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Contents 
Introduction
Testing Compatability
Evermore Integrated Office
Lotus SmartSuite
Microsoft Office
StarOffice/OpenOffice
WordPerfect Office
Specifications
Final words
Editor's choice
About RMIT |
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So how well do export filters work? How much is lost and translation? Are there Microsoft files and Microsoft "compatible" files? We conducted a little experiment to find out.
We imported a test file -- produced by Microsoft Word and containing a variety of text formats, fonts and column formats -- into each competitors' application. The file was converted to native format and then reconverted to "Microsoft format". We then evaluated how well each application does at reading such files.
StarOffice proved the most reliable and Corel was the worst. DOC files produced by Corel WordPerfect are uniformly mangled upon export. It also refused to read files similarly produced by Evermore or Lotus (it tried to read the file from Lotus Word Pro, but locked up during conversion). Evermore refused to read the export from Lotus.
Apart from formatting troubles associated with Corel WordPerfect and Evermore, StarOffice could read all other MS Word files and its own version was read by all other entrants.
Circumstantial evidence suggests that data produced in native format may be less reliable during conversion than in original Microsoft files. This seems to be the case with OpenOffice -- in particular I have had formatting difficulties with spreadsheet and text files converted to Microsoft format and then opened using Lotus SmartSuite. There seems to be is no guaranteed reliable method of exporting from one package to another without losing at least some of the formatting.
All of this suggests that probably nobody is interpreting the XML standards correctly, whether they are the international XML standards or Microsoft's XML standards. I am not certain whether that is by accident or design. It is also a concern that conversion of large data files can take large amounts of time -- such that you may be concerned that the program has crashed. And that might also be true!
A second file was produced using Microsoft Word and opened in each word processor. Evermore made a hash of it, but at least it opened the file which is more than can be said for Corel's WordPerfect. SmartSuite, OpenOffice and StarOffice got most of the formatting correct.
Training and support
If you are considering a software change, it is always important to note that your staff might need to be re-trained to use the new product.
Most of the applications reviewed have menu and toolbar layouts quite similar to MS Office; the most dissimilar is Lotus SmartSuite, which doesn't show much desire to bend to Microsoft's will. By default, font controls lie at the bottom of the screen in Lotus Word Pro, where they can be easily missed by those of us more familiar with its competitors. Fortunately the tool bar can be moved to the top if you prefer.
Not a bad balanced review. What about all the advanced features like IRM, shared workspace with SharePoint Services, Integration with backend systems etc This is the true differentiation for users who want to do more than change fonts and add italics to a document. Word processing is hard to differntiate, but you ask a very advanced spreadsheet user what really works for them.