Ultimate Business Planner Version 1.0: ABS (Atlas Business Solutions Inc.).

One product that we also tested was Ultimate Business Planner. The software package is a Version 1.0 product, so we were a bit skeptical about its ability to deliver as solid a performance as the other packages. In Ultimate Business Planner, all the basic elements are there. You'll see a nag screen each time you open the program--unless you register--but the screen layout is logical. The first four Wizard buttons help you pull everything together, then the Plan button brings up the same type of three-pane layout as the Business Plan Pro and Business Plan Writer Deluxe packages.

But we had several problems with Ultimate Business Planner. For starters, it crashed a lot--on two different machines. It also had trouble consistently doing what the clickable icons said it would do. For example, we clicked the Topic Guide tab for "Executive Summary" and some of its subcategories. When we clicked on the Example tab, it sometimes moved to an example in the Topic Guide document, but often it gave 8 runtime error and closed instead. The product also has the smallest book, haft of which is manual, and half business plan information. Of the four products, Ultimate Business Planner was the least developed, yet it costs $30 mom than the other three. (Atlas Business Solutions, www.abs-usa.com, $129)