Mailing-List: contact dev-help@corinthia.incubator.apache.org; run by ezmlm
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: dev@corinthia.incubator.apache.org
Received-SPF: softfail (nike.apache.org: transitioning domain of
 dennis.hamilton@acm.org does not designate 216.234.124.52 as permitted
 sender)
Reply-To: <dennis.hamilton@acm.org>
From: "Dennis E. Hamilton" <dennis.hamilton@acm.org>
To: <dev@corinthia.incubator.apache.org>
Subject: RE: Cloud and Device Office Productivity Offerings
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 07:55:24 -0800
Organization: NuovoDoc
Message-ID: <005001d03592$acb08010$06118030$@acm.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Thread-Index: AdA1jlk+Y61fmVKNRjGqOoLS+R0hMw==
Content-Language: en-us
Received-SPF: softfail (supercp.com: domain of transitioning
 dennis.hamilton@acm.org does not designate 97.113.57.118 as permitted sender)

I installed the 30-day trial of WPS Office on a Windows 10 Technical =
Preview (apparently to have a significant update announcement in a =
couple of hours).

It is very impressive.  The desktop UI is very clean and, while it is =
unique, there is a great deal of familiarity.  It was enough for me to =
wonder if it is a derivative of AOO, but I think not.  For one, the only =
formats supported are its native WPS, which I haven't explored, and all =
of the well-known Microsoft Office formats for text, presentation, and =
spreadsheet, both OOXML (aka, Office 2007-2010 .DOCX, .PPTX, and .XSLX) =
and the .DOC, .PPT, and .XSL (aka Office 97-2003 or -XP).  When you open =
any of the three apps the first thing you see is a large spread of =
available template icons.  The available forums and other support =
arrangements seem pretty appealing.  I have no sense of the level of =
traffic or quality of user-provided support.

The program has a small footprint and seems very clean.  Startup is =
snappy too.  I've done nothing to check on format fidelity and =
interoperability.

It's pretty clear that the target market is the CJK area and North =
America, and perhaps other locations outside of Europe where ODF support =
is pretty much a required check-off item or where users don't care, they =
want Office interoperability more than anything else.  I should go back =
and look at all of the languages the site supports.

After the 30-day trial, the app will reduce to a free-to-play basic =
version or can be converted to a subscription model.  This will put it =
head-to-head with Office 365, and WPS does provide their own cloud =
storage support.  I used it with OneDrive instead, and that worked just =
fine too.  I should see how well the .docx I made opens with the =
Microsoft Office Word Web App.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis E. Hamilton [mailto:dennis.hamilton@acm.org]=20
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 08:40
To: dev@corinthia.incubator.apache.org
Subject: Cloud and Device Office Productivity Offerings

I just saw this comparison on ZDNet: =
<http://www.zdnet.com/pictures/does-microsoft-offer-the-best-android-offi=
ce-suite-android-office-app-showdown/>.

That led me to look into WPS Office.  It is cross-platform and =
apparently focused on interoperability with Microsoft Office binary =
formats (.doc, .ppt, and .xls although I see that OOXML and PDF are also =
supported in current releases) although it has its own proprietary =
format.  It is already internationalized: <http://www.wps.com/it/ios/> =
(demonstrating my favorite second language).  The software is produced =
by Zhuhai Kingsoft Office Software Co., Ltd. in China and appears to be =
very suitable in the China-Japan-Korea sphere, having arisen from =
Chinese-language word-processing software originally introduced on DOS =
in 1988 (and unrelated to Microsoft Works), =
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPS_Office>.

[ ... ]