Software Associates

In the computer world, office software, also known as office suite or productivity suite, is a collection of application programs intended to be used by technical experts and knowledge workers. An office suite normally has some common components and they can range from word processing, presentations programs, spreadsheets and database.

There are several software vendors who develop these office suites, some are internationally known and accepted while others are targeted for specific organizations. Some of the reputable software vendors and developers include Microsoft, IBM, Apple and Google.

The choice of an office suite depends on several factors. Some of these factors include: platform (operating system) compatibility – this mostly focuses on the flexibility of the software to be used on many operating systems, online capabilities – what beneficial services can the suite offer over the internet?, other available versions – does the suite have other versions that can be used for office consumption?, the cost of the suite – this focuses on the cost-efficiency of the suite with respect to other available suites and last but not least, the license and proprietary issues – some people may want to recode the suite to meet their own needs but due to the type of license, this cannot happen.

Some of these application programs are also available over the internet and can be downloaded for free.