Get the Right Tool for the Job

By Bill Syken

If you bought Quicken in, say, 1996, why would you buy it again now? Sure, the old program still balances your checkbook. But will it research the price of your home on the Web? The latest version can.

That's the point. The key reference and utility programs continue to sell well for three reasons: the number of PC owners gets bigger every year; software companies are finding new ways to adapt their products to the Web; and they keep adding new bells and whistles while holding prices in check.

In fact, all the leading software packages are mature products. You won't go wrong with any of them for basic chores, and the frills are only as seductive as their actual usefulness to you. Consider what you have and whether it's worth plunking down more cash for another shrink-wrapped box.

But like everything else digital, even that consideration is changing--you may not have to buy that box at all. The move to distribute software online is just breaking out. Among our recommended products, Norton 2000 can already be bought as a download. Still more of a paradigm shift is Encyclopaedia Britannica's recent move to give its contents away on its website. If others follow suit, a brave new world is here indeed.

--TIPS: SEE WHAT'S FREE BEFORE YOU BUY

TRIAL VERSIONS Manufacturer websites often have "trialware" that you can take for a test-drive.

SHAREWARE Sites like jumbo.com offer free business and utility software for download.

BUNDLES If you're buying a new machine, consider that computers often come bundled with some of these titles or competing ones.

--By Bill Syken