IBM Unveils Free Office Suite

IBM gunning for Microsoft? Man, that takes me back. The company just announced IBM Lotus Symphony, a suite of software tools for creating and sharing documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. Sound like any other office suite you know? The difference is that while Microsoft Office costs hundreds of dollars per license, IBM Lotus Symphony will set you back nada. It's free. Free, I tells ya!

Available for Windows and Linux systems, Symphony supports multiple document formats, including Microsoft Office and the increasingly popular Open Document Format (ODF). It can also output documents as PDF files, a nice perk. I haven't had a chance to take the suite for a spin yet, nor see how well it compares with open-source fave OpenOffice. But from what I've seen of the feature list and screenshots, it looks like a very worthwhile suite of apps. If you've tried it, report your findings in the Comments! [via AppScout]