IBM offers Symphony to Mac, Linux users
International Business Machines Corp., working to win users away from Microsoft Corp.'s Office programs, adapted its free word processing and document software for use with Apple Inc.'s Macintosh and the Linux operating system.
IBM's Lotus Symphony program, released in May, is now available for the Mac and a version of Linux called Ubuntu, Armonk, New York-based IBM said today in a statement. The software can create documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
By offering the program for free, IBM aims to steal away paying customers from Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker. IBM would then make money on related technology and services. Today's expansion of the software lets IBM reach designers and other creative workers, who often rely on the Mac operating system.
``It's IBM continuing its relentless assault on one of Microsoft's key franchises,'' Melissa Webster, an analyst with Framingham, Massachusetts-based research firm IDC, said in a telephone interview. ``The Mac constituency is important, especially in creative organizations.''
The current version has been downloaded 3 million times, Ed Brill, an IBM software executive, said in an interview. The program, which runs on Microsoft's Windows, works in 28 languages.
The company opted to support the Ubuntu version of Linux because of its ease of use and wide range of applications. The Linux operating system is open source, meaning it's developed collectively by programmers worldwide.
Sun Agreement
IBM also announced a partnership with Santa Clara, California-based Sun Microsystems Inc., a maker of server computers and software. The companies will help open-source developers adapt their programs for Lotus Symphony.
IBM plans to sell services to supplement the free software, spokesman Mike Azzi said. Software sales, including related services, advanced 12 percent last quarter to $5.25 billion.
Software is IBM's most profitable business, with a gross margin, or the percentage of sales left after production costs, of 85 percent in the third quarter. That's more than double the margin for its services unit, IBM's largest division.
IBM rose 72 cents to $93.40 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange trading. The shares have fallen 14 percent this year.