MS suite spurs users to compare; ClarisWorks, RagTime among suite alternatives

MacWeek, Jan 5, 1998 by April Streeter

While it is yet to be released, Microsoft is promising a lot in the Mac version of Office 98: Not only is the package to be on a par with its Windows equivalent, it is also supposed to sport a truly Mac look and feel, for once giving Mac users the best of both worlds.

Whether or not Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft delivers on these promises - and those who have seen the product agree that it does seem Mac-inspired and powerful - the advance publicity is making users look more closely at their chosen productivity tool.

The Mac market leader, ClarisWorks from Santa Clara, Calif-based Claris Corp., is not likely to lose its pre-eminent position soon, especially for general users such as Jason Parrish, a second-grade teacher at LaRose Elementary in Memphis, Tenn. "ClarisWorks fills almost all of my needs," Parrish said. "I use it to make lesson plans, create worksheets and tests. I keep grades on a CW spreadsheet, student information in a CW database. Office seems too much tool for the job I need to do."

ClarisWorks has received praise from users as a compact, less RAM-hungry alternative to Office, and the recent upgrade, 5.0, continues to have those virtues. But, perhaps because Office will be hot on the heels of ClarisWorks 5.0, users have found more to criticize.

"ClarisWorks 5.0 is an underwhelming effort," said Benjamin Smith, a user based in New York. "I'd like to see Claris freshen it up, update and upgrade the interface."

75 percent solution

These users, who fit the small-office, home-office category ClarisWorks is aimed at, aren't seriously considering switching. They simply say they hope the competitive pressure will persuade Claris to keep ClarisWorks evolving.

Users more likely to set up an Office 98 shop are managers with needs similar to those of Chip Mefford, the systems administrator at audiovisual systems supplier Audiovisual Washington Inc. of Sterling, Va. Due to time constraints, Mefford's company decided to implement FlexWare, a Mac accounting package from FlexWare International LLC of Rocklin, Calif., and write custom modules for other business functions, but he said Office 98 continues to entice him. "I know Office 97 (Windows) does what I want, and the question is whether Office 98 for Mac has the same functionality," he said. "It's [also] a matter of trying to stay abreast with the times. If one works closely with computer-based clients as we do, one is going to find oneself buried under correspondence and presentations prepared in the Office suite."

Michael Pinckney, research director for electronic workplace technologies at the Gartner Group in Stamford, Conn., estimated that as many as 75 percent of Windows-based business users will use Office. Microsoft's influence in the category has contributed to suites' evolution, in the words of a recent Gartner report, "toward easier to use and away from power-user features."

More power to you

RagTime, from B&E Software GmbH of Dusseldorf, Germany, is an alternative to Office and ClarisWorks. Distributed in the United States by ComGrafix Inc. of Clearwater, Fla., RagTime is billed as a document-management suite.

Paul Stary, principal at Audio-Video Engineering in Newport Beach, Calif., said RagTime is worth the initial learning curve. "I've found integrated applications are generally not for power users," Stary said. "[But] RagTime has a blend of functionality that covers [my] business needs better than any integrated application I know of. It is QuarkXPress with Word, Excel and Canvas embedded within." In RagTime, users open "frames" and insert different types of content, such as text or a spreadsheet, and then have tools available to lay out the content. Version 4.1, to be released this month, will include a Web publishing component and international document exchange features.

B&E said it realizes RagTime won't have the market share of ClarisWorks or Office, but Stary said it has the blend of power features and functionality many might crave. "The power doesn't come without some struggling. However, the big payback is that you can use RagTime for virtually every need in the office - RagTime's modules have become as good as many current stand-alone programs."