25 highly anticipated open-source releases coming this year

Business apps

Most of the preceding projects are of interest mainly to geeks (and we mean that in a nice way). Increasingly, though, businesses are adopting open-source software for productivity use and line-of-business applications.

Primary among these is the open-source "replacement" for Microsoft Office. OpenOffice.org 3.1, expected imminently, is currently available as a "developer snapshot." It promises grammar checking, anti-aliased drawings, improved charting and better outline features.

That's on top of the new features from Version 3.0 (released in October 2008), including compatibility with ODF 1.2 and OOXML and native Mac OS X support.

The OpenOffice.org 3.1 developer preview. Click to view larger image.

But business-quality open source isn't limited to traditional desktop apps or enterprise software. Kaltura is an open-source platform for creating and viewing video applications. It's aimed at Web publishers, integrators and application developers. Kaltura currently has extensions for several platforms, including content management (such as Drupal), blogging (WordPress) and collaboration (MediaWiki).

Kaltura's Drupal plug-in.
Click to view larger image.

In the second quarter of 2009, Kaltura's Community Edition will be launched under the GNU General Public License, allowing any Web site to build its own YouTube-like video portal, fully independent of Kaltura. Optional enterprise support includes streaming and hosting, ad serving and content syndication.

Dimdim claims to be the first open-source Web meeting company; its software has been downloaded nearly half a million times. Among its existing features are unlimited use, multiparty video and audio conferencing.

A Dimdim Web meeting.
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Dimdim has big plans for 2009 (though it didn't get more specific than that on timing), including a commercial version. The Dimdim open-source platform will become a full webinar product, allowing meetings of more than 1,000 participants, which will make it attractive to anyone who needs to conduct general meetings or training sessions.

Also worth watching:

• LedgerSMB, a fork of the SQL-Ledger accounting package aimed at small businesses. Its rapidly approaching 1.3 release promises better contact handling and security that integrates with a company's network security infrastructure, such as Kerberos.
• The Lucid Desktop (formerly the Psych Desktop), a Web desktop (maybe a Web operating system) that integrates with the Web, existing desktop technologies and mobile devices, acting as a portable, online workspace to store files, play media and manage your office documents. Version 1.0, still in beta, is overdue, but it shouldn't be long now.