The Symphony Blog

After all the OOXML wrangling with the ISO standards committees last year, Microsoft has made a big deal of Office 2007 SP2 supporting ODF export/import:

The 2007 Microsoft Office system already provides support for 20 different document formats within Microsoft Office Word, Office Excel and Office PowerPoint. With the release of Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) scheduled for the first half of 2009, the list will grow to include support for XML Paper Specification (XPS), Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.5, PDF/A and Open Document Format (ODF) v1.1.

When using SP2, customers will be able to open, edit and save documents using ODF and save documents into the XPS and PDF fixed formats from directly within the application without having to install any other code. It will also allow customers to set ODF as the default file format for Office 2007. To also provide ODF support for users of earlier versions of Microsoft Office (Office XP and Office 2003), Microsoft will continue to collaborate with the open source community in the ongoing development of the Open XML-ODF translator project on SourceForge.net.

The new entry to the mix is Microsoft Office 2007 SP2, which has added integrated ODF support. Unfortunately this support did not fare well in my tests. The problem appears to be how it treats spreadsheet formulas in ODF documents. When reading an ODF document, Excel SP2 silently strips out formulas. What is left is the last value that cell had, when previously saved.

In the other direction, when writing out spreadsheets in ODF format, Excel 2007 SP2 does include spreadsheet formulas but places them into an Excel namespace. This namespace is not what OpenOffice and other ODF applications use. It is not the ODF 1.2 namespace. It isn't even the OOXML namespace. I have no idea what it is or what it means. Not every ODF application checks the namespace of formulas when loading documents, but the ones that do reject the SP2 documents altogether. And the ones that do not check the namespace try and fail to load a formula since it is syntactically different than what they expected. The applications essentially display a corrupted document that is shows neither the formula nor the value correctly. For example, a SP2 document, loaded in MS Office using the Sun ODF Plugin looks like this:



Similar corruption occurs when loading the Excel 2007 SP2 spreadsheet into KSpread, Symphony and OpenOffice. Google doesn't import the document at all.

Of course, I am not that cynical. I was taught to never assume malice where incompetence would be the simpler explanation. But the degree of incompetence needed to explain SP2's poor ODF support boggles the mind and leads me to further uncharitable thoughts. So I must stop here.

One of the primary benefits of IBM using the Eclipse/Expeditor platform for Lotus Symphony (vs. shipping it as a native package for each client OS) is that it allows the use of plug-ins - effectively turning the Symphony UI into a platform for composite applications - try doing that with Microsoft Word ;-)

One of the first Symphony plug-ins to be shipped is the new 'Learning Plug-In':

Announcing the Public Availability of the Learning Plug-In for IBM Lotus Symphony!

Overview:
The Learning Plug-In for IBM Lotus Symphony is now available on the Lotus Symphony wiki.  Download and install the plug-in to access end-user learning materials.

Details:
The Learning Plug-In for IBM Lotus Symphony is a sidebar plug-in that is used to view and filter learning materials inside IBM Lotus Symphony 1.2.  Download and install the plug-in to access the following types of Lotus Symphony user training materials:
       •        Show me Demos
       •        Tutorials
       •        Video Tours
       •        Web Seminars
       •        Reference Cards

You can filter content by Symphony Documents, Spreadsheets, or Presentations.

You can provide feedback about the plug-in by right-clicking on any topic or resource. Select Feedback from the context menu to display a form that you can use to provide the plug-in team with your feedback.

The plug-in will be available soon on the plug-ins page of the Lotus Symphony Web site. But you can get it now on the Lotus Symphony Wiki.

An interesting article by Galen Gruman on Computerworld, "Opinion: Desktop Linux is ready for the mainstream", covering why the author feels that Linux is definitely ready for the mainstream:

My verdict: Desktop Linux is a great choice for many regular Joes with basic computer needs. And not just on netbooks.

In fact, I found that it makes a lot of sense to standardize office workers on desktop Linux. I now understand why governments in Asia and Europe say they want to get off the Microsoft train and shift to Linux. I thought these were empty threats meant to get better licensing deals or to blunt some of Microsoft's monopolistic power, but as it turns out, desktop Linux is a worthwhile option for both public organizations and private companies. Those who standardize on Linux would save serious money on the new equipment needed for Vista or Windows 7, not to mention OS and Office upgrades as well. Your business could, too.

Moreover, Linux-based shops would require significantly less training than they would to teach staff Vista or Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2007.

OpenOffice is a sound alternative to Microsoft Office, but I spent most of my time with the free IBM Lotus Symphony, which is a slightly better productivity suite than OpenOffice, in the InfoWorld Test Center's evaluation. It's simply more refined and will be easier for Office users to adapt to, even though it lacks the database and drawing applications that OpenOffice has. I'm sure there are features in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that Symphony and OpenOffice can't match, but you can bet that for 80 percent or more of your "knowledge workers," sales staff, and so on that Symphony or OpenOffice will do the job.

I'm not suggesting every organization chuck its Windows or Mac OSes for desktop Linux. But many companies, government agencies, and educational institutions can chuck at least some of them. Those based on XP -- or Windows 2000, which still has a huge installed base in government agencies -- can look to big savings on licensing, hardware, and training costs.

Desktop Linux and its core productivity apps are solid and worth serious consideration for many of your users' PCs. Try it yourself.

The Freeline Report takes a look at the latest Freeware word processor solutions available:

All of us need a word processor every now and again. It’s a fact of life. Now, when most people hear the words “word processor,” one name immediately comes to mind — Microsoft Word. There’s only one problem with that: Word costs money. Buying a $250+ software package just to get one program really doesn’t make sense in this day and age. Loading that twelve year-old version of Word that you have hidden in your sock drawer or digging out that ancient copy of WordPerfect 6.1 your business partner copied for you on floppy disk isn’t much better. Simply put, you’re stuck.

This is where we come in. On today’s episode of Showdown, guest beta-tester Angela Smedley and I take a look at the six latest and greatest word processing programs out there. All of these programs were tested on a system running the Windows 7 beta. Like the last time, each program was tested for ease of use, learning curve, and overall experience.

Overall Rating: 9; “I might keep this one and uninstall OpenOffice. I like it that much.”

I've just posted this over on the Lotusphere Blog, but it's such a useful list I thought it worthwhile to post here too.

A summary of all Lotus Symphony activities taking place at Lotusphere 2009:


Your guide to the symphony at Lotusphere 2009

Here is an overview of the opportunities to learn more about Lotus Symphony while at Lotusphere 2009.

Sessions


Labs
Come see Lotus Symphony in action and talk with the technical team in either the Meet the Developers Lab or the Lotus Solutions Development Lab.

Showcase floor
Come visit us at Pedestal # IBM30 to see Lotus Symphony and ask questions.

The Lotus Symphony Cafe
Join our team for coffee, tea or something a little stronger ... and learn more about Lotus Symphony. The Lotus Symphony team is offering a relaxed environment to meet with experts, ask questions, discuss future product directions. Or, just catch your breath and rest relax.
Conveniently located at the top of the Dolphin Hotel escalators at the Lobby Lounge.
Lotus Symphony cafe hours are:
Monday 4:00pm-6:00pm
Tuesday 7:00am-9:00am, 4:00pm-6:00pm
Wednesday 7:00am-9:00am, 4:00pm-6:00pm
Thursday 8:00am-10:00am

The Lotus Symphony Developer's Workshop
This hands-on lab teach you to integrate Lotus Symphony with your Lotus Notes applications with the new LotusSymphony LotusScript API. Space is limited, so register today:
Where: Europe 3, Dolphin
When: Choose from three session times:
Tuesday 10:00am-12:00pm
Tuesday 2:00pm- 4:00pm
Wednesday10:00am-12:00pm

This guide is also available as a PDF for download.