OS X version of OpenOffice slated for next September
Aqua developer porting force (back) on the case — A version of the free OpenOffice.org productivity suite that will work natively on the OS X operating system may finally be ready in September 2008.
Context & Ripple Effects
OpenOffice.org has been the odd suite out on the Mac: usable only through an X11 wrapper, it never matched the feel of native applications. In May 2007, Sun Microsystems threw its weight behind a proper Mac port, joining the volunteer effort to bring the suite to Aqua.
The report that a native OS X build may be ready by September 2008 — still unconfirmed as a firm ship date — would complete OpenOffice.org's presence on all three major desktop platforms, and puts a zero-cost suite directly alongside Microsoft Office for Mac and Apple's bundled options.
First-order effects
- Mac users running OpenOffice.org through X11 gain a route to a native Aqua build, removing the interface mismatch that kept the free suite out of mainstream Mac adoption.
- Sun Microsystems, via its May 2007 entry into the porting effort, extends OpenOffice.org to the one major desktop OS where it lacked a native version.
Second-order effects
- A credible free native suite pressures Microsoft's Mac Office business and Apple's iWork on price, since OpenOffice.org competes at zero cost against paid licenses.
- Independent developers who built Mac utilities around the X11 version's shortcomings lose the gap their products were designed to fill.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, desktop office software competition shifts from OS-specific integration toward cross-platform free alternatives, making document-format compatibility the battleground that decides whether paid suites can defend their pricing.
The trend: Free, open-source productivity suites are closing the native-integration gap on each major desktop OS, moving the contest with commercial suites from features toward price.