Useful new features and a total interface overhaul make this the best Office ever.

Modern and efficient conversion to WMV with ahead-of-the-curve Silverlight capabilities

A big improvement from Microsoft, but there’s still some way to go. OneCare can now call itself a serious security contender.

Microsoft finally recognises that web authoring needs a standards-compliant tool, albeit on its own terms.

Efficient photo management and sharing, but let down by some surprisingly underpowered editing.

A disappointingly modest number of improvements, although they’re well integrated into the complete suite.

This version sees a new maturity, with more server integration and easier-to-use controls online forms.

A worthy update to the most underrated of the Office applications — OneNote is now a must-have.

Improvements all round keep PowerPoint well ahead of the competition.

Still a competent tool for marketing material, although it would have benefited from an interface overhaul.

Now pitched at less experienced database users, this refresh is a mixed blessing.

Behind-the-scenes changes make a huge difference, even if the interface is inconsistent.

A rewritten front end makes Excel’s significant power far more accessible than before.

Not many new features, but the new interface breathes fresh life into an already great product.

Much improved, but IE still lags behind Firefox 2 in terms of innovation, features and security.

PreviewA good attempt at all-in-one system security, fully integrated into the OS.

Encarta Premium Suite claims a base of 130,000+ articles, along with 25,300+ photos and illustrations and 1.8 million map locations. That's more than a bit of bedtime reading, although of course there are really only two reasons why people buy digital encyclopedias these days -- either they've got kids to educate, or they're after some verifiable and quotable facts for a research project. For almost anyone else, of course, there's Google.

One day Microsoft might realise that forcing its customers to have a Bill Gates issued 'passport' to use services on the internet sticks in people's gullets like a jagged fishbone. In the case of Microsoft Money you need a passport if you want to take advantage of its online banking services, but once you do sign up you find that it is the one area of an otherwise excellent program that does not work properly.

There is little doubt that digital photography will take over from film, and it will happen sooner rather than later. As more people buy and start to use digital cameras there is an ever increasing demand for simple-to-use photo editing software that will allow them to get the best out of their photographs.

You might think making sense of numeric error codes is no big deal now that we've got the web, but it's not quite that simple yet.