IBM has just released a “new” free office suite (word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software) called IBM Lotus Symphony.
Joel Spolsky thinks that this is a non-event and that the software will fail to get a large number of users. (Personally I am very happy with OpenOffice.org and NeoOffice)
I love this paragraph from Joel’s post:
“As a programmer, thanks to plummeting memory prices, and CPU speeds doubling every year, you had a choice. You could spend six months rewriting your inner loops in Assembler, or take six months off to play drums in a rock and roll band, and in either case, your program would run faster. Assembler programmers don’t have groupies.”
Will I ever be able to tell my students to learn Assembler after this?!?
Thanks to you, I have found out now about some software I was not at all aware of.
Keep it this way, Avinash!
Yes, you can still them to learn Assembler.
After all most C, C++, Java, Haskell and Ruby and Python programmers don’t have groupies either.
I said this tongue in cheek Mahin :-)
I’ve downloaded the suite and I’m impressed. It’s so responsive. It’s beta and works great. I’ve only been experimenting with it since about 10 minutes ago. I’ll tell you more later. (it’s on freespire 2, right now).
@mahin- no groupies?! are you joking? embedded devices or chips still need ASM. it’s meant to stay.
(btw, ASM for beginners: http://forum.gamecheetah.com/showthread.php?t=8609 )
Why does this remind me of QNX? hmm..
i believe any self respecting ‘computer scientist’ or hacker must know assembly, with some fravia flavours on top of that :p
if only there was no univ, i could complete my assembly learning, its the only one thing i wanted to learn the most since 5 years i think.
+and i am happy its not in the ‘syllabus’ at univ, else i would probably have hated it. (:p homeworks and return assignment on time isn’t something i enjoy doing )
the screenshots looked bad!
For the moment, i prefer ms office :p hehe.. flame me :p, but i have my reasons
mastering assembly makes you a true computer scientist or @ least, it increases your karma.
ms office is good and all but it’s time for a change. yesterday, i generated a chantt chart very easily using calc. i got stuck with the indent and outdent of ms project.
but to sum up – use the product you like but get the job done perfectly!
In my opinion, OpenOffice seems to be better then Lotus Symphony.
As a remark, OpenOffice has the option to save as pdf, but writing and managing formulas is very strange.
Also cropping images is annoying, so taking into account how much I use this feature in preparing my lectures/presentations, definitely MS Office is better.
As selven, I definitely prefer MS Office for the time being.
These kind of programs are very good for someone who wants something close to MS Office and for free.
Put yourself in the place of your ordinary computer user Joe who’s still (very) happy with his Office 2000 suite. Who needs something that doesn’t fit well among the masses?
Having tried OpenOffice, NeoOffice, and iWorks ’08, I must say MS Office is probably the “best option” for the time being. It is not necessarily the best office suite, but is the best among the various options available to most users.
Like BlueBerry pointed out, most average users have been using Microsoft Office all their lives (at home and at work) and have grown accustomed to the Microsoft way over the years. Learning to use a new office suite is not something that a lot of people want to do or have the time to do. This is probably the main reason why MS Office is a big source of income for Microsoft.
OpenOffice.Org and Lotus Symphony are free software: you may download and use them without paying a cent to the computers on any number of computers and for any number of users.
MS Office on the other hand is sold at a rather expensive price, above MUR 5000. Have you bought your licenses for using MS Office or just downloaded your copy or got it from a friend?? That’s the whole point!
And when you’re paying for something, you’re sure to get some nice things. Else, you’ll stop throwing your money at Microsoft!!
I agreee with Dilraj,moreover anyone has mentionned the fact that Office 2k7 has changed its whole structure.how can lambda users which were accustomed with their standard menus must now migrate and learn how to use shortcuts like they never did before.I agree that there’s a customizable toolbar to suit your needs but by default it’s not present,this is another drawback for MsOffice.
At first when I started using Open Office,I began to tell myself why I’m using this on Windows platform,but after some practice I’m quite at ease with the applications.
Dilraj: While I do not totally disagree with your comment, I do not totally agree with it either. True, Microsoft Office cost a lot in Mauritius. This is where OpenOffice and Lotus Symphony come in handy. Actually, I’ve recommended OpenOffice to a friend of mine after finding out that he only needed a word processor to print some documents he was creating from scratch.
However, in Canada things look a little bit different. Many companies are unwilling to part ways with Microsoft Office. And because my place of work buys a lot of licenses from Microsoft, its employees are eligible for a free copy for home use.
The price of MS Office here is “affordable.” Plus, I also have a valid student card, and am therefore eligible for student discount. The student version of MS Office in Canada is CAD$ 208.00 (MRU 6240), but as a University of Waterloo student, I can get it for only CAD$ 99.00 (MRU 2970). Microsoft is currently running a promotional program where a student (in USA and Canada) can get MS Office Pro 2007 for US$ 59.00.
As you can see, in US, Canada, and I am sure in a lot of other countries also, Microsoft Office is quite affordable and is the only Office suite companies are willing to use.
Can’t students get student pricing for Microsoft Office in Mauritius ?
Dilraj: OpenOffice.Org and Lotus Symphony are free software: you may download and use them without paying a cent to the computers on any number of computers and for any number of users.
MS Office on the other hand is sold at a rather expensive price, above MUR 5000. Have you bought your licenses for using MS Office or just downloaded your copy or got it from a friend?? That’s the whole point!
Free doesn’t mean it is bad when it comes to quality, see Linux or BSD, they are free.. yet.. still owns :) Besides… free doesn’t mean gratis :)
Why do i say ms office is great, :p because there’s a whole team paid to work on that, while any ‘free’ office suite available now are written some some great team of programmers around many times VOLUNTARILY, and ..those hackers i believe are not heavy office users …hence i suppose it takes lots of time for bug findings and new features additions in those cases..its not the fault of those hackers, but its just that, office are not used that much by coders (i presume).
Besides, as far as windows or microsoft is concerned, your comment about the price, whether paid or pirated :p you still get no support, and it is still the property of microsoft even if you bought it… and legally speaking, if you wanted modify notepad to let’s say call make it be play mp3, you still can’t do it, because even if you bought it, the ownership is still ms :) (though i wonder who would be crazy to make notepad play mp3, that was an example.)
+s3lv3n
i prefer using something light, for the time being open office suits my needs.
i like office applications that doesn’t take lots of time to load..
word 2007 come with .docx extensions? btw (y microsoft uses X ? docx? aspx?)
i never used it but i heard there is a compatibility issue between docx and doc
basically if yo have office 2007 at home and moving around to uni your document may mot be open lol
@ Roopa:
yes, save all your docs in Office 2007 in doc, xls, etc. Avoid the “x” part!
@ Patrick:
Yes it’s true. Companies will not want to sever links with MS. Companies just can’t afford this. Business is business. Help other businesses grow and yours will grow with links and friends!
The price in Mauritius is high but not for US and Canada. There’s the student price in Mauritius too. But still that’s not affordable for students.
@ Selven:
Great idea!! Make Notepad pl@y mp3’s! I’ll email Bill right away!
Sincerely, you got the point! You can’t do much about what you’ve bought from MS.
The bottom line is, like Deana said, use whatever product you like, or need, but get the job done well. Put another way, what product one ends up using is sometime dictated by one’s place of work or one’s school. For example in Canada, most graphics design schools require their students to use a Mac, no if’s, and’s, or but’s.
To Dilraj:
I should have thought more in terms of its cost to Mauritians. The depreciation of the rupee makes things even worse.