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Chinese software developer challenges Microsoft Office monopoly with innovation

Evermore Integrated Office launches at DEMO's elite technology showcase

One program, one interface, true data integration, not a collection of applications crammed into one big box, running under Windows, Linux, Mac OS

        SCOTTSDALE, AZ., and BEIJING, Feb. 17, 2004 - Evermore Software LLC, www.evermoresw.com , China's leading developer of Office software, today challenged the Microsoft Office monopoly, launching the much-awaited English-language version of Evermore Integrated Office (EIOffice).

        Evermore introduced the innovative suite of desktop software to corporate leaders, venture capitalists, investment bankers and reporters attending DEMO, www.demo.com , the elite three-day showcase in Scottsdale, AZ., that introduces the world to products and services that ignite new technology markets and challenge the status quo.

        "Evermore is the first Chinese software company to participate in DEMO, and Evermore at DEMO refutes several preconceptions about the technology industry and the domination of the desktop by Microsoft," said Chris Shipley, executive producer of DEMO.

        "First, China is more than just a huge consumer market ripe for US companies to exploit," said Shipley. "Instead, China is a country of entrepreneurs taking on rivals in overseas markets, including the US.

        "Second, while Microsoft today is a monopoly that dominates operating systems and the desktop, China is openly committed to the development of its own software industry. Third, there is no monopoly on innovation, as Evermore proves with the software it will introduce at DEMO," said Shipley.

        "I've been waiting for a long time to see signs of awakening in the Office software market," said industry analyst Amy Wohl. "A fresh look at how to put Office functions together like Evermore is going to be interesting to many potential users. It will be interesting not just for the way it handles integration of interface and function, but also for its lower price point and the possibility of running a single product across so many platforms," said Wohl.

        "'Made in Japan' was once synonymous with shoddy products and cheap prices," said Gus Tsao, president, chief executive office and founder of Evermore. "That was then. Look at Japan today, setting standards against which companies around the world must compete. China is making that same journey - and Evermore is simply at the head of a long Chinese software dragon."

        "Microsoft's inflexibility, high prices and problematic security are driving computer users worldwide to look for Office alternatives. Users clearly need something better and more productive than obsolete programs that still don't work well together after a decade of fixes, patches and failed attempts at complex integration technologies," said Tsao, who in the mid-1980s founded software publisher Daybreak Technologies Inc., developer of "Silk," a spreadsheet that challenged then-market leader Lotus 123 and won the Editor's Choice award from PC Magazine over Lotus in 1987.

        "No U.S. software publisher has the pockets to invest the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to develop an alternative to Microsoft Office," said Tsao. "However, China is a test bed for new data integration technologies. With 1.3 billion in population, the fastest growing number of new computer users, a robust developing economy, emerging high tech industries, low development costs and a government committed to research and development in high technology, innovation is a welcome concept."

        More than three years in development for US computer users, with several Chinese-language editions refined over the past four years, EIOffice is the "First Real Office."

        EIOffice consolidates all the components of a conventional Office suite into one application. Users launch EIOffice, not a word processor, then a spreadsheet, then a business graphics application. EIOffice stores all text, worksheets, graphics, audio, video and slides in one file format -- .eio. One "binder" stores all related cell ranges, text, graphics, audio and video objects.

        EIOffice also stores and synchronizes all related data objects using the Data Object Oriented Repository System (DOORS). This patent-pending technology developed by Evermore powers the new “Paste Link” command, which makes synchronizing an entire project a simple matter of cut and paste, without the complex hyperlinking and embedding needed to link data in other Office suites.

        For example, as a user changes quarterly financial results in a spreadsheet, the Paste Link command automatically applies that update to all other memos, reports, presentations, worksheets, text and graphics that use the same source data.

        "EIOffice is the first real Office because it is the first truly integrated Office," said Tsao. "It is one program, one menu system, one user interface, programmed under one roof by one team, with one design, one file format for all data - and it introduces the Paste Link command, one tool that enables users to exploit the integration built into EIOffice."

        In contrast, conventional Office suites are dictated by a marketing plan and cram a range of applications into one big box - a word processor, a spreadsheet, presentation graphics, and more. The applications are developed by different teams of programmers, working separately, or acquired from outside third parties. Those applications are forced to work together, no matter how different the user interfaces or command structures. When they need to share information across applications, users must tediously cut and paste the data, but only after they first launch each application separately - which is less than convenient, even as it strains system resources. Moreover, each application uses its own file format to store data - and complex, error prone technologies are needed to share data between different applications.

        Written in Java, EIO works across platforms. Choose the operating system best suited to your business model, not the operating system best suited to your word processor. EIO runs on all operating systems that support Java, including Windows® and Linux®. Support for Macintosh OS X and Solaris is in development. Chinese and English versions of EIO are available for worldwide markets.

        EIOffice 2004 imports and exports Microsoft Office xls, doc and ppt files, including graphics, slides, charts and tables, to ensure files are compatible if users transfer data back and forth between programs Users may also save documents in pdf, rtf, and txt formats.

        EIOffice 2004 also features a powerful macro editor. Users may automate tasks and create applications with built in APIs (application programming interfaces), create Java macros, generate forms for end-user support, and more, including the ability to call or talk to selected C and C++ applications, for compatibility with conventional Office suites.

        EIOffice 2004 also integrates a full-functioned, powerful Science Editor that creates math, physics and chemistry equations, and an array of scientific symbols and graphics for worksheets, text documents and presentations. The Science Editor gives users the ability to depict what an experiment might look like, for example, as well as the equation driving a chemical reaction.

        Users may lease EIOffice 2004 for $99 US annually or $249 for three years. The lease includes all version upgrades and free technical support during the valid lease period.

        Evermore plans to make EIOffice 2004 available in May 2004.

        For users who want to evaluate the integration and innovation built into the software sooner than May, Evermore offers EIOffice 2003, the pilot edition of EIOffice 2004, at a special introductory price of $69.95. The pilot edition will automatically upgrade at no additional cost to EIOffice 2004 when it is available.

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