Another Free Office Suite of Products

I haven't looked at this new free office suite called IBM Lotus Symphony; but it looks like it could be pretty good. It appears to be an open suite of products (very universal) and they claim:

"With Lotus Symphony, you can import, edit and save a variety of file formats including Microsoft Office files. You can even export your documents to Adobe® Portable Document Format (PDF). The tools work with computers running both Microsoft Windows and Linux- environments, with support for Apple Macintosh planned for the future."

The suite consists of three products:

1. Lotus Symphony Documents (replacement for Word)
2. Lotus Symphony Presentations (replacement for PowerPoint)
3. Lotus Symphony Spreadsheets (replacement for Excel)

As a former Lotus 1-2-3 user, I'm very interested in these and will have to check them out the first opportunity I get. If anyone has tried them, please comment!

Here's the link to the page:

IBM Lotus Symphony

Save Money: Buy Refurbished PC's

BNet had a good article (which you can read my comments on) regarding purchasing refurbished PC's...something I have no problem with. Read the article at the link below and read my comment at their site also:


Should You Buy a Refurbished PC? on BNet

Microsoft Coffee Table PC

Is there really a market for this thing; I can't imagine having such an intrusive thing in my living room...







Microsoft to unveil 30-inch touch screen computer - May. 30, 2007

Microsoft unveils coffee table 'surface computer'
Software maker will introduce a coffee-table-shaped computer that has a 30-inch display, allowing people to touch and move objects on the screen.
May 30 2007: 2:42 PM EDT

SEATTLE (Reuters) -- Microsoft Corp. will unveil a coffee-table-shaped "surface computer" Wednesday in a major step towards co-founder Bill Gates's view of a future where the mouse and keyboard are replaced by more natural interaction using voice, pen and touch.

Microsoft Surface, which has a 30-inch display under a hard-plastic tabletop, allows people to touch and move objects on screen for everything from digital finger painting and jigsaw puzzles to ordering off a virtual menu in a restaurant.
surface.03.jpg
Microsoft's coffee-table-shaped "surface computer" hopes to one day replace the mouse and keyboard with voice recognition, pen and touch.

It also recognizes and interacts with devices placed on its surface, so cell phone users can easily buy ringtones or change payment plans by placing their handsets on in-store displays, or a group of people gathered round the table can check out the photos on a digital camera placed on top.

Microsoft (Charts, Fortune 500), the world's largest software maker, said it will manufacture the machine itself and sell it initially to corporate customers, deploying the first units in November in Sheraton hotels, Harrah's casinos, T-Mobile stores, and restaurants.
Microsoft's 150-lb computer: What's the point?

Powered by ScribeFire.