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Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing

By | October 18, 2010, 5:07am PDT

Summary: When people pay attention all the money in the world won’t change their minds. And when it’s a choice between spending money on something or downloading it, I like my chances, no matter how many attack ads Microsoft puts out.

First they ignore you. Then they attack you. Then you win.

I was reminded of that old adage when watching the silly Microsoft ad attacking OpenOffice.org this weekend.

The claims made by the ad are not new. There are undertones of political attack in it, only natural given that this is a political season. And since OpenOffice.org doesn’t have the resources to respond, some may consider it unfair.

Please stop the whinging.

Microsoft can advertise the advantages of its product all it wants, but when even a student version costs $84, with the full deal going for almost $700, and OpenOffice.org can be downloaded free, the difference is obvious. (Whether you can get it a little cheaper is not the issue — the fact is Microsoft software costs money.)

Speaking of politics it reminds me a bit of Proposition 16, an attempt by a California utility to maintain absolute control over the market earlier this year. The proponent was a gigantic company with an unlimited budget, the opponents a small collection of consumer advocates with no money.

The consumer advocates won.

People aren’t stupid. I know we’re all trained to think that if one side has money and the other has none, that the side with money is going to win. Not true. When people pay attention all the money in the world won’t change their minds.

And when it’s a choice between spending money on something or downloading it, I like my chances, no matter how many attack ads Microsoft puts out.

Some may find the timing troubling, coming as it does some months after Oracle acquired OpenOffice.org and shortly after developers forked to a new project, LibreOffice.  I don’t think it matters much. Fact is free software is a serious competitor in the market, Microsoft is acknowledging it, and that’s what we need to remember.

This ad proves that OpenOffice.org is eating into Microsoft’s market share. It is providing something Microsoft hasn’t faced in this space in over a decade, real competition. Microsoft has to work for its money in office productivity for the first time in a long, long time.

That’s even good news for Microsoft users.

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Topics

Dana Blankenhorn, Microsoft Corp., Advertising, Attack, OpenOffice, Open Source, Advertising & Promotion, Office Suites, Software, Marketing

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983.

Disclosure

Dana Blankenhorn

Dana Blankenhorn has been a journalist, writer and part-time futurist for over 30 years.

At the present moment I run only a personal blog in addition to my ZDNet open source blog.

DanaBlankenhorn.Com has the subtitle The War Against Oil. In the past I have used it to write about political history, e-commerce, personal matters, some ideas related to open source, and The World of Always On, which is the idea of using sensors, motes and RFID to turn WiFi links into platforms for applications which live in the air.

My IRA account at Schwab holds a few tech shares, most notably some Intel and Applied Materials, but there are no open source companies in it. I don’t even own any CBS stock.

Biography

Dana Blankenhorn

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for nearly 25 years and has covered the online world professionally since 1985. He founded the Interactive Age Daily for CMP Media, and has written for the Chicago Tribune, Advertising Age's "NetMarketing" supplement, and dozens of other publications over the years.

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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
dedrizen 27th Oct 2010
@DonnieBoy

Okay, I use OpenOffice. But here is some food for thought.

All I need my "office" software to do is spreadsheets, word processing, and perhaps some presentations.

Creating html? Nope. Even if I could use my office suite to do it, I will probably use a program designed more specifically for this purpose instead. Database? Nope. The company I work for uses databases but even still they do NOT use the database function of an "office" suite but rather separate programs designed for the tasks we need the databases for.... The other day we had someone who couldn't scan some documents because the software we use wasn't working on their PC, so I showed them that MS Office had a utility they could use. In short, some of these office programs are full of features that are rarely if ever used....
View in thread
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Are you telling me that I need to pay for what I want.
gbouchard99@... 18th Oct 2010
Nothing in this world is free... Nothing. Open Office finds it's inspiration in MS Office for each of it's feature. Should MS office be alone in the market. Nop. But should anyone be offended by the fact that MS wants you to pay for it's product. Absolutely not. Why ? Simple. It's a better product.
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Actually, you do NOT always need to pay for what you want!! And, MS Office
DonnieBoy 18th Oct 2010
is no longer a better product as we transition to publishing and sharing on the web. All of those baroque feature for formating to print on 8.5x11 paper are looking more ridiculous by the day. OpenOffice is a great transition product as we move a way from bloated, locally installed office suites. Note: OpenOffice is bloated too.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
chipbeef 18th Oct 2010
@gbouchard99@... Actually, the concept of MS Office "creating" the office suite landscape is false. It was, at one time, the newcomer and unseated WordPerfect/Novel office which was inspired by/created from Wordstar, Wordpecfect etc for wordprocessing and Quattro Pro, Lotus 1-2-3 et al for spreadsheets, etc. MS Office improved the integration between the pieces and introduced Lookout...err Outlook.

As such, OpenOffice/libreOffice which existed as StarOffice back in the day (but possibly not quite that far back) is not necessarily a copy of MS Office, but parallel development of the concept.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
nucrash 18th Oct 2010
@gbouchard99@... People are becoming aware of OOo which makes them a threat. College Students love the suite where as Professors loathe it.

We should thank Microsoft for all of the free publicity though. The enterprise may never let go of Microsoft, but thanks to Microsoft, consumers just might.
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Don't be daft!
Gaius_Maximus 18th Oct 2010
@gbouchard99@... WordPerfect was the better product. In some ways, it still is. Lotus' Smart suite gave rise the the whole 'office' concept, which M$ copied. Star Writer was already evolving back then, and simply did what came naturally. But where are Lotus and WP today? M$ engaged in a lot of dirty (and expensive) tricks to gain a monopoly that would let them bleed us dry. It had nothing to do with being a better product then or now. And what you're paying for today is not quality, but M$' efforts to recoup the costs of gaining that monopoly. I will never use M$ Office again. Even if recruiters insist on M$ Word format resumes, I tell them to take pdf or go to hell.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
misceng 18th Oct 2010
@Gaius_Maximus Yes MS Office bullied the others out of existence. However I still use Lotus Smartsuite because it does the things I want to do without trying to make me conform to the MS way. I am much more productive in Smartsuite than I could ever be in MS Office. If Open Office was less sluggish I would change because I think that Open Document format, the only internationally approved format which you can actually use, is the standard we should all work with.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
twaynesdomain Updated - 19th Oct 2010
@Gaius_Maximus
That's a little myopic when OOo can create MS *.doc files that MS up to version 7 can also read/edit. Some parts of 7 are a little iffy, but up to 2003 it's perfect. I'm still using MSO 2002 but OOo 3.2.1 is my current suiite of choice. I only keep MSO around for the very few things OOo can't yet do easily - bugs which have been there since day one and which OOo has no apparent intention of ever taking care of.
Additionally, MSO can read/edit Open Document Files with a plug-in from Sun. So each can read the other's documents.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
oraman 18th Oct 2010
How many years have Linux and openoffice been winning?
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The thing is, they keep coming, and coming, and coming. Now with the
DonnieBoy 18th Oct 2010
transition to the web for publishing and sharing, MS Office is becoming irrelevant, and OpenOffice is becoming a great product for the transition, though OpenOffice will die out after the transition.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
bmonsterman 18th Oct 2010
@DonnieBoy,
"MS Office is becoming irrelevant". Bold statement when the product you're trashing has 90% or more of the market. Please, include some substance with your posts.
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bmonsterman: They have 90% of the market for the dying paradigm.
DonnieBoy Updated - 18th Oct 2010
That does not help them so much for the new paradigm. Especially given how well OpenOffice can be used for the transition.
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Donnie... Donnie...Donnie... When will you ever learn..?
Wolfie2K3 19th Oct 2010
@DonnieBoy
First off, in case you didn't know, MS Office apps have the ability to save their documents as HTML. Post the HTML file online and guess what - instant web page.

Secondly, paper isn't going away anytime soon. Having hard copies is just too handy - too useful - for it to be abandoned for something as potentially flakey as the web.

What do you do when the power goes out? Or some nitwit digger operator slices through the trunk line that services your neighborhood because it's 3:30 in the afternoon on a Friday and he's daydreaming about getting lucky with his girlfriend instead of paying attention to what he's doing?

With paper, you still have access to the document. It's not dependant on battery life, 3G, 4G or even WiFi connectivity. It's not dependant on anything other than the paper and the ink/toner.

Guess you enjoy the taste of your feet...
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
dedrizen 27th Oct 2010
@DonnieBoy

Okay, I use OpenOffice. But here is some food for thought.

All I need my "office" software to do is spreadsheets, word processing, and perhaps some presentations.

Creating html? Nope. Even if I could use my office suite to do it, I will probably use a program designed more specifically for this purpose instead. Database? Nope. The company I work for uses databases but even still they do NOT use the database function of an "office" suite but rather separate programs designed for the tasks we need the databases for.... The other day we had someone who couldn't scan some documents because the software we use wasn't working on their PC, so I showed them that MS Office had a utility they could use. In short, some of these office programs are full of features that are rarely if ever used....
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Guess what? Linux RULES the web servers
wackoae 18th Oct 2010
@oraman I know is hard to understand, but when it comes to web servers, the Windows platform is in the dying minority and shrinking every day.

When you connect to the web, 60+% of the time you are connecting with a Linux based server.
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Can you back that up?
itpro_z 18th Oct 2010
@wackoae, Netcraft's survey of operating web servers shows Windows with a very slight lead over linux, 41.6% to 41%. Perhaps you have different numbers?
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
robert_wines@... 18th Oct 2010
@itpro_z

Are you telling me that all the Microsoft fans are running Apache on their beloved Windows box??? Source Netcraft
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
rrogacki@... 18th Oct 2010
@oraman
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
Jimster480 19th Oct 2010
@oraman Linux powers so many devices these days its insane.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
BrewmanNH 19th Oct 2010
@Jimster480
And hardly any of them are personal computers.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
Socratesfoot 18th Oct 2010
As Oracle continues to "not develop" or develop slowly Open Office, and the open source community continues to develop Libreoffice there will be an increasing amount of competition for Microsoft. The problem is that while currently Microsoft may have the best product, it's only a productivity suite and there is only so much you can do with that. Eventually it'll be like anti-virus software; get it free, nearly free, or pay a small amount for better features and support. But Office will not continue to be Microsoft's cash cow by which they can control the entire computer industry and when that happens Windows OS will also begin loosing market share.
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Yes, as we still have WordPerfect, we will still have MS Office in 5 years,
DonnieBoy 18th Oct 2010
but, of course MS Office will sell for 5 dollars by then, and most will publish and share documents on line.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
Jimster480 19th Oct 2010
@Socratesfoot windows is not going away for a long time. Especially with things like msdnaa. New programmers are given free powerful developer software and OS licenses to use as they please for development. Meaning people are most likely going to develop on windows for windows. You can't beat free. And even ms knows this.
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Actually, OpenOffice is now just enabling the transition in the way we do
DonnieBoy 18th Oct 2010
things. During the transition, companies and individuals can use OpenOffice for those MS Office attachments that are still coming in, as we move to the publishing and sharing on the web.
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OpenOffice is a HELL OF A LOT BETTER for old MSOffice documents
wackoae 18th Oct 2010
@DonnieBoy While the latest version of MS Office fails to open a lot of documents written with older version of the same suite, OpenOffice can usually open them without any problem.

If you ever find an MSO file that can't be open by a newer version of the suite, you can still save the day by just using OpenOffice to save the document in a newer MSO format.
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Yes, will even open old WordPerfect files. OpenOffice is a GREAT transition
DonnieBoy 18th Oct 2010
tool!!!!!!!!!!!
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Er.. You got that backwards..
Wolfie2K3 19th Oct 2010
@wackoae
Newer versions of Office will pretty much ALWAYS open older versions of Office files. Not having backward compatability is NOT acceptable to business.

Usually, the issue is the OTHER way around. The older versions of Office don't do the newer version's format. But Microsoft isn't stupid. They have a compatability patch ready for release usually on the same day as the new version of Office. Example of this would be the Office 2007 compatability pack for Office 2000, XP, & 20030

@Donnieboy
News flash - MS Office has been able to do WordPerfect docs since the very first versions Word for Windows. That was like waaaay back in the Windows 3.0/3.1 days. That feature was a NO brainer for them to include as it helped people migrate to MS Office.

So... What's your point?
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Open Office is great
bobiroc 18th Oct 2010
if all you need is the features of Office 97/2000

But obviously you have never dealt with these real world issues of people using Open Office and then converting them to a Microsoft compatible format based on their claims of Microsoft Compatibility. I, on the other hand, deal with it all the time along with the rest of the IT staff I work with. Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, etc.. all come in with poor formatting and compatibility issues. Sure some can make the claim that it is Microsoft's fault that converted OpenOffice documents don't work but overall I see more of these compatibility/formatting issues from OpenOffice than I do from other non-Microsoft office suites. Students waste a lot of time reformatting their docs after bringing them into school to finish them up to be turned in. It is for that reason we have recommended that they complete the document solely in OpenOffice and print it out on paper or print to PDF before bringing it in. Unfortunately presentations is our biggest issue as the transitions and effects do not transfer over well at all. Little transitions like a simple dissolve that would use small blocks would be HUGE blocks when converted over. The fact that OpenOffice is FREE is irrelevant and and while that little commercial may have had a bit of dramatization in it overall it speaks many truths. I personally know of school districts that dumped Windows and MS Office that spent more money and time in support making things work with OpenSource than they ever spent on the cost of the Microsoft Operating System and Software in the first place.
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Only problem with your argument is that OpenOffice IS as good or better
DonnieBoy 18th Oct 2010
than MS Office for many things, and will make a great transition tool as we move to the new paradigm.

The baroque features of MS Office are looking more ridiculous every day.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
bobiroc 18th Oct 2010
@DonnieBoy

You're right. Many people do not need/use the advanced features MS Office provides but many Schools, Businesses, and Organizations do. I know many students that have been using the Office Web apps in their Live@Edu environment and find that better than using OpenOffice as it provides all the features they need and the compatibility they require. But you cannot argue the fact that many choose Microsoft office because that is what they prefer and they know that the people they want to communicate with will be able to use what is sent to them. So you can call the ridiculous because you do not use or understand their purpose but they are valuable to a great many people.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
nucrash 18th Oct 2010
@bobiroc Hey now, that's not fair, they include features of MS Office 2003. And those features are much easier to find if you think like a geek. And about 80 times easier to find than in the ribbon interface.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
bobiroc 18th Oct 2010
@nucrash

Actually I think the ribbon is much easier. Organized by function and no menus or sub menus to choose from. Took some of my staff a little learning to get transition from the memorization method they had with Office 2000 we had before it but most have adapted quite well. Plenty of resources within the built in help and online to help ease the transition as well.
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The ribbon is nothing but a gigantic waste of real estate
wackoae 18th Oct 2010
@bobiroc It is just a huge toolbar wasting space on the screen. It gives absolutely zero advantage over the old way .... because you could do the same thing before but without wasting the space with huge icons.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
bmonsterman 18th Oct 2010
@wackoae,

So minimize the ribbon. Problem solved.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
bmonsterman 18th Oct 2010
@wackoae,

So minimize the ribbon. Problem solved.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
bmonsterman 18th Oct 2010
@wackoae

Did you know you can minimize the ribbon?
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
dvm Updated - 18th Oct 2010
@wackoae,
"It is just a huge toolbar wasting space on the screen. It gives absolutely zero advantage over the old way"

It looks like Autodesk don't agree with you. Why they consider the ribbon for an application like AutoCAD if it didn't worked? Even WordPerfect is testing the ribbon with the WP Home Suite.
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1236907373432#tabview=tab0
All of my customers hated the ribbon the first time they used it. We tried a 30 day test, and now none of them wants to go back. I know that not everyone loves it, but I have seen a lot of people having a great experience with it.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
bobiroc 18th Oct 2010
@wackoae

"It is just a huge toolbar wasting space on the screen. It gives absolutely zero advantage over the old way .... because you could do the same thing before but without wasting the space with huge icons."

Really? Have you compared the screen real estate of Office 2003 and 2007 side by side. It is actually about the same. Also like bmonsterman said minimize the ribbon and when you click on the menus it will bring the ribbon down. Care to try again and justify your lack of understanding of the ribbon interface that is quickly being adopted by other vendors such as Autodesk and others quite rapidly. File menus are old school and no one wants to hunt and pick and essentially memorize where the features are they want. They rather have it at their finger tips and organized by function.
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Corel home 10$ my sweet Himalaya
Quebec-french 18th Oct 2010
@dvm
wow that a sweet deal ......
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Logical fallacies and the protection racket
Economister Updated - 18th Oct 2010
@bobiroc

If the mafia promised not to smash your premises in exchange for a "small payment" it might be cheaper to pay them also.

MS wants money EVERY year, forever. They have deliberately created proprietary and undocumented features precisely to lock you in, not dissimilar to what the tobacco industry is doing by the way with nicotine.

Kicking the habit may be difficult and expensive, but eventually, when you are free, the benefits are there. It has to be done on a large scale however, to eliminate the reformatting issue altogether. The US will not lead the way in this flight to freedom. The developing nations will.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
bobiroc 18th Oct 2010
@Economister

Sorry but the integration and collaboration features within Microsoft internally, within the cloud, compatibility with an endless list of 3rd party products, and ease of use when it comes to communicating and working with other organizations is priceless.
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Your logical fallicy
cornpie 18th Oct 2010
@Economister MS does want businesses to buy software assurance agreements that entitle you to version upgrades for the duration of the agreement (usually three or more years). But there is nothing to say you have to buy it. I have an old Office 97 CD kicking around somewhere and if I chose to install it it would run just fine on Windows 7. In fact, to my knowledge software assurance is not available for home users anyway so this notion of paying "EVERY year, forever" is inaccurate. Putting something in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS! does not make it true.
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well i never like that kind of analogies
Quebec-french 18th Oct 2010
@Economister

Because for my if the Mafia come around with threats i wanna see my government and polices busting some mafia cranium big time ..... it also should be true for MS
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er.. EVERY year..???
Wolfie2K3 19th Oct 2010
@Economister
Let's see now... We had Office 95, Office 97, Office 2000, Office XP (2002), Office 2003, Office 2007 and now Office 2010. That's a total of 7 upgrades in 15 years. On average, that's about 1 upgrade every TWO years.

And truth be told, you're not forced to upgrade each and every time. Don't see any roving bands of thugs visiting companies and people's homes insisting that you get the latest version of any Microsoft product.

Finally... "developing nations" aren't all that interested in OOo or lo or whatever they call themselves today. If and when they need an office suite - they pop down to the local shops on the street and buy a pirate/hacked copy of MS Office for about $2 a CD.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
fordrambler 18th Oct 2010
@bobiroc since you support PDF and OOo lets users create PDFs natively, either your students are trying to tell you something or you need to raise your admissions requirements.

As for anecdotal evidence that some people have spent more supporting FOSS, there's lots of anecdotal evidence to the contrary. In my experience, any group that fails to embrace the paradigm shift required between proprietary and FOSS solutions runs into trouble, and that applies no matter which way they're transitioning (yes, some people abandon FOSS).

What's most accurate in these comments is that office suites are in fact dying legacy applications. By this time next year you can expect to see students submitting presentations in HTML5, created with a new class of application.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
bobiroc 18th Oct 2010
@fordrambler

You know maybe some organizations OpenSource works perfectly for them but for most it does not to completely go OpenSource. I use OpenSource whenever the application fits to try and save money without sacrificing functionality. However, I also work in education and the schools that feed into mine and the colleges our students feed into all use Microsoft Office and when they go to get a job in the "real world" they are not going to be asked if they have OpenOffice experience unless it is one of the very very small percentage of organizations that use it. In fact the community colleges we feed into are stating that our Business Education classes must have Office 2010 by August of 2011 because that is what they will be using and since we pay a nominal fee in the grand scheme of things to Microsoft for licensing we can get that easily and deploy it easily.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
bmonsterman 18th Oct 2010
@fordrambler,
"By this time next year you can expect to see students submitting presentations in HTML5, created with a new class of application."

I doubt it. W3C hasn't decided what HTML5 is yet.

"In my experience, any group that fails to embrace the paradigm shift required between proprietary and FOSS solutions runs into trouble, and that applies no matter which way they're transitioning (yes, some people abandon FOSS)."

This is a fair statement. FOSS, Open Source...certainly plays an important role in our industry. It's not a silver bullet for everything.
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A lot of people only need features of Office 97/2000
cornpie 18th Oct 2010
@bobiroc In the never ending effort of all software vendors to keep selling us upgrades, they always have to have a "new and improved version". It's the only industry I know of where people continually buy the same product over and over again; trashing something that's perfectly good for "new and improved". For my personal usage (which is admittedly pretty limited) Office 97 really did have every feature I needed and even tons of features I didn't need. So adding even more features....that I didn't need...doesn't do anything for me. There are plenty of people (and businesses too) out there for whom the feature war was over a long time ago.
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Re: A lot of people only need features of Office 97/2000
bobiroc 18th Oct 2010
@cornpie

That could go for most industries couldn't it? I mean a car could last you 30+ years but sooner or later it comes to a point where you cannot get parts for it anymore and it becomes costly to fix. Newer cars offer improved features and better safety and the same goes for software. Security and functionality drive the need for updated software and at some point it becomes too costly to support the older versions. Same goes for TVs, Game Systems, Computers/Laptops, and most electronics and appliances. Some of those industries it is not as important to replace/upgrade as fast but I guess you could say that for many people SD television is all a person needs but at some point it will go away an now you cannot even buy a SD/Tube based TV anymore and you need a converter box to use with an older set. So while some people, like you with your limited needs, may get more life out of a product of any industry but that is not always the case for the majority.
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RE: Microsoft trashing OpenOffice is a good thing
cornpie 18th Oct 2010
@bobiroc You are missing my point when you say "Security and functionality drive the need for updated software". Security I might buy, but my point was that I do not need any new features and have not needed any new features for a long time. The same is true for a lot of people.

And if you want to make a car comparison (like people try too hard to do), it would be like a salesman telling me "this car will go 150 MPH where the car you have will only go 120 MPH". The highest speed limit in my state is 70MPH and I don't drive on racetracks - so the fact that the top speed of one is higher than the other is meaningless to me as long as it will do at least 80.
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You obviously do not get it
bobiroc 19th Oct 2010
@cornpie

You tried to make a car analogy but failed. Using the max speed of the car is not a good reference. How about try using a feature like Fuel Economy or Safety features like Airbags or sensors to help you back up or avoid collisions. I know it is not a perfect analogy but what I was trying to point out is everything has an expected life and it just happens that technology in computers and software moves faster than some other industries. While the software may not be broken as it can be reinstalled fresh it comes to a point where you cannot patch the current version anymore without totally rewriting it and the added features may not necessarily apply to you but apply to a great many people and organizations. No one is saying you have to use any specific piece of software but do not complain when the lighter program from another vendor cannot play nicely with the one that is the most accepted.
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