From an interview with Sam Hiser of the OpenOffice.org Marketing Project (from NewsForge) on what’s missing: “…a few key features–which we are presently working on — like calendar, scheduling and mail handling, or full database integration, to which office suite users have become accustomed; we already have the killer file format.”
When asked about some of the major goals for the software going forward, Sam says:
– All languages supportable. Not 35, but 135! (23 available today)
– Great integration with all supportable OS platforms
– Full integration with Mac’s OS X Aqua!
– Groupware across all platforms
– Database (some integration is available today to experts)
– a great implementation of XML in the file format (done)
– DVD integration with Impress (OOo’s presentation module)
My wishlist:
– better display of Microsoft files: every once in a while some formatting issues crop up
– use of OO as a web service (essentially, as a programmable component)
– blog support: add integration with Radio / MovableType / Traction
Comments Amy Wohl on the same interview with Sam Hiser, using it to talk about innovation:
I don’t expect OpenOffice to push Microsoft out of the market any time soon, but it (1) presents an iincreasingly appealing alternative, particularly for customers who are looking for something lighter weight and (2) free or low-cost (Sun’s StarOffice is not free) can be a big advantage in developing markets.
Nearly every day — certainly every week — I get to look at great software, some of it very innovative, being built by clever people. Some of it will never get to market and some of it will, of course, not succeed. It’s a rule of innovation that if one in ten projects succeeds, we’re doing well.
Microsoft may have an advantage — fair or unfair — based on its enormous success in operating systems and office applications, but it’s far from being the only game in town.
