IBM Lotus Symphony

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For the 1980s DOS software, see Lotus Symphony (DOS).
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IBM Lotus Symphony
Lotus Symphony icon.png
Developer(s) Lotus Software
Stable release 3.0 / October 21, 2010; 14 months ago (2010-10-21)
Operating system Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
Type Office suite
License Proprietary (registerware)[1]
Website symphony.lotus.com
Left to right: the icons for Lotus Symphony Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations through version 1.0
Left to right: the document icons for Lotus Symphony Documents, Presentations, and Spreadsheets

IBM Lotus Symphony is a suite of applications for creating, editing, and sharing text, spreadsheet, presentations and other documents, and is currently distributed as freeware. First released in 2007, the suite has a name similar to the 1980s DOS suite Lotus Symphony, but the two programs are otherwise unrelated. The previous Lotus application suite, Lotus SmartSuite, is also unrelated.

Contents

[edit] Features

IBM Lotus Symphony consists of:

Each application is split into tabs.

Symphony supports the OpenDocument formats as well as the binary Microsoft Office formats.[2] It can also export Portable Document Format (PDF) files and import Office Open XML files. Previous support for Lotus SmartSuite formats was disabled in Symphony 3.[2]

Symphony is available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. It is based on Eclipse Rich Client Platform from IBM Lotus Expeditor for its shell and OpenOffice.org 3 for the core office suite code.[3] OpenOffice.org version 1.1.4 was dual-licensed under both the GNU Lesser General Public License and Sun's own SISSL, which allowed for entities to change the code without releasing their changes. Therefore, IBM does not have to release the source code of Symphony.

[edit] History

Symphony has its roots in IBM Workplace. In 2006, IBM introduced Workplace Managed Client version 2.6, which included "productivity tools" — a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation program — that supported ODF.[4][5] Later that year, IBM announced that Lotus Notes 8, which already incorporated Workplace technology[6], would also include the same productivity tools as the Workplace Managed Client.[7][8] In 2007, IBM released Notes 8, and then released Notes' productivity tools as a standalone application, Symphony, in a beta one month later. The code in Symphony is the same as that for Notes 8's productivity tools.[9]

IBM released version 1.0 of Lotus Symphony in May 2008 as a free download, and introduced three minor upgrades through 2008 and 2009. In 2010, IBM released version 3.0.[10] It incorporated code from OpenOffice.org 3.x,[10][11][12][13] and includes enhancements such as new sidebars in its user interface and support for Visual Basic for Applications macros, OpenDocument Format 1.2, and OLE.[14] Symphony 3.0 was originally planned to include other existing OpenOffice.org modules, including an equation editor, database software, and a drawing program.[15]

The software is developed by IBM China Development Laboratory, located in Beijing.[16] During the Lotusphere event in 2009, IBM confirmed its cost reduction effort using Lotus Symphony: the company is migrating its 400,000 users from Microsoft Office to Lotus Symphony.[17] As of February 2010, IBM stated that Lotus Symphony has 12 million users.[18]

On July 13, 2011, IBM announced that it would donate Lotus Symphony to the Apache Foundation[19].

Lotus Symphony Documents 1.0 on Windows XP
Lotus Symphony Documents 1.2 Beta on Mac OS X

[edit] Version release dates

Beta 1
  • Released on September 18, 2007[20]
Beta 2
  • Released on November 5, 2007[21]
Beta 3
  • Released on December 17, 2007[22]
  • Released in 23 languages on January 7, 2008[23]
Beta 4
  • Released on February 1, 2008.[24] Introduced the Lotus Symphony Developer Toolkit.
  • Revised edition released on March 3, 2008[25]
Version 1.0
  • Released on May 30, 2008[26]
Version 1.1
  • Released on August 29, 2008[27]
Version 1.2
  • Released on November 4, 2008[28]
  • Revised edition released on Feb 23, 2009[29]
Version 1.3
  • Released on June 10, 2009[30]
  • Revised edition released on September 1, 2009[31]
Version 3 Beta
  • Released on February 4, 2010[32]
Version 3 Beta 2
  • Released on February 4, 2010[33]
Version 3 Beta 3
  • Released on June 7, 2010
Version 3 Beta 4
  • Released on August 26, 2010[34]
Version 3.0
  • Released October 21, 2010[35]
Version 3.0 FixPack 1
  • Released January 13, 2011[36]
Version 3.0 FixPack 2
  • Released April 20, 2011[37]
Version 3.0 FixPack 3
  • Released July 20, 2011[38]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Byfield, Bruce (2007-10-04). "OpenOffice vs. Lotus Symphony". Datamation. http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/entdev/article.php/3703501/OpenOffice-vs-Lotus-Symphony.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-15. "For all purposes, it is a proprietary fork of the OpenOffice.org code" 
  2. ^ a b "What's new in IBM Lotus Symphony 3". IBM. 2010-10-21. http://symphony.lotus.com/software/lotus/symphony/help.nsf/ReleaseNotes. 
  3. ^ IBM Lotus Symphony: Buzz Lotus Symphony Version 3 is NOW AVAILABLE, October 21, 2010
  4. ^ Todd Weiss, IBM Workplace client to support Open Document Format in '06, Computerworld, December 4, 2005
  5. ^ IBM Press Release, IBM Announces New Version of Workplace Products With Enhanced Support for Open Standards and Improved SOA Functionality, January 23, 2006
  6. ^ Ed Brill, "Hannover" — announcing the next (post 7.0) version of Lotus Notes, June 14, 2005
  7. ^ IBM Press Release, IBM Makes Collaborative Innovation Real With Preview of Next Generation IBM Lotus Notes Client, May 16, 2006.
  8. ^ Candace Lombardi, IBM backs OpenDocument in Lotus Notes, CNET News, May 16, 2006.
  9. ^ Ed Brill, Introducing IBM Lotus Symphony, desktop productivity software at no charge, September 18, 2007 — see comment 41
  10. ^ a b Brill, Ed (2010-10-21). "Lotus Symphony 3.0 now available". http://edbrill.com/ebrill/edbrill.nsf/dx/lotus-symphony-3.0-now-available. Retrieved 2010-10-29. 
  11. ^ "Network World – Lotus to set road map for free productivity suite". http://lotussymphonyblog.com/blog/symblog.nsf/dx/network-world-lotus-to-set-road-map-for-free-productivity-suite. Retrieved 2010-01-19. 
  12. ^ John Fontana (2010-01-15). "Lotus to set road map for free productivity suite". Network World. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/011510-lotus-productivity-suite.html?hpg1=bn. Retrieved 2010-01-19. 
  13. ^ "IBM Commits to Future of ODF With Symphony Roadmap". 2008-11-05. http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/25912.wss. Retrieved 2010-01-19. 
  14. ^ "IBM Lotus Symphony 3 Release Notes". IBM. http://symphony.lotus.com/software/lotus/symphony/help.nsf/ReleaseNotes?OpenForm&version=3. Retrieved 2010-10-29. 
  15. ^ Edward Mendelson, IBM Lotus Symphony Beta review, "...Now the Bad News" section, September 21, 2007
  16. ^ IBM Translates Lotus Symphony for a Globally Integrated World
  17. ^ Postinett, Axel (2009-09-11). "IBM wirft MS Office raus" (in German). Handelsblatt. http://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/it-medien/ibm-wirft-ms-office-raus;2455530. Retrieved 2010-12-15. 
  18. ^ Symphony 3.0 beta signals IBM attack on Office
  19. ^ Weir, Rob (2011-07-13), Incubator OO.o development mailing list, Apache Foundation, http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.apache.incubator.ooo.devel/1600 .
  20. ^ IBM Press Release, IBM Releases Office Desktop Software at No Charge to Foster Collaboration and Innovation, September 18, 2007
  21. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Beta 2 Release Now Available, November 5, 2007
  22. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Beta 3 Release Now Available, December 17, 2007
  23. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Beta 3 Now Available in 23 Languages, January 7, 2008
  24. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Beta 4 Has Arrived, February 1, 2008
  25. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Symphony Beta 4 Code Update Now Available, March 3, 2008
  26. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Announcing — IBM Lotus Symphony Version 1.0 is Now Available, May 30, 2008
  27. ^ Ed Brill, Lotus Symphony 1.1 is now available, August 29, 2008
  28. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Release 1.2 with Mac OS X Support Available, November 4, 2008
  29. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Symphony version 1.2 refresh available, February 23, 2009
  30. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony 1.3 is HERE, June 10, 2009
  31. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, What fixes are included in the IBM Lotus Symphony 1.3 refresh version?, September 1, 2009
  32. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, IBM launches Lotus Symphony 3 beta, February 4, 2010
  33. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, IBM Lotus Symphony 3 Beta 2 is now available, February 4, 2010
  34. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, IBM Lotus Symphony 3 Beta 4 is now available, August 26, 2010
  35. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Version 3 is NOW AVAILABLE, October 21, 2010
  36. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, [1], January 13, 2011
  37. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, [2], April 20, 2011
  38. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, [3], July 20, 2011

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