Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Office, IBM, Freeware
IBM's free, cross-platform Lotus Symphony now MS Office 2007 compatible
Symphony doesn't provide the same number of tools as Office or OpenOffice, but it does handle word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation tasks. The latest release adds a much needed piece of functionality to Symphony - the ability to open files created using Microsoft Office 2007 (though files can only be saved in 2003 or 2000 formats). A Flash-based presentation of Symphony's features is available for viewing, and there's also a transcript available if you would rather read them yourself.
One I particularly like is the tabbed interface. As with the tabs in my browser, it keeps my workspace just as tidy whether I've got a single document or dozens open at the same time.
The suite is roughly a 200Mb download for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and is available from the IBM web site. There's also a large, online library of clipart for you to utilize in your documents.


The XForce won't save you from a burning building but, they just might make your surfing safer. The XForce is IBM's team of Internet Security Systems researchers and they've just released the 









Pocket PC users are kind of screwed when it comes to mobility software. Although our devices are far more capable than modern phones, almost all online mobility software caters to the phone using contingent. Consider Gmail Mobile - although it's a nice pared-down interface for mobile phone users, on a Pocket PC it's horrendous to use, particularly if you don't happen to have a Windows Mobile powered phone. Google Reader Mobile is similar - so pared down that Bloglines kicks its ass on a Pocket PC. 


