FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Migrating to OpenOffice.org 90% Cheaper than to Microsoft Office 12

4th October, 2005

The industry's two major office suites, Microsoft Office and
OpenOffice.org, will soon be releasing new versions. Recent research
into these versions by large government departments indicates that for
many sites, it is now 10 times cheaper to migrate to the new
OpenOffice.org 2.0 than upgrading to Microsoft Office 12. Cybersource, a
leading open source services firm, believes that we have reached a
tipping-point of great opportunity for OpenOffice.org and for the IT
industry in general.

"Thanks to excellent new features and through Microsoft's poor
decisions, OpenOffice.org has suddenly become the de-facto
next-generation office suite to move to," said Cybersource CEO, Con
Zymaris. "This is because OpenOffice.org is now more familiar to
existing Microsoft Office users than Microsoft Office 12 is."

Reviewers recently published screenshots of Microsoft Office 12 [1]. The
screen layout and user-interface is clearly different to what most users
are comfortable with. Even Microsoft chairman, Bill Gates, hinted that
the level of difference that users will come to see in this new version,
is dramatic. Gates told reporters: "There will be some shock among
users.[2]"

"Cybersource believes that this change in policy by Microsoft will allow
the open source OpenOffice.org suite, Microsoft's main competitor, to
gain enough momentum to reach a tipping-point in the market. This
scenario therefore threatens Office, which is one of Microsoft's two key
product franchises - providing almost half of Microsoft's profit,"
continued Zymaris. "And since Microsoft Office is the single biggest
thing tying users to the Microsoft Windows platform, a weakened market
for Office also threatens the Windows product franchise too, in 
turn threatening the other half of Microsoft's profit base."

OpenOffice.org 2.0, due for release in the near future, offers the best
combination of features, openness and value available. OpenOffice.org
2.0 can be a drop-in replacement for most Microsoft Office users, can
read and write Microsoft Office file-formats along with the new
OpenDocument Format industry standard, is available on all major
platforms (Win32, Linux, Mac, Unix) and can be downloaded for zero
cost[3].

"With even Microsoft's own research showing that workers could take
weeks to acclimatise to the new version of Office[2], diligent managers
should look to alternatives which can deliver next-generation
functionality, but without the staff down-time and cost risks." said
Zymaris. "We've researched reports from organisations which have looked
at migrating to either of the new office suites, and have found public
comments from independent parties showing that migrating to
OpenOffice.org is 10 times cheaper than upgrading to the drastically
different Microsoft Office 12."

In a recent presentation to the Massachusetts Technology Leadership
Council, the state's secretary of administration and finance Eric Kriss
said that his organisation would 'save significantly by migrating to
OpenDocument-based products rather than going with Office 12 -- on the
order of US$5 million for OpenDocument versus US$50 million for Office
12, including hardware and operating-system upgrade costs.[4]"

"We believe a 90% reduction in costs, as suggested by the independent
Commonwealth of Massachusetts analysis noted above, is an excellent
reason for all businesses looking at updating their office suite
software, to choose OpenOffice.org 2.0. The risks are negligible, the
gains are immense. The opportunity is there for responsible managers to
make a positive impact on their IT budgets now and for the coming
decade," concluded Zymaris.


References: 

[1] Microsoft Office 12 Screenshots
http://pdc.xbetas.com/?page=o12preview1

[2] Bill Gates on Microsoft Office 12 Shocking Users
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/Office_12_makeover_takes_on_feature_creep_/0,2000061733,39213222,00.htm

[3] OpenOffice.org Download
http://download.openoffice.org/2.0.0rc/index.html

[4] Massachusetts to Save 90% costs through OpenOffice.org
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/Massachusetts_finalises_open_standards_proposal/0,2000061733,39214476,00.htm

- - - - 
About Cybersource Pty. Ltd.

Cybersource, founded in early 1991, is the second longest running open
source solutions company in the world. We have been demonstrating the better
value, security and robustness of open source technologies to our clients
since then. We also produce products like:

* The Safe Internet Computer: The Safest Way to Use the Internet.

* The Small Business Linux Server: the best value small business server
  on the market and 75% less expensive than the Microsoft alternative. 

* Datasafe: Stores copies of all your documents. Easy and direct access 
  to all past revisions.

* Cybersource TrimClient; All the advantages of a thin-client with none 
  of the disadvantages.

http://www.cybersource.com.au/

Spokesperson/Contact: Con Zymaris
Phone: +61 3 9621 2377
Email: info@cybersource.com.au

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