The new office suite that runs on Linux, BSD, Windows and OS X

The new KOffice 2.0, sometime in the first half of next year, according to reports, will run on Linux, BSD and -- for the first time -- Windows and Macintosh platforms.

For those who don't know, KOffice is the office suite meant to complement the KDE desktop environment used in many Linux and BSD distributions.

Well, KOffice isn't new, per se, but it's new to non-Linux/BSD users. While I've had a hell of a time getting the typographical quotes to face in the right direction in KWord, the word-processing component of KOffice, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that, overall, KOffice is a better-written piece of software than the big dog in free office suites, OpenOffice. The reason: Java. OO uses a lot of it, and it's dog slow. I'd like to say it's OK for Web apps, but even there Java gets its butt kicked by Flash. KOffice is faster and that's the lack of Java talking. At least that's the way I, a non-programmer, sees it.

And what is the No. 1 reason that OpenOffice has seen such growth over the past few years? It's Windows port. Not everybody has MS Office -- either paid for or stolen -- and OpenOffice is the only thing keeping Microsoft at bay. And with KOffice on the scene for Windows users, it's just another choice that is a) free and b) not Microsoft.

And while OpenOffice has full implementations that run on Linux, BSD and Windows, the suite's Mac OS X port is still in its not-ready-for-prime-time stage (they'll never get that Aqua version done). But with KOffice available sometime next year for the Mac and Windows, the one thing the computing industry needs to be healthy -- choice -- will be in more abundance than we've seen since the days that non-MS programs like WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 had market share, relevance and the loyalty of PC users.

From the Linuxworld.com.au article written by Rodney Gedda of Computerworld:

With OpenOffice.org receiving a lion's share of commercial support and market awareness for a free office suite, KOffice 2.0 has the potential to challenge its dominance with innovative features and a leaner code base.

"KOffice is much more lightweight," KDE project spokesman Sebastian Kugler said. "One often hears that OpenOffice's codebase is quite complex and rather large. While KOffice is lacking some functionality compared to OpenOffice, it's certainly catching up - and eating less valuable developer time in the process."

"Mid- to long-term I think this will make a huge difference. Having a clean code base makes bridging those gaps and implementing new and innovative ways of working in the office space much easier. KOffice is also much easier on your system resources."

The KDE project pitches KOffice as "the most comprehensive office suite", as it consists of 11 applications - from the standard word processor and spreadsheet to the Krita image manipulation tool and Kivio flowcharting application. KOffice even has its own database creator and alternative to Microsoft Access, dubbed Kexi.

While some claim that the availability of free, open-source applications to Windows and Mac users hurts open-source operating systems, I completely disagree and contend that giving a Windows or Mac users free apps provides both a great advertisement for the all-open-source environment of Linux as well as easing their transition away from proprietary OSes entirely. If they're using OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, Abiword and the like on their PC, it's that much easier to throw a Linux distro on the box and use the programs they're already familiar with.

And the arrival of KOffice on Mac and Windows desktops will only speed that process along.