There are certain programs that all business users should have installed on their PCs; a word processor, a spreadsheet package and some form of business graphics utility. You may also want a powerful database program, or maybe nothing more complex than an address book. For budget reasons, it makes sense to buy the lot as a pre-packaged set or 'suite'. Home and hobby users are well-served by so-called 'works' suites, but the serious business user should be looking at the 'office' collections.

The undoubted market leader in office suites is, of course, Microsoft. In fact, so many new PCs these days come supplied with Microsoft Office already installed (whether you want it or not) that you might wonder why anyone else bothers competing. We refer you to the US Department of Justice for their opinion on this issue, but in the meantime note that Microsoft Office does face direct competition from several other office suite developers. These companies can make a lot of money from regular upgrade fees once you're locked in to their suite, so the potential pickings can be rich.

To make their offerings more attractive, office suite developers bundle extra software such as personal organisers and photo editors, and promise more Internet-related features beyond the usual Help menu link to the company's Web site. You can often even choose between 'standard' and 'professional' editions, allowing you to get exactly the package you need. Here we take a closer look at the five top contenders for standard edition office suites from Ability, Corel, Lotus, Microsoft and Sun. Click the 'NEXT' link below to find out more.