IBM said that it is offering Lotus Symphony software to Microsoft customers, which is compatible with Microsoft Office formats and supports a range of widgets which extend the functionality of the software.
IBM said that the widgets allow Symphony users to tap into web-based Google gadgets, Lotus Sametime, Lotus Quickr, Lotus Connections, wikis, Microsoft SharePoint and MSN. Users can drag-and-drop widgets directly into Lotus Symphony, distinguishing it from static office productivity tools such as Microsoft Word.
The widgets extend Symphony’s capabilities through two open standards – Eclipse and Java. Due to their cross-platform nature, Symphony widgets are developed once and run across Symphony’s document, presentation and spreadsheet applications, the company said.
According to IBM, the widgets support cloud-based Google gadgets, such as the Currency Converter gadget; the Unit Converter gadget; and the Wikipedia gadget. These widgets are accessible directly from within Symphony.
In addition, the IBM is also launching new widgets designed to extend Symphony from office productivity to interactive collaboration. They include: Lotus Symphony Learning; Team Workspace; a new ChartShare; Symphony 2 Wiki; Treasure Box; and Export Graphic widget.
The Lotus Symphony is also packaged with Lotus Notes and Lotus Foundations. It is available on a range of devices and platforms, including Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, Ubuntu Linux, Red Hat Linux and Suse Linux, the company added.
