There's a rhythm to the release of new versions of office suite software. It is not so much a natural rhythm as the echo of Microsoft's development cycle; everyone else wants to be ready to compete with the latest version or to take advantage of customers who are thinking about upgrading and might be persuaded to convert instead. You can't look at the competing products in isolation: new features can reflect Microsoft's latest focus, or they can be ideas whose time has come.
One of Microsoft's key messages for Office 2003 is how the power and flexibility of XML documents can make information more accessible within a business. But now there are rumours of a new beta release delaying the final release until autumn, and Microsoft has decided not to include the tools for using your own XML schemas and the InfoPath application, which turns structured XML documents into something anyone can use, in all versions of the suite. There's also some resistance to the fact that Office 2003 will only run on Windows 2000 and XP.
Does this leave an opportunity for OpenOffice.org, the free open-source office suite project that prides itself on using standardised and truly open XML for file formats and component APIs? The first major update of the OpenOffice.org software - version 1.1 - is in beta at the moment, with the final version promised in a couple of months.
Oracle boss, Larry Ellison, calls OpenOffice.org 1.1 "almost usable". More fervent supporters hope the combination of the open and documented file format, the range of platforms supported (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris and FreeBSD) and new features such as saving to PDF and more sophisticated macro support will make it a winner. However, it is not the only Office challenger hoping to wrongfoot Microsoft.
Corel's WordPerfect Office 11 (already available in the US and due out in the UK soon) has some similar features, including saving to PDF from WordPerfect and Presentations, publishing to XML from all the applications, and support for the Open Document Management API.
There's also an update for StarOffice - the commercial office suite from Sun that OpenOffice.org is based on - in development, with a second beta promised for early May. This is aimed particularly at the enterprise market rather than the enthusiasts, who have been the main audience for earlier versions, and those are the features arousing interest in OpenOffice.org 1.1, too.
StarOffice and OpenOffice.org aren't the same product, but they are closely linked. OpenOffice.org project members (including Sun) develop software based on Sun's source code, which is available under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) and Sun's own Industry Standards Source License (SISSL). The SISSL is there for companies that can't use the LGPL because they don't want to distribute the source code for changes they make and contribute those changes back to the project.
StarOffice includes code that Sun licenses from other companies which isn't available to OpenOffice.org, so there are features in StarOffice you won't see here: some file filters and templates, some of the sorting functionality in the Asian versions, the clip art gallery, various fonts (again, especially Asian fonts) and the database program, Adabas D. And, of course, while OpenOffice.org is available as source code or an application suite you can download, StarOffice will come in a box with a printed manual and support.
Like most office "suites", OpenOffice.org 1.1 is a collection of separate applications, including a word processor (Writer), spreadsheet (Calc) and presentation package (Impress). Other components include the drawing package, charting tools, formula editing, and file conversion tools supporting plenty of formats including Microsoft Office, but there is no email application and no calendar. That doesn't mean the applications don't integrate with email - you can send documents from within applications using Outlook, Eudora, Mozilla and most other email packages.
As well as sending in OpenOffice. org's own XML-based file format, you can send a file by email as a PDF (or save it locally as a PDF), if it is a presentation, you can export it as a Macromedia Flash file. With the free viewers, you don't need to worry about whether your mail recipients have the right software to open them.
OpenOffice.org supports such a wide range of file formats that some people use it purely as a file converter. The formatting isn't identical to what you'd see in Microsoft Office and fonts are still something of a weakness, but most features, like spreadsheet filters, comments and tracked changes, transfer correctly.
The interface is sparser than Office, and individual tools don't have quite the same finesse or range of options. However, you will find Office XP features here, although the drawing application has neither the simplicity of Word's drawing tools, nor the power of a standalone graphics package.
Features and options aren't always where an Office user would expect to find them but many tools - like charting, slide design, table formatting and the macro recorder - are very familiar. There are more friendly features than you might expect.
The software attempts to automatically correct, reformat and complete your typing. AutoPilots are similar to wizards for creating letters, forms and other documents, and there's even a pop-up tip tool similar to the Office Assistant.
Just as Sun's deals to distribute StarOffice with PCs have been at the budget end of the market (replacing Microsoft Works on Sony PCs in Europe, for example), some companies want OpenOffice.org to save the cost of Office (or the cost of Office and Windows). If you are standardising on XML or have documents from a range of applications to work with, the file compatibility is useful; until recently, Microsoft hadn't documented the proprietary XML file format it offers for Office applications and the OpenOffice.org XML format uses standard Oasis-approved tags for formatting.
Linux distributors such as Red Hat and SuSE have switched from StarOffice to OpenOffice.org, not just because Sun charges for StarOffice, but because they want to distribute open source applications that their customers can develop and customise. OpenOffice.org is also a platform you can extend via the OpenOffice API and the new OpenOffice.org Software Development kit; if you need that kind of control, it can be more important than the state of the interface or the current checklist of features. The development tools now support more languages, including right-to-left and bottom-to-top text. That, and the new accessibility tools, should appeal to government and university customers.
But if you just need budget office software, remember that OpenOffice.org doesn't include formal support and few office workers are familiar with it yet, so it may not be the ideal solution.
