OpenOffice hits 300 million downloads as Version 3.2 ships

OpenOffice is the free, open source office suite that exists as an alternative to Microsoft Office. And does a brilliant job of it. Today has seen OpenOffice.org 3.2 released, and the community has taken the opportunity to congratulate itself on hitting the 300 million downloads mark.



I use OpenOffice and so, it appears, do millions of other people. The open source alternative may not be as popular as the Microsoft Office standard it exists to counter but it’s an invaluable set of tools for those who do use it.

OpenOffice.org 3.2 is now available to download, with faster start-up times, improved compatibility with file formats, and new and improved features being the order of the day. The community is now urging all OpenOffice users to upgrade to the latest version, with those still using OpenOffice.org 2 needing to upgrade their software urgently.

OpenOffice has now been downloaded more than 300 million times as it starts its tenth year of availability.

Source: http://tech.blorge.com/

Say hello to the Open Source Decade

Open Source has been around for quite some time, but odds are most people you ask won't know what "open source" is. This isn't because open source is obscure, but rather it has slipped into the mainstream, and unless you're already in the know, there's no real reason you will have noticed it.

But open source is here, and it's growing.

Linux maximus

Linux was written by Linus Torvalds in 1991. Linux itself was based on earlier incomplete kernels that themselves were available for reworking and building upon. When Torvalds licensed Linux under the GNU public license, there was mostly scoffing in the media, with a small minority of voices predicting widespread growth in the future. Now a majority of web servers worldwide are running Linux and Linux dominates the supercomputer market and adoption in high-end special effects houses in Hollywood. Linux also powers auto electronics, weapons systems, and an increasing number of desktop, laptop and netbook computers.

My prediction: Linux distros will continue to gain desktop and laptop popularity as they develop more usability and visual style improvements. Ultimately, though, it will take hardware driver maker support (or replacement) to create the happy turn-on-and-use experience most non-geeks want out of a computer. Usability is a hard thing to design by committee, but once it starts kicking in, I don't see much of anything holding Linux back. (And no, I don't see computers going away altogether. The cloud is nice, but with all that local processing power there is a great opportunity for cooler, better apps that can leverage that cloud far better than a generic browser. [Not to mention privacy and security concerns that will always hound an open network.]

Firefox burns

Last week Firefox 3.5 became the world's #1 browser release, edging out Internet Explorer 7. Of course, when you add in Internet Explorer 8 and the dead-but-not-buried Internet Explorer 6, Microsoft still holds the largest market share. Still, as ZDNet's Paula Rooney notes, open source has been putting the squeeze on IE.

The days of Internet Explorer’s dominance appear to be waning. Of course, Microsoft’s Windows operating system monopoly still owns the market, but we’re not sure how long that will matter, especially as software-as-a-service models take off and Google’s web-focused operating system is prepped for release.

As Microsoft’s grip on the browser market loosens, opportunities for open source rivals are blossoming. It will be interesting to see which of the two top open source browsers benefits most in 2009 .

By: by Laura Scott
http://www.blogher.com/say-hello-open-source-decade

Another Five Trends in Technology

This is in continuance with the constantly transforming technology trends which we presented in the previous article. Here comes the other bunch of trends that are bound to make a stir in the market this year :

1. 3G; Next-generation networks : 3G allows fast Internet access on the move and fixed access in hard-to-reach areas, without cabling. It spurs new services like mobile video and multimedia. You'll see PCs and laptops with built-in 3G, like Qualcomm's Kayak prototype. Many mid-range handsets are already 3G-ready, so you may not need to change your handset. But don't expect WiMax taking off. While we patiently await it, 3G may overtake this always-around-the-corner technology.


2. Global Positioning System : The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit. Year 2007 mark the entry of GPS in the Indian market with maps. And in 2009 it will enter mobile phones and mid-range cars. Up ahead will be 3D GPS landmarks. Nokia Maps 3.0 is testing this for its devices. And new tech will combine real-time video with turn-by-turn directions, as with Blaupunkt's TravelPilot 500 "SafeDrive" navigation. The iPhone may also integrate Google Street View images with satellite data, to provide a similar interface.

GPS has a variety of applications on land, at sea and in the air. It offers cost savings by drastically lowering setup time at the survey site and providing incredible accuracy. Basic survey units, costing thousands of dollars, can offer accuracies down to one meter. More expensive systems are available that can provide accuracies to within a centimeter.



3. Green IT : Green computing or green IT is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently. It refers to environmentally sustainable computing or IT. It is "the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment.

Green IT strives to achieve economic viability and improved system performance and use, while abiding by our social and ethical responsibilities. Greening the IT products, applications, services, and practices is important from both an economic and an environmental point of view and counts as our social responsibility too. It includes the dimensions of environmental sustainability, the economics of energy efficiency, and the total cost of ownership, which includes the cost of disposal and recycling.

4. Business intelligence : The term is commonly associated with data warehousing. Business Intelligence (BI) refers to the tools and systems that play a pivotal role in the strategic planning process of the corporation. These systems allow a company to gather, store, access and analyze corporate data to aid in decision-making. Generally these systems illustrates business intelligence in the areas of customer profiling, customer support, market research, market segmentation, product profitability, statistical analysis, and inventory and distribution analysis to name a few.

5. Open Source Software : Open source harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The commitment of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in. It allow users to use, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified forms. It is very often developed in a public, collaborative manner. Open source software is the most prominent example of open source development and often compared to user-generated content.