IBM Lotus Symphony
While IBM Lotus Symphony doesn't work within your regular browser, it would be wrong to say that it's not browser-based – the suite simply travels within its own browser. Once you get started, the suite looks familiar, especially if you've ever spent any time with Lotus Notes. Within the suite, you'll find the same sort of powerful functionality and a complete feature set that was always present within the Symphony suite, along with a user interface that is just different enough from Microsoft Office to make for some interesting hunting experiences as you're getting started.

It's possible that Symphony is the perfect word processor (screen image) for you if you need to create visually complex documents on a regular basis. If you need to frequently repeat the creation of those complex documents, the case gets even stronger. Symphony allows finer command, within a more obvious control set, of document elements than any word processor I've seen. This isn't new – I remember that my wife, when working for an engineering firm a decade ago, chose Symphony (or its predecessor) as the document preparation product for this very reason. Academic and research users will find solid footnote and cross-referencing tools, though the bibliography-creation tools aren't at the same level as the superb tools in Word 2007. If your needs tend more to technical documentation than the academic paper, then the word processor here could be right up your alley.

Symphony's spreadsheet (screen image) is based on the venerable Lotus 1-2-3. As such, it is a solid enterprise-class spreadsheet that operates as we expect spreadsheets to operate. I was able to open and save spreadsheets in various formats, and to import a number of Excel spreadsheets. While the spreadsheet doesn't have quite the number of formatting options available to the word processor, it is still possible to create complex spreadsheets with high levels of scripting and detailed formatting in the program. For users who need essential spreadsheet functions and don't depend on enterprise applications built on Excel macros, the Symphony spreadsheet could be an acceptable option.

The presentation section of Symphony is also quite capable, though it doesn't have the same rich set of multimedia functions that come with PowerPoint. Neither does it have a wide range of ready-made background and layout templates to jump-start your creativity. If you don't need those – for example, if you want to create solid, basic presentations for business or academic purposes – then the presentation package in Symphony should take care of you nicely.

Can Symphony do all you need in a personal productivity package? If you require solid functionality in word processing, spreadsheet manipulation, and presentation creation for a Windows platform, and co-authoring those files isn't critical, then yes. Symphony's feature set isn't as rich as Office's, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Straightforward, rich functionality for an individual or small group – that's nothing to sneeze at.

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IBM Lotus Symphony
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