Not really first. Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect were already entrenched in businesses, and there were rival office systems for Windows from IBM and Novell. Micros

Not really first. Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect were already entrenched in businesses, and there were rival office systems for Windows from IBM and Novell. Microsoft Office won by being better and cheaper, but it took a very long time to displace 1-2-3 in particular. hackuser's points about the cost of labor and the enormous potential cost of mistakes are very well made. If you are paying knowledge workers $50,000 to $150,000 a year, then saving pennies on the cost of Office is not a smart move. When mistakes can cost your company a lot more than that, even more so....