Mon, 07/21/2008 - 19:07
Evermore launches first UOF-based office application
Beijing. July 21. INTERFAX-CHINA - Chinese office software developer Evermore Software Co. Ltd. launched on July 18 the first office application based on UOF (Unified Office document Format), a home-grown open standard for office documents.
"EIOffice 2009 (Evermore Integrated Office 2009) has more features than Microsoft Office, and uses a much more open format," an Evermore PR manager, who wished to remain anonymous, told Interfax.
The application integrates word, data sheet and presentation document processing into one piece of software. In addition to handling UOF standard files, the application is also compatible with Microsoft Office's OOXML (Office Open XML) standard and the international document standard ODF (Open Document Format), the PR manager said.
Evermore is selling a professional edition of EIOffice 2009 for RMB 1,198 ($174.92). By comparison, the professional edition of Microsoft Office 2007 sells for RMB 4,902 ($717.83) in China.
"The launch of EIOffice 2009 is the strongest and most direct support for China's own document standard UOF," Cao Shen, vice president of Evermore, said in a statement.
"Our products have already occupied the largest proportion of government purchases of office software in recent years. We are confident that our EIOffice 2009 will be well received by users in the government and education sectors. We will also pay more attention to the enterprise market and individual users," the PR manager said.
Professor Ni Guangnan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and proponent of open source software, told Interfax that with China's massive customer base for office software, UOF will beat OOXML to be a global standard for Chinese language documents if the government gives enough support.
Ni said that the development of UOF will provide Chinese users with more choice and encourage domestic software developers to break Microsoft's leading position in China.
On July 11, Cao called on the Chinese government to make Microsoft the first target of the country's new anti-monopoly laws, which take effect on August 1 this year.
-CG
