The Academic version of WP Office 2000 includes:

• Word Perfect 9 (with Trellix 2)
• Dragon Naturally Speaking (with Parrot Translator headphone set)
• Quattro Pro 9
• Corel Presentations 9
• Corel Central 9

The Corel Word-Perfect Office 2000 is an upgrade which not only provides further enhancements over previous versions, but also introduces Dragon Naturally Speaking, a speech recognition software program, and Trellix 2, a desktop web publishing application.

New Features in Word Perfect 9:  For you graphic artist types, WP 9 offers over 100 new shapes. The Flowchart alone has 28 which would look great in Corel Presentations 9, which is included in the Office 2000 bundle. In the "Call Out" selection, there are talking bubbles, reminiscent of comic strip dialog. Text can also be added to any shape on the fly by using the "Text in Shapes" feature. By right clicking on the shape, you can adjust the color, shading or fill on selected properties (even choosing a wood tone ranging from spruce to cherry wood).

With the new Autoscroll, you don't need the tedious arrow keys or scroll bar to move through your document. By activating Autoscroll via the tool bar, you can navigate at your own speed depending upon the proximity of the arrow to the Autoscroll tool.

Many Internet users are used to previewing a document before printing it from a web site, and Corel 9 users now have this ability as well. An additional enhancement is that the Corel Real Time Preview (the feature that lets you try out various fonts, tables, shading, etc. before applying them) can now be used in the Print Preview. This allows editing chores to be performed right in the Print Preview, thus eliminating the unnecessary step of switching back to regular view.

SpeedLinks is a feature that makes it easier for visitors to your Web document to access Internet links. By simply typing in the text beginning with "www." or "http:\\" the highlighted text will convert to the desired link.

Want to create a document which could be published to a HTML, but don't have the time to hassle with the learning curve? It's Corel to the rescue with Trellix 2.0. Click File/Publish to Trellix and you're on your way to creating a document similar to a web page with supporting links and other files such as graphics and spreadsheets.

Slaying the Dragon?  Perhaps the feature that appeared to be the most promising, but proved to be disappointing, was the Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS), a speech recognition program. The voice output (audio from the program through the speakers to me) was fine, but my input (via the microphone) during the set up test did not fare as well. This rapidly became an exercise in frustration as we began wading through the rather lengthy list of troubleshooting helps - ranging from jiggling wires to nearly rebuilding the entire system. We didn't get far in this process when it became apparent that the next upgrade would be out before we would get this thing operational. My vocal input continued to register in the unacceptable range; however, I was allowed to proceed with finishing the installation.

Here's how it works:  the DNS can be activated by simply saying "Wake up" into the headphone mike. At your command, the little mike icon should rise up at a 45-degree angle, ready to receive your verbal instruction. Conversely, the mike is supposed to turn off and resume a prone position replete with "z"s at the "Go to sleep" command. Reviewer's note: trying this out late at night when your spouse is retiring in the same room is NOT recommended. Since my input was not working so well, I had to speak rather loudly. The many repetitions of "Wake up" and "Go to sleep" left my husband praying for the dawn.

Sadly, even my laborious keyboard pecking could run circles around this program. In sum, although DNS shows lots of promise, its installation and operation seem very temperamental and the learning curve is rather steep.

Word Perfect: A Worthy Choice
As a word processor, WP 9 is quite definitively a powerful and sophisticated program, and the Office 2000 suite a practical addition to your software library. Not to fear that you will be left out when it comes to living in a Microsoft world; Corel Word Perfect Office Suite 2000 offers counterparts to Microsoft's programs, allowing for the exchange of files between Word Perfect / MS Word, and import/export capabilities between Quattro Pro 9 / Excel 97, and Corel Presentations 9 /PowerPoint 97.

Finally, WP9 carries the same wonderful array of templates for just about any document you could think to create. Just visit File/New from Project to view over 80 ideas. Under Education, you can print your own graph paper, multiplication table or even a hangman game. If you select Mutual Fund Analyzer, Retirement Planning, or Kiddie Tax Analysis, it will convert into a Quattro Pro 9 spreadsheet format. Award forms, video tape log, CD covers and more, Corel WP 9 has much to offer. Oh yeah...WP 9 still does snail mail letters, too.