SmartSuite Millennium Edition 9.5 review

Cutting the mustard

If you remember our original review of SSME, the conclusion was that the program didn't outgun Office 97 in the business productivity war, although it slotted in above WordPerfect Suite 8. Both Microsoft and Corel have introduced major upgrades to their suites, particularly the former, and Office 2000 now leaves SSME way behind. While Lotus took the early lead in Internet integration, Office 2000 now blows it away. The level of HTML compatibility offered by Microsoft is ahead of that in SSME and there are few Internet features, if any, where the Lotus product holds the lead. However, WordPerfect Office 2000 still lags behind both in this respect, so SSME is a strong number two.

In general functionality, SSME maintains the same status between Microsoft and Corel. The apps are still quirky in places, although it's nice to see minor changes like the disappearance of the loathsome help balloons and arrival of 'proper' tool tips, and little has been done to address criticisms of inconsistencies in the interface. However, the core strengths of the applications remain. Team working is well implemented, especially in WordPro, and many of the applications have an ease of use in the low- to middle-power range on a par with or better than Office 2000. For simple database work, Approach is still one of the best products on the market and Freelance is pretty much head to head with PowerPoint in the presentation stakes. The gap between 1-2-3 and Excel continues to widen. FastSite is what it claims to be - a quick way of popping a data-holder site together - but trails behind Microsoft's FrontPage.

When compared with WordPerfect Office 2000, SSME is the stronger product, but it should be, as it's more expensive. While Lotus seems to have a 'sensible' OEM policy for increasing its market share (bundling SSME with new PCs), the standalone retail price is high, certainly compared with WordPerfect Office 2000. As an upgrade, SSME 9.5 is more competitive. For users of competing suites or individual applications, £119 is reasonable. But it's a high price to charge people who paid full whack for SSME 9 this price just to upgrade to 9.5. For these users, SSME 9.5 represents merely an upgrade of Organizer 5 and a handful of minor improvements. As such, value for money could be better.

Author: Tim Ponting