A comprehensive review of Symphony on the Mac...
While most folks want to have a debate between Microsoft's Office and Apple's iWork, I have fallen in love with the new kid on the block in the Mac-world, IBM's Lotus Symphony. Unlike Office and iWork, Symphony is free, which is a huge plus in the new economic scenario that companies and individual users find themselves in right now. I like the clean, lightweight and straightforward interface of Lotus Symphony. While this suite of productivity applications was released for Microsoft's Windows and Linux a bit more than a year ago, I believe that the recent release for the Mac OS X Leopard (Intel only) might be the kick-start this set of applications needs--Linux has a small market share and most people in the Windows world are imprisoned by Microsoft's hegemony. ...What I really like here is the conclusion...
Symphony, in my personal experience on my 2.4 ghz Macbook, is faster than OpenOffice and NeoOffice. Objectors to IBM's Lotus Symphony contend that it is a resource-hog, asking you to have 1 gig of ram if you want "performance optimization." I have those extra resources on my newer core2duo Macbook, so it is a non-issue for me or anyone else with newer hardware. Symphony has a tabbed interface that includes a simple web browser, and just feels more inviting to use than any of the open-source options, and the price is right--it's free!
IBM's Lotus Symphony might just have the right combination of elements going for it--true cross-platform compatability, simple yet elegant interface, speed, big-name corporate backing, zero cost, compatibility with other productivity suites, and a generalized disliking of Microsoft's corporate hegemony--that allows it to take off.Link: Dougit Design: IBM's Lotus Symphony proves it has what it takes to compete in the dog-eat-dog world of productivity application software. >
Post a Comment
- 2
John | 1/9/2009 2:28:21 PM
Based on that review, Symphony sound very cool! I am going to Download and try it out right now.
- 3
Mike Brown | 1/9/2009 5:33:35 PM
From that MacNN article:
"Roughly 77 percent of American Mac users are running some form of Office for Mac on their computers"
I simply don't believe that figure.
One of my ex-employers (in the UK) just saved themselves a a bunch of licence fees by replacing Mac Office with the recently released Mac version of OpenOffice. I can't give the exact figure, but it was a tidy annual charge that they've saved themselves.
Some users complained, apparently, but the IT Dept felt that Microsoft had, effectively, forced their hand by removing VBA macro functionality from Mac Office 2008. That's a Microsoft gun-meets-foot decision that sits only slightly below the release of Vista, IMHO.
- 4
Peter Wilson | 1/9/2009 7:12:21 PM
Will be even better when we all have SSD drives ! { Link }
Pete
- 5
Henry Ferlauto http://www.geniusinside.com | 1/10/2009 11:46:54 AM
Very nice article.
The picture in the article comparing icons (iWork vs. Symphony) could make for an interesting geek chachke (except substitute the Apple icons for Microsoft's).
I don't know the name of the technology, but the "fuzzy" picture that changes images when you view from a different angle. From one side see the Microsoft, the other Lotus. With some clever saying on each.
and in related news, MacNN has this: { Link }
MS claims 77% Mac Office use, blasts 'Apple tax'
MS's FUD surely sounds like someone running scared, of both Symphony and iWork 09.