Labs

Presentation software

We looked at each package with a view to creating a straightforward, attractive presentation that had an intro slide, bullet point slides, simple diagrams and graphs. We hoped to find a choice of relevant page templates and classy visual themes, and facilities for creating neat, legible charts. The slides seen in the screenshots were created using the tools and artwork supplied within each program.

We expected basic transition and animation features; it should be easy to choose from a variety of effects for moving from one slide to the next, and to make items within each slide appear one by one. All the programs offered these functions and could add movie and sound clips. We weren't too bothered about advanced multimedia or interactive features; these aren't involved in most presentations.

Most programs import PowerPoint files and save to PowerPoint format with varying degrees of success. But it's hard to say which program would give the fewest glitches with your presentation; simple and advanced functions can go astray. We noted any export formats supported, such as Flash and PDF, which help deliver your presentations to other users without being present in the room.