It's Caroline again. I'm working on getting my business together before I start accepting work. I need to make sure I have the programs I need. (And that is a weak point for me...lol)

Should I have Microsoft Office or would Microsoft Home and Office be okay? Which do you use?

Also, please let me know what other programs you use often. I've just started the certification program with Diane Hess....I'm so excited!!!

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L. Caroline Mills of LC Mills, Inc.
www.lcmillsinc.com

Do you mean Microsoft Home and Student? The differences between that package and Office Professional (for instance) are: No Outlook, no Access, and no Publisher.

If you don't use Outlook for email, and you don't offer database services, and you don't use Publisher to do desktop publishing services, then it's a good deal. It's also ~$350 cheaper!!

I've tinkered with Scribus for desktop publishing instead of Publisher, but never really done much more than that. It's free, so if desktop publishing is important to you, you might be able to get Home and Office and just download Scribus to care for that need.

If you need Access, I believe you can still buy it separately for between $100 and $150 as a standalone program.

Reference: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/bu...101825640.aspx

Also, they have Home and Business, but the only difference listed from Home and Student is that it seems to offer Outlook. I would not pay $130 more just for Outlook. But, that is an option for you, if you like.



EDIT: I just noticed this fineprint at the bottom of the link:
Not intended for use in any commercial, nonprofit, or revenue generating business activities

That stinks...and is rather prohibitive. Hmm. If you are a student, you may be able to get Office through your school at great discount. Otherwise, you can consider buying a cheap version of Microsoft Works and getting an upgrade version of Office. It's a little convoluted to install them both, but going the upgrade route saves at least $60, IIRC.

I can never justify the Office price to anyone...it's obsurd! But, that's just my opinion and I'm a sucker for free/open-source software too.

Home and Office will have the basic programs that you need to get started however I would think about upgrading when possible. Another option is open source programs however you need to think like a client on this one.

I have Office Professional and quite frankly I do not use Access as I do not do tons of database work and I have migrated to gmail through my Google Apps account. So Outlook is just there for my clients who are on an exchange server.

Some of my other regular programs are: Adobe Acrobat Pro (I do a lot of forms) and Photoshop (Gimp is a good alternative). My two favorites are Mavenlink for project management and Box.net for file storage (Dropbox is an alternative and I actually use that for personal stuff).

Most of my clients are moving to the cloud for their business and taking advantage of these programs so I would put some money in the budget and upgrade when you have clients. You may find that your clients are choosing the more open source applications and there would not be an immediate need to upgrade.

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

Thank you so much guys!!! I'm really doing my research on all this and I appreciate your advice. It's funny. For over a year now I've had this romantic notion of starting my own virtual assistant business. Now that I'm really taking the steps toward actually doing it.........BAM! Reality hits!! LOL!!

There's so many new things out there to learn and although it's shaken my confidence a bit...I'm rising to the challenge. I'm just a little behind. Been a few years since I've done clerical or administrative work. Just gotta update my brain! Not just my software! LOL! But that's what the information highway is for. Thanks again!!

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L. Caroline Mills of LC Mills, Inc.
www.lcmillsinc.com

Just a note... you may also want to browse EBay -- I was really lucky when Microsoft Professional XP came out a few years ago and got fantastic software at a great price. It was brand new - still in box and from a reputable retailer.

Great idea, Debra! I will. My husband as been browsing it himself telling me of all the good deals. Should've listened...lol

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L. Caroline Mills of LC Mills, Inc.
www.lcmillsinc.com

lol!!! just be careful of anything you buy... anywhere.

ALSO thinking out of the box... another idea - don't feel you need to have all equipment prior to starting - it takes time to get clients sometimes and also you may want to base your decisions of what equipment to get on your clients' needs (which you won't know until you have some)

I went with the Office addition - I love Outlook...!

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Bridie's Typing Services - specialising in transcription services
The professional's choice

Outlook is like my right arm, I couldn't imagine not having it for a bunch of reasons -- it helps me stay organized, tracks documents I work on in Word, organizes email from ALL my email accounts and integrates with other third-party software I use. If I only used it to sync my contacts, calendar and tasks with my Blackberry that would be worth the $130 alone.

I think there's other functionality that's not available on the home version as well when it comes to available templates & styles within Word, and some of the advanced features. I suppose the best thing would be to compare the features and see whether you can live without them.

That said, when I started another business 7 years ago, I couldn't afford to buy new, so I bought an older version (Office 2000 Professional Extended) on eBay which I used up until last year when I upgraded. Never had one regret, it worked perfectly and I didn't have to give up any important features. I just made sure the seller had lots of good feedback and that the software hadn't been previously registered (although it's a bit more difficult now because authentication/registration is more automated).

Good luck with starting your business!

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Michele Alise ~ FluxAppeal
Solutions to Fit the Evolving Needs of Your Business

I agree re OUTLOOK! I am a number one fan! On a personal note - I would have Office/Professional and would rather also have used of that than new of a home version - just sayin'