Good thing that both of these products are capable office suites at the core. We had a similar reaction to the Microsoft Office 2003 beta we recently reviewed. WordPerfect 11.0, Quattro Pro 11.0, and Presentations 11.0 all sport similar, Windows-like toolbar and menu structures, as they have in the past. This suite's look and feel haven't changed dramatically from those of previous versions. If you need a desktop publishing app and a contact manager, Microsoft Office 2003 is the clear choice. (You can purchase a single license.) Microsoft Office 2003 Professional Edition contains the Microsoft Access 2003 database, plus Microsoft Publisher 2003 and Microsoft Office Business Contact Manager 2003. If you need a database program, you'll have to purchase WordPerfect Office 11.0 Professional-available only through business licensing agreements. If you purchase WordPerfect Office 11.0, you must BYOEC (bring your own e-mail client). WordPerfect Office has no e-mail client of its own. To real bargain hunters, the Standard version's $299 price ($149 to upgrade) may seem high for three basic applications: a word processor (WordPerfect 11.0), a spreadsheet app (Quattro Pro 11.0), and a presentation maker (Presentations 11.0). WordPerfect Office 11.0 comes in two versions: Standard and Professional. On the downside, Corel offers only mediocre tech support, making the suite an acceptable but not inspiring choice for consumers and very small businesses.

Also, if your PC comes preloaded with Corel Office, give that suite a try before paying extra for Microsoft Office-you may like what you find. So if you swear by WordPerfect or if your company needs XML integration and would rather not pay for Microsoft's Office 2003 Professional edition, this suite is an attractive alternative to Microsoft's standard edition. But WordPerfect's enhanced XML support will appeal to businesses with heavy data-gathering requirements. True, this three-application collection-containing a word processor, a spreadsheet app, and a presentation maker-doesn't include an e-mail client. Although WordPerfect can't match Microsoft Office's 96 percent market saturation, this alternative office suite maintains a loyal, unwavering audience, largely among legal, government, and OEM clients.

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