September 18, 2007 12:52 PM
IBM Enters the Office Applications Industry, But What Took Them So Long?
The New York Times is reporting that I.B.M. is soon to launch desktop software called Lotus Symphony. IBM’s Lotus Notes product which has been competing with Microsoft on the email, messaging and collaboration market, is taking the competition further with the launch of its own office software.
And looks like Microsoft is facing a tough rival since the Lotus Symphony will be available free for download at the IBM web site. Lotus Symphony was developed under the OpenOffice.org consortium with the original code that dates back into its origin, German company Star Division which was acquired by Suns Microsystems in 1999. This was later launched into the desktop software Star Office.
So much for historical facts and lets lay down what the Lotus Symphony has to offer and whether it could give Microsoft Office a good battle.
The NYT report says the IBM is aiming to open the door to a faster more automated movement of information within and between organizations. The Symphony boasts of an open document format that makes digital information independent of the program and is based on the XML protocol that enables machine-to-machine interchange of data and information.
“There is nothing that advances a standard like a product that uses it,”, says Steven A. Mills, senior vice president of I.B.M.’s software group, of Symphony’s OpenDocument Format move.
In compliance with international competition standard, I.B.M.’s Symphony will also support Microsoft Office formats, although some document formats may not translate properly into Symphony.
The desktop application arena is pretty much in a buzz lately following developments from major IT players. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft have been beefing up their desktop application suite are in a head-on collision with each other. IBM’s entry into the battlefield is a welcome break for both users and companies offering those products. It’s about time we hear from outside the triumvirate battle among the three said companies
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