| From: |
| Erwin Tenhumberg <erwin.tenhumberg-AT-Sun.COM> |
| To: |
| announce-AT-openoffice.org |
| Subject: |
| [ooo-announce] Openffice.org Newsletter - November 2003 - Volume 1 - Issue 5 |
| Date: |
| Fri, 07 Nov 2003 12:45:28 -0800 |
#########################################################################
OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER
Volume 01 - Issue 5 - 11/2003
#########################################################################
Highlights in this Newsletter
#########################################################################
* StarOffice 7 among the top 10 software products on Amazon.de
* More very good reviews for StarOffice 7 and OpenOffice.org
- "StarOffice should handle most corporate users' office suite
needs with ease" [eWeek]
- "does it work, is it reliable, is it useful? On all these
points, OpenOffice.org 1.1 delivers" [ZDNet]
* Microsoft Office 2003 reviews
- "But the deployment costs are high, andmore importantpeople aren't
all that likely to use it anyway." [eWeek]
- "This time, however, Office 2003 isn't a must-have upgrade for the
average user." [ZDNet]
- "But Word, Excel and PowerPoint, the other core Office tools, have
barely changed." [BizReport]
* Denmark urges government support for open source
* Vietnam embracing open-source products
* Israel slams the door on Microsoft
* OpenOffice.org Small/Medium Business Feedback
* The IDA Open Source Migration Guidelines
* Migration Guide by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior
* Great results in Office 2003/StarOffice migration surveys
Events
#########################################################################
Desktop Linux Consortium Conference
-----------------------------------
at the Boston University's Corporate Education Center,
Tyngsborp MA
Monday, November 10, 2003
http://butrain.com/itp/deskspeak.asp
Comdex, Las Vegas, USA
----------------------
November 16-20, 2003
* OpenOffice.org pod
* OpenOffice.org sessions
* Keynotes by Bill Gates and Scott McNealy
http://www.comdex.com/lasvegas2003/exhib/index.php?s=ic_open_source
http://www.comdex.com/lasvegas2003/exhib/index.php?s=ic_open_spkr
http://www.comdex.com/lasvegas2003/keynote_speak/
http://education.key3media.com:8080/comdex/lv2003/education/FMPro?-DB=K3Sessions.fp5&-lay=webform&-format=session_detail.html&Session_ID=3730&-Find
OpenOffice.org/StarOffice Day in Paris, France
----------------------------------------------
November 26, 2003
11:30am - 1:30pm
Admission is free!
http://fr.sun.com/societe/agenda/oooday/
Linux Bangalore/2003, India
---------------------------
http://linux-bangalore.org/2003/
SunNetwork Berlin, Germany
--------------------------
December 3/4, 2003
Two sessions about StarOffice:
* Helping Partners and Customers Migrate to StarOffice Software
- the Migration Toolkit
* StarOffice 7 Software Product Presentation
http://sunnetwork.sun.com/emea2003/conf/sessions/index.en.jsp
Announcements
#########################################################################
OpenOffice.org
==============
Happy Birthday (3rd Anniversary)
--------------------------------
"No other area of OpenOffice.org has been growing as fast, and we can
number among the new projects Thai, Turkish, Czech, Chinese, Portuguese,
Hindi; and many more on the way."
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?msgId=871377&listName=announce
Developer Announcements
=======================
API-AT-OOo Newsletter
------------------
"This month the OOo API project started publishing a monthly newsletter
which is posted at the 1st of each month to summarize issues from the
previous month."
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?msgId=865951&listName=announce
Sun Java Desktop System ISV/Developer Early Adopter Program
-----------------------------------------------------------
ISVs and developers interested in the Sun Java Desktop System should
register for the Early Adopter Program at
sun.com/partners/javadesktopsystem.
Java Upgrade Program released
-----------------------------
Read about the benefits of upgrading the MS VM to the official Sun JRE:
http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/upgrade/javaplatform/
And visit the Upgrade Program Site where you'll find developer resources,
including a detailed technical guide, a forum, and more:
http://java.sun.com/upgrade
Statistics
#########################################################################
OpenOffice.org
==============
Highlights
----------
* More that 21,500,000 have downloaded OpenOffice.org
so far (as of October 18, 2003).
* The OpenOffice.org project has more than 14,200
unique people subscribed to the mailing lists
(as of October 18, 2003). This is about 3% more
than in the previous month.
* 339 people and companies have signed a JCA and are thus
either already contributing or considering to do so
(as of October 31, 2003). Compared to the previous month
this is a 8 percent growth rate.
* 1089 people have participated in the OOo developer
survey so far (as of October 6, 2003). This is about
6% more than last month.
* The number of people who participated in the user survey
was almost twice as high as before due to the announcement
of OpenOffice.org 1.1 and the new schools initiative:
June 2003 = 20754
July 2003 = 23085
Aug 2003 = 24006
Sept 2003 = 28088
Oct 2003 = 42780
StarOffice
==========
Amazon sales ranking for StarOffice 7 on October 29, 2003
---------------------------------------------------------
Amazon.de 1
Amazon.co.uk 54
Amazon.com 127
Success Stories and References
#########################################################################
OpenOffice.org Market Share Analysis
====================================
"The document includes some data from past OpenOffice.org newsletters
and press articles.
If your company is using OpenOffice.org, even if it is a small company,
let me/us know! We can include just the number of seats + the industry
type, or even mention the name, if we get your permission to do so! The
same is true for schools and universities that have deployed
OpenOffice.org, StarOffice or another OOo derivative."
http://marketing.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?msgId=894269&listName=dev
http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=21674
Denmark
=======
Denmark urges government support for open source
------------------------------------------------
"However, the report recognised that establishing a existing alternative
or a new format would be an uphill battle, given that Microsoft Office
cannot read OpenOffice documents or other formats. The Board recommended
that Denmark begin a series of trials to test the feasibility of
introducing open-source software such as OpenOffice."
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39117341,00.htm
Germany
=======
International Forwarding Agent Heinz Huber
------------------------------------------
According to the German article below the international forwarding agent
Heinz Huber deployed StarOffice although the logistics company has to
exchange documents with about 60 partners.
http://www01.silicon.de/cpo/csh-ts/detail.php?nr=11566&directory=csh-ts
Midsize German firms say ja to Linux
------------------------------------
"The potentially lower cost of deploying and maintaining open-source
software like Linux and OpenOffice "is clearly what prompted us to
seek an alternative to Microsoft," Kloppsteck said. "And I know many
other small and medium-size companies in Germany are dropping
Microsoft for the same reason.""
http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/linux/story/0,10801,86636,00.html
Austria
=======
Open Source for e-Government Solutions
--------------------------------------
According to articles on Austrian websites (see links below)
Austria is pushing open source for e-government solutions.
They still will also buy proprietary products where there is
no open source alternative, but in general Austria wants to
avoid lock-in, because nobody knows today what the leading
technology/vendor will be in a few years.
http://derstandard.at/?id=1475103
http://www.report.at/report/artikel.asp?kid=1&mid=1&aid=4618
Italy
=====
OpenOffice.org 1.1 at Italian Schools
-------------------------------------
Within the frame of the ' Linux Day 2003 ' event, DIDASCA - The First
Italian Cyber School for Lifelong Learning - will deliver for free 12,000
copies of the CDROMs containing the OpenOffice.org 1.1 suite to as many
Italian schools.
http://www.progettoemily.it/LinuxDay.htm
Israel
======
Israel slams the door on Microsoft
----------------------------------
"The de facto suspension means no upgrades for the duration, at a time
when Microsoft is looking to roll out its Office 2003 upgrade; and the
Ministry is said to be examining OpenOffice as an alternative."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/33365.html
India
=====
Life Insurance Corporation wants to switch to OpenOffice.org
------------------------------------------------------------
According to a German article an Indian insurance company
is switching, too. Life Insurance Corporation of India will switch
to Linux and OpenOffice.org.
The German article can be found at
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/anw-23.10.03-007/
This seems to be related to the following older article
http://www.cmpnetasia.com/ViewArt.cfm?Artid=20998&Catid=8&subcat=79
Vietnam
=======
Vietnam embracing open-source products
--------------------------------------
"The main open-source tools are Linux -- a free alternative to the
Windows operating system -- and OpenOffice, a free alternative to
Microsoft Office, with word processing and spreadsheet programs. Two
Vietnamese companies have recently developed Vietnamese versions of
both, and the country's two biggest computer assemblers are already
loading open source onto all their new machines.
``We can't totally sweep out Microsoft,'' Quynh said. ``But we hope
that new users will start using open source.''
Before Vietnamese versions of OpenOffice and Linux were developed,
open source was just an abstraction here, said Carrasco-Munoz.
``Now you dump this CD on your computer, you install it, you reboot.
Bye-bye Microsoft!''"
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/7139304.htm
Australia
=========
Australia's history archived in OpenOffice.org
----------------------------------------------
"Australia's history will be viewed digitally in the OpenOffice.org
office suite as part of plans to preserve the quality and accessibility
of government documents.
[...]
"Open source is really, really important to us because over time it
means we can retain data presentation," said Davis.
"Cross platform development is really important, because we can't say
you must have a Windows machine to access this file [in the archives].
Who knows what platform most people will be using in 30 years time?
So if you have a Linux machine, for example, you should have equal
access.""
http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=1991153367&fp=2&fpid=1
Sun shines on NSW government desktops
-------------------------------------
"According to Sun, six NSW government departments are already in the
early phases of testing or deploying the software.
The departments range in size from 200 up to a "few thousand" staff
representing an estimated 30,000 seats, said May.
[...]
Sun's alternative office productivity suite StarOffice -- based heavily
on its less-tamed open source cousin OpenOffice -- is a central
component in Sun's desktop operating system Java Desktop Suite."
http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/os/story/0,2000048630,20280236,00.htm
Customer/User Feedback
#########################################################################
OpenOffice.org Small/Medium Business Feedback
---------------------------------------------
"We are a small West Australian company with 5 employees. We are a
consulting and technology company employing mainly PhD research chemists.
We started to use Open Office some time ago as a low cost way to
translate from Microsoft 97/2000 files to the older Microsoft Office95
format, since there didn't seem to be any good reason to purchase
upgrades. We didn't use Open Office at this stage because it was not
as good as Office95. When Open Office 1.1 RC arrived, we replaced
our old Microsoft Office95 with the more up-to-date Open Office.
We mainly use the word processor, spreadsheet and presentation tools
at work.
One of the reasons for moving to Open Office was looking at the long
term: we did not want to be forced to change our document formats or
to purchase new software versions unnecessarily. A second reason was
that we didn't want to upgrade our older computers and operating
systems just to run the new Microsoft Office. The final and perhaps
most important reason was cost.
Purchasing one copy of Microsoft Office for each computer was an issue
with use, because we were starting to accumulate considerably more
computers than people. Now with Open Office, it is no longer a problem.
We just place a copy of Open Office on each computer. The ability of
Open Office to work on more than Microsoft Windows has opened our
company up to the use of other operating systems. We now have one
Debian Linux computer, as well as a few Windows XP and Windows 95
systems in the office and the laboratory. So far, not many of us are
comfortable with the Linux system, although Open Office has been pretty
much accepted after a couple of months.
A serious benefit of Open Office is its ability to export to PDF
format. Every one of us likes that, and we use it quite often for
sending out information sheets to clients.
[...]
We now tend to include Open Office format when sending out documents.
At first, I was a bit concerned about the response we would get when
attaching this "strange" format along with a more usual .doc format.
However, there have been no negative reactions. Three of the people
we have sent documents in this way were very interested, and positive."
Central Chemical Consulting, Australia
---
"Sorry, but I don´t speak english good. If you read this, try don´t
smile for the bad redaction. We use OpenOffice.org since June of 2002,
and all machines in the company in Agost 2003. We have 89 machines with
Windows 2000 and OpenOffice.org, When BSA visit our company, we have
all license of Windows and ¡Sorprise! OpenOffice.org. We are legal.
We are in México City."
FLAMA GAS, S.A. de C.V. in Ecatepec, México
---
"We are a small family owned corporation. We have 10 employees and
gross about 1 1/4 million USD per year.
We are an original equipment manufacture of L.E.D. alarm annunciation
products primarily used in assembly plants. Some of our more notable
customers are General Motors, Toyota, Proctor and Gamble, Johnson and
Johnson, Michelin Tire, and Tyco. Visit our web site to get a better
idea of what we make.
We switched from using MS Office 97 to Open Office 1.0.0 because we
do not accept Microsofts new licensing terms, and believe that FLOSS
will save the company money. We are currently working towards
transitioning all of our existing Win2K desktops to Mandarke Linux. We
have all ready moved our main accounting database from a NT 4.0 server
to a Mandrake 9.1 Samba server.
The transition to FLOSS is challenging in that there is a learning
curve involved, but once you learn how to use the new tools they work
as good or better than the old tools.
For example, I write technical manuals for our products. It took me a
few weeks to become comfortable with using Open Office, but now using
OOo is second nature. The interesting thing is that now when I go back
to using Word97 to update a legacy document, I have lots of problems
and quirks using Word, a sign that I'm now more proficient at using
Open Office than Word."
American LED-gible, Inc, Columbus, OH, USA
Proud to use OpenOffice.org? Willing to provide a quote?
--------------------------------------------------------
If you are using either OpenOffice.org, StarOffice or another
OpenOffice.org derivative and are willing to tell the world
why you switched to OpenOffice.org, please contact either
erwin.tenhumberg-AT-sun.com or newsletter-AT-marketing.openoffice.org,
so that we can include your testimonial in the next newsletter!
New Books, Documents and Collateral
#########################################################################
New French OpenOffice.org book
------------------------------
OpenOffice.org 1.1
by Sophie Gautier, Christian Hardy, Frédéric Labbé, Michel Pinquier,
Stéphane Mariel
330 pages
http://www.editions-eyrolles.com/php.informatique/Ouvrages/9782212113488.php3
Resources
#########################################################################
The IDA Open Source Migration Guidelines
----------------------------------------
"The IDA Open Source Migration Guidelines provide practical and detailed
recommendations on how to migrate to Open Source Software (OSS)-based
office applications, calendaring, e-mail and other standard applications.
They have been developed with guidance from public sector IT experts from
Denmark, Finland, Italy, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden,
and Turkey. The relevance and readability of the Migration Guidelines
were validated with the help of the regional authorities of
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
These guidelines have been designed to help public administrators decide
whether a migration to OSS should be undertaken and describe, in broad
technical terms, how such a migration could be carried out. They are
based on practical experience of a limited number of publicly available
case studies, and cover a wide range of management and technical
concerns."
http://www.europa.eu.int/ISPO/ida/jsps/index.jsp?fuseAction=showDocument&parent=news&documentID=1647
Download the IDA Open Source Migration Guidelines
http://www.europa.eu.int/ISPO/ida/export/files/en/1603.pdf
Download the Comparative Spreadsheet
http://www.europa.eu.int/ISPO/ida/export/files/en/1604.xls
Migration Guide by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior
--------------------------------------------------------------
A week ago the European Commission released its Migration
Guidelines. Now a Migration Guide has just been released
in English by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior.
The Guide was originally published in German in July 2003
but is now also available is English.
The report is a very valuable tool for anybody planning to
migrate from a Microsoft world to the open world of Open
Source and Open Standards incl. OpenOffice.org and StarOffice.
These reports are clear signs of the very strong movement all
over Europe toward a new desktop. Use this new report in your
efforts to promote open source technologies!
The full report ( pdf, 414 pages!) is available in English here:
http://www.kbst.bund.de/Anlage303777/pdf_datei.pdf
Awards & Reviews
#########################################################################
Sun's StarOffice 7 Shines
-------------------------
"However, StarOffice should handle most corporate users' office suite
needs with ease, and we found its interface similar enough to Microsoft
Office to minimize training issues for most users. We recommend that
interested IT staffs evaluate StarOffice to figure out how well the suite
handles their organizations' needs."
http://www.eweek.com/print_article/0,3048,a=108604,00.asp
How Much Office Functionality Do We Really Need, Anyway?
--------------------------------------------------------
"Seriously, what exactly is so much better now in our office software
suites than it was in 1997? I can't think of anything that important,
can you?
[...]
But it probably isn't for the reasons you'd think I'd cite as a
Linux/open-source columnist. If it's deployed properly to the right
workers, a complete Microsoft Office System will work great. But
the deployment costs are high, andmore importantpeople aren't all
that likely to use it anyway."
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1331533,00.asp
ZDNet UK Review - OpenOffice.org 1.1 (Rating 8.0)
-------------------------------------------------
"The big questions facing anyone considering adopting open source
software are: does it work, is it reliable, is it useful? On all these
points, OpenOffice.org 1.1 delivers."
http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/software/productivity/0,39024195,39117219,00.htm
ZDNet UK Review - Microsoft Office System 2003 (Rating 8.0)
-----------------------------------------------------------
"This time, however, Office 2003 isn't a must-have upgrade for the
average user. The bulk of its new features -- the integration of XML
throughout, rights-management tools and tie-ins with the SharePoint
Server -- will benefit only large enterprises.
[...]
Small businesses, which are less likely to indulge in SharePoint on
their own, can still get on-board through Microsoft's bCentral or
third-party hosting services that run SharePoint for them. Home
users, however, will have no use for this collaboration technology."
http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,39024105,39117254,00.htm
Whats your excuse for not trying OpenOffice.org?
-------------------------------------------------
"Would your organization ignore an offer for free paper and pens?
Sometimes offers are too good too be true, and sometimes they come
with strings that make them untenable. But occasionally, that
too-good-to-be-true deal is in fact a good deal. OpenOffice.org is,
at the very least, good enough to download and evaluate for a
few hours.
You can certainly bet that Microsoft executives and the Office
development team have taken the time to download and examine it,
so why not you? "
http://www.newrowley.com/takes/2003/take_031022.html
Life Without Office
-------------------
"StarOffice shares a source code base with the free OpenOffice
(www.openoffice.org), which frequently offers newer versions of the
applications. Sun tests the applications thoroughly before release,
provides support, and also adds useful non-open-source utilities.
Businesses will prefer this stability to living on the bleeding edge.
And mixed-platform companies will appreciate StarOffice's support for
Windows, Linux, and Solaris."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1273094,00.asp
Office For Less
---------------
"Nothing kills the thrill of a new computer like finding out youll
have to spend another $400 on an office suite, but if youre not
willing to try unfamiliar software, youll have to go with what you
know, which is probably Microsoft Office. Unless youre a teacher or
a student, youll pay $399 for Microsoft Office XP Standard or $239
to upgrade from a previous version. Aside from an email application,
Suns StarOffice 6.0 offers the same office productivity programs as
Microsoft Office: word processor, presentation, and spreadsheet
applications."
http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/2003/s1410/04s10/04s10.asp&guid=gy52ow40
There is new version of Office available and this one cost $0
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Yes. The Professional version of Microsoft Office has a database
called Access. If you want a database with OpenOffice you can either
use a free one such as MySQL or you can spend $75 to buy StarOffice.
That gets you OpenOffice plus a database plus some tech support.
Is there anything OpenOffice has, other than the full XML, lower
price (is it fair to call "0" just "lower"?), and far-better email
(when teamed with Mozilla)? Yes, there's a drawing program in
OpenOffice for making logos and sketches and other art.
My advice? I guess it's pretty obvious that I think
OpenOffice+Mozilla is a much better idea for most everyone. But
there are people who should consider Office 2003. If you have a
huge number of Office "macros" (recorded programs to run
automatically on Office), then switching to OpenOffice would take
some time and expense re-creating those macros. And if you're
forced by a corporation to use some form of Office, and haven't
upgraded since Office 97, then 2003 might be a worthwhile move.
Remember, though, it only runs on the latest version of Windows.
OpenOffice runs on most any version of Windows, plus Mac OSX,
Linux, Solaris, and other places."
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1003/free_office.asp
Home Office Reports - Review of Office Suite Software
-----------------------------------------------------
"Who can operate a business without word processing, spreadsheets,
contact management and presentation graphics? Sun has done a great
job with StarOffice application integration to make you more
productive."
http://www.homeofficereports.com/Office%20Suites.htm
Despite a New Outlook, Office 2003 Offers Little Reason to Upgrade
------------------------------------------------------------------
"But Word, Excel and PowerPoint, the other core Office tools, have
barely changed. If it weren't for a new, garish blue theme, few home
users could tell the 2003 editions from their predecessors.
[...]
Unlike Corel's WordPerfect or the free OpenOffice, Word still can't
save a document in the popular, widely compatible Portable Document
Format (PDF)."
http://www.bizreport.com/article.php?art_id=5216
Finding suite success
---------------------
"If I were in the market for office software, I would consider
buying Outlook 2003, but I am not sure I would bother with the rest
of the Office System. Instead I would use OpenOffice which is free
and has more functions than I will ever use. Maybe I am part of a
trend, only Microsofts sales figures will tell."
http://www.news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=1146352003
Which Office for the rest of us?
--------------------------------
"LAST week a store in Funan the IT Mall came up with the bright
idea of selling StarOffice 7, Sun Microsystems' low-priced
alternative to Microsoft's Office suite, pre-loaded on a USB
128-megabyte Thumb Drive. A colleague who's a die-hard Linux user
messaged enthusiastically: 'SOLID. Cool move to embed SO7 on the
USB drive, just to show MS how small it is!!'"
http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/story/0,4567,98910,00.html
Developer and Administrator News
#########################################################################
OpenOffice.org XML Essentials
-----------------------------
J. David Eisenberg is currently writing a new book about the
OpenOffice.org XML file format. A draft of the book is accessible via
the link provided below.
http://books.evc-cit.info/
XML Interoperability Test
-------------------------
"Interoperability Test and XML Evaluation of StarOffice
Writer 6.0 and Office Word 2003 Beta 2"
http://www.statskontoret.se/pdf/2003116.pdf
http://www.statskontoret.se/english/index.htm
Competitive/Market Info
#########################################################################
Next StarOffice goes on sale
----------------------------
"The new StarOffice's improved file compatibility will make it simpler
to collaborate with Microsoft Office users, Lindows said. "With Sun
Microsystems, we can continue to build on the market momentum for
StarOffice 7, while reaching a broader base of customers for desktop
Linux," Lindows Chief Executive Michael Robertson said in a statement."
http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/enterprise/story/0,2000048640,20279815,00.htm
Sun rising on the desktop
-------------------------
"Computerworld took an early look at a beta version of the Java Desktop
System. There were a few cosmetic and stability issues typical of
prerelease software, but the system does have the potential to attract
organisations disenchanted with Microsoft's "software assurance"
licensing scheme or perhaps looking for alternatives to Windows.
[...]
Sun has concentrated on ease of use, and providing a comfortable
environment for Windows users. The desktop is configured with This
Computer and Documents icons, which will be immediately familiar to
those used to My Computer and My Documents. There's also a Network
Places icon."
http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=758317564&fp=2&fpid=1
Putting Novell's SuSE purchase into perspective
-----------------------------------------------
"Microsoft could wind up the biggest loser of all. Novell services on a
SuSE platform will sell for substantially less than Windows Server 2003
and offer comparable functionality in many areas. Many businesses that
once ran NetWare moved away from it because Windows' perceived ease of
use and wide range of applications. At that time Windows had the buzz,
while NetWare was perceived as clunky. Network administrators, however,
learned that managing a large group of Microsoft servers is no picnic,
even with costly third-party management applications to help."
http://www.newsforge.com/business/03/11/04/1854241.shtml?tid=85
Linux community upset by desktop deals
--------------------------------------
"For the business world, the deals seemingly confirmed the corporate
role for the community operating system. However, many Linux enthusiasts
worry that the Linux community may have lost its two most popular
distributions -- Red Hat Linux and SuSE Linux -- in a corporate
equivalent of a one-two punch."
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/applications/0,39020384,39117620,00.htm
Microsoft vs. Novell, round two?
--------------------------------
"And Novell is saying that Nuremberg, Germany-based SuSE Linux will
benefit by gaining access to Novell's wide distribution channel and
entry to a great many enterprises. If Novell can combine the two
companies successfully, it will make Linux stronger.
Still, experts caution that Novell has a bad track record when it comes
to mergers and acquisitions. "Certainly it's a different company than
back in the day of Word Perfect and Unix," Haff said."
http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid1_gci935373,00.html
Novell to Buy SuSE Linux for $210 Million
-----------------------------------------
"Both SuSE and Ximian offer desktop versions of Linux, a market that is
emerging, particularly outside the United States, as governments and
companies look for a cost-saving alternative to Microsoft's Windows.
In May, for example, the City of Munich said it was switching from
Windows to SuSE Linux desktop software on 14,000 PC's used by
government workers.
"But this deal is not about taking on Microsoft on the desktop,"
Mr. Messman said.
Yet he went on to say that Microsoft's ability to tightly integrate
its Windows desktop - where the big software maker holds a monopoly
- with its server software had helped undermine Novell's longtime lead
in PC networking software. And Novell has struggled. In the nine months
ended in July, Novell lost $53 million on revenues of $819 million."
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/05/technology/05linux.html?ex=1068699600&en=e7406930ef5b6418&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
IBM Workplace Aims To Slash Desktop Costs
-----------------------------------------
"IBM (NYSE: IBM - news) announced that it is combining its desktop
services into a single office-management product called "IBM Workplace."
The company claims it can help businesses save as much as 30 percent of
the costs associated with running desktop computers and peripherals"
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nf/20031105/bs_nf/22628
IBM Backing Novell's Push Toward Linux
--------------------------------------
"As part of Novell's $210 million purchase, IBM is paying $50 million
for a 2%-or-so stake in Novell. It's the latest in IBM's promised
$1 billion investment in Linux and another step in the renegade
operating system's journey to the mainstream."
http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/031105/general01_1.html
Microsoft alternatives worth a look
-----------------------------------
"Using a copy of Word, Excel, PowerPoint or some other Microsoft
program that you "borrowed" from a friend?
You're using it illegally. With the Microsoft Corporation trying
to stop software piracy, don't be surprised if their digital restriction
efforts someday lock you out of those programs.
[...]
New versions of the alternative programs have been released in recent
weeks, and they give Microsoft some serious competition."
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/tech/article/0,1406,KNS_8976_2358754,00.html
Breaking up with Bill
---------------------
"It wasn't a piece of cake, but it honestly wasn't hard and I was fully
operational by the second day. In fact, I'm writing this column on
OpenOffice.org 1.1.0 Writer, which reads and writes to all of my Word
documents without a murmur of complaint. Goodbye, sweet Bill."
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35163
New Office: No rush to upgrade
------------------------------
"But expanding Office's reach to back-end servers also means that
installing the software is now a multipronged coordination challenge,
said Paul DeGroot, an analyst with market researcher Directions on
Microsoft.
"This isn't something that stops once you install the client," DeGroot
said. "It's a multidimensional type of install that is going to be a
longer sales cycle. It's a server (operating system) migration issue
almost right from the beginning." "
http://asia.cnet.com/newstech/applications/0,39001094,39155425,00.htm
Revamped MS Office may be tough sell
------------------------------------
"Microsoft's Office products dominate the market with some 400 million
users, but they face cheaper and free competitors, including Sun
Microsystem's StarOffice suite, which costs $79.95 and its free open
source version, OpenOffice.
Although neither of them has an application that rivals Outlook in its
versatility, StarOffice and OpenOffice boast compatibility with
Microsoft's main Office applications and analysts say those programs
suffice for many companies.
"We think from a value perspective and feature perspective, it really
meets the needs of most users," Curtis Sasaki, Sun's vice president
for desktop solutions, said of StarOffice. "I'm not sure everyone
needs all the features in Microsoft Office 2003.""
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech/10/22/microsoft.office.ap/
Microsoft launches new Office
-----------------------------
"Among cheaper and free competitors to the Microsoft Office products
that run on Windows, among other operating systems, are Sun Microsystem's
StarOffice suite, which costs $79.95 and its free open source version,
OpenOffice."
http://www.madison.com/captimes/business/stories/59609.php
MSfreePC Opens a Contribution Route for Microsoft Settlement Dollars
to Fuel Linux Technology
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Claimants can choose to donate to Mozilla, an open source Internet
browser project or OpenOffice.org, an office suite that offers word
processing and other productivity applications."
http://www.pressi.com/int/release/77503.html
Fast Forward Live
-----------------
"Is it possible Office 2003 is part of a "last gasp" my Microsoft to
rake in obscene amounts of money before their business model goes kaput.
They've been selling inferior, overpriced applications like this one for
a while; for which there has been no obvious reason for people to buy
them except "it's Microsoft."
To analogize to another industry, airlines stayed in business by selling
the same seats for $150 to vacationers and $500 to business travellers,
until business started getting wise and using Internet. Now almost all
airlines are fighting bankruptcy except the one that just sells its
seats retail at a sensible price (Southwest).
[...]
I'm still trying out OpenOffice 1.1, the latest release. I can tell
you that, in offering PDF export, it's got a big lead on Word."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20236-2003Oct13.html
Microsoft Upgrades Strategy
---------------------------
"Entrenched rivals like IBM, Sun Microsystems and Novell, and newer
competitors, like PeopleSoft and RedHat, are pitching next-generation
networks that blend a variety of non-Microsoft server systems on the
back end, with open-source code Linux and OpenOffice on the desktop
-- replacing Windows and Office.
''People don't like being locked in to a single source supplier,''
says Curtis Sasaki, Sun's vice president of desktop solutions. ''We
think a lot of folks are willing to give alternative environments
a try.''
[...]
''We're at a tipping point,'' says Sam Hiser, OpenOffice.org community
manager. ''The availability of free, high-quality desktop software as
an alternative to Microsoft is going to make it very difficult for them
to repeat what they did in the past.''"
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?StoryId=Cp4olWeiemZeYmK1Py3jVC29MDfvWz3jHz
OpenOffice.org/StarOffice/Linux Migration
#########################################################################
Office 2003/StarOffice Migration Survey - Germany
-------------------------------------------------
The popular weekly German computer magazine Computerwoche conducted an
online survey in October 2003. Everybody was able to participate and
thus the data does not necessarily reflect the reality, but it's still
interesting.
The question they asked were:
"Is your company planning to switch to Office 2003/Office System in the
foreseeable future?"
[" Wird Ihr Unternehmen in absehbarer Zeit auf Office 2003/ Office
System migrieren?"]
We will switch to StarOffice/OOo 55.0 % 552
Yes, we will switch from version 95/97 2.3 % 23
Yes, we will switch from version 2000/XP 11.7 % 117
No 31.0 % 311
-------------
Total 1003
http://www.computerwoche.de/umfrage/ergebnisse.cfm?umfrageid=115
Office 2003/StarOffice Migration Survey Switzerland
-----------------------------------------------------
The following data is from a survey on as swiss web page:
Will you update to Office 2003 or StarOffice 7?
Yes, planning update to Office 2003 17 %
Yes, planning update to StarOffice 7 16 %
Waiting for first Office 2003 experiences 9 %
Waiting for first StarOffice 7 experiences 10 %
No update plans 45 %
Don't know 3 %
So far (November 4, 2003) 344 people have participated in the
quick poll.
http://www.infoweek.ch/Tools/QuickPoll/qp_result.cfm?QuestionID=155
Security
#########################################################################
Microsoft backs e-mail controls
-------------------------------
"Having used OpenOffice for production work for quite a while, I see no
reason to go for MS Office. OpenOffice works, does a great job on all
the mundane tasks of daily life, eliminating my incentive to pay the
upgrading bill. The fact that OpenOffice uses a well-documented
open-for-all XML file format is an extra plus. Microsoft has some
catching up to do here.
Henrik Ræder Clausen, Denmark
So your colleague uses a digital camera to photograph the e-mail on the
screen, scanning software to read the image onto his computer, and then
the message is forwarded. The colleague needs to press three buttons
rather than one. Information, once displayed, is insecure and can be
copied. We've seen copy protection before (remember Lotus 1-2-3 in
1980's). It cannot work. Microsoft's system will just engender a
completely false sense of security, lock you in to their proprietary
system and cause endless annoyances for end users.
Simon Clift, Canada"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3207258.stm
Microsoft's Digital Rights Management Service Add-On Arrives
------------------------------------------------------------
""Hospitals, large law firms or insurance companies could take advantage
of this, but I see the biggest obstacle as not the companies making the
investment to buy 2003 products, but the learning transition and
willingness for their employees to do this rather than their usual way
of sending confidential documents. I think this would be the biggest
challenge as supposed to the availablity of the technology and its
features.""
http://www.crn.com/sections/BreakingNews/dailyarchives.asp?ArticleID=45699
Solutions
#########################################################################
XML Integration Advantages
--------------------------
"Those corporate/professional systems are usually integrated with
MS Word and MS Excel. The database-information is merged via macros
in e.g. text-documents. This is a resource-demanding process, which
is normally done on the client machines - very often on MS.net-platform.
Increased use of OpenOffice in public and private organisations has put
a pressure on the vendors of the professional systems. They have to
seriously consider integration with OOo, and they have even discovered
new possibilities with the XML-format.
XML permits the merging of database-information and documents on the
server as opposed to on the workstations. A solution based on
XML-merging is now soon avaliable from the company Gecko in
Kristiansand, Norway. In the Issue-processing/archive system ePhorte,
the application server will produce merged OpenOffice documents - and
deliver them to the client machines."
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?msgId=898110&listName=discuss
Components to eGovernment Web Services Platform
-----------------------------------------------
"The Open Source Software Institute (OSSI) announced the release and
availability of Project Leopard (Phase 1), the core component of its
eGovernment web services platform based on LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL,
PHP/Perl/Python)."
http://oss-institute.org/pressrelease/leopardpr1.html
Pricing
#########################################################################
Microsoft Office 2003 Upgrade: EUR 22,700 for 25 Users
------------------------------------------------------
According to an article in the German computer magazine "c't"
("Gruppendynamik" by Dieter Brors, c't 2003, Issue 21)
a Microsoft Office 2003 upgrade can become very expensive if
a customer wants to be able to use the new team/collaboration
features in Office 2003. In total the Office updates, the
Windows Server 2003 and SharePoint Server licenses as well as
workstation upgrades will cost a 25-employee company about
EUR 22,700.
Office 2003 agenda to tie in users further: analysts
----------------------------------------------------
"Jupiter Research analyst Joe Wilcox estimates that businesses using
Office 2003 will see their Microsoft licensing costs rise 10% to 40% if
they want to take full advantage of the software's new features.
[...]
Still, Meta picks 30% of the largest 2000 global companies deploying
the product in its entirety by 2005. Some 15% will reject it outright,
though few than 5% will jump to Linux or tools such as OpenOffice as
a result."
http://www.computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/UNID/BA4D0D492C86C1D9CC256DCF007C73C5?OpenDocument
Report: Microsoft's integration strategy will cost companies
------------------------------------------------------------
"Companies aren't forced to agree with this vision of integration,
he said, but the problem is that Microsoft is heavily touting features
in the Office 2003 suite -- ranging from XML to rights management to
instant messaging -- that require either upgrades from earlier versions
of the application bundle or additional licenses. To take advantage of
these new tools, enterprise will have to pony up."
http://www.itnews.com.au/storycontent.asp?ID=10&Art_ID=15868
South Africa: Budget Cuts the Decider
-------------------------------------
"The biggest volume of defectors from Windows to Linux are smaller
companies, who are keen to try an alternative that costs nothing in
licence fees."
http://allafrica.com/stories/200310170145.html
Chris Barton: Productivity - the hard sell
------------------------------------------
"Cost is the first hurdle because companies have to buy the whole kit
and caboodle - the server software and the Office suite.
Retail pricing for Office Small Business Edition, for example, is $999,
or $599 if you're upgrading. Then you've got to add server products
such as SharePoint Portal Server ($13,903), Project Server ($3691) and
Exchange Server ($3205).
Such buying entanglements are a common Microsoft ploy. But increasingly
businesses are wary of the lock-in they create."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3528627&thesection=technology&thesubsection=comment&thesecondsubsection=
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