On Sun, 2004-09-05 at 17:04, John Arkoulis wrote: > Hi all. Here I am again asking... is there a program that I can use as a > replacement for MS power point?? I know a lot of folks have already recommended OpenOffice Impress, and if what you are looking for is a drop-in replacement for PowerPoint (especially one that maintains binary compatibility), that is definately the way to go. However, an alternative approach you may want to consider is (X)HTML plus SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics). Such a combination offers a number of advantages over the PowerPoint/Impress route: 1) Industry standard Both (X)HTML and SVG are Technical Recommendations developed and maintained by W3C, as opposed to proprietary formats, with all that involves. 2) Scriptability Both (X)HTML and SVG support client-side scripting of their Document Object Model through ECMAScript (AKA "JavaScript") 3) XML-based Both (X)HTML and SVG are XML applications, allowing you to leverage existing XML toolsets and skillsets (XSLT immediately comes to mind). As a text-based, as opposed to binary, format, this allows for easier extraction of meaningful information. HTH, Ian
