Product Reviews

Lotus SmartSuite Millennium Edition is barely 12 months old, yet it has already been updated. Since it first appeared, both Microsoft and Corel have launched competing suites - Microsoft Office 2000 and WordPerfect Office 2000 - and now Lotus has pitched in with its latest and greatest, SmartSuite Millennium 9.5. As we looked at the first incarnation of Lotus' millennial SmartSuite in issue 91, we'll concentrate here on the latest improvements.

The main thrust of Lotus' work on SmartSuite has been to improve its integration with Lotus products for corporate intranets - Lotus Notes and Domino - and catch up with Microsoft's Internet integration in Office 2000. The only real advance for the lonesome standalone user is that Organizer, Lotus' Filofax-alike, has been overhauled enough to qualify for a new version label. It's now version 5, though most of its new features are again Internet-related.

For those not in the know, office suites are designed to be your mainstay office software. SmartSuite, being second favourite behind Microsoft's mighty Office, is a preferred bundle for PC builders to include with their machines.

Like the other suites, SmartSuite offers the traditional office backbone applications: word processor (Word Pro), spreadsheet (1-2-3) and database (Approach). Common inclusions are a presentations package (Freelance) and a tool for creating web pages (FastSite). Office suites seek to be all things to all people, so you also get a lot of stuff in SmartSuite aimed at the corporate environment, where users will be networked together, share applications, access a corporate network or intranet and use standardised setups, so that desk-hopping is easier and training simplified.

While the main applications have a long heritage, FastSite is new to the Millennium edition and has been updated slightly for this version. FastSite is the simplest web page builder we have come across. Its simplicity derives from its use of a few standard templates, and the facility to use files created in standard applications like your word processor, and convert them to HTML. Lotus says this feature is aimed at users on corporate intranet sites who want to distribute information quickly and simply - without bothering the IT department. It works surprisingly well, and can incorporate documents created in Microsoft Office applications, as well as SmartSuite

Lotus' excellent Organizer bases its look and feel on a Filofax-style contacts book. It's an intelligent and easy-to-use address book/contacts manager, with new features in this version that make it more Internet friendly. You can automatically deliver and receive meeting invitations, for example, or schedule activities across interconnected groups. It integrates with e-mail programs such as Microsoft Outlook, and in a world in which e-mail addresses are becoming more important than the physical variety, an intelligent manager of those contacts is becoming invaluable.

Unlike Microsoft, Lotus is keen on making Organizer and the other applications in SmartSuite work with as many other established packages as possible. This latest Millennium suite offers support for more file types and software packages produced by competitors than ever before. So Organizer will now convert Outlook 97 or 98 files or Sidekick 97 or 98 files, for example. Equally, Word Pro is able to convert and open dozens of different file types - including Excel files, as well as any sort of Word file.

Now, excuse me while I rant, but this philosophy is to be applauded. It means that you will be able to open most any sort of file that is e-mailed to you or that resides on an existing system. By contrast, Microsoft, since it became dominant in the office suite market, has been less helpful. A default installation typically only supports Microsoft files, some standard formats, and mega-products like WordPerfect or Lotus 1-2-3.

Revisiting SmartSuite, we are satisfied that Lotus has addressed its main weaknesses, while keeping the price very competitive. Its applications are not significantly weaker than those of Microsoft Office, just different. For example, web novices will find FastSite much easier to use, while Microsoft's FrontPage is a far more complete product for experts. Microsoft's Excel remains the spreadsheet of choice, but 1-2-3 has a longer heritage and is still more than powerful enough for small business use. Word Pro is quirkier than Word but handles long documents more intelligently, and is less fussy about the way you incorporate graphics into documents. Freelance Graphics matches PowerPoint feature for feature, and while the database Approach may fall a fair way short of Access in terms of functionality, it's just as easy to use and comes included as standard. Only the pricier Professional and Premium versions of Microsoft Office include Access.

We won't take anything away from Microsoft Office. As we reported in our July issue its flexibility and power are second to none. But, for value for money, we'd say that Lotus SmartSuite has edged into the lead.