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September 18, 2007 | Comments: (0)
IBM Launches Lotus Symphony
InfoWorld reports:
"IBM is to offer the world a free word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation program in yet another bid to upset the dominance of Microsoft's Office suite....
IBM says it will contribute 35 programmers to the Symphony-cum-OpenOffice development effort...."
The Lotus Symphony FAQ states:
"Lotus Symphony is based on the Open Document Format (ODF) standard-which means you're not locked into proprietary file formats, software licensing agreements and upgrades"
Lotus Symphony products are standalone versions of products that are being bundled in Lotus Notes 8, and are built from OpenOffice technology.
The download process requires that users enter an IBM developerWorks or PartnerWorld ID. I know this sucks, and we deal with this issue when users want to download WAS Community Edition. However, we're required to adhere to export laws, exclude downloads to embargoed countries (i.e. North Korea), and IBM's legal team is a little more cautious when distributing OSS-based products for some reason ;-).
PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."
Posted by Savio Rodrigues on September 18, 2007 07:24 AM
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This is a wonderful development. Word, Excel, Powerpoint are now covered with replacements by IBM, Sun, Novell etc. Microsoft Project is replaced by Projity with either OpenProj or Project-ON-Demand. This covers the Office Suite and is all free of charge and cross platform.
I have been using OpenProj along with OpenOffice. It is a complete suite that replaces Microsoft Office. Keep an eye on Projity as they complement all the suites and basically has made Project which costs $1,000 a commodity. This will have a big impact on Microsoft. IBM, Sun, Novell and the other alternatives will be heard loud and clear !!!!!
Posted by: Jim Stephens at September 18, 2007 12:15 PMOh good. IBM is recycling Symphony. I thought we buried this beast when it first appeared in the mid-80s... the 'better Lotus' with everything in one box. If it's no better than Microsoft Works, if it's a clumsy as ever, if it's buried under the fourteen layers of political hogwash and stupid overhead code that most IBM software has been for the past 40 years... who cares? (Of course the answer is... management that thinks it will save money because IBM says so. Some things never change.)
Posted by: goodsystms at September 18, 2007 01:41 PMOk that's the Giants in the software industrie and they are pushing forward office Web enabled apllications, is good for end users.
Posted by: Jorge Cunha at September 19, 2007 04:21 AM
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