WordPerfect Family Pack 3

Regardless of its primary function, every computer should have a few basic software necessities: a word processor, an antivirus program, a spreadsheet application, and perhaps a photo editor. WordPerfect Family Pack 3 provides all of those essentials plus a bevy of other programs. Its cornucopia of software includes full versions of WordPerfect 9, Quattro Pro 9, McAfee VirusScan 5.0, Corel Photo House 5, Corel Print House 5, Compton's Interactive World Atlas, CYBERsitter 2001, and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 11.

This big four-CD package includes everything an Internet-capable family computer needs. WordPerfect is a top-tier, fully functional word processor; Quattro Pro is an efficient spreadsheet application; and Photo House is a feature-rich, user-friendly image editor. Most of the other applications are similarly praiseworthy. The hefty manual and comprehensive online help system make mastering any of the programs relatively easy. The only determent to getting started is the installation, which can be a chore due to the number of apps included.

With Family Pack 3, Corel takes a great step to ensuring user friendliness: a central task manager contains wizards and templates to help users accomplish scores of common projects. Whether you're creating to-do lists, household budgets, or finding online weather reports, the task manager works seamlessly with the included applications. However, if you'd rather leap right into the main applications, users can always bypass the manager.

This new version of WordPerfect Family Pack includes several thoughtful improvements over its predecessors. The last pack didn't include VirusScan, which is one of the finest antivirus programs available. Families with young children will appreciate the Internet filter CYBERsitter, a configurable, password-protected filter that blocks access to Web sites and e-mail with objectionable content. Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing offers a friendly, classroom-style environment, designed to transform users into efficient, speedy keyboard jockeys.

The Family Pack only includes one dud. Compton's Interactive World Atlas is a disappointment, especially since it replaces the superior Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia 2000 Standard from the previous Family Pack. The so-called atlas contains only limited information on a few cities worldwide, low-quality multimedia clips of general topics, and a few other odds and ends.

One bad apple doesn't spoil this bunch, though. WordPerfect Family Pack 3 is a powerful and astonishingly cost effective suite of software, some of which is mandatory and some just useful. --Joel Durham, Jr.