Of these, only MegaDoc, pictured in Figure C, offers some support for Rich Text Formatting.

FIGURE C

MegaDoc offers some support for Rich Text Formatting.

Quickword doesn't offer support for formatting such as bold, italics, or underlining in the current version, though it's promised in a coming release.

Databases
In the database category, the most popular applications include DDH Software's HanDBase (at http://www.ddhsoftware.com/software.html?view=handbase), Thinking Byte's ThinkDB (at http://www.thinkingbytes.com/thinkDB.html), and Land-J Technologies' Jfile (at http://www.land-j.com/jfile.html), which is pictured in Figure D.

FIGURE D

JFile is a user-friendly database program for the Palm OS.

Bundling up
So if integrating these various productivity categories into one powerful package makes so much sense for desktop PCs, doesn't it make sense that these Palm applications be bundled together into a single integrated productivity suite? Yes it does, and some Palm software developers previously mentioned are certainly moving in that direction. Indeed, both Cutting Edge Software (at http://www.cesinc.com) and DataViz (at http://www.dataviz.com) have recently launched their different visions of what an "office-style" handheld suite should be like.

Meet the candidates
Documents To Go Professional, from DataViz, provides good document viewing of a range of Microsoft and non-Microsoft desktop file formats, and their most recent release supports some device-side input as well. The emphasis of DataViz is on "remote view access" to documents and recently has included DataViz Mail to support remote viewing of email attachments in common formats.

The bundle's spreadsheet application, SheetToGo, is pictured in Figure E.

FIGURE E

SheetToGo has multiple cell options for flexible viewing.

The word processing application in this bundle is called WordToGo, and it's pictured in Figure F.

FIGURE F

With WordToGo, you can add bookmarks for easy navigation.

Quickoffice from Cutting Edge Software, meanwhile, assumes users will require full interaction with remote documents, including new file creation, duplication, and comprehensive editing. These differing approaches will determine which is appropriate to your use.

As mentioned above, the spreadsheet application in the Quickoffice bundle is called Quicksheet. It's pictured in Figure G.

FIGURE G

Quicksheet includes over 60 built-in functions with support for many scientific, financial, date/time, and statistical calculations.

Currently, no other single software provider offers both text editing and spreadsheet solutions amenable to an enterprise implementation. Both Documents To Go and Quickoffice, however, are excellent solutions.

Getting the most out of office suites
The question you're likely asking is, "How can my company get the most use out of such an office suite?" One common view among users of Quicksheet and Quickword is that a productivity suite solution is most useful at "the functional group" level, rather than on some overarching enterprise-wide basis. That is, if your workgroup is performing a task or a process on the desktop, many might get the idea that it would be beneficial to perform this task or process on the Palm device. This notion is especially pertinent if the members of your group do a considerable amount of work while away from the office.