Whether you're a digital native - someone who was born into the digital era; or a digital immigrant - those of us who grew up without digital technology, but adopted it later, it's probably fair to say that many of us have found our own way through the maze of the internet without knowing exactly how we equipped ourselves for the journey.

But not being online is a problem including many small business users, still have. The digital divide is costing the United Kingdom £22bn a year. Despite recent technological advances, an estimated 10 million people in the UK have never used the internet and of these, 4 million are also classed as socially excluded. Whether you have yet to take the plunge, or are already involved in helping others on the next stage to lifelong learning, it's time to think about how to make the journey easy and enjoyable.

And it's not just about getting online, it's also about using a comprehensive toolbox that will entice and excite new users. As usage transgresses from the office to the home, Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010, provides all the programs you will need to use at work and at play.

From community centres to libraries, it's now seen as a priority to get the population using the internet. Among those who are not part of the online community are the people who have most to gain from the internet; to overcome isolation, save money or find help. If the internet is a new feature in your life, chances are you have not had the opportunity to look at software either. The Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 suite is the perfect partner for anyone who might have dipped their toe in the water, but really now needs to take the plunge and with a reliable software package.

Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 has the tools you need to stay connected and productive - at home, in the office, and on the road. It boasts powerful e-mail manageability, scheduling, and task list tools. Outlook 2010 gives you access to e-mails virtually anywhere, meaning that you'll always be in touch with colleagues and friends. Word 2010 and PowerPoint 2010 are great for creating professional-looking reports. And you can manage any finances with the data analysis tools in Excel 2010.

The digital notebook, OneNote 2010 is the ideal place to collect notes, research from the Web, documents, and other resources to organise projects for home and work. There are simple tag and search tools to allow faster filing and retrieving - especially handy if you're working on a host of projects at one time.

With Excel 2010 it's easy to create a business budget or track personal expenses. Simple to use features allow you to present your information with colourful 3-D charts and graphs you can create in just a few clicks.

If you are constantly researching, planning and creating sophisticated projects using the Web, OneNote 2010, is the ideal program to help you organize your important resources, from meeting notes and customer information to home remodelling plans. It's easy to create a OneNote notebook to collect a full spectrum of materials and media: documents, text, videos, audio, Web page clippings, and more. Make Internet research more efficient with Quick Filing to save information from Web pages and other resources to your notebook with just a click.

PowerPoint 2010 is the presentation program that allows you to make a slide show, incorporating high-quality video, audio and photos. There are easy-to-use photo and video editing features and dramatic visual effects; and you can broadcast your presentation to customers wherever they are across the globe.

The perfect program for writing anything from business reports to family newsletters, Word 2010 is easy to use and it's simple to get creative very quickly with ready-to-use templates for almost any project. You can add effects like shadow, reflection, and 3-D to any text in your Word document, and there's an impressive array of SmartArt graphics that are accessible with just a few clicks.

For anyone who relies on e-mail to keep their business runnning smoothly, Outlook 2010 gives you e-mail, calendar, and task list tools that work together, helping you stay connected with your contacts. You can manage e-mail from multiple accounts all in one inbox; or add appointments to everyone's calendar with the Group Scheduling function. Even exchanging e-mail with your friends and customers when you're away from the office is easy using Outlook Mobile 2010 on your smartphone.*

Once you are up to speed with using e-mail, Microsoft Outlook 2010 allows you to stay in synch from almost anywhere. You can manage multiple e-mail accounts such as Hotmail, G-mail and work e-mails from one location. It's even possible to e-mail your calendar to others so that it's easier to plan any event or meeting. The Outlook Social Connector helps you to view previous e-mails and meetings.

If you need to access or edit any of your work remotely, Office Web Apps work with Office programs to help you access and share your documents from almost any location. Save your Office files directly to the Web using Windows Live SkyDrive, which lets you access them from almost any Web browser, you can then edit and review your reports or presentations online with Web Apps from virtually anywhere.

If you want to hit the ground running when you win the race to get online, find out about Microsoft Office 2010 so that you are ready for the next step into the world wide web.