For the many OneNote users who have been manually copying documents back and forth to use on both a notebook and a desktop PC, the synchronisation issue is solved elegantly with locally cached files that automatically update in both directions when you get back to the network.

The main drawback in OneNote - and the reason why you won't switch to it for everything except documents you need to pass on to other people - is that the text handling is still inferior. Text is organised in chunks on the page and it's easier to move these than individual words.

AutoCorrect works, but you have to enter new corrections by hand in a dialog box rather than right-clicking on them the way you do in Word (and no, OneNote doesn't have the ribbon interface, partly because it hasn't been around long enough to build up the cruft of poorly placed options the main applications have acquired).

One at a time

When you check your spelling you have to mark each correction individually; there's no change all. These minor flaws don't mar OneNote too seriously; it's an extremely useful tool for anyone who needs to take notes and deserves a wider audience than just the home and high-end business versions.

For most companies InfoPath doesn't need to be in Office any more, because you can give copies of it to the few people who design forms - for everyone else you can run SharePoint Server or the Office Forms Server so they can fill them in the design forms from their browser or Outlook.

Microsoft wants InfoPath in Office so that more people are exposed to it, but we think OneNote and Groove are more useful for most users in business - and OneNote is useful for home users too, because whether it's a work project or a holiday, we're all researching something.

Office 2003 brought Office closer to SharePoint, and 2007 Office System continues the process, adding a new range of Office servers and services to SharePoint.

While SharePoint Server 2007 offers premium services that target large organisations, smaller businesses and teams can use SharePoint Services 3 to handle basic document sharing, as well as team discussions and calendars. You can subscribe to SharePoint content in Outlook 2007, where it looks set to replace Exchange's Public Folders.

SharePoint Services 3 is a big upgrade, and includes the ability to add content by sending an email message to a SharePoint site. You'll find there's now mobile support, with PDA and smartphone views for lists.

Other new features include social networking tools, with support for blogs and wikis. SharePoint wikis work well for smaller teams, and can help build a collaborative pool of knowledge. There's also a recycle bin, so site administrators can restore documents that have accidentally been deleted.

SharePoint calendars now have a similar look and feel to Outlook, and like Outlook calendars can be overlaid to give a better picture of your day. There's a better picture all round, because improved design tools help you build more manageable, more accessible sites - and if you don't want to use the built-in layout editor the new SharePoint Designer 2007 simplifies page and site customisation.

Document management has become more and more important thanks to the latest rounds of business regulations, and enterprise content management systems help take control of just who can see what files, and what they can do with them. SharePoint Server 2007 is built on top of SharePoint Services 3, and adds more tools for managing and controlling document lifecycles.

As web content management is closely related to enterprise content management, it's not surprising that the Enterprise version of SharePoint Server 2007 replaces the Content Manager product, and manages your business websites as well as internal documents and teams.