Steve Ballmer has insisted that OpenOffice is a far better rival to Microsoft's Office than Google's applications suite, and insisted that he isn't worried about people skipping Vista and moving straight onto Windows 7
The Microsoft CEO, talking at the Gartners Inc conference, told the assembled audience that he did not consider Google the company's biggest rival in terms of applications, in a market that Office currently dominates.
When asked about Google's online applications, Ballmer said: "People don't use it. People try Google Apps, they don't use it. You can't even put a footnote in a document!"
Very primitive
When pushed, Ballmer added that he felt Google has 'very primitive' capabilities. "We have better competition today than Google Docs and Spreadsheets. We get more competition from OpenOffice and StarOffice frankly."
Ballmer also talked about the growing mood that Vista should be skipped in favour of its successor Windows 7.
"Our next release of Windows will be compatible with Vista. The key is let's get on with it. We'll be ready when you want to deploy Windows 7," said Ballmer, who remains insistent that Windows 7 deserves its major release tag.
"It's not minor because it's a lot more work than a minor release. It's a major release. Windows 7 will be Vista, but a lot better."
Your comments (7) Click to add a new comment
stef
November 1st 2008
7. I tried both. Google Docs is primitive but Open office is an ugly beast. It's slow, it's cumbersome, not really compatible with MS Office.
It makes me want MS Office 2003 back. That is if I could afford it. But I'm a cheap ******* and that's why I have now gone Softmaker office which is available for free now at www.softmakeroffice.com -and its really compatible with Microsoft office.
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twelve17
October 23rd 2008
6. "Windows 7 will be Vista, but a lot better."
I think he's saying they're going to repackage Windows XP as Windows 7 and start selling it again.
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ncr100
October 22nd 2008
5. October 17, 2008
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/10/footnotes-in-google-docs.html
"Google adds Footnotes to Google Docs"
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clusterzeevo
October 22nd 2008
4. I have been playing with Open Office for a couple days now and I absolutely LOVE it.
Jiff
www.internet-privacy.pl.tc
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stewsofdoom
October 21st 2008
3. im the real stews of doom.
stew says: ballmer likes carpet
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aparmegg
October 20th 2008
2. Openoffice now is really a substitute for MS Office. Rich in features, compatible, free. It's great to have such a choice. 3 years ago I tryed OO and dumped it. Now I'm addicted.
Google docs is unmatched for its ease of setup and document sharing capabilities, yet it's way behind OO and MS office in terms of features.
My wish: Google powered Open office: seamless integration between google docs and OO.
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