SoftMaker
Encyclopedia
SoftMaker Software GmbH is a software company that produces office software and is located in Nuremberg
, Germany
. SoftMaker was founded in 1989 by Martin Kotulla. In 1991, it also added digital font
s to its offerings. Best known in Germany and the EU, SoftMaker is slowly pursuing the North American market, where it faces stiff competition from both free and commercial competitors, as a long-term goal.
Students, teachers, schools, and universities can purchase SoftMaker Office extremely cheaply (a nominal charge of EUR 29.95 or US$ 29.95 buys an entire site licence for one product, for example) through the "Schulen ans Netz" ("get schools onto the net") initiative, part of SoftMaker's academic sales program.
To promote its digital font sales, SoftMaker publishes one font each month free for download from its FreeFont web site.
SoftMaker Office
is SoftMaker's flagship product, an office suite
marketed to home, small business and educational users. The current version, called SoftMaker Office 2010 consists of the word processor
TextMaker
(compatible with MS Word), the spreadsheet
PlanMaker
(compatible with MS Excel) the presentation software application SoftMaker Presentations
(compatible with MS PowerPoint) and the scripting language BasicMaker (compatible with MS VBA
).
SoftMaker Office 2010 is available for Microsoft Windows
, Linux
, Windows CE
, and Pocket PC
s (Windows Mobile
handheld devices). The 2006 version was also available for FreeBSD
and Handheld PC
s.
A database
application DataMaker, as of 2010, is in Alpha testing.
Currently, SoftMaker Office supports all popular Microsoft Office and many OpenOffice.org
file formats, as well as its own proprietary formats. SoftMaker claims to be working on ODF
compliant file formats, but currently supports OpenDocument only in the word processor.
or OpenOffice.org
, its greatest marketing strength is its high degree of Microsoft Office
compatibility. As a major sales point, SoftMaker cites its ability to render graphs and charts within PlanMaker which are often indistinguishable from those created within Microsoft's Excel. Significantly, this level of compatibility extends to non-Windows platforms. Even on Windows platforms, SoftMaker Office competes with native Windows office suites based on its MS Office compatibility.
SoftMaker also claims its Office suite is faster, with smaller memory and hard drive footprints than MS Office or OpenOffice.
The most significant areas of incompatibility, like with all non-Microsoft office suites, are in documents which use VBA scripts. While BasicMaker is a step forward, it still doesn't offer seamless VBA compatibility. There are also some minor incompatibilities with page layout formatting where page boundaries may not match without adjusting the margin settings. Most of these problems have been solved in SoftMaker Office 2008.
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. SoftMaker was founded in 1989 by Martin Kotulla. In 1991, it also added digital font
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
s to its offerings. Best known in Germany and the EU, SoftMaker is slowly pursuing the North American market, where it faces stiff competition from both free and commercial competitors, as a long-term goal.
Students, teachers, schools, and universities can purchase SoftMaker Office extremely cheaply (a nominal charge of EUR 29.95 or US$ 29.95 buys an entire site licence for one product, for example) through the "Schulen ans Netz" ("get schools onto the net") initiative, part of SoftMaker's academic sales program.
To promote its digital font sales, SoftMaker publishes one font each month free for download from its FreeFont web site.
SoftMaker Office
SoftMaker Office
SoftMaker Office is an office suite for Microsoft Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Windows CE, and the Pocket PC, developed since 1989 by the German company SoftMaker Software GmbH, Nuremberg....
is SoftMaker's flagship product, an office suite
Office suite
In computing, an office suite, sometimes called an office software suite or productivity suite is a collection of programs intended to be used by knowledge workers...
marketed to home, small business and educational users. The current version, called SoftMaker Office 2010 consists of the word processor
Word processor
A word processor is a computer application used for the production of any sort of printable material....
TextMaker
TextMaker
TextMaker is a word processor developed by the Nuremberg based software company SoftMaker and available as part of the SoftMaker office suite...
(compatible with MS Word), the spreadsheet
Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is a computer application that simulates a paper accounting worksheet. It displays multiple cells usually in a two-dimensional matrix or grid consisting of rows and columns. Each cell contains alphanumeric text, numeric values or formulas...
PlanMaker
PlanMaker
PlanMaker is a spreadsheet program that is part of the SoftMaker Office office suite. Versions are available on Microsoft Windows, Windows Mobile, Windows CE and Linux....
(compatible with MS Excel) the presentation software application SoftMaker Presentations
SoftMaker Presentations
SoftMaker Presentations is a presentation program developed by SoftMaker and compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint. It is part of the SoftMaker Office productivity suite...
(compatible with MS PowerPoint) and the scripting language BasicMaker (compatible with MS VBA
Visual Basic for Applications
Visual Basic for Applications is an implementation of Microsoft's event-driven programming language Visual Basic 6 and its associated integrated development environment , which are built into most Microsoft Office applications...
).
SoftMaker Office 2010 is available for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, Windows CE
Windows CE
Microsoft Windows CE is an operating system developed by Microsoft for embedded systems. Windows CE is a distinct operating system and kernel, rather than a trimmed-down version of desktop Windows...
, and Pocket PC
Pocket PC
A Pocket PC is also known by Microsoft as a 'Windows Mobile Classic device'. It is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer, personal digital assistant , that runs the Microsoft 'Windows Mobile Classic' operating system...
s (Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
handheld devices). The 2006 version was also available for FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
and Handheld PC
Handheld PC
A Handheld PC, or H/PC for short, is a term for a computer built around a form factor which is smaller than any standard laptop computer. It is sometimes referred to as a Palmtop. The first handheld device compatible with desktop IBM personal computers of the time was the Atari Portfolio of 1989...
s.
A database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
application DataMaker, as of 2010, is in Alpha testing.
Currently, SoftMaker Office supports all popular Microsoft Office and many OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org, commonly known as OOo or OpenOffice, is an open-source application suite whose main components are for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and databases. OpenOffice is available for a number of different computer operating systems, is distributed as free software...
file formats, as well as its own proprietary formats. SoftMaker claims to be working on ODF
OpenDocument
The Open Document Format for Office Applications is an XML-based file format for representing electronic documents such as spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents....
compliant file formats, but currently supports OpenDocument only in the word processor.
| SoftMaker Product | Equivalent MS Product | Platforms | File Formats |
|---|---|---|---|
| TextMaker | Word | Win32, Linux, Pocket PC, WinCE | .doc, .docx, .rtf, .odt, .tmd, .pwd, .txt, .sxw (import only), .pdf (export) |
| PlanMaker | Excel | Win32, Linux, Pocket PC, WinCE | .xls, .xlsx, .csv, .pmd, .rtf, .dbf, .txt, .slk, .dif, .pdf (export) |
| Presentations | PowerPoint | Win32, Linux, Pocket PC, WinCE | .ppt, .pps, .ppd, .prd, .rtf, .bmp, .png, .tif, .jpg, .pdf (export) |
| BasicMaker | VBA (limited) | Win32 | .bas, .txt |
| DataMaker | Access | Win32 due approximately 2010 | ??? |
Competitive Strategy
The SoftMaker Office sales strategy is based on cross-platform usability along with reasonable pricing and free post-sale customer service. However, since SoftMaker Office is not free like competitors KOfficeKOffice
Calligra Suite is a graphic art and office suite by KDE created from KOffice in 2010. It is available for desktop PCs, tablet computers, and smartphones...
or OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org, commonly known as OOo or OpenOffice, is an open-source application suite whose main components are for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and databases. OpenOffice is available for a number of different computer operating systems, is distributed as free software...
, its greatest marketing strength is its high degree of Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
compatibility. As a major sales point, SoftMaker cites its ability to render graphs and charts within PlanMaker which are often indistinguishable from those created within Microsoft's Excel. Significantly, this level of compatibility extends to non-Windows platforms. Even on Windows platforms, SoftMaker Office competes with native Windows office suites based on its MS Office compatibility.
SoftMaker also claims its Office suite is faster, with smaller memory and hard drive footprints than MS Office or OpenOffice.
The most significant areas of incompatibility, like with all non-Microsoft office suites, are in documents which use VBA scripts. While BasicMaker is a step forward, it still doesn't offer seamless VBA compatibility. There are also some minor incompatibilities with page layout formatting where page boundaries may not match without adjusting the margin settings. Most of these problems have been solved in SoftMaker Office 2008.