Personal and Business Applications

DATABASE FileMaker Pro 5.5 You can easily set up a FileMaker Pro database without looking at a manual, but the program is scalable enough to run a company and support multiple users over a LAN or the Web. If you're comfortable using a spreadsheet as a database, this is your next step toward the major league since each database is easily visualized in columns and rows. Plus, FileMaker imports Excel or text files, and you can build optional data input forms using wizards or by designing your own. While you can sort data quickly by multiple criteria at once, search results are unfortunately not always presented intuitively. For those who've used version 5 to publish a database on the Web, version 5.5 still offers that ability and adds some new publishing and security features. If you're serious about utilizing Internet access, consider the $995 Unlimited version, which supports Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) communication as well as XML and links into enterprise applications. $249 / FileMaker / (800) 325-2747 / www.filemaker.com (Tested February 2002)

ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2002 Norton AntiVirus is everything you'd want in an antivirus program: It installs effortlessly, it works mostly in the background, and it's easy to customize via its control panel. NAV 2002 isn't a quantum leap over 2001, so if you're already using the older version, you're covered—unless you're considering switching to XP. This update still features its excellent autoprotect feature that scans new files and POP3 e-mail in real time—which may slow mail pickup on older computers, but it's worth it. On top of that, you also can schedule regular virus scans of your whole system. Best of all, NAV comes with a free year of the LiveUpdate service, which quietly checks Symantec's server for the latest virus definitions whenever you go online. The service is $10 a year thereafter. NAV is good, but so is rival Network Associates' McAfee VirusScan. And if you want NAV plus other features, go for Norton Internet Security (for a firewall) or Norton SystemWorks (for system maintenance utilities). $50 / Symantec / (800) 441-7234 / (800) 426-9400 / www.symantec.com (Tested February 2002)

INFORMATION MANAGER Microsoft Outlook 2002 If you're not using America Online for all your e-mail, you're probably on standard Internet POP3 mail—and in that case, the reasons for using Outlook as your information manager are overwhelming. Outlook isn't perfect: It's been exploited by worms thanks to its eagerness to execute scripts within messages, and we still wish it could tie contact information into calendar entries as well as Lotus Organizer did 10 years ago. But it's fast, easy, and safe enough—and it's on friendly terms with most other software you're likely to use. You need Outlook to synchronize a desktop calendar and address book with a Pocket PC handheld, for instance, and Outlook lets you use Word as an e-mail text editor. The 2002 version offers a few enhancements, like easier management of multiple mail accounts, instant messaging, less cluttered event-reminder pop-ups, and group scheduling for corporate users on Exchange-based mail servers. Included with Office XP / Microsoft / (800) 426-9400 / www.microsoft.com (Tested February 2002)

PERSONAL FINANCE Microsoft Money 2002 Deluxe As competing products mature, they often become more alike. That's true for Microsoft Money and Intuit Quicken. Both maintain checkbooks, help you pay bills, and offer investment planning. Both have special hooks into income-tax software (Money with H&R Block's TaxCut, Quicken with Intuit's TurboTax), and both work with Web sites (CNBC on MSN Money and Quicken.com, respectively). Which to choose? Tax season is starting, and if you're a TurboTax diehard, Quicken rules. But for beginners Money has a slight edge: It's easier to set up and has great presentation graphics to make even the worst financial situation look pretty. New features in 2002 are mostly about Web integration. The option of having your finances available via the Web may be appealing (or scary, depending on how you feel about the Microsoft Passport service), but it's hard to see when we'd really use MoneySide, a new feature that lets you check your bank balance as you make an online purchase. But thanks to arrangements with over 900 financial institutions, Money will download your banking information to fill your account ledger with transactions you might have missed, like late-night ATM withdrawals (including those crummy service charges). $60 / Microsoft / (800) 426-9400 / www.microsoft.com (Tested February 2002)

PROJECT MANAGER   Microsoft Project Standard 2002 Microsoft wants to expand what we think of as a project, so now we can all call ourselves "project managers." The company's challenge is getting us to pull our work together using project management software instead of a mélange of spreadsheets, e-mail, information managers, office whiteboards, and scrawled notes on crumpled napkins. The solution: Microsoft has split its venerable Project software into tiers—Standard and Professional. The Standard version, which is for business managers and project teams, helps manage schedules and bring relevant information together. Managers can create project plans, enter deadlines for different stages, assign tasks, and make those nifty Gantt timeline charts. Integrate Project Standard with Microsoft Project Server, and it becomes the Project Solution for workgroups, and offers more Web-based views of projects. Project Professional, on the other hand, helps with coordinating multiple projects and the resources they require across an enterprise—competing more squarely with project managers from Primavera. $599 (Standard), $999 (Professional), or $1,499 (Server) / Microsoft / (800) 426-9400 / www.microsoft.com (Tested June 2002)

PERSONAL FIREWALL Zone Labs ZoneAlarm Pro 3.0 Firewalls traditionally have protected Net-connected computers against nasty invaders, but ZoneAlarm pays equal attention to outbound communications from your PC—in response to the worms and Trojan horses that invade computers and plant rogue applications that propagate themselves to other computers on the Net. When any application tries to access the Internet for the first time, ZoneAlarm asks permission before letting the communication proceed. It then fingerprints approved applications to make sure a hacker can't plant bogus or modified versions of them. Both ZoneAlarm Pro 3.0 and ZoneAlarm 3.0 (the free downloadable version) offer a nifty dashboard to monitor the activities of your Net-connected applications. But the Pro version goes the extra mile, keeping active content like JavaScript from messing with your hard disk and adding privacy with the option of blocking ads and controlling cookies. $49 / Zone Labs / (415) 341-8200 / www.zonelabs.com (Tested February 2002)

ACCOUNTING Intuit QuickBooks Pro 2002 The Pro 2002 version of the popular small-business accounting package isn't a quantum leap over the 2001 release—plenty of QuickBooks owners are still using versions from 1998 and earlier and remain satisfied. But this year's model has added some minor wish-list features in the areas of report generation, invoicing, and payment tracking. There's also added compatibility with a growing library of third-party business software that handles online commerce, reporting, time and attendance tracking, retail and inventory management, and more. While there's a learning curve, QuickBooks is still easy enough for business managers who aren't bookkeepers to input invoices and receipts and keep the books straight. Online, you can send invoices by e-mail or fax, download bank statements, accept credit cards, and subscribe to a payroll service that ensures your payroll taxes are withheld and filed properly. $280 / Intuit / (800) 446-8848 / www.quickbooks.com (Tested April 2002)

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Ziff Davis Smart Business.