OpenOffice.org Free Software Proves a Success at WalMart

September 20, 2007; 08:37 AM
Delegates gathered in Barcelona, Spain for the OpenOffice.org Annual Conference heard today how their software has proved a hit with a whole new market segment in the US. In a keynote speech, Community Manager Louis Suarez-Potts reported on a successful experiment carried out by PC manufacturer Everex. Following extensive product testing, Everex - a world leader in the design and production of personal computers - had taken the innovative step of including OpenOffice.org software on a range of PCs for sale through the WalMart chain. The eco-friendly range was launched in July, aimed at the US 'back to school' market, with a price tag of just $298.

Conference delegates watched a message from John Lin, General Manager, Everex: "On July 18th 2007, Everex launched its first 'Back to School' PC with OpenOffice.org 2.02 into WalMart stores throughout the United States. The response was fantastic. Not only did Everex receive rave reviews in the media, but consumer interest resulted in a three-fold increase in web traffic to everex.com. Feedback from WalMart was also very positive: they have requested all our future units include OpenOffice.org productivity software. Everex would like to thank everyone involved in OpenOffice.org for their help and support, and congratulations again for providing the world with such a wonderful product."

Suarez-Potts explained the importance of this success: "OpenOffice.org is well-known and well-admired among technology professionals. This move by Everex brings our software to ordinary consumers who just need office software that works in they way they expect, using files they already have, and is reliable day in and day out. People buying PCs now should be demanding OpenOffice.org from vendors. If you want to pay extra for your PC vendor to install a costly commercial alternative - with your consent - then that's fine. But installing commercial software without offering a free alternative means someone is depriving you of choice, and is profiteering at your expense."

About OpenOffice.org

The OpenOffice.org Community is an international team of volunteer and sponsored contributors who develop, support, and promote the leading open-source office productivity suite, OpenOffice.org®. OpenOffice.org's leading edge software technology (UNO) is also available for developers, systems integrators, etc to use in OpenOffice.org extensions or in their own applications.

OpenOffice.org supports the Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument) OASIS Standard (ISO/IEC 26300) as well as legacy file formats such as Microsoft Office and is available on major computing platforms in over 70 languages. OpenOffice.org software is provided under the GNU Lesser General Public Licence (LGPL) and may be used free of charge for any purpose, private or commercial.

The OpenOffice.org Community acknowledges generous sponsorship from a number of companies, including Sun Microsystems, the founding sponsor and primary contributor.

About Everex

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Fremont, California, Everex has established itself as a world leader in the personal computer industry. As a subsidiary of First International Computer, a supplier to many of the world's largest computer companies, Everex currently stands as one of only two major PC brands with direct manufacturing capability and has allowed the organization to produce a distinctive line of computer products en route to becoming the seventh largest retail computer brand in the US.