While it seems that Microsoft Office has seen many competitors come and go--the most recent challenge being mounted by the open-source comminute and the various versions of the OpenOffice suite coursing through retail and free download channels.

Enter China’s leading developer, Evermore Software, which introduced the advanced edition of Evermore Integrated Office for computer users in the United States, Japan and China. The first version of EIOffice debuted last May, and since then the company bested four other competitors in winning five of the largest education software contracts from the Chinese government.

Next on Evermore’s plate? Giving Microsoft Office a run for its money in Japan and the United States. As far as the PDF user community’s concerned, the application suite includes one major feature that the much more expensive Microsoft Office doesn’t: Save As PDF.

"EIOffice 2004 Advanced is the next step on the long march to liberate computer users from the Microsoft Office monoculture," says Gus Tsao, Evermore president and chief executive officer.