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While ZDNet announces the release of Lotus Symphony 3.0 beta, author Larry Dignan points out two issues with the alternatives of Microsoft Office:
Inertia and formatting/compatibility issues are the hurdles to wider acceptance of Office alternatives. While most of us do not suffer from the former, it is the latter that probably causes the most problems. Speaking from first hand experience, when sharing documents with Office users, I continually have issues with formatting; in Office documents sent to me and when I share documents with Office users. While finished documents are immediately saved as PDF's, during collaboration, formatting causes the majority of the issues with the alternative office productivity suites.
Link: ZDNet: IBM launches Lotus Symphony 3 beta; Office alternatives pile up
The challenge for alternatives to Office is clear: Break customer inertia. We all know the potential ROI case. Alternatives are largely free vs. paying Microsoft for Office. However, customers generally like Office and have no tolerance for that PowerPoint document that may not be formatted correctly with an alternative.
Inertia and formatting/compatibility issues are the hurdles to wider acceptance of Office alternatives. While most of us do not suffer from the former, it is the latter that probably causes the most problems. Speaking from first hand experience, when sharing documents with Office users, I continually have issues with formatting; in Office documents sent to me and when I share documents with Office users. While finished documents are immediately saved as PDF's, during collaboration, formatting causes the majority of the issues with the alternative office productivity suites.
Link: ZDNet: IBM launches Lotus Symphony 3 beta; Office alternatives pile up
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