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You probably know best what software you need to do your
job. E-mail (Outlook Express) and browser software (Internet
Explorer) come with Windows 98 and Windows 2000. Regardless
of the software you may need to do your job, at a minimum
each home office should have the following:
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Microsoft Office 2000: This comes in two versions,
Small Business and Professional Edition. Both include
Word and Excel, among other programs. Professional Edition
adds PowerPoint and Access. Yes, there are other products
out there for word processors, spreadsheets, presentations,
and databases; but like it or not, Microsoft is the standard,
and chances are most of your customers will be using these
applications. In addition, there are lots of resources
and training materials available, so if you need help
getting up to speed, you won't have to look too far. You
can learn more at http://www.microsoft.com/.
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Quicken or QuickBooks: If you have your own business,
you need to start keeping the books. For most independents,
the simpler Quicken should suffice. It includes tools
for tracking your tax information and preparing special
business reports such as a P&L statements, Job/Project
tracking, Accounts Payable and much more. If your business
is a bit more complicated, consider the higher-end QuickBooks,
which has more advanced accounting features. You can learn
more about both of these programs at http://www.intuit.com/.
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Virus Protection: You are probably aware of the
threat computer viruses pose to your system. Some viruses
come attached to e-mail, others come on floppy disks from
clients or friends, but wherever the virus originates,
you can protect yourself with anti-virus software. Don't
even think about buying a computer for your home-based
business without getting this most basic form of data
protection. Consider such products as Norton Anti-Virus
(http://www.norton.com/) or McAfee Virus Scan
(http://www.mcafee.com/).
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Fax Software: Sure, you can send e-mails from
your computer, but what about a fax? The easiest way to
send and receive faxes from your computer is using a product
such as WinFax (http://www.symantec.com/winfax/). Besides the
ability to send and receive faxes, WinFax includes many
advanced features, such as OCR software that can convert
a fax to text so you can edit the fax message in a word
processor or other program.
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