Microsoft To Debut Office Beta; Sun Bows New StarOffice

FrontPage and InfoPath combine what Microsoft describes as "the world's first" graphical XSLT (extensible stylesheet language transformations) editor. XSLT acts a bridge between an XML database on the back end and user-input features on the front end.

Hitting the Right Note

Much of the analyst buzz surrounding Microsoft Office System is focused on OneNote. Though it might seem like a small add-on, rather like Notepad is attached to Windows, this program points to a new paradigm of front-end computing.

"OneNote has been developed to address tablet computing," Rob Enderle, research fellow at Giga Information Group, told the E-Commerce Times. "It fits the tablet metaphor and enables users to categorize, search for and find their thoughts better than with pen and paper."

Unchanging Market Share

Meanwhile, although Sun's announcement coincided with Microsoft's, Yankee Group senior analyst Laura DiDio said Microsoft's key competitor is not StarOffice. "StarOffice will have appeal for the SOHO [small office and home office] market, but the overall market share won't change appreciably," she told the E-Commerce Times. Microsoft's market share of the office productivity field is at least 90 percent.

"Microsoft's biggest competitor is itself," DiDio added. "With the economic downturn and the quality of Microsoft's earlier products, the challenge will be to get customers, even those who would absolutely love to migrate, up and running. Customers simply might not have the cash."

DiDio predicted a 15 to 20 percent adoption rate during the first year, and she emphasized that the fate of Windows Server 2003 will play a part in Office System's penetration curve. Enterprises still using Windows NT 4 on the back end might see Server 2003 as a compelling upgrade opportunity, and they could scoop up Office System at the same time to realize the full potential of a more unified system.

New Paradigms

While the commercial fate of Office System remains to be determined, there is universal agreement that Microsoft is aiming high with this product.

"This is a pretty important and substantial release," Yankee Group senior analyst Dana Gardner told the E-Commerce Times, "because it really changes the file structure and the ability of files to be shared. Given the wide adoption of XML in this product, Microsoft has given its software developers the opportunity to use Office applications as front ends in a way they didn't have access to before."

Giga's Enderle noted that Office System is the first version of Office that has gone through the advanced security testing adopted by Microsoft nearly two years ago. "Substantial work has been done on Outlook," he said. "It is more reliable and less susceptible to network problems."

Backward Compatibility

However, though network integration and streamlined information flow are positive developments, a question of compatibility exists. Microsoft is including server elements in its Office System beta 2 distribution -- but those elements will not be included in the final product, and enterprises will have to purchase them separately if they want a full upgrade of the front and back ends. Microsoft Office System is backward compatible with previous servers, however.

"The server upgrades are required to achieve the system's full potential, but [Office System] is, by itself, a vastly improved product," Enderle noted.