Interesting Week For Microsoft

Microsoft, the company so many love to hate, has seen contrasting headlines this week.

The good came with news that the Redmond based company is partnering with mobile giant Nokia, to bring applications, including a Microsoft Office mobile suite, to Nokia handsets.

The deal puts Nokia into direct competition with smartphone industry leaders like RIM, Palm and even Apple, whose iPhone devices are proving popular with executives seeking multimedia capabilities in a corporate device, as well the basics like email.

Although Nokia already has a range of business devices, the real strength of a joint Nokia-Microsoft offering is the direct compatibility and synching with PC/laptop-based Office software to increase productivity on the go. A document could be drafted in the office, edited on the go and emailed to a colleague remotely.

Where this deal leaves Microsoft’s Office Mobile suite is another story. Microsoft’s operating system has struggled in the market and now, with Microsoft Office Mobile no longer exclusive to Windows Mobile, its presence in the market may further wane.

Those looking forward to Microsoft products on their Nokia will have to wait for the Finnish company’s business-focused Eseries devices, though the applications will extend to other Nokia handsets in time.

For Microsoft, the deal is a welcome boon following a Texas court injunction which ruled in favour of i4i Ltd, a Canadian firm accusing the PC giant of infringing a number of its patents. Penalties from the ruling are estimated at around USD 290 million in damages, which include a two month ban on selling certain versions of the company Word product.

While experts doubt the ruling is likely to affect the company in the long run, it is another example of high profile anti-Microsoft feeling.

As the sales ban is for 60 days, it is unlikely to affect business with Microsoft products – however this is an opportunity to introduce a selection of the many free alternates to the dominant Microsoft Office suite.

• Google Docs – perhaps the best know alternate is Google’s take on free office software, Google Docs is compatible with Microsoft Office products. It’s another string to Google’s bow and, with the recent launch of Google’s free alternative to Windows, the Chrome OS (operating system), Google Docs will likely pick up more users as the OS’s office suite.

• IBM Lotus Symphony – a free office software suite from IBM, Lotus Symphony is compatible with Microsoft Office as well as Lotus’ own offline Office software.

• Openoffice.org – a leading open source alternate to the Word suit which includes Writer, a word processor; Calc, a spreadsheet program; Impress, a Powerpoint alternative; Draw, a graphic creator; and Base, a database manager.

• Neo Office – not forgetting Mac users, we have Neo Office. Established in 2003, it enjoys compatible with Microsoft Office (up to the 2007 version) and utilises a number of Mac specific features and can handle multimedia, including video and photos.

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