Is that a bulldozer in your rear navigation screen?
http://www.vladville.com/2007/09/office-2003-sp3-my-how-the-times-have-changed.html
So while all the companies are jockeying to provide alternatives, a theme continues to resonate…provide an alternative, be the other player. What Microsoft offers, whether through bullying or other means, is a 'stack' of products that span the entire enterprise. They provide the defacto desktop os and productivity suites. They provide a good set of server applications on a good OS. They provide a good set of enterprise applications. Are these solutions perfect? No. Are they developed purely from the ground up, or acquired? WHO CARES? But they provide the tools that people need and use. Sure they did not invent the Electronic Spreadsheet, or Word Processor, but they have the one people use.
When google or Apple or Adobe or yahoo of fill-in-the-up-and-comer-or-has-been-here acquires or develops a solution, it has to at least consider Microsoft. In some parts of the world people don't drink soda-pop, they drink Cokes…the waitress at Fridays says what kind of coke do you want??? I want a Sprite or Dr. Pepper, or actually a Coke!!! When you pull any shmo off the street, and ask them about a computer, they'll tell you it has Windows. I am off topic…
My point is that While there are TONS of solutions, both software and hardware out there, created and developed by very good and talented individuals and companies, the fact is, they are developing to be the scraps, the runner-up, the Pepsi to Coke, the Bennigan's to Friday's, the Pizza Inn to Pizza Hut. So while there are very good solutions out there, only Hubris can bring down Microsoft at this point. They have survived Anti-Trust cases that in the past split up Ma Bell. They may steam roll their way over anything in their way, but they are the leader, and until business and consumers in the Marketplace turn away from the Evil empire, they will remain #1. And until the industry gets its act together and can provide top to bottom, end to end solutions, or at least generate an image of itself as being able to compete, we'll be stuck with humorous ads from Apple and IBM, and geeks locked away in basements coding for hobby and dreams, but nothing more. The Open Source community is massive and full of people that CAN do wonderful things, and some that are doing good things, but they are all islands of opportunity, not solutions for the world of business.
Until IBM, Google, Sun, Oracle, the Open-Source Community, and fill-in-the-up-and-comer-or-has-been-here, gets their collective *** IN GEAR, fall in line and develop solutions that enhance or fill in the gaps around Microsoft Products, because that's where the market is. I am glad Google and IBM and Yahoo has the $ to fight the fight, keep it up, but don't call me asking me to hawk your wares until it is solid and compelling enough to knock off the Alpha Dog.
Fact is Novell makes a very good Small Business Server, designed to compete head to head to with Microsoft Windows Small Business Server. Feature for feature it matches up pretty well. Who wins out more often than not in the Marketplace? Microsoft!
Oh and before I forget, why is Google working on a competitor to Office, there already is one. Why not pour that money and effort into OpenOffice? And build a true competitor. Wasn't there one in the near past…what was the name of it??? Oh yea Corel Office something…How many people still using that? Or do you have a coaster cd for your Coke?