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Rating: 
- Please IBM don't leave SmartSuite in the cold
I have used both Lotus SmartSuite and Microsoft Office in various versions for well over a decade. Both suites are incredibly powerful but for me the application which really makes the difference between the two is Lotus Approach.
I first discovered with brilliant software when it was in its first version, before it became part of SmartSuite. I have used it as a development platform for a wide range of applications for all sorts of clients from lawyers to catering suppliers and from CRM applications to invoicing. It is a staggeringly good piece of software that makes Access seem sluggish in performance and slow during development.
A couple of years back a long term client asked me to redevelop an Approach based application that was a core system for their business into an Access based equivalent. I recommended that they didn't do this as the performance of Access would be slow and the functionality of the system would be difficult to replicate under Access. The client said that they had decided to standardise around Microsoft Office products so they wanted to do this. I turned down the job and they spent the next five months trying to redevelop the application with another company. Then they gave up. Those Approach applications are still active in this "Microsoft house".
I would urge IBM to look again at Approach as a top class tool which is brilliant for creating user friendly datebase driven applications. With better linkages to more powerful SQL database engines they have a real winner in their stable just waiting to be harnessed. There is a huge opportunity to make Approach the tool of choice for developing real world user interfaces for the new breed of systems that are now being developed around MySQL/Linux and Open Source. Come on IBM - you make all the right noises about Open Source and Linux systems; is it just lip service?
Rating: - Smartsuite - the best package by far!
Over the past twenty years I have used numerous word processing programs, and have never found anything to equal WordPro. Freelance Graphics, which I use regularly, does everything I could possibly want it to do. It is easier to make these programs do what you want them to do, and, just as important, to prevent them from doing things you don't want them to do, by far, than with the Microsoft equivilants. And then there is the fact that Lotus gives you the filters to save into a wide range of formats, or read out of them, so documents in some other format are not a problem (which they certainly are with Microsoft programs). Finally, Lotus have priced this package at a level that a mere mortal can afford, unlike Microsoft Office, which is outrageously expensive. I really can't understand why anyone, whether private individual or multinational corporation, would use anything else.
Rating: - Lotus SmartSuite Millennium Edition - ( v. 9.8 )
I've been looking for this for ages and I thought it had gone for good. I really only want Word Pro because it is the best word processor bar none. I dont like any Microsoft programmes and I have found Word Perfect difficult after Word Pro which only gave me a problem when I tried to use the previous issue in XP. I can now enjoy wordprocessing again at a remarkable price. Great!
Rating: - Incredible Suite - who needs MS Office ??
Why is MS Office so popular when Lotus Smartsuite provides more features, more ease of use and incredible price ??? Wordpro is a much more intuitive wordprocessor, supports more formats, 123 provides all your spreadsheet needs and for super databases (even relational ones) Approach is much quicker and simple to use than Access. As if that's not enough you've got Freelance Graphics, Organiser, Fastsite and other valuable modules, easy to install and manage. If you really have to share with MS users the packages all write files in MS readable format - a feature not reciprocated by Microsoft. Convert today - you won't be sorry.
- Please IBM don't leave SmartSuite in the coldI have used both Lotus SmartSuite and Microsoft Office in various versions for well over a decade. Both suites are incredibly powerful but for me the application which really makes the difference between the two is Lotus Approach.
I first discovered with brilliant software when it was in its first version, before it became part of SmartSuite. I have used it as a development platform for a wide range of applications for all sorts of clients from lawyers to catering suppliers and from CRM applications to invoicing. It is a staggeringly good piece of software that makes Access seem sluggish in performance and slow during development.
A couple of years back a long term client asked me to redevelop an Approach based application that was a core system for their business into an Access based equivalent. I recommended that they didn't do this as the performance of Access would be slow and the functionality of the system would be difficult to replicate under Access. The client said that they had decided to standardise around Microsoft Office products so they wanted to do this. I turned down the job and they spent the next five months trying to redevelop the application with another company. Then they gave up. Those Approach applications are still active in this "Microsoft house".
I would urge IBM to look again at Approach as a top class tool which is brilliant for creating user friendly datebase driven applications. With better linkages to more powerful SQL database engines they have a real winner in their stable just waiting to be harnessed. There is a huge opportunity to make Approach the tool of choice for developing real world user interfaces for the new breed of systems that are now being developed around MySQL/Linux and Open Source. Come on IBM - you make all the right noises about Open Source and Linux systems; is it just lip service?
Rating:
- Smartsuite - the best package by far!Over the past twenty years I have used numerous word processing programs, and have never found anything to equal WordPro. Freelance Graphics, which I use regularly, does everything I could possibly want it to do. It is easier to make these programs do what you want them to do, and, just as important, to prevent them from doing things you don't want them to do, by far, than with the Microsoft equivilants. And then there is the fact that Lotus gives you the filters to save into a wide range of formats, or read out of them, so documents in some other format are not a problem (which they certainly are with Microsoft programs). Finally, Lotus have priced this package at a level that a mere mortal can afford, unlike Microsoft Office, which is outrageously expensive. I really can't understand why anyone, whether private individual or multinational corporation, would use anything else.
Rating:
- Lotus SmartSuite Millennium Edition - ( v. 9.8 )I've been looking for this for ages and I thought it had gone for good. I really only want Word Pro because it is the best word processor bar none. I dont like any Microsoft programmes and I have found Word Perfect difficult after Word Pro which only gave me a problem when I tried to use the previous issue in XP. I can now enjoy wordprocessing again at a remarkable price. Great!
Rating:
- Incredible Suite - who needs MS Office ??Why is MS Office so popular when Lotus Smartsuite provides more features, more ease of use and incredible price ??? Wordpro is a much more intuitive wordprocessor, supports more formats, 123 provides all your spreadsheet needs and for super databases (even relational ones) Approach is much quicker and simple to use than Access. As if that's not enough you've got Freelance Graphics, Organiser, Fastsite and other valuable modules, easy to install and manage. If you really have to share with MS users the packages all write files in MS readable format - a feature not reciprocated by Microsoft. Convert today - you won't be sorry.
