Category Archives: Open Source Software

Libreoffice 4.2 challenges Microsoft Office with improved Windows integration

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OPEN SOURCE OFFICE SUITE Libreoffice 4.2 is out and is a major upgrade release.

The popular alternative to Microsoft Office has been retooled to increase compatibility with that expensive proprietary productivity applications suite, including compatibility with Visio and Publisher files.

In addition to a much improved formula process for its spreadsheet application, Libreoffice 4.2 also includes a new startup screen and improved round trip compatibility for newer formats such as .docx.

Java accessibility features are being phased out in favour of the IBM IAccessibility2 package, which will supercede the Java version in future editions.

iOS users can take advantage of the Impress Remote Control feature that allows users to control presentations from their smartphones. This feature has been available on Android for some time but now Apple fans can use it too.

Libreoffice claims that this is the biggest recoding of its office suite yet and says that it now offers better integration with Windows 7 and Windows 8, with documents grouped on the taskbar and quickview thumbnails.

The news comes after UK cabinet minister Francis Maude recently announced that Parliament will move towards using open source software for its documents, and said that interoperability improvements such as those Libreoffice has introduced will be key to ensuring that all areas of government communicate a lot more effectively than they do right now.

Libreoffice has also made contributing to continued development of the open source office suite even easier with a new code submission and review portal known as Gerrit.

Libreoffice 4.2 is available to download now.

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Libreoffice 4.2 challenges Microsoft Office with improved Windows integration

UK government looks to open source to cut costs

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CABINET OFFICE MINISTER Francis Maude, MP has revealed plans to move the UK government to open source computing to save cash.

Mr Maude has outlined plans to shift UK government departments to the .odf Open Document Format (ODF) and away from Microsoft's proprietary Microsoft Word .doc and .docx formats, freeing users to switch to open source office suites.

Speaking at a cross-parliament showcase today, he told mystified looking ministers, "The software we use in government is still supplied by just a few large companies. A tiny oligopoly dominates the marketplace.

"I want to see a greater range of software used, so civil servants have access to the information they need and can get their work done without having to buy a particular brand of software," he added.

Maude told journalists that he believes open source software will increase the possibilities for collaboration between departments more effectively through the use of cloud services, while saving a significiant amount of taxpayers money through reduced licensing and support costs.

We spoke with OASIS, the consortium responsible for maintaining the Open Document Format standard. A spokesperson told us, "Certainly, OASIS applauds the use of ODF in the public sector. Our standard is advanced through an open, inclusive process - one that welcomes government participation and input - and the number of products that support ODF continues to grow."

Rob Weir, speaking for the Apache Openoffice Project Management Committee said, "This is great news, a continuation of the general trend we've seen toward the adoption of open standards like ODF.

"With greater use of open standards comes increased interoperability and choice of applications supporting these standards, including the leading free and open source office productivity application, Apache Openoffice.

"Several members of the Openoffice community are also active in the development of the ODF standard at OASIS, so we're doubly gratified to see our work noticed by the cabinet office minister.

"Finally, it is worth mentioning that there is a rich ecosystem of [third] party support and services for Openoffice, including UK based small businesses with public sector experience, that can aid with policy implementation."

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UK government looks to open source to cut costs

Microsoft cloud server designs for Facebook’s Open Compute Project

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Microsoft is contributing the designs of the cloud servers that run some of its services like Bing and Windows Azure to the Open Compute Project, in a bid to help standardize and reduce hardware costs.

The Redmond, Washington, tech company is also contributing system management source code to the project. It said it aimed to create an open source software community in the Open Compute Project.

By promoting its hardware specification in the data center, Microsoft could be looking for an opportunity for its server software as against Linux which has been the favorite of many Web companies.

My belief is that they are trying to have a voice in a community that they havent had a voice before, said Patrick Moorhead, founder and president of research firm Moor Insights & Strategy. The Open Compute Project is largely geared towards open source and doing things yourself, which goes against Microsofts business model of proprietary software and paid services, he said.

By joining the Open Compute Project, it is unlikely that Microsoft will win over Web companies to its own server software, Moorhead said.

The Microsoft servers offer improvements over traditional enterprise server designs, including up to 40 percent server cost savings, 15 percent power efficiency gains and 50 percent reduction in deployment and service times, Bill Laing, corporate vice president for cloud and enterprise at Microsoft, said in a blog post Monday.

The server designs are also expected to be environment friendly as they reduce network cabling by 1,100 miles (1,770 kilometers) and metal by 10,000 tons across Microsofts base of 1 million servers.

Microsoft looks forward to commercial offerings in the near future from its partners who develop products for the company based on the specifications, said Kushagra Vaid, general manager for server engineering at Microsoft, in a blog post.

Initiated by Facebook to drive down the cost of the hardware it uses, the Open Compute Project is a collaborative project that aims to share specifications and best practices for making hardware designs more efficient and innovative. Its goal is to develop servers and data centers following a model traditionally associated with open source software projects. The Open Compute Project Foundation has executives of tech companies like Intel and Rackspace, and user company Goldman Sachs on its board.

Facebook said in August that the Open Compute Project, for example, is working on an open network switch design for Internet data centers.

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Microsoft cloud server designs for Facebook's Open Compute Project

Microsoft Open Sources Its Internet Servers, Steps Into the Future

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For nearly two years, tech insiders whispered that Microsoft was designing its own computer servers. Much like Google and Facebook and Amazon, the voices said, Microsoft was fashioning a cheaper and more efficient breed of server for use inside the massive data centers that drive its increasingly popular web services, including Bing, Windows Azure, and Office 365.

It only made sense. Typically, when you run a web service the size of Bing, needing tens of thousands of machines to keep the thing going, traditional server hardware becomes far too expensive. But when this phenomenon was discussed in public, Microsoft typically stayed mum. In designing its own servers, it was moving away from commercial machines sold by the likes of Dell and HP hardware makers that have long worked hand-in-hand with Microsoft in so many areas of the computer game and it seemed that Steve Ballmer and company were wary of offending their longtime allies.

Microsoft will not only lift the veil from its secret server designs. It will open source these designs, sharing them with the world at large.

Not anymore. This morning, in San Jose, California, Microsoft will not only lift the veil from its secret server designs. It will open source these designs, sharing them with the world at large so that other online outfits can use them inside their own data centers. Were trying to drive hardware innovation in cloud computing, says Bill Laing, the Microsoft corporate vice president who will reveal the designs at this weeks Open Compute Summit, a conference dedicated to the free exchange of hardware know-how.

Its yet another sign that the worldwide market for data center hardware is changing in enormous ways. In the past, if you needed servers or data storage gear or networking hardware, you simply bought what was available from American hardware vendors like Dell and HP and Cisco. Now, massive web outfits like Google and Facebook and Amazon and even Microsoft are designing their own hardware, partnering with manufacturers in Asia and other foreign locales to build this hardware on the cheap, and in some cases helping others take the same route.

Facebook galvanized this movement in 2011, when it open sourced its first server designs and founded the Open Compute Project, the not-for-profit foundation behind this weeks summit. The aim was to foster a vast community of companies that would freely trade their hardware designs and bootstrap a more efficient means of getting these designs built. Now, nearly three years later, this idea was come into its own.

Microsofts move towards the Open Compute Project is particularly telling. Its not just that the company is a traditional ally of Dell and HP, with these hardware makers selling its Windows operating system on all sorts of computers, from desktops and laptops to servers. Its that, for so many years, Microsoft was staunchly opposed to sharing its intellectual property with outsiders. It avoided open source software and even actively battled against those who built the stuff. Now, its embracing open source in both the hardware and the software world.

Al Gillen

As it released its server designs, the company also open sourced the software it built to manage the operation of these servers.

But this isnt mere altruism. By sharing its designs and software, Microsoft can push the web forward, helping others build more efficient data centers. But it can also boost its own cause, expanding the market for this custom-built gear and driving down its hardware costs even further.

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Microsoft Open Sources Its Internet Servers, Steps Into the Future