If you've ever used a word processing program, spreadsheet application or graphic design software, you've had some experience with productivity software. These are the tools people use to create and produce documents, presentations, databases, charts and graphs. It might not be the most exciting software on the market, but for many organizations, corporations and individuals, it's a necessity. Although there are hundreds of examples of productivity software available, there's little doubt that Microsoft Office dominates the industry. That's partly because the Windows operating system (OS), also produced by Microsoft, is the most common OS on PCs today. In fact, more than 86 percent of all computers in homes and offices run on some form of the Windows OS (source: W3C). Many computer vendors include full or trial versions of Microsoft Office on new Windows PCs, which might partly explain the software's popularity. Because Office is a suite of applications produced by the same company, the developers for each program have the opportunity to make some application functions universal across the suite.

In theory, such functions make it easier to combine elements from different applications to create an integrated document. Some users may find programs from other companies are better suited to their own needs. Others might need specialized productivity software dedicated to a specific purpose. For example, screenplays follow a very specific format. Screenwriters might want word processing software that formats documents in the appropriate style automatically. Whether you choose to buy a suite of programs from a major publisher or download shareware from an enterprising developer, you need to keep a few things in mind. Perhaps the most important fact to remember is that productivity software's purpose is to make tasks easier, but it doesn't take care of all the work by itself. Some people install productivity software and expect it to make production a breeze. While the software might streamline the process, in the end it's going to fall to the user to generate the actual content.

So what exactly makes productivity software productive? Find out in the next section. After all, it's the software that makes it possible to create documents, presentations, spreadsheets and related files. Good productivity software also takes care of tricky tasks like converting spreadsheets full of data into charts and graphs. But the initial effort must still come from the user. The key to useful productivity software relies on how well the developers are able to anticipate a user's needs. Developers have to take many factors into consideration when programming productivity software. What's the application's purpose? How will people use it? What functions will they require? How should developers organize the software's interface? Ideally, developers figure out the features customers will need before the customers realize they need them. If the developers don't think through the software thoroughly, the result can be a program that frustrates users. Part of the challenge of developing productivity software is to organize program features in a way that's intuitive without copying another developer's work.

Some users are picky about certain features. If they switch from one product to another, they might get frustrated if the second product doesn't organize its features in the same way as the program they've become used to. Often, companies offer updated software packages with new features that also reorganize old features in new ways. Doing so risks the wrath of long-time users, who can become accustomed to a particular organizational format. For that reason, some productivity software companies build in an option to view later versions of software in the style of earlier versions. A few will even include an option that emulates a rival company's product in an effort to lure customers away from competitors. Some developers choose to create open source productivity software. Open source means the developers make some or all of the programming code they use to create applications freely available to the public. That way, other people can take the code and make additions or alterations to create their own software.

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