November '97 Reader Survey Results

Despite the fact that StarOffice has had a significant office suite available for OS/2 for some time, and despite the rumours of a planned suite from Sundial Systems, there has long been a sort of reverence in the OS/2 community for Lotus' SmartSuite line of products. Whether it is because they are now an IBM subsidiary, because of their early support of OS/2, or because of their relative dominance in the industry, OS/2 users in general have anticipated a new version of SmartSuite for OS/2 for many years.

Last month, we decided to separate the noise from the truth about Lotus. We asked our readers what they thought about, "The Lotus Position"

Answers to our survey were accepted from November 16th until December 13th. We had a total of 1,334 replies to our questionnaire with 104 "spoiled" entries (replies were considered "spoiled" if they did not contain an e-mail address, if they were incomplete or if they were duplicates). This left 1,230 valid replies. The results were as follows:

Is SmartSuite the best OS/2 office suite?

With Lotus' huge market share (compared to any other maker of office suites for OS/2) we expected a fairly predictable answer to our first question last month. However, the reality of your answers was quite different from what we expected. While it was true that most of our readers (38.0%) thought that Lotus SmartSuite was the best OS/2 office suite, this wasn't quite a runaway majority. Nearly half as many (17.7%) of you thought another suite was better and another group almost as large (17.6%) felt that all suites were more or less the same.

Do you want the new BETA of SmartSuite for OS/2?

However, whether our readers felt SmartSuite was the best product or not, the majority of them (52.8%) either intend to or have already acquired the beta version of the suite. Apparently free (or nearly free in the case of the CD version) software has a strong attraction for OS/2 users.

Interestingly, of those who were definitely not interested in the SmartSuite beta, the largest group -- more than one in five people surveyed (22.0%) -- indicated they didn't want it because they don't like to use beta level programs.

Do you want the FINAL release of SmartSuite for OS/2?

Next we asked if our readers wanted the "final" version of the new SmartSuite. Overwhelming numbers (80.2% of those surveyed) reported they desired at least one part of the finished suite, with over half the respondents (51.2%) indicating they wanted it all. While a significant number (11.5%) weren't sure what SmartSuite was or if they wanted it, very few people (8.2%) reported that they definitely did not want a new version of SmartSuite.

Does Lotus support the OS/2 market well?

Finally last month we asked what you thought of Lotus' overall performance in the OS/2 market. Apparently Lotus needs to do some work on their customer relations with the OS/2 community. More than one in every two readers (51.8%) told us that, in their opinion, Lotus was indifferent to the OS/2 market. Still, many OS/2ers do feel that Lotus is doing a good job, as can be seen by the 35.2% of our readers that felt Lotus was doing a "good" or "excellent" job supporting OS/2. Perhaps surprisingly, considering the long delays in release dates for SmartSuite, very few of you (7.6%) felt that Lotus completely neglects the OS/2 market.

That's it for this month. Don't forget to fill out this month's questionnaire and check back in January for complete results!

Complete November '97 Survey Results

Is SmartSuite the best OS/2 office suite?

Category	Count	Percentage
Yes, SmartSuite rules!	468	38.0%
Office suites are all the same	216	17.6%
No, another suite is better	218	17.7%
I'm confused, what's SmartSuite?	13	1.1%
I don't have a clue	315	25.6%
TOTAL	1,230	100.0%

Do you want the new BETA of SmartSuite for OS/2?

Category	Count	Percentage
I already have it	165	13.4%
I intend to download it for free	312	25.4%
I intend to purchase it on CD	172	14.0%
No, I don't use beta software	271	22.0%
No, I don't want any SmartSuite	91	7.4%
I'm still confused, what's SmartSuite?	10	0.8%
I'm undecided	209	17.0%
TOTAL	1,230	100.0%

Do you want the FINAL release of SmartSuite for OS/2?

Category	Count	Percentage
Yes, I want the whole suite	630	51.2%
Yes, I want some parts of the new suite	306	24.9%
Yes, I want one part of the new suite	51	4.1%
I'm happy with my current SmartSuite	17	1.4%
I told you, I don't want ANY SmartSuite	84	6.8%
For the last time, what is SmartSuite?	14	1.1%
I don't have any opinion	128	10.4%
TOTAL	1,230	99.9%

Note: the missing 0.1% in the above table is due to rounding errors.

Does Lotus support the OS/2 market well?

Category	Count	Percentage
They do an excellent job supporting OS/2	34	2.8%
They do a good job supporting OS/2	399	32.4%
They are indifferent to the OS/2 market	637	51.8%
They don't support OS/2!	94	7.6%
I don't know	66	5.4%
TOTAL	1,230	100.0%

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