Spreadsheets
In our review of OpenOffice.org 2, we noted that MS Office's Excel remained the most powerful spreadsheet program we have tested. OpenOffice.org isn't far behind Excel, but if you're a heavy spreadsheet user you may find it frustrating.
Much like OpenOffice.org, Symphony's list of formulas should meet the needs of all but the most mathematically astute, in spite of that its finesse in creating graphs is limited compared to Excel. We managed to make a reasonable graph showing the exponential decline in ice mass when melting in a glass of water. However, we couldn't seem to find a way to label the X and Y axis, which was disappointing.
We managed to put together some decent graphs in Symphony, but power users will be disappointed. (Credit: Alex Serpo/ZDNet.com.au)
We think that scientists, engineers and those in finance who regularly create complicated graphics in spreadsheets would still be better off forking out for MS Office.
Web browser
Yes, Lotus Symphony contains a web browser, and it's painfully slow. We put it side by side Firefox 3 and Google Chrome, which both left it in the dust.
Symphony's web browser creates a process called "IEOOP.exe" which suggests to us that it's based on IE's engine, which in the current browser wars is both slower and adheres less closely to IEEE web standards. (Why not WebKit, IBM?).
It also has almost none of the functionality we normally associate with today's basic web browsers — like making bookmarks or remembering passwords, much less advanced functionality like plug-ins or RSS. We can't imagine using it.
Verdict
Value for money is a key criteria when reviewing all hardware and software at ZDNet.com.au, and had Lotus Symphony not been free we would have given it a much lower Editors' Rating. As it stands, Lotus Symphony is an aesthetically appealing office suite which is slow and light on features.
If you're looking for the best free alternative, go with OpenOffice.org 3. But if you just need a basic office suite which integrates well with Lotus Notes, then Lotus Symphony isn't a bad choice. It might also be a nice choice for users new to computers, because of its simple and intuitive interface.
Businesses looking to roll out Lotus Symphony should carefully consider its lack of support for OOXML documents, as well as its hunger for system resources.
14%
7%
