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72 Comments
- msaleem, on 10/12/2007, -2/+54Innovation drives competition. OO forces Microsoft to innovate to keep control over the market, and if it does innovate, it will in turn force OO to do the same. Its a cycle in which ultimately the consumer wins.
- erkokite, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23Nice usage of boobies in advertising. Indeed this will attract many a digg user's eye.
- mundek23, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20@ becominglumberg
"My number one gripe is the location of the ads."
I'd say they have bought ad space on the Redmond buses for the publicity it'll generate rather than any real attempt to convert MSFT employees. - littlebiker, on 10/12/2007, -11/+27Open office remains the #1 choice after one MS Office. But with OFFICE 12 I think OO will find it even more difficult to compete.
- PhilUk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17It's not designed to make people switch - it's designed to insult MS.
- vandy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14it runs on their hardware on software, ms office does not. thus, if people are willing to use open office, then sun has compelling enterprise products for them
- estvir, on 10/12/2007, -11/+21@msaleem: where is the innovation in OO ? -at the moment- it just seems to be trying to just be a carbon-copy of office and has little innovation.. maybe in the future they'll do something new ?
i wonder how they're going to combat (see: copy :P) the new ui and features. - ElectricKetchup, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9About a year ago, Sun had a plane fly over a few of the Dell campuses here in Austin and RoundRock with a banner that said something like, "Whatch out Dell, Sun has x64 servers!"
It's good to see an enterprise company like Sun can still have fun. - Pixelbox, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12I really wanted to like Open Office, but it's just been way too slow for us on long documents. Has that been fixed lately?
- bonked, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12How about you boost the available memory in the settings. By default OO is allowed to access a severely limited amount of memory, I explain how to boost that at http://www.paulcouture.com/open-office-test-drive/open-source/2006/07/12/ - from that post:
"Many people complain about the speed of OpenOffice opening (especially when you are doing conversions from the proprietary Microsoft formats like .doc) but this can be improved by opening 'Tools" then 'Options' and then in the new window that opens, choose 'Memory' under the 'OpenOffice.org' section and increase the amount of memory to use for OpenOffice to at least "64 MB" for most modern PCs. You can also probably decrease the amount of steps available for undo to something more believable, I use 45 myself. These tweaks should drastically improve the performance of OpenOffice - at least it has on every PC I’ve tested." - Dgen_X, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9damn...you took the words right out of my mouth
I'm going to start using openoffice ASAP just because of the boobies in the ad. - thegreatsam, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13"memory loving software"
Open Office uses almost twice a much memory on my system than Office does. Bloated to say the least. - knellotron, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8"My number one gripe is the location of the ads. "
Who cares about location when you have internet buzz? - pauleric, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7@estvir and NJank: Obviously, Open Office and MS Word already have all the features the vast majority of people are ever going to use. If you want innovation, think of an open and well designed file format that allows access to your own data, now and in the future. Something Word will never have (with its incompatible upgrades and messy secret formats).
- valona, on 10/12/2007, -7/+13Sun complaining about memory loving software? This is the company that owns Java, and Star Office? Sweet Jebus. Even a Californian would understand the irony in that.
- dacheetah, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7@becominglumberg: Location of the ads caused it to be posted here, which caused me to see the ads, as well as many people in other cities, and even other countries (like me).
- PostedOval, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6The standard edition of Microsoft Office costs $399 at CompUSA! I've been using Open Office for over a year now, and If all you need to do is use the occassional word processor with spell check, spreadsheet or basic database... Give OO a try. It works very well and then put the $399 towards something more fun like a new computer or heck, even the high-end Xbox 360!
- Prog, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9What the heck is with the anti-Microsoft crap? MS Office is a fantastic product, and it is faster and uses less resources than Open Office.
- sastian, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7good for Sun. the only problem is that OO has still left us OS X users out in the cold and pretended like we don't exist. so much so that when another group had to kludge together a slow java based native version they pointed towards it and shouted "SEE???!!! we got your back!"
maybe one t-shirt should read...
"Compatible with expensive, closed, memory-loving software. unless you use expensive, closed, memory-loving hardware"
sorry Apple. - cliffzdude, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Its called Star Office. Like Open Office? Wanna use it in your enterprise environment? Want "support"? FINE! Buy Star Office.
Whatever the reason, OpenOffice is a Yugo to Microsoft Office's Bently. Microsoft Office is faster, more nimble, and has more features. Not just a little bit, but by a wide margin... - Bensch, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Of course, if someone has to *explain* to a user how to "boost the memory" or what have you, obviously the software isn't that well written for general use.
- crimson117, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5This is really old... a MS blogger responded to this back in February: http://blogs.msdn.com/sandyk/archive/2006/02/24/538832.aspx
- hchaudh1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Aah....I see you are back in business trolling for MS. Where's your buddy r2d7?
- gildude, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7I remember seeing these ads (may have been different text, but the same thrust) over a year ago in Redmond. Looks like Sun hasn't gotten far with them if they still need them. I can't see why a company with no money and a long, slow, slide down in terms of profitability would be spending their cash on prank ads in one location like this. They should be spending it on actually getting paying customers for Star Office or Solaris or something. Maybe on opening Java completely?
- NJank, on 10/12/2007, -10/+14"OO forces Microsoft to innovate to keep control over the market"
no, it doesn't. OO is continually playing catchup to MS so that it can more accuratley say: Look, OO.org! It's just as easy as MS, and can do all that MS can, PLEEESE come use our program instead. Did I mention we're free?!? We'll keep trying to get more and more like office! We promise! And we're free.
That said, I like OOo. I use it almost exclusively at home. I gave it to my 'rents, however, and got the response: we gave it a try, but it's just not what were used to, and I don't have the time to figure out all the little differences. That's worth a couple hundred bucks to me. And they bought a copy of office. - h0f5, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I think OO's pretty good for a free software. What really pisses me off about mjicrosoft is that sometimes the new formats aint compatible with old microsoft, if im not wrong. Open office is pretty good, a little laggy, but its a viable alternative to microsoft office if you dont want to spend some huge bucks. Like this advertising strategy.
- trunkster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Uhh that is just opening yourself up to some pretty bad jokes.
- BetaMe, on 10/12/2007, -7/+10Wade Rockett writes "... I get the idea that these ads are aimed primarily at Microsoft employees. They're like propaganda leaflets dropped over enemy territory. Sun isn't trying to win customers, it's trying to demoralize the enemy!"
Makes a lot of sense. But what is Sun's gain? Is Sun simply desparate? - agimat, on 10/12/2007, -6/+9Those ads scream of wannabe and desperation.
- RuBot, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7I would have supported the effort to put an ad in a newspaper for OO. However, I just can't bring myself to do it as I think OO has long ways to go before it becomes a viable alternative. It's bloated, takes ages to load & is horrendous both in appearace & responsiveness.
I'll take Abiword over OO any day. - Bensch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I ride that particular bus with the OO ads on it to work, and I find them pretty amusing. I wouldn't call them an attack, and I suspect nobody else who sees them would either.
- TheJuggernaut, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'm a fan of NeoOffice (www.neooffice.org) for Mac OS X. It's not a truly finished project (when is open source software?), but it 's compatible and runs fairly well.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Which is the best office suite for MacOS at the present moment?
- evilgod69, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ Bensch
depending on what your mom does with her computer, ubuntu might be ready for her. (and if you are too much of an idiot to setup a ubuntu machine for you mommy well maybe you should learn more about computers... ubuntu is easier to install than windows... don't tell me that you just know which buttons to press during the windows install to make it work, lol) - richsipe, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5@jrbrewin : You wanna talk theft. OK how about VISTA ripping off OSX. Just watch one of the many video's of Bill's VISTA presentation voiced over OSX. ex: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4134446112378047444&q=osx+vista After seeing this I switched to a Mac because I figured hey I could wait for 6-12 months for Vista or go buy a Mac now and use all this functionality plus in 6-12 months when Vista actually comes out who knows how cool OSX will be. In your words ... Microsoft has two options: continue ripping off OSX or ... buy Apple?? Of course I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
- mjPayne, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I'd say it's where microsoft keeps its head.
- SDNick484, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The place OO.o needs to advertise is campus bookstores. Twice over the last couple months I was in the bookstore of the university I was working at, ordering computer related items when the person behind me was holding a copy of office. Both times, I turned around and informed them of the free alternative (the first time it was a cute chick, the second was just for good open source karma). In both cases the person had never heard of OO.o before, but was willing to put down MS Office and give it a shot. While I agree it's not a perfect product and in many respects frequently plays catch up, I found it to be perfectly suitable while in college (although I was an engineer, so I wasn't constantly using office apps for all my classes).
It's a shame not many university students outside of Engineering & CS know about the product, often it's students who could use the product the most. Furthermore, considering it's free, most people ought to (and frequently are) willing to try it if they know about it. - HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Stupid ads. They only appeal to those who already sympathize. They outright insult others.
This is the same mistake as Apple's Lemmings ad. It's not an effective strategy that I can see. - stuntant, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7Open Office is trying to raise the money to put an ad in a NYC paper on July 31st. They are a little short on funds. Please support this effort here: http://www.fundable.org/groupactions/openofficeads
- sastian, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4or maybe one should read...
"Prehistoric reptilians welcome. Those of you with a Mac, get to the back of the line!" - Burmask, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3You cannot fight fire with a lighter. What are these losers thinking? How about making a better product and let the public decide? Instead, the determine an ad campaign is needed that, unfortunately, makes them look like crybabies instead.
I want my mommy! Grow up Sun! - JDines, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6.... Try to be serious cliffzdude. You clearly haven't used OpenOffice recently, and you also clearly live in a kind of plastic bubble where you don't have to exchange M$ Word documents among several people at several different companies, running different versions of Windows and Word. You still haven't come to the realization that M$ is *dragging* you into a DRM hell that you will not be able to escape due to vendor lock-in, one minor release at a time.
As usual, Microsoft doesn't have a prayer, as it is a fire feuled by the ignorant, and in the long run ignorance to this degree cannot survive.
And for those who cannot figure it out, or just haven't thought about it seriously, Sun marketing has brilliantly grabbed huge amounts of marketing for very little money (a few bus adds in Redmond ... expensive? ... try to be serious.) Hell, I can even go to a M$ site and follow links to this story!
(http://blogs.msdn.com/sandyk/archive/2006/02/24/538832.aspx)
.... truly *brilliant*! - valona, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Sun tried the same thing at EMC's shareholder meeting earlier in the year. They flew a banner over the meeting that read "We Love Data: Watch out EMC." EMC shareholders promptly went back inside and decided how to invest the billions of dollars profit they made from storage and VMWARE, and what companies they would buy this year. It's a little bit silly so it is.
- JDines, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@uberwaffle: It is a poor carpenter that blames his tools, *especially* when the carpenter insists on paying a high lease on low quality tools when he could easily have top of the line tools for free :-)
- Bensch, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Okay, when my mom can use Linux, you let me know.
- JDines, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1... I don't know. Why didn't you post it here when you first saw it?
- bonked, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Right Besch - someone having to learn how to use the tool they have in front of them makes it a bad tool. That's why powersaws, t-squares and cranes are never used by builders.
Did you know you can change the default background color in both Office and OpenOffice??? Did you know you could use your computer for numerous things beyond the use of a typewriter? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2JDines:
Gee, thanks for calling me ignorant.
But I must say, I have never had this trouble with .docs you speak of. It must be one hell of a plastic bubble.
Really, now, must you resort to blanket statements like that? I sincerely doubt that everyone that uses Microsoft Office is 'ignorant'. - hchaudh1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I guess you really have not gotten to 2006 yet.
- Darek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This was a dumb move on the part of OpenOffice, they should have done about 10 minutes research and found a state government looking to make the move to open source instead of taking a useless jab at their competitor. It's going to generate a little buzz for a few days and the ads are going to be forgotten, and so is this stunt. Even by the people of Redmond, which is mostly filled with Microsoft employees, they'll get a chuckle out if it and move on.
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