IBM announced that the latest version of Lotus Symphony, its free-of-charge productivity software suite, now provides support for Microsoft Office 2007, enabling organizations to now import Microsoft Office 2007 files into Symphony. According to IBM, the new support will enable Microsoft Office customers to switch to Symphony while retaining access to, and use of, the contents of their Office files.
Beyond the support for Microsoft Office 2007 file formats, Lotus Symphony 1.3 offers DataPilot Table improvements that make it easy to drill down and analyze data. The new version also enhances mail merge and envelope printing for organizations that need simple, efficient ways to communicate with their customers. Symphony 1.3 also provides animation to add sizzle to presentations and interoperate with Microsoft PowerPoint presentations. Moreover, the new version of Symphony allows users to drag-and-drop plug-ins, extending its use to other business applications.
Symphony is shipped with every copy of Lotus Notes and Lotus Foundations software. "IBM is delivering on its commitment to free businesses and consumers from having to pay licensing fees over and over just to access their own personal or company information," observes Kevin Cavanaugh, vice president of Lotus Software. "Now, it will be much harder to justify paying Office licensing fees when you can preserve and access your Office documents for free using Lotus Symphony."
Lotus Symphony version 1.3 is now available free of charge on the web. Symphony is shipped with every copy of Lotus Notes and Lotus Foundations software. Go here for more information.