IBM releases updated Symphony 3 office suite

Symphony 3 offers document, presentation and spreadsheet applications

IBM has released Lotus Symphony 3, the latest version of its office productivity suite which is based on new code that supports Microsoft Office applications.

The company said that the new edition of Symphony supports Excel, Word and PowerPoint, so that businesses wanting to switch office suite providers will save money while protecting existing investments.

The entire code for Symphony 3 will be rebased onto the current OpenOffice.org 3 code stream, IBM said.

The Symphony portfolio includes document, presentation and spreadsheet applications, and is available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X operating systems.

New features in version 3 include an enhanced user interface for users creating presentations, 3D spreadsheet chart types and a note function that allows users to collaborate on word processing documents with colleagues, the firm said.

IBM claims over 12 million users worldwide for Lotus Symphony, which is available as a free download, and said that the latest version encompasses the largest update since the product was launched in 2007.

"The update is a long-term strategy to get back into the office productivity space, not a one-time decision," said Lotus Software product management director Ed Brill at the firm's Lotusphere customer and partner event last month.

"Symphony 3 will be exactly what office users need from office productivity tools, and this will be a legitimate replacement for Microsoft Office."

Lotus Symphony document

Lotus Symphony presentation

Lotus Symphony spreadsheet