OpenOffice v3.0 sets download record, 80% by Windows users
By Justin Montgomery
The newest version of OpenOffice, version 3.0, has set a download record in its first week of availability. Most surprising is the fact that over 80% of downloads were from Windows users.
PC World is reporting that over 3 million downloads were recorded in the first week alone. The demand was so heavy that the download servers were temporarily overwhelmed. With these numbers, OpenOffice is closer to its goal of winning 40 percent of the market share for office software.
While you would think OpenOffice would be most popular among Linux users, the demand for Windows users came as a surprise to many people. The numbers are skewed however, because many Linux users receive their updates from Linux distributors rather than the website. Still, it shows that Microsoft’s Office software is slowly losing its market dominance now that there are suitable alternatives available.
Microsoft isn’t taking the threat of OpenOffice lightly, however, stating that “Microsoft Office is well integrated, well supported and up-to-date with modern workforce requirements like collaboration, which is not always the case with open source alternatives. As a result, most customers will continue to seek the productivity improvements they can get from Office.” In reality, Microsoft really has nothing to worry about- Office is installed on nearly 550 million units. What the future holds is up for discussion.
Some marked improvements with the newest version of OpenOffice include compatibility with Mac OS X, which accounted for some 320,000 downloads in its first week, as well as continued compatibility with many Office extensions. One of the only extensions that cannot be saved natively are OOXML files.
I’ve used OpenOffice for a long time, primarily because I refuse to pay the hefty price just to have Microsoft Office. In the past, it’s always been included on my computers which is fine, but when it comes to a choice between almost identical software, the price was my determining factor.
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October 26th, 2008
As you pointed out, free is good. And you’re right, for most users, OpenOffice is just as good as Microsoft Office. That’s an idea - why don’t you review both and do a comparison>
October 26th, 2008
How does this show that Office is losing market? You even said the numbers are skewed because Linux users get O.O through their distros.
October 26th, 2008
> And you’re right, for most users, OpenOffice
> is just as good as Microsoft Office.
Actually, I think for most users OpenOffice is probably better than Microsoft Office.
It has fewer bugs, no known exploits, and it’s *free*. There are very, very few features in MS Office that are so compelling that they’re worth spending $499 on (none that I know of, frankly).
Microsoft cannot compete with “free”, and that’s becoming a serious consideration in this economy. And since they don’t offer a Linux version of Office, there’s another whole market that they can’t penetrate at all.
October 26th, 2008
Many linux users get things like openoffice from their distrobution, so they wont count on they download stats.
October 26th, 2008
A better suggestion. Take some writing classes.
ex. lose != loose
“One of the only extensions that cannot be saved natively OOXML files.” Where’s the fucking verb?
October 26th, 2008
Yeah. This doesn’t at all prove that anyone is losing or gaining any market share.
Now, show me a comparison of the monthly sales of Microsoft Office versus Open Office downloads with numbers to back up your theories and i’m much more likely to believe you.
Don’t get me wrong, I luvva da free softwarez…
October 26th, 2008
With more and more governments in the world adopting
OpenOffice instead of Microsoft Office you will see a huge increase. I do think that Microsoft has something to worry about. Office is one of its biggest cash cows. If more people start using OpenOffice instead of their solution they will lose not millions but the billions that Office generates for Microsoft.
October 26th, 2008
> One of the only extensions that cannot be
> saved natively OOXML files.
The version of OO.o 3.0 at http://www.go-oo.org has native OOXML capabilities in both Windows and Linux versions.
October 26th, 2008
If Microsoft Office was cross platform (truly cross platform), supported open standards and ran from a portable USB disk - I’d buy it. But it doesn’t and OpenOffice does.
Price is the last factor I consider when choosing software. I want ease of use, quick deployment, support for open standards and no licensing hassles. That’s a tick in every box for OpenOffice!
October 26th, 2008
Beware, go-oo.org is a fork of OO.o created by Novell to actively push Microsoft’s OOXML support.
This is a hijack of OO.o to slowly include patented proprietary code under GNU/Linux.
It’s the same story all over again coming from MS/Novell, such as Mono, Moonlight.
Remember, Novell needs cash from MS and MS can’t stand free software so the deal is done and Novell acts accordingly as a trojan horse to the community.
October 26th, 2008
I’ve used OpenOffice for some time now, but I did break down and buy Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 for my wife. For $99 online, I couldn’t pass it up. I will still use OpenOffice as well. I credit OpenOffice and other alternatives for pushing Microsoft into offering their product at this price.