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IBM Lotus Symphony

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For the 1980s DOS software, see Lotus Symphony (DOS).

IBM Lotus Symphony
Developer(s)IBM
Initial release2007[1]
Final release
3.0.1 FixPack 2 / 29 November 2012 (2012-11-29)[2]
Operating systemWindows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
TypeOffice suite, web browser
LicenseProprietary (registerware);[3] donated under Apache 2.0 license[4]
Websitewww-03.ibm.com/software/lotus/symphony/home.nsf/home/
File:Lotus Symphony icons new.png
Left to right: the icons for Lotus Symphony Documents, Presentations and Spreadsheets

IBM Lotus Symphony was a suite of applications for creating, editing, and sharing text, spreadsheet, presentations and other documents, browsing the world wide web, and as of 2013 is distributed as freeware. First released in 2007,[1] 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.

IBM discontinued development of Lotus Symphony in January 2012 with the final release of version 3.0.1. The source code was sponsored to the Apache Software Foundation to get merged to OpenOffice.org, which should occur in Apache OpenOffice 4[4] (due for release in early 2013). IBM plans to release a 'Apache OpenOffice IBM Edition' after the release of Apache OpenOffice 4.[6] On 27 March 2012 a fixpack update for Lotus Symphony 3.0.1 was released.[7]

Features

IBM Lotus Symphony consists of:

Each application is split into tabs.[9]

Symphony supports the OpenDocument formats as well as the binary Microsoft Office formats.[9][10] 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.[10]

A web based version of Symphony, called LotusLive Symphony, was planned for the second half of 2011,[11] although it was already announced in February 2010 for first half of 2010.[9]

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,[12] which will likely be dropped in the next major version of the Apache OpenOffice.[13]

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.

In 2009 IBM created development tools for BlackBerry smartphones to link to IBM's business software, which also allow opening ODF file-formats,[14] following a full Symphony later.[15]

Lotus Symphony 3.0.1 adds enhancements including support for one million spreadsheet rows, bubble charts, and a new design for the home page.[5]

History

Symphony has its roots in the IBM Workplace Managed Client component of 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.[16][17] Later that year, IBM announced that Lotus Notes 8, which already incorporated Workplace technology,[18] would also include the same productivity tools as the Workplace Managed Client.[19][20] 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.[21]

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.[22] It incorporated code from OpenOffice.org 3.x,[22][23][24][25] and includes enhancements such as new sidebars in its user interface and support for Visual Basic for Applications macros,[11] OpenDocument Format 1.2, and OLE.[26] Symphony 3.0 was originally planned to include other existing OpenOffice.org modules, including an equation editor, database software, and a drawing program.[27]

The software is developed by IBM China Development Laboratory, located in Beijing.[28]

On 13 July 2011, IBM announced that it would donate Lotus Symphony to the Apache Foundation.[5][29]

On 23 January 2012, IBM announced version 3.0.1 would be the last version Lotus Symphony, and their efforts would be going into the Apache OpenOffice project.[30] When Apache OpenOffice version 4.0 is released, IBM plans to release an IBM Edition that will come with extensions to integrate it with their other products.[31] Even though they did release a fixpack update afterwards on 27 March 2012.[7]

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

In 2012 IBM announced that it intended to integrate the symphony UI into openoffice.[32]

Usage share

During the Lotusphere event in 2009, IBM confirmed its cost-reduction effort using Lotus Symphony, with the company migrating its 400,000 users from Microsoft Office to Lotus Symphony.[33]

In June 2008 IBM urged its 20 000 'strong-techies' employees to use Symphony instead of Microsoft Office[34] and later in September 2009 IBM forced all 360 000 employees to use Symphony.[35] 20.0

In March 2009 a study showed that Lotus Symphony had a 2% market share in the corporate market.[36]

In the same week of the release of Windows 7 (October 2009), IBM and Canonical announced that they want to sell Ubuntu with Lotus including Symphony.[37]

As of February 2010 IBM stated that Lotus Symphony had 12 million users[38] with 50 million downloads in January 2011.[11]

Criticism

IBM was criticized that they didn't catch up the release cycles of OpenOffice.org and thus having an outdated suite.[39]

There were complaints that IBM and the Apache Software Foundation didn't really provide an open-source release of the Lotus Symphony code, although IBM promised to donate the code to Apache. It was reported that some LibreOffice developers wanted to overtake some code parts and bug fixes which IBM already fixed in their OpenOffice fork.[40]

Version release dates

Beta 1
  • Released on 18 September 2007[41]
Beta 2
  • Released on 5 November 2007[42]
Beta 3
  • Released on 17 December 2007[43]
  • Released in 23 languages on 7 January 2008[44]
Beta 4
  • Released on 1 February 2008.[45] Introduced the Lotus Symphony Developer Toolkit.
  • Revised edition released on 3 March 2008[46]
Version 1.0
  • Released on 30 May 2008[47]
Version 1.1
  • Released on 29 August 2008[48]
Version 1.2
  • Released on 4 November 2008[49]
  • Revised edition released on 23 February 2009[50]
Version 1.3
  • Released on 10 June 2009[51]
  • Revised edition released on 1 September 2009[52]
Version 3 Beta
  • Released on 4 February 2010[53]
Version 3 Beta 2
  • Released on 4 February 2010[9][54]
  • Features: Visual Basic macros, OLE Objects and embedded audio/video; support for nested tables, presentation masters and DataPilot tables for pivoting on large datasets.[9]
Version 3 Beta 3
  • Released on 7 June 2010
Version 3 Beta 4
  • Released on 26 August 2010[55]
Version 3.0
  • Released 21 October 2010[56]
Version 3.0 FixPack 1
  • Released 13 January 2011[57]
Version 3.0 FixPack 2
  • Released 20 April 2011[58]
Version 3.0 FixPack 3
  • Released 20 July 2011[59]
Version 3.0.1
  • Released 23 January 2012[60]
Version 3.0.1 FixPack 1
  • Released 27 March 2012[7]
Version 3.0.1 FixPack 2
  • Released 29 November 2012[2]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to IBM Lotus Symphony.

References

  1. ^ a b Fiveash, Kelly (19 September 2007). "IBM hopes open office is Symphony to your key-tapping fingers". The Register. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  2. ^ a b IBM Lotus Symphony - Buzz: Symphony 3.0.1 FIXPACK 2 is Now AVAILABLE
  3. ^ Byfield, Bruce (4 October 2007). "OpenOffice vs. Lotus Symphony". Datamation. Retrieved 15 January 2010. For all purposes, it is a proprietary fork of the OpenOffice.org code
  4. ^ a b Clarke, Gavin (14 July 2011). "IBM crams Lotus Symphony back into OpenOffice". The Register. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  5. ^ a b c Noyes, Katherine (27 January 2012). "Coming Soon: An 'IBM Edition' of Apache OpenOffice". PCWorld. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  6. ^ Clarke, Gavin (30 January 2012). "IBM calls time on Symphony OpenOffice fork". The Register. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  7. ^ a b c IBM Lotus Symphony - Buzz: Symphony 3.0.1 FIXPACK 1 is Now AVAILABLE
  8. ^ Mendelson, Edward (22 June 2011). "IBM Lotus Symphony 3.0". PCMag. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  9. ^ a b c d e Fiveash, Kelly (5 February 2010). "Lotus Symphony 3 beta goes OOo". The Register. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  10. ^ a b "What's new in IBM Lotus Symphony 3". IBM. 21 October 2010.
  11. ^ a b c Clarke, Gavin (31 January 2011). "IBM floats Microsoft Office web challenger". The Register. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  12. ^ IBM Lotus Symphony: Buzz Lotus Symphony Version 3 is NOW AVAILABLE, 21 October 2010
  13. ^ Proffitt, Brian (30 January 2012). "IBM to realign Symphony with Apache OpenOffice". ITWorld. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  14. ^ Morgan, Timothy Prickett (19 January 2009). "IBM reaches out to SAP, RIM with Notes". The Register. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  15. ^ Modine, Austin (18 January 2010). "BlackBerry gets Quickr with Lotus". The Register. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  16. ^ Todd Weiss, IBM Workplace client to support Open Document Format in '06, Computerworld, 4 December 2005
  17. ^ IBM Press Release, IBM Announces New Version of Workplace Products With Enhanced Support for Open Standards and Improved SOA Functionality, 23 January 2006
  18. ^ Ed Brill, "Hannover" — announcing the next (post 7.0) version of Lotus Notes, 14 June 2005
  19. ^ IBM Press Release, IBM Makes Collaborative Innovation Real With Preview of Next Generation IBM Lotus Notes Client, 16 May 2006.
  20. ^ Candace Lombardi, IBM backs OpenDocument in Lotus Notes, CNET News, 16 May 2006.
  21. ^ Ed Brill, Introducing IBM Lotus Symphony, desktop productivity software at no charge, 18 September 2007 — see comment 41
  22. ^ a b Brill, Ed (21 October 2010). "Lotus Symphony 3.0 now available". Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  23. ^ "Network World – Lotus to set road map for free productivity suite". Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  24. ^ John Fontana (15 January 2010). "Lotus to set road map for free productivity suite". Network World. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  25. ^ "IBM Commits to Future of ODF With Symphony Roadmap". 5 November 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  26. ^ "IBM Lotus Symphony 3 Release Notes". IBM. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  27. ^ Edward Mendelson, IBM Lotus Symphony Beta review, "...Now the Bad News" section, 21 September 2007
  28. ^ IBM Translates Lotus Symphony for a Globally Integrated World
  29. ^ Weir, Rob (13 July 2011). "Incubator OO.o development mailing list" (Document). Apache FoundationTemplate:Inconsistent citations {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link).
  30. ^ Brill, Ed (23 January 2012). "IBM Lotus Symphony 3.0.1 is now available". Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  31. ^ Brill, Ed. "More on the Lotus Symphony and desktop productivity roadmap". Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  32. ^ Lotus Symphony code for OpenOffice coming soon [LWN.net]
  33. ^ Postinett, Axel (11 September 2009). "IBM wirft MS Office raus". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  34. ^ Fiveash, Kelly (13 June 2008). "IBM 'advises' staff to opt for a Microsoft Office-free world". The Register. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  35. ^ Ilagan, Richard Neil (14 September 2009). "IBM sends Microsoft Office to the trash". Daily Contributor. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  36. ^ McLeish, Sheri (26 May 2009). "Microsoft Office still owns the desktop, future of StarOffice unclear". ZDnet. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  37. ^ Modine, Austin (20 October 2009). "IBM and Canonical pitch Ubuntu + cloud package at US firms". The Register. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  38. ^ Symphony 3.0 beta signals IBM attack on Office
  39. ^ Serpo, Alex (4 February 2009). "Q&A: Sun open-source officer Simon Phipps". ZDnet. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  40. ^ Corbet, Jonathan (16 January 2013). "A discordant symphony". LWN.net. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  41. ^ IBM Press Release, IBM Releases Office Desktop Software at No Charge to Foster Collaboration and Innovation, 18 September 2007
  42. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Beta 2 Release Now Available, 5 November 2007
  43. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Beta 3 Release Now Available, 17 December 2007
  44. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Beta 3 Now Available in 23 Languages, 7 January 2008
  45. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Beta 4 Has Arrived, 1 February 2008
  46. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Symphony Beta 4 Code Update Now Available, 3 March 2008
  47. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Announcing — IBM Lotus Symphony Version 1.0 is Now Available, 30 May 2008
  48. ^ Ed Brill, Lotus Symphony 1.1 is now available, 29 August 2008
  49. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Release 1.2 with Mac OS X Support Available, 4 November 2008
  50. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Symphony version 1.2 refresh available, 23 February 2009
  51. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony 1.3 is HERE, 10 June 2009
  52. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, What fixes are included in the IBM Lotus Symphony 1.3 refresh version?, 1 September 2009
  53. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, IBM launches Lotus Symphony 3 beta, 4 February 2010
  54. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, IBM Lotus Symphony 3 Beta 2 is now available, 4 February 2010
  55. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, IBM Lotus Symphony 3 Beta 4 is now available, 26 August 2010
  56. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Version 3 is NOW AVAILABLE, 21 October 2010
  57. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, [1], 13 January 2011
  58. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, [2], 20 April 2011
  59. ^ Lotus Symphony Buzz, [3], 20 July 2011
  60. ^ IBM Lotus Symphony 3.0.1 is now available, [4], 23 January 2012
  1. ^ AI Spreadsheet. Sourcetable Inc., 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
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