest the smallest businesses. That changed somewhat when Google included the Sun Microsystems StarOffice suite—a product that normally costs almost $100 per desktop—for free with Google Pack. The suite can’t compare to Microsoft Office 2007, but it’s still quite capable and is a viable alternative to older versions of Office.
Contact: Google - 650-930-3555 - www.google.com
discussion: www.winsupersite.com/reviews/google_pack_2007.asp

Windows Vista SP1 Beta
Pros : Aggregates previous fixes, improves Vista’s stability and performance.
Cons: No major new features, no slipstreaming.
rating:◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
Recommendation: Microsoft has finally unveiled the feature set for Vista SP1 and made the code available in limited beta form. The SP1 beta supports Microsoft’s view that businesses gain no advantage by waiting on SP1 to deploy Vista: It includes no major new features or functional changes and doesn’t dramatically alter the Vista experience. Instead, Vista SP1 is a service pack, aggregating previously released fixes into a single installer. Microsoft’s plan to provide drag and drop slipstreaming with Vista isn’t included in this release.
Contact: Microsoft - 800-426-9400 - www.microsoft.com
Discussion: www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_sp1.asp

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