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WPS started life as a DOS word processor. WPS maintained an enormous user base through out the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, high level of piracy in China at that time ensured that enormous user base did not translate into enormous profits.
As MS Office 95, along with Windows 95, was introduced into the Chinese market, the influence and sales of WPS went into steep decline. Faced with stiff foreign competition and high level of domestic piracy, Kingsoft was nearly bankrupt by the end of 1995. Kingsoft chief software architect Qiu Bo Jun , in a heroic attempt to revive the company, injected 4 million Yuan (apprx US$500,000 in 2003) into the company by selling his private mansion, and began the development of WPS 97 for Windows. When WPS 97 was released in 1997, it struggled to compete with MS Office 97. There were many reasons for that:
In May 2001, Kingsoft launched WPS Office, which included a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software. Again it struggled to compete with the more powerful MS Office 2000.
In 2002, WPS Office 2002 surfaced as the next version of WPS Office and added to its bundle an email client. In a move hailed by many, WPS Office 2002 cloned MS Office's user interface to the very last detail and as a result dramatically reduced the amount of retraining required to migrate from MS Office. However, critics labeled the strategic move as "the death of software innovation".
When the PRC joined the WTO, the Chinese look to rid their state-owned computers of pirated software. Kingsoft won big contracts and licensed, to many local Chinese governments including Beijing and Guangdong, thousands of copies of WPS Office. Shanghai, however, was unmoved by the low cost of WPS Office and still opted for the more expensive MS Office.
In AugustSee August (album) for the album by Eric Clapton. August is the eighth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days. Named in honor of Augustus Caesar. The month reputedly has 31 days because Augustus wanted as many days as Julius Caesar's Ju 2003, WPS Office 2003 was released to the exciting news that computers used in civil services by the Chinese government will slowly move to running only domestic-made software. In the same month, Microsoft China warned of legal actions against the Shanghai education deparment for illegal use of Microsoft Office products on their computers. Nearly all public schools in Shanghai are affected. The education department decided against purchasing more licenses from Microsoft and struck a deal with Kingsoft to license 45,000--50,000 copies of WPS Office 2003.
The 2004 incarnation of the office suite, WPS Office Storm, was released in late 2004 to limited fanfare. In its increased effort to converge with MS Office, WPS Office Storm claims to offer perfect compatability with the MS Office document formats. In a bid to differentiate itself other office suites, Kingsoft collaborated with Intel and IBM to integrate text-to-text and text-to-speech technology into WPS Office Storm, and its new technical capabilities became the focal point an advertising campaign. A Linux version of WPS Office Storm is also available.
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