RSSGobe Comes to Windows
By David Worthington | Published November 18, 2001, 1:48 AM
Despite the relative failure, gobeProductive for BeOS -- an all-in-one productivity suite once bundled with Be's now defunct operating system -- has marched on. Currently in beta, a port of Gobe's popular solution has been announced for Windows bringing about yet another alternative to Microsoft Office. Much like the rumored Webdocs project within Microsoft, Gobe consolidates common tools and applications within a single document window.
gobeProductive's product team consists of several programmers who developed ClarisWorks, which is now known by the moniker AppleWorks. Existing BeOS customers can upgrade to the newly minted Windows version that marks the third release of the suite at a discounted price.
Like Sun's StarOffice, Gobe is compatible with Microsoft Word and Excel file formats. It support functions included in many other high end suites such as styles, live linked frames, sections, table creation and editing. Other features include: page layout with styles, live linked frames, sections, table creation and editing, output to Web and to PDF, and independent views of documents.
Gobe additionally supports multiple undos, full-featured spreadsheets with 3D charting and multiple sheets, graphics and illustration with vector graphics, multiple independent layers and transparency, image processing, photo manipulation with plug-in effects, and presentations with special-effect transitions. A complete list of features is available on the suite's Web page.
Dave Johnson, the company's Vice President of Marketing states that his company is in talks with various OEMs to broaden Gobe's exposure. Customers new to Gobe can purchase a full version for $124.95 USD and Be customers are allotted an upgrade for $39.95 USD. A special family license is also available to allow the software to be installed on each of a customer's home machines as well as one at the workplace.
Windows 98, 2000, ME and XP are supported at this time, although plans are in the works for a Linux distribution as well. According to Johnson the Linux release is expected in the first half of 2002 while customers in Europe are on the waiting list for both versions until late next year. The Windows release will be completed shortly. To download gobeProductive 3.0 Beta 1, visit FileForum.
"Despite the relative failure, gobeProductive for BeOS -- an all-in-one productivity suite once bundled with Be's now defunct operating system"--
I find this to be a little bit premature since not only is there a very active effort to keep BeOS alive and continuing to grow, but there is also a growing amount of support for this initiative, which puts pressure on Palm. A new OEM vendor which distributes and sells BeOS ready systems, a number of new BeOS web sites, a newly finished feature film, "The Apartment Story", which is all edited on BeOS, and a possibility of an upcoming class-action suit against Microsoft hardly equals dead.
While the odds do not favor BeOS at this time, don't count it out. After all, if awesome apps like Gobe Productive and Opera can still be had for BeOS (I just purchased both), there's certainly more than just a little life left in this excellent 64-bit OS.
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|The most critical and most important feature I need in a word processor is that stupid little red line under any mis-spelled word. That thing is a real times saver!
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|Umm, Gobe doesn't have that? I know StarOffice does, should be standard.
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|I just installed Gobe and it does have the red line for mis-spelled words...
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|I never used gobe, but I have used another office suite that is open source http://www.openoffice.org/ some people say that this is what Staroffice 6.0 will be like. I think I'll stick to some thing that stays free instead of trying sometig unkknow and that costs money
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|I imported some difficult to edit documents from Word and viola easy to edit! That alone would get me to pay for it.
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|For $39 it's quite literally a steal ...
If you want to support and encourage quality software developement, then pull out your credit card and order this puppy ...
I've been working with systems and software for a long, long time ... My first real computer was a KayPro II CP/M unit ... that shows how far back I go ...
And I haven't been this excited by a software product in I can't tell you how long ...
It's THAT good ...
Gregory L. Marx
gregory.marx@verizon.net
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|"Like Sun's StarOffice, Gobe is compatible with Microsoft Word and Excel file formats"....hence it's just as MS-incompatible!
But aside from file format incompatibilities, who is going to use this? On the windows side, if you want a free office suite I'd imagine you'd go for Sun's StarOffice, and if you're going to pay for an office suite you'd most likely pay for MS's as that means you don't have any file format incompatibilities! And on the Linux side, no-one is going to pay for an office suite given the general attitude of users and the fact that you have OpenOffice/StarOffice, KOffice etc to choose from!
If there something this office suite offers that is good enough to separate it from the competition and make it worth while?
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|I have to agree with you on this one.
I like the concept for staroffice but the version I tried was such a resource hog that it quickly caused my system to become very unstable when I tried to use it. so far the best "free" office compatible suite I've found is 602 pro pc-suite 2001 http://www.software602.com/products/pcs/
the basic version is free and registration is free, once you register it the spell checker, etc. become fully functional.
the plus package for it adds a lot of functionality and it only costs $29.95
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|I had the opportunity of using Gobe Productive a couple of years ago. The BeOS version was a very powerful & intuitive application. I am glad to know that gobe has decided to keep gobeProductive alive.
Today we definitely have some choices. On the open solutions side one may choose StarOffice or KOffice. I have toyed with both and each one is a little too rough around the edges for me. If you are one who likes over-priced bloat-ware the boys at Micro$oft will be happy to take your $200-$600 for their alternative. However, if you are one that enjoys working with alternatives that are light on the wallet and are resource efficient, while providing an excellent tool-set, then Gobe PRODUCTIVE would be a viable option.
Gobe has made a beta available for download. The release expires on January 15, 2002. It is very much the way I remember the BeOS version. Installation was a breeze. The initial start-up was less then 5 seconds on my P-III Dell laptop. All of the essential tools are present. Word processing, spreadsheet, drawing, image-editing and presentation tools are all there. Personally I find the web tools intriguing. HTML, JPEG, PNG, GIF and PDF exporting capabilities are essential to those publishing to the web and gobeProductive provides them. A built-in FTP client makes publishing easy. Using the beta, I successfully published a JPEG and HTML file to the web. GobeProductive's HTML conversion tool was disappointing. I attempted to validate using W3C HTML Validation service, but was stopped cold. This was expected; as far as I know not one productivity suite provides "clean, validating" HTML code. I encountered another hic-up when attempting to output a gradient filled graphic to PDF I ran into problems. I was kicked out of the application all together.
Overall, I like the tool. Moving forward I hope to see Gobe hone the web tools. XML resources would be a nice touch. Another wish is for Gobe to provide a Mac OS X version.
Currently, Gobe Software is offering this valuable tool for a pre-order price of $39.95. After the product ships the price goes to $124.95. Another nice kicker is the ?Gobe Family License?. With this license you may install the app on all computers in your home plus one installation where you work. It is nice to know that a company realizes the need for such a license. Even if you miss the introductory pricing, gobeProductive is an exceptional value. I hope that Gobe can get the OEM backing required for a small software development team to continue delivering such value- added alternatives.
So I end by asking; who wouldn't want to use it?
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|I have been using the beta with no problems. I just found the sample files in the directory with the app and this stuff is beutifull. Much better looking than StarOffice and really fast and elegant.
It is really cool!! Time to get the preorder in.
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|>>"If there something this office suite offers that is good >>enough to separate it from the competition and make it >>worth while? "
“What sets Gobe Productive apart from [other] productivity suites is a single key insight: Why have an integrated office package that uses different document formats for word processing, spreadsheets, vector illustration, image editing, and presentations? In Productive, you just do what you need to do. If you're in the middle of writing a report and want to insert some spreadsheet data, you don't have to open a separate app. Just insert a spreadsheet "part" and keep working. Flow your text around it, insert graphics, share data between parts, and keep it all together in one document.” – byte.com
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|Thank you for answering my question. I read about the single file format later on, on their web site but am yet to understand how this is a superior feature let alone a feature that Joe Consumer will notice/care about. If I'm writing a document and I need to insert spreadsheet data I click on the "Insert Excel Worksheet" icon =)
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|"So I end by asking; who wouldn't want to use it?"
Read my middle paragraph again. I would take a stab in the dark and say that most users will either choose to get a 'free' Office suite or to pay for one. If they want free, depending on their OS of choice they have several to choose from. If they want to pay, I cannot see them paying $125 (rounded up) for an Office suite that they most likely know little about, that does not have 100% compatibility with MS Office formats etc etc, when they can pay a bit more and get 100% compatibility.
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|"Read my middle paragraph again."
Putting aside the file format incompatibilities folks should consider Gobe Productive because:
Value: $75 to $475 is a big price difference. Taking into account your premise that "Joe Consumer will (not) notice/care about" certain features, we could probably surmise that Joe Consumer will be paying for more than he will ever need with Micro$oft's Office.
Ante Up: Most folks are willing to contribute to an effort. On the Linux side of the house you have those that are willing to roll up their sleeves and delve into the source code making a product better for others. Then there are those that contribute by purchasing a license, thereby, encouraging a development team to continue on.
I would say that there are quite a few that would consider Gobe Productive.
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|I use gobeProductive every day in my work. Yesterday I took a 44,000 word novel and in seconds converted it to html and had it displayed on the web. It takes just seconds to create fantastic flyers for my Century 21 real estate business, and all my correspondence and envelopes are one click to creation. I keep my financial data on a gobeProductive spreadsheet. Anyone who actually tries this new beta realizes the simple fact: here is something special because it makes your work faster, easier, and it is a GREAT new program for Windows users. The only way the software world will get better is when new superior products like gobeProductive's latest and greatest are given a fair shake by those who know the difference. Once that has happened, EVERYONE will use gobeProductive.
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|Who will use this ???
How about anyone who values "quality" software ...
I downloaded gobeProductive expecting just another hohum mini-office suite ... Boy was I wrong !!!
This application is EXTREMELY well done ... Beautiful to look at ... Its small footprint makes it a joy to work with ... and yet it's very, very powerful ...
For those who don't know ... Do a search and read up on OpenDoc ... A technology pioneered by Apple, and IBM in its OS/2 operating system ...
You just might learn something !!! Obviously the developers at GOBE Software have ...
Finally, whoever said that "quality" software was KILLED by Microsoft needs to download and install this minor-miracle ...
It's THAT good ... and no, I'm not associated with GOBE in any way ...
Gregory L. Marx
gregory.marx@verizon.net
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