September 14, 2009
4:49 am
IBM call off Microsoft Office to change to Lotus Symphony
Staff at IBM have been given ten days to stop using Microsoft Office and switch to the Open Office-based software Symphony, IBM's in-house Lotus software. The use of Microsoft Office will in future require managerial approval. With immediate affect, the Open Document Format (ODF) will rule at IBM with the file ending .doc soon belonging to the past, reports Handelsblatt. Lotus Symphony is an office software that incorporates huge chunks of customized Open Office without a databank module. The free software download provided by IBM is an attempt at luring customers away from Microsoft. IBM's cooperation with Linux distributors like Red Hat, Canonical and Novell was designed to strengthen the software's market chances.
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IBM's offering is still based on the old OpenOffice source code. This means it is still going to be slow on startup, I am not even to mention how long it is going to take to open a document.
Then there is the probem with document compatibility. ODF is not compatible between open source office suites. That goes for the MS Word doc format too(OpenOffice >> MS Office and back).
This so called poaching is not going to happen, people believe in MS products because they work and are completely stable. The documents keep their formatting when transported between computers unlike ODF in open source office suites.
When it comes to free office suites, you should rather try SSuite Office for a free office suite. They have a whole range of office suites that are free for download.
Their software also don't need to run on Java or .NET, like so many open source office suites, so it makes their software very small and efficient.
You may try these links:
http://www.ssuitesoft.com/index.htm