Review by JJCEO

I have used Microsoft Office since it was launched and this is the best version yet. It comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote and is a powerful office and student software. I was glad to see that OneNote was modified to now work on 64 bit operating systems. This was a major problem with the old Microsoft Office release and OneNote is one of my favorite programs that formally only worked on 32 bit systems. I print a lot of emails and save copies of invoices on things that I purchase to save printing on paper by using OneNote.

This package allows this software to be loaded onto up to 3 computers in the same household which is a nice feature. Most homes today have more than one computer and this is a cost saving feature for families. The software works much faster and loads faster than the old versions that I have used. This package provides a student or home user all the tools they need to use at home to do their work and assignments. (Except one)nnOne feature that I find missing is the inclusion of the software Outlook. I still gave this package a 5 Star review but I do find it sad that this powerful mail, calendar, contacts and task managing tool is not included into this version of office. Microsoft’s help here is to offer a free download of Windows Live Mail which is a weak sister to the really good Outlook package. You have to either purchase Outlook for about $100 or buy a more expensive Microsoft Office package and face other issues. This is only a way for Microsoft to charge you more. I use Outlook to manage my contacts and place photographs of my contacts or logos of businesses in my iPhones and iPad contact directory. Live mail requires you to use the cloud and share your contacts to sync photos which I will not do.

That being said the Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 package is still a good buy and worth the money. I use it every day and find it easy to use and learn but there is a new learning curve if you are used to using an older version. Finding your favorite controls and features may take you some time as some have moved.

My ranking is 5 stars but my feeling would have been better if Outlook was included or a discount coupon to buy Outlook was in the box for loyal Microsoft users to buy Outlook with.