Free StarOffice Application Suite 5.2 ---any good?

[ygreenkitty]

<< The ultimate free, full-featured, integrated, interoperable office suite just got better
With the latest version of the StarOffice application suite, Sun continues to change the way people buy, use, deploy, and develop personal productivity applications. This open, extensible software features enhanced application performance and reliability, delivering a complete set of rich, easy-to-use office productivity tools in a unified desktop environment. The StarOffice 5.2 suite is now available for free download in Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish. >>


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[squirrel dog]

Its great for someone who doesnt have anything,Or a student.Most of the business world runs on word&amp;excell.

 

[Zorba]

squirrel dog: Star Office was made for Linux and Solaris, I have no idea when they got it for windows. It is a pretty good program, and I like it much more than MS Office.

The problem with this deal is, Star Office has always been free (or at least sicne I started using it).

 

[tomcat]

Its a nice office suite, has all the features you need, the one problem is that its a little slow.

 

[Tangman]

I thought it's Word and Excel Compatible?

 

[WhiteMouse]

It is compatiable to MS office. It's free, and has Windows version.

But the problem is after install, you will not be able to see your desktop. This star office is not only an Office suite, but also a wrap of your whole system, including web-browser, email and news reader. Now Sun wants you to use Sun's way to access all your files and launch programs.

 

[crystal]

Tangman,

It is. This just remind me to download it tonight. I just reformat my HDD because of the stupid sound card (to make a clean install) and my version of office 2000 (education version) lets me installed and register only two times. It now sits there collecting dust :| Stupid policy if you ask me.

 

[ygreenkitty]

I have just gotten a real attitude about BG and Microsoft and their intrusiveness over the years. I have built most of my systems, but was given my new Sony Vaio R556DS for my 50th (don't go there) birthday.

So I added a Sony camcorder and flat screen monitor and thought it might be prudent to have as much Sony compatible software as possible, since I have heard of a few glitches between Sony and Microsoft.

I'm not sure that &quot;losing my desktop&quot; would bother me much, I'm not using this in a business atmosphere, just diddling with html and with photos and trying to learn to do some video editing.
Thanks for the imput.

 

[Robor]

It's okay. Best situation is if you've got an entire company using it. It doesn't do a very good job of converting Office docs to Star Office. I also didn't like the way it becomes your desktop. In short, I prefer Office. You get what you pay for...

Rob

 

[Yuniverse]

I'm the first to admit that Microsoft bites. However, after using the StarOffice for a while, I uninstalled it and went back to MSOffice 97. Sluggish, big, and didn't like the &quot;wrap&quot; as per WhiteMouse.

 

[Altrax]

I used StarOffice for a while, you CAN turn off the desktop replacement, but then instead of starting individual programs for word, database, spreadsheet, etc, you start a windowed desktop that looks like the wrap. Plus, I already have excel and word 2000.. they work great and I know them well. I wouldn't hesitate to reccommend it to a linux/open source freak though. Seemed like it had as many if not more features than office. And you can't beat the price.

 

[DragonSlayer81]

StarOffice any good?

 

[squirrel dog]

Yeah,I run it on my linux box,and have for like 2 years.

 

[grass]

I myself use LOTUS SMARTSuite ME edition and find it better then MO

 

[Cable God]

I used Staroffice fo ra few days and had to go back to Office 2000. I didn't like the &quot;wrap&quot; it puts on my OS, but if it's free, hey, that's what matters If you want to save $$$

 

[Topher]

I've been using StarOffice for a long time. I don't find it any slower than MS Office, if anything, it's slightly faster. And I don't know what you guys are doing to get a &quot;wrap&quot;, but you don't have to use it as your desktop, I certainly don't. Since it's compatible with MS Office 2000 and earlier, not to mention other office packages, I think it's an excellent office suite given the price. (Unless you're a warez hound.)

 

[cgclausen]

I downloaded it for my computer because the OEM that I got my computer from ony gave me Word. I like it. It is a bit slow loading things, but it isn't too bad. It allows you to save and read files in many popular formats including Word and Excel. It has always been free but if you need an office suite and don't want to spend big bucks, this is it.

 

[Super6]

I've been using StarOffice since before Sun acquired it. Fits in nicely with my Micro install of 98Lite (72Mb) and Opera for my browser. Does all I need and is mostly compatible with Word. Can't beat the price.

Super6