T here are those Mac users who absolutely love Microsoft Office version X. Whatis not to love? Well, for one thing, thereis the price. MS Office can set you back several pretty pennies, and not just once, but each time you need to upgrade. Of course, there are those Mac users who believe that using any Microsoft product is a sell-out to the evil monopolistic entity that is otherwise known as the Redmond Giant.
Good news, then, for those in either camp, or anyone just wanting another productivity-suite alternative beyond what Microsoft offers. The ThinkFree Corporation has announced that its heir-apparent to the office throne, or pretender to the throne depending on who you ask, ThinkFree Office, is now available for Mac OS X. This from ThinkFree:
ThinkFree Corporation, a provider of client and server-based office productivity software, is making its easy-to-use office productivity software suite available on CD-ROM through retailers and resellers worldwide in the United States, Asia, Europe and South America. Built natively for Mac OS X, ThinkFree Office features Java-based word processor, spreadsheet and presentation graphics programs including ThinkFree Write, ThinkFree Calc and ThinkFree Show, respectively. The software suite, which seamlessly reads and writes Microsoft(R) Office file formats, can be purchased for an estimated street price of $49.95.
"ThinkFree Office for Mac OS X serves a huge cross-section of the marketplace whose needs have not previously been addressed," said Robert Wise, CEO for ThinkFree. "For small business, mobile, education and home users that require support for Microsoft Word as well as greater Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint(R) compatibility, ThinkFree Office for Mac OS X provides a powerful yet affordable alternative. ThinkFree is committed to empowering Mac users with solutions that offer the freedom of anywhere, anytime, any platform computing."
"Our Java implementation for Mac OS X offers developers the most powerful and flexible environment for creating robust, feature-rich applications," said Ron Okamoto, Appleis vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "ThinkFree Office fully leverages Mac OS Xis Java support to offer Mac users another great productivity solution."
ThinkFree Office for Mac OS X on CD-ROM
ThinkFree Office for Mac OS X features an office productivity suite that offers compatibility with the full Microsoft Office suite of applications including MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The CD-ROM installs ThinkFree Office in minutes and includes a non-expiring software license as well as a printed User Guide. As an additional bonus, the software includes a registration serial number, which can be redeemed for a one-year subscription to ThinkFreeis CyberdrivePlus services. This subscription provides customers with a personal Cyberdrive, which is a secure Internet file storage system hosted by ThinkFree servers. CyberdrivePlus subscribers are also entitled to download the latest release of the software, including all upgrades for any supported computing platform, and receive unlimited email customer support.
ThinkFree Office for Mac OS X takes advantage of the platformis elegant Aqua user interface, providing users with an intuitive computing experience and ease-of-use. When saving files to local folders or Web folders, both Mac OS X and Windows(R) users have a consistent experience via a file manager that looks and performs like Microsoft Explorer. The product suite also supports Mac OS Xis native open/save dialog interface for easy access to stored files. In addition, ThinkFree Office for Mac OS X takes advantage of Mac OS Xis specific APIs to provide features like spell checker. ThinkFree Office for Mac OS X also supports Classic Mac OS and Windows platforms.
Get more information about ThinkFree at the ThinkFree Web site. ThinkFree for Mac OS X is priced at US$49.95. According to the company, one can find the product at "AOL Shop Direct, Bailliois Appliance Connection, The Apple Store (Online), The Computer Store Northwest, DataVision, Fryis Electronics, J & R Music & Computer World, Power Mac Pac, Micro Center, Micro Warehouse, Small Dog Electronics, TekServe and more."
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