This week in my InfoWorld column, I wrote about my mixed feelings about Microsoft's InfoPath:

...the realization of Jean Paoli's XML vision in the beta release of Office 2003 is truly a big deal and might be the most important Microsoft release for businesses since Windows itself. ... As compelling as this new release is, every nickel and dime still counts in most businesses. In fact, I spoke to the CTO of a large company who is piloting StarOffice as a complete replacement for Microsoft Office, which, across thousands of desktops, could save the company millions of dollars.

I took a look at what the Open Office team is doing with XML, and while they don't appear to have an "InfoPath killer" (yet, that I'm aware of anyway), the groundwork is there and people are using its XML capabilities already.  This is definitely something to watch.

[Chad Dickerson]

Something to watch, indeed. If making these decisions for my one-man home office is difficult, I can only imagine what it must be like for CTOs. 

8:02:22 AM