On Mon, 2005-11-21 at 16:59 +0800, Jacqueline McNally wrote: > "The Web Word Processor, today released support for OpenDocument Format > (ODF), the open standard document format backed by Sun Microsystems, IBM > and Adobe. Starting today, Writely users can upload documents into > Writely from Microsoft Word and Sun Microsystems' OpenOffice.org, as > well as save the documents back into either of those formats. Sun and > Google announced last month their intention to explore jointly enhancing > and promoting OpenOffice.org." > > From: > http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-21-2005/0004220104&EDATE= > > With the increasing number of products that are supporting OpenDocument, > I would like us to discuss how to collate and categorise these and other > competing products. That is, what other redeeming features does > OpenOffice.org have, other than OpenDocument?
Cross platform, best Microsoft filters, comprehensive set of apps. User Interface is more familiar to MS users than say KOffice. OOo has a bigger installed base than any other XML based office suite and so is the market leader of this grouping. Only MSO 12 has any chance of changing that in the next 2 or 3 years and that is by no means a certainty. Installed base is important as we have seen with products in the past. In the longer term ODF means there are likely to be a wider range of competing products and each will have its niche markets. If you want a lightweight WP on line, Writer is not going to be as good a choice as Writely, however, if you want excellent .doc filters Writer would be a better choice. It might well be that people will use combinations. Writer for complex documents where .doc import is essential and Writely for general letters etc. I think this is one of the exciting things about ODF, it injects competition and enables a variety of technologies better fitted to specific tasks than one sledge hammer to crack every nut. The view that OOo will take over from MSO with 90%+ of the market might not happen, OOo might settle at say 50% of the market with the other 50% taken by a variety of web based, compact pda editors and alternative interface apps, maybe some proprietary apps. No reason not to have this type of development if there is confidence that files can be transferred between the apps reliably. The biggest problem for OOo is its monolithic design. If it was many smaller interconnecting programs it would be possible to build almost any style app to suit the users needs. If the roadmap does not go along that path, then its going to be increasingly difficult to compete with collective tools that will provide much more user flexibility. The good news is that this won't happen overnight so there is some time, but the longer its left, the more likely that the boat will be missed. This is where design does affect marketing. Regards -- Ian Lynch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ZMS Ltd --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
