Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Free IBM Software Is Bid to Challenge Microsoft Office - WSJ.com

Strange days indeed 

Because Symphony will be available free in the latest edition of Notes, it should get a look from organizations around the world, which have 135 million Notes users. Users will be able to use Symphony to view and edit a spreadsheet or write a presentation without having to open a new application.

Doug Heintzman, director of technical strategy for IBM's software group, says putting Symphony inside Notes reflects his view that collaboration software now provides the greatest value in software for workers. "Spreadsheets, and word processors and presentations have been around a long time. They're pretty static. The real value is in how people work together," he says.

That is certainly reflected in the price. When Lotus introduced the first Symphony in 1983, it priced it at $595.

Free IBM Software Is Bid to Challenge Microsoft Office - WSJ.com

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