Open standards++ Open Office2-- though (but also ++)

So ubuntu-breezy (more later on updating to breezy preview) now comes with open office 2 (OO2). OO2 is very nice. OO2 is polished, OO2 is cute. OO2 is dripping functionality. OO2 includes a beta database application that is going to eventually give MS access a run for the hills. Unfortunately OO2 also marks the first release that fully supports the now open standard document format (.odt, .ods, etc.). All good and well. I am happy that we now have a ratified rich document format standard. It is XML, it is zipped, it is small, and it is basically .sxw et al with a new lick of paint. My big problem comes in that at a time like this when open office is gaining recognition, and takeup. I have just started to educate people what an .sxw is, and now i have to educate them the fact that .odt is the new .sxw. Sure this is the last time it will change extensions (hopefully), and we are now on a paved highway to the future. They are only going to add more lanes to the high way. I am just saying it is teh kuk that that difference exists. It is a bit of a marketting boo-boo. It is probably a joel no-ism. But it does come with the first release of OO that Really Really Really will challenge the established MS.

Why is this a serious challenge? Well...MS only supports a version of office for Mac which is a bit on the cripple-younger-brother side of its MS windows cousin. While...get this...Open Office 2 is exactly the same on Linux, Mac, MS windows, etc., and it is clearer with it's versioning. MS decided to go with that whole Office 2005 thing, even though there are actually differences in that suite, that, ultimately, are quite confusing. My point is, in an increasingly diverse workplace of computers is the savvy software manager going to go for a solution that is platform agnostic, or a solution that requires that you can only run it on the platforms that the vendor decides are suitible? I think you know the answer. With Ubuntu (and linux) set to rapidly take chunks out of the MS world market. I say within 1.5 years ubuntu is going to be at as high as 10% of desktops? If ubuntu integrates mono nicely (which it is increasingly doing) then it is going to be the gnome-mono-easy to use desktop. Which is Good

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