The state of Massachusets has laid out a plan to switch all it's workers away from Microsoft's Word, Excel and other desktop software applications, delivering what would be one of the most significant setbacks to the software company's battle against open source software in its home market.
They said that all electronic documents "created and saved" by state employees would have to be based on open formats, with the switch to start the beginning of 2007. The state also specified only two document types that could be used in the future - OpenDocument, which is used in open source applications like Open Office, and PDF.
So, the gradual swing towards open source software on the desktop may be developing a little bit of momentum. As Linux, and commercial derivatives of the operating system, and the software that sits on top, such as StarOffice from SUN, become increasingly mature, open source looks like becoming a real alternative to Microsoft software.
Linux has already made considerable strides in the server market, mostly taking share from Unix, but it looks like there is just enough evidence to conclude that 2006/7 may prove to be the years that Microsoft gets more heat from open source software on the desktop. Not since Lotus disappeared off to IBM in the nineties has there been any kind of viable alternative.
There could be a great opportunity here for SUN in particular, if they get it right. Let's see!
Thursday, September 01, 2005
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