IBM Lotus Symphony

IBM Lotus Symphony is a discontinued suite of applications for creating, editing, and sharing text, spreadsheet, presentations, and other documents and browsing the World Wide Web. It was first distributed as commercial proprietary software, then as freeware, before IBM contributed the suite to the Apache Software Foundation in 2014 for inclusion in the free and open-source Apache OpenOffice software suite.[4][5]

For the 1980s DOS software, see Lotus Symphony (DOS).

IBM Lotus Symphony
Developer(s)IBM
Initial release2007 (2007)[1]
Final release
3.0.1 FixPack 2 / 29 November 2012 (2012-11-29)[2]
Operating systemLinux, Windows, and Mac OS X.
TypeOffice suite, web browser
LicenseProprietary (registerware)[3]
Websitesymphony.lotus.com 

First released in 2007,[1] the suite has a name similar to the 1980s DOS Lotus Symphony suite, but the two software suites are otherwise unrelated. The previous Lotus application suite, Lotus SmartSuite, is also unrelated.

IBM discontinued development of Lotus Symphony in January 2012 with the final release of version 3.0.1, moving future development effort to Apache OpenOffice, and donating the source code to the Apache Software Foundation.[6]

Features

IBM Lotus Symphony consists of:

Each application is split into tabs.[8]

Symphony supports the OpenDocument formats as well as the binary Microsoft Office formats.[8][9] It can also export Portable Document Format (PDF) files and import Office Open XML files. Previous support for Lotus SmartSuite formats was disabled in Symphony 3.[9]

Symphony is based on Eclipse Rich Client Platform from IBM Lotus Expeditor (the shell) and OpenOffice.org 3 (the core office-suite code).[10][11]

In 2009, IBM created development tools for BlackBerry smartphones to link to IBM's business software, which also allow opening ODF file-formats,[12] following a full Symphony later.[13]

Lotus Symphony 3.0.1 added enhancements including support for one million spreadsheet rows, bubble charts, and a new design for the home page.[14] On 27 March 2012 a first fixpack update for Lotus Symphony 3.0.1 was released.[15] On 29 November 2012 a second fixpack update for Lotus Symphony 3.0.1 was released.[16]

A web based version of Symphony, called LotusLive Symphony, was launched in 2011.[17]

History

Symphony has its roots in the IBM Workplace Managed Client component of IBM Workplace. In 2006, IBM introduced Workplace Managed Client version 2.6, which included "productivity tools" — a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation program — that supported ODF.[18][19] Workplace used code from OpenOffice.org version 1.1.4,[20] the last version released under the Sun Industry Standards Source License, which allowed for release of binaries of modified versions without releasing changes.

Later in 2006, IBM announced that Lotus Notes 8, which already incorporated Workplace technology,[21] would also include the same productivity tools as the Workplace Managed Client.[22][23] In 2007, IBM released Notes 8, and then released Notes' productivity tools as a standalone application, Symphony, in a beta one month later. The code in Symphony is the same as that for Notes 8's productivity tools.[24] IBM released version 1.0 of Lotus Symphony in May 2008 as a free download, and introduced three minor upgrades through 2008 and 2009.

In 2010, IBM released version 3.0.[25] Symphony 3.0 was based on OpenOffice.org 3.0, though not under the LGPL but under a special arrangement between IBM and Sun (who required copyright assignment of all outside OpenOffice.org contributions).[25][26][27][28][29] and includes enhancements such as new sidebars in its user interface and support for Visual Basic for Applications macros,[17] OpenDocument Format 1.2, and OLE.[30] Symphony 3.0 was originally planned to include other existing OpenOffice.org modules, including an equation editor, database software, and a drawing program.[31]

The software was developed by IBM China Development Laboratory, located in Beijing,[32] which now develops Apache OpenOffice.

On 13 July 2011, IBM announced that it would donate Lotus Symphony to the Apache Foundation.[14][33] On 23 January 2012, IBM announced version 3.0.1 would be the last version of Lotus Symphony and their efforts would be going into the Apache OpenOffice project,[34] including the Symphony user interface.[35] IBM planned to release an "Apache OpenOffice IBM Edition" after the release of Apache OpenOffice 4,[36] but later decided that it would offer the stock Apache OpenOffice with IBM extensions.[37]

Lotus Symphony Documents 1.0 on Windows XP

There were complaints that IBM and the Apache Software Foundation didn't really provide an open source release of the Lotus Symphony code, although IBM promised to donate the code to Apache. It was reported that some LibreOffice developers wanted to adopt some code parts and bug fixes which IBM already fixed in their OpenOffice fork.[38]

Lotus Symphony Documents 1.2 Beta on Mac OS X

Usage share

During the Lotusphere event in 2009, IBM confirmed its cost-reduction effort using Lotus Symphony, with the company migrating its 400,000 users from Microsoft Office to Lotus Symphony.[39] In June 2008 IBM urged its 20,000 'strong-techies' employees to use Symphony instead of Microsoft Office[40] and later in September 2009 IBM forced all 360,000 employees to use Symphony.[41]

In March 2009, a study showed that Lotus Symphony had a 2% market share in the corporate market.[42]

As of February 2010, IBM stated that Lotus Symphony had 12 million users[43] with 50 million downloads in January 2011.[17]

Version release dates
Beta 1
  • Released on 18 September 2007[44]
Beta 2
  • Released on 5 November 2007[45]
Beta 3
  • Released on 17 December 2007[46]
  • Released in 23 languages on 7 January 2008[47]
Beta 4
  • Released on 1 February 2008.[48] Introduced the Lotus Symphony Developer Toolkit.
  • Revised edition released on 3 March 2008[49]
Version 1.0
  • Released on 30 May 2008[50]
Version 1.1
  • Released on 29 August 2008[51]
Version 1.2
  • Released on 4 November 2008[52]
  • Revised edition released on 23 February 2009[53]
Version 1.3
  • Released on 10 June 2009[54]
  • Revised edition released on 1 September 2009[55]
Version 3 Beta
  • Released on 4 February 2010[56]
Version 3 Beta 2
  • Released on 4 February 2010[8][57]
  • Features: Visual Basic macros, OLE Objects and embedded audio/video; support for nested tables, presentation masters and DataPilot tables for pivoting on large datasets.[8]
Version 3 Beta 3
  • Released on 7 June 2010
Version 3 Beta 4
  • Released on 26 August 2010[58]
Version 3.0
  • Released 21 October 2010[59]
Version 3.0 FixPack 1
  • Released 13 January 2011[60]
Version 3.0 FixPack 2
  • Released 20 April 2011[61]
Version 3.0 FixPack 3
  • Released 20 July 2011[62]
Version 3.0.1
  • Released 23 January 2012[63]
Version 3.0.1 FixPack 1
  • Released 27 March 2012[15]
Version 3.0.1 FixPack 2
  • Released 29 November 2012[2]
A timeline of major derivatives of StarOffice and OpenOffice.org with IBM Lotus Symphony in yellow

See also

References
  1. Fiveash, Kelly (19 September 2007). "IBM hopes open office is Symphony to your key-tapping fingers". The Register. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  2. IBM Lotus Symphony - Buzz: Symphony 3.0.1 FIXPACK 2 is Now AVAILABLE Archived 29 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Byfield, Bruce (4 October 2007). "OpenOffice vs. Lotus Symphony". Datamation. Archived from the original on 17 September 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010. For all purposes, it is a proprietary fork of the OpenOffice.org code
  4. "IBM End of support and migration options for IBM Lotus Symphony - United States". www-01.ibm.com. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  5. "Merging Lotus Symphony: Allegro moderato: Apache OpenOffice". blogs.apache.org. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  6. Clarke, Gavin (14 July 2011). "IBM crams Lotus Symphony back into OpenOffice". The Register. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  7. Mendelson, Edward (22 June 2011). "IBM Lotus Symphony 3.0". PC Magazine. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  8. Fiveash, Kelly (5 February 2010). "Lotus Symphony 3 beta goes OOo". The Register. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  9. "What's new in IBM Lotus Symphony 3". IBM. 21 October 2010. Archived from the original on 10 July 2009.
  10. IBM Lotus Symphony: Buzz Lotus Symphony Version 3 is NOW AVAILABLE Archived 26 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 21 October 2010
  11. Proffitt, Brian (30 January 2012). "IBM to realign Symphony with Apache OpenOffice". ITWorld. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  12. Morgan, Timothy Prickett (19 January 2009). "IBM reaches out to SAP, RIM with Notes". The Register. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  13. Modine, Austin (18 January 2010). "BlackBerry gets Quickr with Lotus". The Register. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  14. Noyes, Katherine (27 January 2012). "Coming Soon: An 'IBM Edition' of Apache OpenOffice". PCWorld. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  15. IBM Lotus Symphony - Buzz: Symphony 3.0.1 FIXPACK 1 is Now AVAILABLE
  16. Symphony 3.0.1 FIXPACK 2 is Now AVAILABLE Archived 29 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  17. Clarke, Gavin (31 January 2011). "IBM floats Microsoft Office web challenger". The Register. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  18. Todd Weiss, IBM Workplace client to support Open Document Format in '06, Computerworld, 4 December 2005
  19. IBM Press Release, IBM Announces New Version of Workplace Products With Enhanced Support for Open Standards and Improved SOA Functionality, 23 January 2006
  20. Hillesley, Richard (6 July 2011). "OpenOffice – splits and pirouettes". The H online. Heinz Heise. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  21. Ed Brill, "Hannover" — announcing the next (post 7.0) version of Lotus Notes, 14 June 2005
  22. IBM Press Release, IBM Makes Collaborative Innovation Real With Preview of Next Generation IBM Lotus Notes Client, 16 May 2006.
  23. Candace Lombardi, IBM backs OpenDocument in Lotus Notes, CNET News, 16 May 2006.
  24. Ed Brill, Introducing IBM Lotus Symphony, desktop productivity software at no charge, 18 September 2007 — see comment 41
  25. Brill, Ed (21 October 2010). "Lotus Symphony 3.0 now available". Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  26. Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (31 May 2011). "What the heck is happening with OpenOffice? (UPDATE)". ZDNet Linux and Open Source. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  27. "Network World – Lotus to set road map for free productivity suite". Archived from the original on 19 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  28. John Fontana (15 January 2010). "Lotus to set road map for free productivity suite". Network World. Archived from the original on 21 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  29. "IBM Commits to Future of ODF With Symphony Roadmap". 5 November 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  30. "IBM Lotus Symphony 3 Release Notes". IBM. Archived from the original on 10 January 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  31. Edward Mendelson, IBM Lotus Symphony Beta review, "...Now the Bad News" section, 21 September 2007
  32. IBM Translates Lotus Symphony for a Globally Integrated World
  33. Weir, Rob (13 July 2011). "Incubator OO.o development mailing list". Apache Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 December 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2011. Cite journal requires |journal= (help).
  34. Brill, Ed (23 January 2012). "IBM Lotus Symphony 3.0.1 is now available". Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  35. Lotus Symphony code for OpenOffice coming soon [LWN.net]
  36. Clarke, Gavin (30 January 2012). "IBM calls time on Symphony OpenOffice fork". The Register. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  37. Weir, Rob (29 August 2013). "IBM Connections Connector for Apache OpenOffice". openoffice-dev mailing list. Apache Software Foundation. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  38. Corbet, Jonathan (16 January 2013). "A discordant symphony". LWN.net. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  39. Postinett, Axel (11 September 2009). "IBM wirft MS Office raus". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  40. Fiveash, Kelly (13 June 2008). "IBM 'advises' staff to opt for a Microsoft Office-free world". The Register. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  41. Ilagan, Richard Neil (14 September 2009). "IBM sends Microsoft Office to the trash". Daily Contributor. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  42. McLeish, Sheri (26 May 2009). "Microsoft Office still owns the desktop, future of StarOffice unclear". ZDnet. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  43. Symphony 3.0 beta signals IBM attack on Office Archived 11 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  44. IBM Press Release, IBM Releases Office Desktop Software at No Charge to Foster Collaboration and Innovation, 18 September 2007
  45. Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Beta 2 Release Now Available, 5 November 2007
  46. Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Beta 3 Release Now Available Archived 15 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 17 December 2007
  47. Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Beta 3 Now Available in 23 Languages Archived 14 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 7 January 2008
  48. Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Beta 4 Has Arrived Archived 14 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 1 February 2008
  49. Lotus Symphony Buzz, Symphony Beta 4 Code Update Now Available Archived 15 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 3 March 2008
  50. Lotus Symphony Buzz, Announcing — IBM Lotus Symphony Version 1.0 is Now Available Archived 14 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 30 May 2008
  51. Ed Brill, Lotus Symphony 1.1 is now available, 29 August 2008
  52. Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Release 1.2 with Mac OS X Support Available Archived 18 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 4 November 2008
  53. Lotus Symphony Buzz, Symphony version 1.2 refresh available, 23 February 2009
  54. Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony 1.3 is HERE Archived 7 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine, 10 June 2009
  55. Lotus Symphony Buzz, What fixes are included in the IBM Lotus Symphony 1.3 refresh version?, 1 September 2009
  56. Lotus Symphony Buzz, IBM launches Lotus Symphony 3 beta Archived 11 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 4 February 2010
  57. Lotus Symphony Buzz, IBM Lotus Symphony 3 Beta 2 is now available Archived 27 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 4 February 2010
  58. Lotus Symphony Buzz, IBM Lotus Symphony 3 Beta 4 is now available Archived 10 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 26 August 2010
  59. Lotus Symphony Buzz, Lotus Symphony Version 3 is NOW AVAILABLE Archived 26 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 21 October 2010
  60. Lotus Symphony Buzz, , 13 January 2011
  61. Lotus Symphony Buzz, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), 20 April 2011
  62. Lotus Symphony Buzz, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 September 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), 20 July 2011
  63. IBM Lotus Symphony 3.0.1 is now available, , 23 January 2012
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