The personal computer galaxy is realigning, and things are going to seem very different two or three years don the road. In the Mac orbit, the big news will be Mac OS X for the next while, but in the broader picture, Linux has reportedly passed the Mac in terms of percentage of users, although that needs an asterisk because the largest proportion of Linux installs are on servers and other high-end boxes. The Mac is still solidly in second place in consumer and personal workstation installations, and, we hope, OS X will help expand on that base. However, it's impossible to judge as yet whether Mac OS X will be more like the next big thing iMac-style, or like New Coke. I think there is much more reason to anticipate the former than the latter, but then the Atlanta outfit probably thought they had a winner with New Coke too.

Another imponderable is whether Microsoft will be broken up by the U.S. government trust busters. If this actually happens, there will be a tremendous shake-out in the whole personal computer industry, as the messy process of establishing new equilibrium unfolds.

Be careful what you wish for; you may get it, the aphorism goes. Macintosh and Linux people have been proverbially rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of Microsoft being rent in two. However, it's arguable that in Microsoft breakup would not necessarily be an unalloyed blessing for either the Macintosh or open source communities.

Indeed, The Register's Tony Smith has argued,in a column posted last Monday, that breaking up Microsoft could prove to be bad news for some of Redmond's most vociferous detractors. Citing the opinion of market research firm on IDC, Mr. Smith notes that Microsoft's applications division, freed from the pressure of promoting the market interests of the Windows operating system, could and probably would branch into the Linux marketplace with a version of Microsoft Office for that platform.

That would indeed be very bad news for Corel and Applix, whose WordPerfect Office and ApplixWare are, along with Sun's freeware Star Office, currently the main (only?) office suites available for the Linux platform. Mr. Smith notes the precedent of the Mac version of MS Office, which he says has always proved a money-spinner for Microsoft.

On the other hand, Smith suggests that a Linux version of Office shouldn't bother Sun very much since Star Office is free, and the point behind it at any rate is to help persuade computer users to migrate from Windows. From that perspective, MS Office for Linux would be presumably welcomed by Sun.

Office for Linux would not necessarily amount to a slam dunk victory for open source, however, because there is no reason why it would have to be an open source product. Neither Corel's nor Applix's office suites are as far as I'm aware.

And what really should have the Linux community concerned, according to IDC, is the potential for a Microsoft version of Linux. That's right: Microsoft Linux. Think about it. With Windows being produced by a separate company, there would be no logical impediment to Microsoft mounting a blitzkrieg assault on the Linux market similar to what they did to the browser market with Internet Explorer, and the e-mail client market with Outlook Express. Microsoft would be a newbie to open source, but they certainly have plenty experience writing and marketing free software. Red Hat and Corel could find themselves in very much the same position as Netscape is today.

In a more fanciful vain, Mr. Smith mischievously suggests that the other entity of the former Microsoft colossus, as an as an OS-only operation, might even produce Windows 2000 for Power Mac...

There could also be another very good reason for a split off Microsoft applications division to pursue the open source market. It is arguable, despite the current hegemony that Microsoft Office holds in the productivity software sector, that the medium to long-term trend is toward free software. None of the free office suites can yet match Microsoft Office in terms of raw power and versatility, but they are gaining ground, and most users, including enterprise users, do not need more than a fraction of Office's capability.

Jacques Surveyor of Canadian Computer Wholesaler magazine argued in his March 2000 Application Development column that "All software in the future is going to be free. VARs and resellers need only look at Sun Microsystems recent Star Office offering and its zero price point as indicative of a mature software pricing model that is emerging.... The license price for functionally mature and stable software is rapidly approaching zero."

Surveyer observed that Star Office (which should also be available for the Mac later this year -- see below) wouldn't pose much of a threat to commercial software office suites if it happened to be just a "pale imitation of Corel Office Suite 2000 or Microsoft office 2000. "The problem," he said, "is that Star Office is definitely a contender."

"Star Office's word-processing program gives the big boys a solid run for the money," Surveyer notes, and "although its spreadsheet and presentation programs are a couple of notches behind Excel and Quattro Pro, they certainly hit the right spots. Star Draw has features well beyond Corel Print House and Microsoft Photo Draw; however it can't match all the image and font goodies that come with the rival suites."

On the other hand, Surveyer rated Star Office Database as "merely serviceable," compared with Paradox And Access.

Star Office Star Writer can open standard Microsoft Word files from Office 2000, and earlier files back to Office 95, edit them, and save them as Word documents, including support for Word's paragraph styles, numbered paragraphs, bulleted lists, and other formatting modes, and the suite features a much smaller footprint than its counterparts, occupying about 120 MB to 140 MB of disk space.

Star Office

Star Office, which Sun Microsystems purchased last summer from independent software publisher Star Division, and its German subsidiary Softwareentwicklungs GmbH.Star Division Corp., includes:
• Star Office Writer - word processing
• Star Office Calc - spreadsheet
• Star Office Impress - presentation software
• Star Office Draw and Star Office Image - graphics software
• Star Office Schedule - calendaring
• Star Office Mail - e-mail
• Star Office Base - database interface
• Star Office Discussion - newsreader
• Star Office Math - formula software
• Star Office Workplace - desktop environment

Unfortunately, there is no Mac version of the current Star Office 5.x, although there was a Mac version of Star Office 4, which was developed before Sun purchased the software suite from its former developers.

Happily, Mr. Davey Atuaia at Sun Customer Service told me recently that "the engineering effort to port Star Office to the Mac is now underway." Mr. Atuaia says there is no firm delivery date yet, but suggests that interested parties continue to check the Star Office Web site for the latest news on the Mac port. The Star Office Website currently affirms that: "We are targeting [Mac OS] availability by late 2000." However, Star Office 5 is available for virtually every other OS used by businesses now.

MyFreeDesk.com

MyFreeDesk.com is a a free office suite of applications that can be accessed over the Internet from any location in the world. However, for the present you'll need Virtual PC to use them on the Mac.

The basic concept of FreeDesk is reminiscent of Apple's OpenDoc and Microsoft's OLEFreeDesk Office Suite is a fully functional office suite that includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program, database, graphics, webpage editor, and email. The suite can use files in several different formats such as Microsoft and WordPerfect. After you have prepared your spreadsheet or word processing, you export it into whichever file format you want.

FreeDesk doesn't work on Macs because they do not have a java-based browser that supports FreeDesk's office suite. However, FreeDesk does operate with Connectix Virtual PC. The company says it is currently looking into a more general solution that will allow FreeDesk to operate on most Macs.

"Many of today's leading companies have built their business on offering free products -- from email to Internet access to software," says James Rice, MyFreeDesk CEO. "The market's rapid adoption of Linux, for example, supports the viability of free-product business models. MyFreeDesk is continuing this trend by providing a free suite of office applications designed to enable individuals to maximize productivity and collaborate more easily. Our goal is to provide essential business software ... anywhere and on any desktop."

The MyFreeDesk suite is supported by advertising and sponsors. Additionally, users have the option of signing up for an ad-free service for a nominal monthly fee. "Our basic service will always be free," said Rice. "However, business clients have asked for an ad-free service, so we have met that request with an innovative pricing option."

According to MyFreeDesk President Odeh Muhawesh, "The days are gone of paying hundreds of dollars per seat for office software that requires upgrades every few months. MyFreeDesk can save individuals and small businesses thousands of dollars every year while empowering them to work with the latest software anywhere and on any platform."

MyFreeDesk maintains that computer makers can also benefit from the trend toward Web-based software delivery by eliminating margin-shrinking items such as the operating system and bundled software. MyFreeDesk believes PC OEMs will consider shipping systems featuring a free operating system, such as Linux, and the MyFreeDesk free web-based office suite. On the software producer side, Web-based software eliminates the problem of unauthorized copying, since the software is on the server. You can learn more about MyFreeDesk at:
http://www.myfreedesk.com

Personable.com

Another free office software alternative is Personable.com's an online Application Service Provider (ASP) that offers a full spectrum of Windows-compatible software for rent via standard web browsers. Incidentally, Personable.com is the first in ASP space to serve Windows 2000 Applications to the Macintosh community, allowing Macintosh users access to Windows-based software without installing software emulation packages.

To use Personable.com's service with any OS platform that has Java capable Web browsers, just visit http://www.personable.com their Website and sign up. There is no charge to open an individual account. Accounts are activated instantly and users can try out new software immediately. Mac users do not have to download any software or use up hard drive space storing applications they will seldom use. Personable.com requires no additional plug-ins or emulation software to run the Mac platform.

The minimum Macintosh system requirements for Personable.com are:
• OS 8.5.1 or later
• A Java-capable browser
• Macintosh Runtime For Java version 2.2 or later
(available from: http://asu.info.apple.com/swupdates.nsf/artnum/n11572)

For more information, visit:
http://www.personable.com

ThinkFree Office

Yet Another free Office software solution is Thinkfree.com's Office Suite.

Thinkfree Office includes:
• Write - a WYSIWYG Microsoft Word compatible word processor/HTML editor
• Calc - a Microsoft Excel compatible spreadsheet
• Show - a Microsoft PowerPoint compatible presentation graphics program
• Mail - an IMAP4 and POP3 e-mail client like Microsoft Outlook Express, with an integrated file attachment viewer
• Contacts - an address book with built in LDAP support
• Folders - a file manager like Microsoft Windows Explorer for navigating and managing documents in local folders or in secure ThinkSafe cyberfolders.
(The email client and address book are under still development).

A Macintosh version of ThinkFree office is also promised for later this year.

For more information about ThinkFree Office, visit the company's Website at:
http://www.thinkfree.com

AbiSoft

The open source company AbiSoft is developing a suite of free, Open Source, desktop productivity applications that includes the Abi Word processor. For more information, visit: http://www.abisource.com.

In his CCW column, Jacques Surveyer cites University of California professors Marion and Karl Shapiro who argue in their book "Information Rules" that as software matures and reaches a stable set of features and functionality, its price will be driven down toward the marginal cost of producing it.

For Mac users questing after free software, Gareth Jones has compiled a "Freebies Galore!" Web page listing free Mac applications with links.

Included are:
• Nisus Compact
• Nisus Writer 4.1.6
• WordPerfect 3.5e
• Helix (relational database)
• Regress+ (mathematical modelling or statistics)
• UGather (multimedia database that handles pictures, movies, sounds, and music)
• iShell (multimedia presentations)
• Select ACTA (outliner)
• MORE! (outliner)
• HyperStudio ("like a color MacPaint")
• Strata StudioPro (3D drawing package)
• BBEdit Lite
• Redux (backup software)

There are more, including MP3 players and Apple's iMovie.

Gareth also includes a commentary on the trend to free software, and, like Jacques Surveyor and Odeh Muhawesh, he predicts that the commercial software era will be over within five years.

Gareth notes that several converging trends are combining to usher in the free software era:
• The Open Source Movement is producing large, complex, reliable, and free programs.
• As competition in the commercial software field forces some good programs out of distribution, their publishers have nothing to lose by releasing the program for free.
• The same brutal competition forces smaller players to release old versions of their software for free in return for good will, advertising, and a flow of upgrade orders from satisfied clients.
• Some programs that have been long out of production rise from their graves as they are reclassified as freeware.

"These trends are all peaking," says Gareth, "and I believe that they mean the end of commercial software suites. They may also mean the end of commercial software itself as other companies, following the lead of Red Hat and TribeWorks (the publishers of iShell), start to give away programs but sell support. I expect that this will be clear within about a year, when Star Office is available for the Mac, and complete within five."

Perhaps so, but keep an eye on Microsoft, and whatever happens, we're in for some interesting times.

You can visit the Freebies Galore! page here:
http://www.intergate.ca/personal/gslj/freesoftware.html

Charles W. Moore

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Wednesday, 08-Feb-2012 19:10:30 EST