An application suite consists of applications such as a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation.

An application suite is one in which one single application package has a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation. There are many such application suites available in the market.

The most popular application suite is the Microsoft office suite. This has Microsoft word. Excel, PowerPoint and publisher in addition to calendar and a email application. Each of these applications can be purchased and installed separately or as one integrated suite. The main advantage of an Office suite is the ability to import projects from one to another. For example an excel sheet can be embedded or imported into a word document. This means that one need not reinvent the wheel again and again. If a excel sheet has been prepared earlier, it can be incorporated in many word programs. PowerPoint presentations can import complex excel sheets and provide interactivity.

Other application suites in the market are WordPerfect Office, Lotus SmartSuite, StarOffice, OpenOffice.org, Google Apps and graphics suite. OpenOffice is an application suite which is open source and free download. OpenOffice open source project is presently managed by Sun Microsystems .The same company offers StarOffice which is a paid version.

The latest offering from Google requires a special mention here. Google applications provide a common platform for managing documents, Presentations and a spread sheet online. This means can the applications can be accessed online. The salient point in Google apps is the sharing and collaboration which is possible in real time. Several people across the globe can work on a single document in real time, which is a revolution of sorts. The application is free for individuals which makes it a potential threat to Microsoft office suite. Lately Google has added an offline capability which again is a versatile tool which will increase its popularity. Another major advantage of Google apps is that the documents can be stored in various formats including word and excel. Google apps is platform independent which means everyone can access their apps without bothering about their system software or operating system.

OpenOffice.org is another nifty application suite which is available as a free download and capable of doing almost everything word can.

An application suite is a bundle of interoperable applications. The open source movement has introduced a variety of free application suites which are much more powerful than Microsoft Office suite. The capability to collaborate online in real time is a powerful feature introduced by Google. The application suite war is certainly heading for a climax in the near future.

By Jose L. Anton, CEO

GreenCode Technologies, Inc.

(954) 840-8068