Office suite

In software, the term office suite describes an integrated package of software programs that address the most common clerical and knowledge worker tasks. Typically, this means:

• a word processor
• a spreadsheet program
• a presentation program
• a database query system

Office suites may also contain, or integrate with:

• a calendaring and groupware package
• a web browser and E-mail package

As of 2003, the current dominant office suite is the closed source Microsoft Office suite, the proprietary file formats of which have become a de-facto standard for many businesses, resulting in proprietary lock-in.

For this reason, the ability to read and write files in the Microsoft Office formats is currently essential for any new office suite which is seeking to displace Microsoft Office in the market.

Alternative office suites include:

• StarOffice
• OpenOffice.org
• KOffice
• WordPerfect Office