We were the first to feature the world preview of gobeProductive 3 for Windows, the popular office suite, and now we have for you five brand new screenshots of the upcoming, GTK+ based, Linux version. Dig in for the goodies!
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We'll those picutres have been seen now, and look great. Lets hope Gobe can take their product to other OSes such OpenBSD and possibly AmigaOS - when it has a bit more of a following.
Yup, i think its great how companies are starting to realise they can make money out of smaller communities. The support linux and AmigaOS has recieived of late is outstanding.
It gets better everyday!!
The screenshots are nice, Linux is starting to look more and more of an acceptable hideout while OBOS materialises.
Eugenia, do you really want us to believe you didn't edit the images just a bit (like the fourth one for instance? ;-)
While I admire Gobe for porting their application to Linux, I can't imagine that it will do very well on the platform due to competition. Afterall, Open Office is free (and some users probably have an old Star Office install anyway) and more feature complete, and there are other free alternatives as well like Abiword, etc. Still, Productive is a great program, and although it lacks quite a few features, it's simple and efficient to use and takes far less time to write up a complex document than in Word.
IMO I think Gobe should concentrate on a Mac OS X version, where there is great demand for a powerful and easy to use office package. There are a ton of Mac users (younger students) who need something better than Apple Works but that doesn't cost $400 like Office. Gobe could fit perfectly into place, and even offer the Windows version on the same disk for maximum compatibility with PC's. They could even try to market their product to Apple as an eventual replacement to Apple Works. Regardless, I think that Mac OS X is where Gobe should concentrate if they want to stay in business.
As a former purchaser of both Gobe Productive, and BeOS (both purchased directly from Gobe), I'd like to give you a quick tip: Spend your money on something else!!
Without going into the multiple emails and frustrated conversations I've had with them, allow me to summarize:
They provide piss-poor service and support. If you try to follow up with them and are lucky enough to get a reply, it generally is a reply asking more questions and putting the blame on someone other than Gobe.
And if you corner them on any of the misinformation they send, they'll suddenly just stop responding to more questions. Whether they add you to an ignore list or what, I've no idea, but it's happened twice with me, using two different email address's.
Additionally, they'll SPAM you with their ads and marketing info. endlessly, even after you've told them what they can do with their product.
Trust me... A nice software package isn't nothing without the backend support, and Gobe falls far short in that area.
If you need a nice office suite, look towards Open Office , Star Office, or even MS Office, but avoid anything from this company. You've been warned...
I've been waiting for a suite like you to come into my life
I've been waiting for a suite like you, I hope you will survive
I've been waiting for something new to make me feel alive
Yeah, waiting for a suite like you to come into my life
Does anyone anticipate any reason why Productive3 wouldn't run under FreeBSD? I assume that you won't be able to compile it yourself, so I understand that the binaries might not work, but I don't know much about FreeBSD's built in Linux Binary compatibility. That would be AWESOME if it worked!
Gobe has done it again, further improving on the great office suite that Productive has always been. I think it's great that Productive is now available for Windows and Linux (well soon) but I'm afraid Gobe has forgotten about it's original and loyal fan base on BeOS. I know that there are lots of us still left hoping and praying for GP3 to be released on BeOS, and as I understand it this version is virually complete and up to date with the Windows release, but just has not been released.
So Gobe, how about releasing a BeOS version? It doesn't have to be a full boxed version as the Windows and Linux versions are, even if those who have purchased the Windows version could simply download the BeOS version with their registration codes we would all be very happy.
"before Apple buy Claris and rename the product"
Eugenia, you have the wrong tenses here. It should be:
"before Apple bought Claris and renamed the product"
And as a bit of Apple history, there was a text-based, "Office suite" type of product they offered long ago on the Apple II platform called Appleworks. They simply renamed Clarisworks to Appleworks once they (re)absorbed alot of Claris back into Apple 
David
former Apple II owner and one-time Claris tech support person...
Hiya
There's a fair chance the program will run under linux emulation as long as they don't use any unsupported system calls.
--Jon
http://www.witchspace.com
Making a linux version is pretty worthless. The application itself isn't even open source and you've got to pay for it.
What I really would like is an eComStation (the new OS/2) version. Mainly to replace the IBM Works package since it's pretty dead right now.
Forget about an OS X version. Apple Works is included with the core os AND probably does everything that gobeProductive offers to do. They should concentrate on getting their product bundled with PCs.
... more software companies don't support Linux for commercial products.
"Angrybrit", and people like him, are so fixated on things being part of the "OpenSource" Holy Grail that they are dead set against any product that isn't, and OHMYGAWD you actually have to *pay* filthy money for!
Will the horror never cease?
I've been waiting for this since the Windoze version arrived.
I reject the notion that it isn't any good because it isn't open source and because we have to pay for it. The first is a "religious" argument and the second, while it may appeal to my Scottish-German genes, is not fair to the people who are doing the work. They DESERVE to be paid for all this hard work if they do it well. Anyhow, I paid for the Windoze version, so for me, the Linux version IS free (beer)!
If they want to keep the source to themselves, that is their business, not mine. From my experience, this company responds to user input, and since I can't program much anyway, the source would do me no good.
I do hope it has smart quotes, though.
Look it is great to see any company making an effort to provide a decent integrated office package for Linux, Gobe deserve some recognition for this.
I might be tempted to buy their product but the lack of source code presents a particular problem to me. I run Linux on a variety of hardware platforms and most definitely i86 binaries will not run on these architectures.
One of the long standing strenghts of the Linux code has been portability, if the source code is available you can compile your own binaries for for your own devices. Making source code available for something lets ppl develop the binaries for systems that aren't mainstream; BeOS for example has certain gpl binaries floating around that owe their existence to this philosophy.
So my comment is this, could a company make money (after all thats why ppl like Gobe do this) by releasing a product with its source code but with perhaps a licence that allowed only single end users or limited end user application?
AppleWorks is not included in the Core OS... you pay for it when you buy the system - or sometimes you don't get it at all... depends on the software bundles. That said - AppleWorks is a *decent* office suite if you never plan to use or read Word documents... which we know is foolish for those of us in the office.
I will say this - AppleWorks has the best outliner I've ever seen... although OmniOutliner is catching up pretty quick.
"Forget about an OS X version. Apple Works is included with the core os AND probably does everything that gobeProductive offers to do. They should concentrate on getting their product bundled with PCs."
No, it's not included with the core OS. And while Apple Works probably does everything Prodcutive does, Productive is a more integrated application that will eventually surpass Apple Works given enough development time. Given Gobe's history (as former core team members of Claris), they probably could sell their product to Apple if they concentrated on making it a better Apple Works.
And as for getting it included with PC's, dream on. I'm sure that MS has quite a few licensing restrictions for OEMs that want to include another office suite that competes with MS Office. And don't forget that many OEMs now included at least Word with their PC's, if not all of Office. So why exactly would they include something with less functionality from a relatively unknown company with a miniscule support staff?
The reality is that Gobe is going to face incredible competition on both Windows and Linux. I just don't see how they can survive in such a ferocious market. I'd say that Mac OS X is their best chance.
I reckoned , when I saw the header, that there would be 15 BeOS refugees demanding a BeOS version
Actually only one demand for the ( unproven rumour ) BeOS version - and one slating of its predecessor. Ah well.
[i]I don't remember my name, but they say life is for learning /[i]
I bought the Windows version specifically to get the Linux version. OpenOffice is fantastic, but it's also slow. I like productive's agility, and it was well worth the price (especially since I upgraded from the BeOS version).
I'm BeOS user, i've bought GP 2.0 when Be was dying. I wanted to support company (i've bought CorumIII too). I didn't need it really.
But it provved to be useful. Lastly i get some word files to read and write and i would like to read them on BeOS, but i can't with old version.
I don't need box version, i don't need instruction, cd... and any gadgets. I need app. I can pay for it and download it.
From what i've heard GP 3 is written using BeOS API (well with libs for that), i've heard from Gobe coder that he has compiled versions (but it was few months ago..) for BeOS. So IT IS possible.
Too bad that they don't give a shit about BeOS users.
No wonder there are no posts from BeOS users here (well not too much) - they don't care about me, I don't care about them (and on windoze i use OpenOffice which is for free and very good).
BeOS is dead, though we may hear it say, "I got better" when OBOS comes out.
For now, why should Gobe spend so much time and effort for a handful of users who couldn't possible pay them back for the expense they would have to incur updating Productive? It makes no sense to guarantee yourself a loss, unless you have lots of money to burn, which I assume Gobe does not.
As far as using the BeOS API for a Windows app, I'll believe that when a Gobe exec/engineer comes out and says so. Recompiling a Windows app codebase for BeOS is possible? Uh-huh...
I also bought BeOS and Productive just months before Be folded, but doo-doo happens! Pick up your pieces and MOVE ON!
I used Gobe 2.0 on BeOs. It was Ok, but no world beater.
Since I teach math, I need a word processor with an equation editor. I emailed gobe and asked them if their word processor had this feature, or was compatible with Math Type. I heard nothing back.
With the Linux platform, I'm willing to pay $$$ for an office suite that stands head & shoulders above the open source alternatives. But, it had better be great stuff. Otherwise, no go.
Until then, I'll just continue using OpenOffice and KWord.
Actually, a Gobe engineer did say that at one point. If you look in your Windows installation of Productive, you'll see a "libbe.dll". It's not all of the BeOS API by any stretch, of course, but apparently it's enough of a shim to have made the porting easier.
Just when I thought OpenOffice.org would have killed Productive, Gobe strikes back hard!
I wonder if I am entitled to a free Linux copy since I bought the Windows and BeOS versions.
This is really great looking software!
I hope Eugenia has a beta copy, because if the guys at Gobe are drawing hearts with "I Love JBQ" messages in them then I think we may have a serious problem here.
I will NOT ask Eugenia to post a Beta because that would be illegal wouldn't it? But Gobe on the other hand could throw it's old supporters a BONE right? How about it dudes?
Keep up the great work!
ciao
yc
>>Since I teach math, I need a word processor with an equation editor. I emailed gobe and asked them if their word processor had this feature, or was compatible with Math Type. I heard nothing back.
I think an equation editor is very important as well. Perhaps they can use MathXML to build one. I also think a Table Of Content generator is even more important. You can always write your equations on an image and embed it in the doc but can't do that with the TOC.
While I like OpenOffice.org for it's features virtually matching MS Office, I would still prefe to use Gobe Productive for Linux. It has a nicer UI, it's easier to use and it does things the MS Office and OpenOffice can't do when it comes to page layout, overlays, embedding and rotating object frames etc...
ciao
yc
Because Gobe was profitable when it developed Productive exclusively for BeOS!
Because a BeOS version virtually comes out of the process because Productive is based on the BeOS API.
Because BeOS simply Rocks and I would upgrade my copy if they released a new BeOS version.
ciao
yc
Dave Dave Dave... On Linux everything is mostly free and GPLd. You haven't been keeping up with the times haven't you?
"Angrybrit, and people like him"???
To gfranken, who wrote that he used Gobe Productive 2.0 on BeOS, you can upgrade to gobeProductive 3.0 at http://www.gobe.com/UGorder/bewinupgrade.html.
Forget it on Linux. It's doomed. They have more than enough word processors (and other office apps) than Windows does. BTW most of them are also open source and are more advanced than this Works suite.
As for the Office comment. Well, there are plenty of PC makers that are still shipping PCs with MS Works. With the restrictions being lessened, they now have an oppurtunity to take their piece of the pie. Linux = Dead End and Windows OEMs = Future.
Use SPACES around URLs, in order to parse correctly. You added a "." at the end of the URL, resulting to a broken page.
Linux = Dead End and Windows OEMs = Future.
Whew!!! I'm glad you told me. I'll make sure to pass it on to the rest of the users.
Actually, all sarcasm aside. I make a ton more selling Linux solutions than Windows even with OEM pricing, so I would hardly call MS Works (or any other MS product for that matter) the key to the future.
I used this on BeOS and also bought the WinXX port. I have been drooling in anticipation of the Linux port. Man, I want this so bad.
SECOND ATTEMPT - with proper URL:
To gfranken, who wrote that he used Gobe Productive 2.0 on BeOS, you can upgrade to gobeProductive 3.0 at http://www.gobe.com/UGorder/bewinupgrade.html
Gobe Productive will likely fail on Linux.
1. - Word Perfect for Linux had (has?) abysmal sales
2. - Its not OSS
3. - Applixware was kick ass, and went bye-bye
4. - Star Office sucks a big one, yet Linux zealots brag about it
5. - With KOffice being free and open (and not too bad to work with either!) a pay-for-me Linux Office Suite is going to have to offer quite a bit (like ~100% MS office compatability).
There a small company with meager marketing abilities, what makes them think they can fare better than Corel or Applix??? I wish them luck, cuase I enjoyed GP on BeOS -- but I think they picked the wrong market. Perhaps if they tried the "Opera Approach" . . . port to every OS ever made, then maybe word-of-mouth will do (I understand GP is HIGHLY/EASY portable).
Angrybrit, Angrybrit, Angrybrit... Here's a quarter. Buy yourself a clue. *NOTHING* on Linux is "free" ... every single application, whether it's given away by the programmer or not, took time and effort to create. Luckily for most of the cheap bahstahds out there using Linux, there's a lot of very generous programmers.
However, expecting a company, which is *paying for its programmers salaries*, to release their crown jewels for "free," just to saitisfy the juvenile cravings of Open Source junkies, is ridiculous.
Gobe needs to make a profit in order to stay afloat, plain and simple. They need to sell the software they make; giving away the source code, while sure to give thousands of geeks the "warm & fuzzies," won't help their bottom line one whit.
If someone trots out the tired example of releasing the source code for a product and then make money on support, well, I guess *you* haven't been paying too much attention lately, either. That method of running a business doesn't work too well.
I really and truly hope Gobe pulls this off. They deserve to be successful. They've got an excellent product; the only thing that'll keep them from making a go of it will be people with unrealistic expectations and attitudes.
Because Gobe was profitable when it developed Productive exclusively for BeOS!
And Be still existed. Since then Be has gone and BeOS is officially abandoned. Things have changed.
Because a BeOS version virtually comes out of the process because Productive is based on the BeOS API.
Is it really that easy??
Because BeOS simply Rocks and I would upgrade my copy if they released a new BeOS version.
BeOS rocked, but it is stagnant and falling further behind everyday.
Does anyone know how many BeOS users are left in the world? In Gobe's eyes, would it be worth the trouble? I know some Gobe people hang out here. What do they say?
Just to balance the comments of the guy who felt burned by Gobe support, I want to say that they've been terrific in my experience. They really seem to want user input and, if you are on their mailing list (I understand there are support forums now at their web site, too), you can get quick feedback on problems. In my case, Gobe Productive won't start up on my notebook that runs the Japanese version of Windows XP, so they had me download a debugging version and as soon as we arrange it, they'll check what's going on remotely. I'm not sure how many software companies would go that far to solve a customer's problem.
-- gary_c
If you are a registered user of Gobe Productive 2.0 for BeOS, then you can upgrade to the Windows version for $39.95 using the link below. You will be entitled to a FREE copy of the Linux version when it is ready. :-) Do it today!
http://www.gobe.com/UGorder/bewinupgrade.html
From what i've heard GP 3 is written using BeOS API (well with libs for that), i've heard from Gobe coder that he has compiled versions (but it was few months ago..) for BeOS. So IT IS possible.
Yeah, I have a screenshot or too of GP3 running on BeOS, not really a huge secret. I don't know if they finished makinging a BeOS version, but they did atlease get it up and running.
That sucks! I've never had any problems with Gobe, or their products. I am very satasfied... i'm sorry to hear you've had such bad experiances.
You won't make a ton more selling Linux solutions. Let's see WHO is actually making money right now: IBM and Red Hat. That's about it. And that's Reality. And these companies make money selling Hardware and on consulting software.
It's free as in beer. You want to sell ice cubes to eskimos? Good Luck. You can't make money selling close-sourced (or open-source) software on Linux. Period.
I know that Gobe needs to make a profit in order to stay afloat. Re-read my posts. I told the way to make money the right way. I wish them the best of luck. They are going to need it if they are betting their flag-ship software on the tiniest portion of (who don't buy any software BTW) PC users.
and the way i bought corel wp office, then just bought staroffice 6.0, then opera 6.0 (actually, the upgrade was free for a 5.0 user), i would have to agree with AngryBrit. When I told my fellow Linux geeks how great is Wp Office compared to their sucky version of SO, they didn't want to use it because they couldn't get it free. Some got the free version of WordPerfect, but it didn't have a lot of other tools in WP Office. I tried to move them from Mandrake to SuSE, the only reason they could give me is that there wasn't any ISOs...
Like it or not, this is Linux(tm). Live with it. I would buy Gobe as soon as the Linux version comes out (no need to buy now, since I have no WIndows), I would buy, but right now, AngryBrit's advice is soundly, there isn't any money to make, there is more money to be made from OEMs not wanting to bundle MS Works anymore... Also, a lot of money from OS X.
You won't make a ton more selling Linux solutions. Let's see WHO is actually making money right now: IBM and Red Hat. That's about it.
I for one DO make more money selling Linux solutions to my customers, so I guess it is ME who is actually making money right now (well me and the person whose post you are replying too).
And that's Reality.
Perhaps that's your reality. It's not mine. Perhaps you don't know what you're doing or what you're talking about.
And these companies make money selling Hardware and on consulting software.
Well, there you go then. It is possible to make money with Linux if you use it as part of a solution package. Isn't that what people are doing with Windows? I don't see too many street vendors peddling software, do you?
Since you obviously don't have a clue, I'll explain. I can create a custom solution for my customers using let say, Linux, Java, PostgreSQL or MySQL, Tomcat, and so on. My costs are zero (exept for my time) and I can deliver a quality product that serves my customers needs and that they are willing to pay for. Also my support costs go down significantly because Linux tends to have much longer up-times than Windows.
On the other hand, if I were to do a Windows solution, I would have to pay around $1,000.00 for a server level version of Windows, around 1,500.00 for development tools, around the same price for MSSQL, who knows how much for enough licenses for IIS to work for the customer, and so on. Also, supporting the project after it has been deployed requires more effort since Windows isn't as stable as it should be.
With a MS solution my costs are easily thousands of dollars, and therefore my customer's cost skyrocket as well. Fortunately, my competitors haven't figured this out yet. This is precisely why I am able to aquire almost any job I bid on. The competitions costs, and therefore their prices, are just too high.
By using Linux instead of Windows, I have been able to make the same amount, if not more, in profit as I did when I was doing Windows solutions, yet I can charge the customer less. Everyone is happier this way.
Now THAT, my angry-misinformed-brit, is my reality.
-----
Just to stay remotely on topic, I purchased GP for Windows just so I could get the Linux version when it came out at the introductory price. My wife uses it on her machine and I like it quite well. I can't wait to see, and more importantly use, the final Linux product when it's available.
That's interesting. I had exactly the opposite opinion. I like StarOffice (especially 6.0) and thought Applix was goofy. Not that it was mentioned (most of the time people are only concerned with the word processing part of office suites) but I always thought Xess was the coolest speadsheet available anywhere. It was better, or at least more powerful, than any of the spreadsheet applications available in any of the office suites a couple of years ago. It wasn't as pretty perhaps, but you could do anything with it.
When I told my fellow Linux geeks how great is Wp Office compared to their sucky version of SO, they didn't want to use it because they couldn't get it free.
I liked WordPerfect Office for Linux. The thing that kind of killed my interest though was that it was so dependant on specific versions of Wine and some other things. I quit using it when I upgraded my OS and WordPerfect no longer worked. Also, WordPerfect Office didn't play nicely on the same machine with other Corel products (Photo-paint for example).
The biggest problem with WP though was that Corel quit supporting it after it was released. When MS released XP, if WordPerfect had not functioned, Corel would have released an emergency fix. They didn't do this with their Linux version. They just kind of let it die.
As long as Gobe doesn't do the same thing and as long as they offer quality and features that aren't available in the free office suites, they should be okay. This is why Opera has done as well as they have. They offered features in their browser that nobody else did and they support their products. At least that's why I bought it.
Couldn't agree more
No doubt Angrybrit is using his free PC, eating free food, living in a free flat c/o somebody else.
Did you not know that some of the ASICs in your PC were probably designed & simulated on Linux farms with SW that is very far from free, like $50K or more. Linux is used not because the distros are almost free, but because it so Unix like, runs on cheap fast HW, & just works hard on those long running jobs till it is finnished.
I am sure there are plenty of other major big $ apps out there (Oracle etc). Linux needs all the low $ commercial apps it can get. AFAIK, most commercial users want to pay modest no haggle prices for well designed friendly SW, for the support & some say in future development.
The Gobe license is also an incredible bargain, all of your home PCs & 1 office site, v MS taking 1st born!
As an also BeOS user, I would like Gobe to release GP3, but I will understand if they don't.
Eugenia, perhaps you could do an article with Gobe on their porting kit, looks like a good way to move BeOS apps to/from Windows & Linux & maybe even Mac.
Yeah, maybe SOME linux users are disposable to PAY for software, but all others are NOT! And if it's not Open Source, it's $hit for them.
The business folks I work with all use MS Word. We developers use Linux. When the business folks send us a specification it's always in MS Word. I usually just tell them to give me a print out because there isn't a Linux Word Processor capable of properly opening a MS WOrd document. They either fold up and die or make a complete mess of the document. If Productive will open reasonably complicated Word documents, (with headers, footers, tables, images intact), I'll buy a copy. Otherwise I'll just keep killing trees...
geoff
> No doubt Angrybrit is using his free PC, eating free
> food, living in a free flat c/o somebody else.
Ha ha ha! I wish. I invested so much money into PC hardware and software that I could have bought a couple of cars instead! Sh!t my IBM COBOL compiler cost me a fortune. It sounds like your new to the computer industry.
> Did you not know that some of the ASICs in your PC were
> probably designed & simulated on Linux farms with SW that
> is very far from free, like $50K or more. Linux is used
> not because the distros are almost free, but because it
> so Unix like, runs on cheap fast HW, & just works hard on
> those long running jobs till it is finnished.
Not really. Most of these 'ASICs' where built using windows 2000 (and NT 4). It's a good and stable software that surpasses Linux in every way. For 1 project using Linux there are 100x more using Windows. Get over it.
> I am sure there are plenty of other major big $ apps out
> there (Oracle etc). Linux needs all the low $ commercial
> apps it can get. AFAIK, most commercial users want to pay
> modest no haggle prices for well designed friendly SW,
> for the support & some say in future development.
What Linux needs is a standard interface and a simpler way of dealing with it. It's got a too high learning curve for most humans. They should have learn that from Be (the easiest of all).
> The Gobe license is also an incredible bargain, all of
> your home PCs & 1 office site, v MS taking 1st born!
That's why I think they should try to get their apps bundled with Windows PCs. I don't Gobe to fail. I want them to succeed.
> As an also BeOS user, I would like Gobe to release GP3,
> but I will understand if they don't.
As a former BeOS user (and still OS/2 user), I understand why they don't continue developpement on the best platform I ever seen. I hope they come back when OpenBeOS is done!
Okay guys, I know you don't like linux and you don't like opensource, and you hate gpl. That is clear for me and for everybody.
Just for that you don't have to lie, hey, do you feel better now? OpenOffice cannot rotate text frames and no TOC creation? Don't you know, also, that OpenOffice can run on MacOsX? This Opensource guys are really smart.You prefer to promote closed source products (I don't mind if you pay and use closedsource products because you have to, but promoting them without getting paid, dear!) but your sons and daughters will say, "daddy, thanks to those geeks at that time, we can now learn and understand computers, and share knowledge without having to pay "canones", royalties, patents, etc to a company just because they bought some idea some day.
thanks, brave man and woman.
I'll stick with WordStar for Windows 2
I'm holding out for Productive for CP/M. My KayPro portable can handle it.
Seriously AngryBrit
Actually I've been in the semi biz for 20+ yrs doing ASICs so I know something about it. I also burned more $ on Mac HW SW in my past life I'd rather forget. That just makes me much more selective about what to spend money on instead of the family, so I don't expect other developers to write SW for me for free on any platform.
Anyway you are dead wrong on W2K being used for ASICs, it is used in small ways of course for very low end chips, FPGAs, PCBs, or docs, but Linux is absolutely used vastly more for heavy engineering in Unix environments that define the ASIC biz. Don't believe me, visit DAC or EETimes. Most W2K interest fell away due to the 32bit barrier & very poor nix compatibility. But then outside engineering, Windows is certainly >>> bigger than Linux.
That doesn't mean free SW like OpenOffice is evil, I like the choice of free or not so free, I just lower my expectations dramatically for free specialist SW when it isn't high profile high vol. Some of the $50K+ SW that I used for ASICs has GPLed wannabe clones all over the web, it's all vapourware or trash. By the time the commercial SW can be cloned, the need has long gone.
>>What Linux needs is a standard interface and a simpler
Agreed, but for the Unix shops, I guess its no big deal. Outside Unix shops, well MS already won.
As for Gobe, they could follow the Opera model, cast the net over as many platforms that they can reasonably manage to support & hope for the best.