Back to school: Will you be buying productivity software for that new laptop?

It wasn't all that long ago that a key question when you bought a new computer was, Office or WordPerfect? I mean not long ago in human years. In Internet years, it was an eternity. Does WordPerfect even exist anymore? Does anyone care?

Now, the average user just takes the default Microsoft Works install or springs for some flavor of Office. If that average user happens to be in college, then Office is probably pretty cheap through some academic licensing scheme. However, no matter how cheap, there are alternatives. Some might even argue that there are better free choices.

I've actually already written that there are times when Microsoft Office is, in fact, good enough to pay for, with or without academic pricing. It's great software for serious power users, no doubt about it. This is back to school season, though. Lots of parents and students are purchasing new computers and there are great, cost-effective options out there. Do you really need to saddle a netbook with Office? Or even OpenOffice, for that matter?

How about that budding filmmaker? If he or she is still in high school, Office is probably going to be might pricey. Pricey enough to rule out Adobe Premier or an upgraded video card.

We have this great thing called the cloud now, folks. I'm a giant fan of Google Apps, but if the Google ecosystem isn't your cup of tea, Zoho works just as well (and many would say better).

OpenOffice is fine, too, but how many students actually need a full-blown productivity suite?

I'm not stupid. Microsoft Office will certainly win the productivity software prize fight this fall. It's the de facto standard and too many people simply don't know that alternatives exist. However, it doesn't take long with Office to know that most users barely scratch the surface of its functionality, let alone realize the benefits of its high cost (assuming they lack an academic discount).

As with all things, the most important thing parents and students can do is understand their needs and requirements. And take a trip to Zoho.com or Google Apps to see if the latest and greatest in cloud-based productivity just might be precisely what they need. Can you save the money and the disk space associated with a productivity suite in favor of software and files available anytime, anywhere on the Web?