Don't be afraid to spend some time researching various programs or asking vendors for specification sheets. If time isn't of the essence, you might follow threads in newsgroups for a while and gain useful insights into the nuances of various programs. A fool and his money are soon parted. In fact, you may discover that the tech support you receive from a small shareware developer is better than that from a major corporation. This is because you may be getting your help directly from the person who wrote the program, rather than a canned auto-bot reply from the larger firm.
People are often surprised to discover how expensive technical support can be.
Therefore, I always check for toll-free help lines or free online support. Trust me, there is a direct relationship between how technical a product is and how often you'll need to contact technical support. You might also ask if the company charges for updates, or if they are provided as a courtesy to the user. Delphi Let's face it, we're Mac users. Because of the Mac's ease of use, we get more work done.