They are still not sufficient to be comparable with M$ Office.
No, but they're really, really close.
What the Linux community NEEDS to get in its (collective)head is that the desktop will STILL be RULED by M$ until XXXOffice (Open/Star/etc) has a Word package that COMPLETELY pulls in ALL M$ Word docs AND something that TRULY functions as M$ Outlook and can pull in PST files. Until this happens M$ will continue to RULE the desktop.
Again, we're almost there with the functionality of Star/Open Office and Evolution. I'd say that we're at about an 80% compatibility level with MS products, for two reasons: simple file r/w, and Evolution only functions as a full Outlook-compatible client with a proprietary add-in package (Connector).
BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY... WITHOUT something that can "BORG in" (assimilate) M$ DOCs, Outlook, and XLS there is NO CHANCE Linux will topple M$. The package does not even have to have "all" the capabilities as long as it can pull in the file (doc, pst, xls) not crash and have the file look "almost" exactly like it did in M$ Office and we have a chance for a REAL revolution on the desktop.
Two points here - Lycoris (I know, I know), wine, and again, 80% with the others. Consider the possibility of getting certain departments or portions of these institutions switched over to free software; departments that don't need full compatibility or feature lists.
People seem to forget that the WAY to WIN is to ASSIMILATE. M$ proved that SO MANY times over. How did I get sucked into Outlook the first time before my Corporate experience? Fire up Outlook and it says "Hey I see you have a Netscape email account... Want me to pull that info into Outlook for you?" Sure I said just to see how effective it was and to my supprise is got everything without one error. So I used it for a couple of days... It out does ANY email system out there. The ONLY MAJOR caveat is the F*%king security problems and we ALL know about those. BUT, it is FAR more effective at email/scheduler/contacts controller than anything else.
I've heard that Evolution is pretty good at importing mail as well, and it includes the calendar/scheduler/contacts functionality, minus the security issues. Netscape mail has always done a good job for me, as far as imports go.
Slashdot Mirror
They are still not sufficient to be comparable with M$ Office.
:)
No, but they're really, really close.
What the Linux community NEEDS to get in its (collective)head is that the desktop will STILL be RULED by M$ until XXXOffice (Open/Star/etc) has a Word package that COMPLETELY pulls in ALL M$ Word docs AND something that TRULY functions as M$ Outlook and can pull in PST files. Until this happens M$ will continue to RULE the desktop.
Again, we're almost there with the functionality of Star/Open Office and Evolution. I'd say that we're at about an 80% compatibility level with MS products, for two reasons: simple file r/w, and Evolution only functions as a full Outlook-compatible client with a proprietary add-in package (Connector).
BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY... WITHOUT something that can "BORG in" (assimilate) M$ DOCs, Outlook, and XLS there is NO CHANCE Linux will topple M$. The package does not even have to have "all" the capabilities as long as it can pull in the file (doc, pst, xls) not crash and have the file look "almost" exactly like it did in M$ Office and we have a chance for a REAL revolution on the desktop.
Two points here - Lycoris (I know, I know), wine, and again, 80% with the others. Consider the possibility of getting certain departments or portions of these institutions switched over to free software; departments that don't need full compatibility or feature lists.
People seem to forget that the WAY to WIN is to ASSIMILATE. M$ proved that SO MANY times over. How did I get sucked into Outlook the first time before my Corporate experience? Fire up Outlook and it says "Hey I see you have a Netscape email account... Want me to pull that info into Outlook for you?" Sure I said just to see how effective it was and to my supprise is got everything without one error. So I used it for a couple of days... It out does ANY email system out there. The ONLY MAJOR caveat is the F*%king security problems and we ALL know about those. BUT, it is FAR more effective at email/scheduler/contacts controller than anything else.
I've heard that Evolution is pretty good at importing mail as well, and it includes the calendar/scheduler/contacts functionality, minus the security issues. Netscape mail has always done a good job for me, as far as imports go.
MY $0.02
Here's your change, and think positive!