it begins. Sony dumps Microsoft for StarOffice

[Adul]

http://news.com.com/2100-1040-976239.html?tag=fd_top

Sun Microsystems announced a deal Wednesday to install Sun's StarOffice software on some European Sony PCs, marking another defection from dominant Microsoft products.

By the end of the year, Sony will include version 6.0 of StarOffice on most consumer desktop PCs sold in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, according to Sun. Microsoft's Works package is currently used on most of those PCs.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

:Q Whoa.

Too bad that probably won't mean cheaper pc's for consumers, just more profits for Sony.

 

[N8Magic]

Good for Sony.

I personally just installed OpenOffice(same code as StarOffice), and i'm very impressed with how well it has been running. For the occasional Office user like myself, it works great AND it's free!

 

[LordSnailz]

Can I dl StarOffice these days for free? too lazy to search =)

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: LordSnailz
Can I dl StarOffice these days for free? too lazy to search =)

Not for x86. It's not very expensive though - I think anywhere from $30-50. I use 6.0 regularly and it's very good.

Edit: I guess it's a little more expesive. Compusa wants $80 for it. Still much cheaper than MSOffice though.

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: LordSnailz
Can I dl StarOffice these days for free? too lazy to search =)

i believe star office costs money but openoffice is free, you should try open office if your going in that direction, i hear its the best one out there.

 

[N8Magic]

Originally posted by: LordSnailz
Can I dl StarOffice these days for free? too lazy to search =)

OpenOffice

The above uses the same code as StarOffice, and it's free.

 

[lowtech1]

Originally posted by: N8Magic
Good for Sony.

I personally just installed OpenOffice(same code as StarOffice), and i'm very impressed with how well it has been running. For the occasional Office user like myself, it works great AND it's free!

I have been using it since the first Openoffice beta release & still find their is some problem with cerntain fonts in today v1.01 (total of 7 months), and other than that it hasn't given me any grive yet. I would say that is is better than MS-Office 97, but not as nice as MS-Ofice 2000. I just can't wait till the next release to see how good open source can get.

 

[Staples]

Reports of Sony turning on MS have been reported a lot in the last year. Is Sony trying to get MS to drop the Xbox or what? Uh oh, is this abuse of their monopoly? I doubt that MS Works cost any more than Star Office. I bought a Sony laptop in the summer (stay away from Sony laptops, they are crap) and it came with Word.

SO 6.0 costs $90 last time I looked. I use Open Office in Linux environments and I really like Word a lot better. It will be a few versions before Open Office (suposedly the same as SO but SO looks a lot nicer) can touch MS Office.

 

[rayma2]

how well does it convert from other programs and other fromats?

 

[Zenmervolt]

Meh, I prefer Lotus anyway.

ZV

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: Staples
Reports of Sony turning on MS have been reported a lot in the last year. Is Sony trying to get MS to drop the Xbox or what? Uh oh, is this abuse of their monopoly? I doubt that MS Works cost any more than Star Office. I bought a Sony laptop in the summer (stay away from Sony laptops, they are crap) and it came with Word.

SO 6.0 costs $90 last time I looked. I use Open Office in Linux environments and I really like Word a lot better. It will be a few versions before Open Office (suposedly the same as SO but SO looks a lot nicer) can touch MS Office.

Most people feel the same way as you so i usually encourage them to download and try it and then they know that they are getting what they paid for.

 

[vi edit]

When the #5 computer supplier in the world(IBM) supplies only 7% of the market share, and sony isn't even on the list, I don't think that Microsoft is trembling much.

Now when dell, and their what, 20% market share drops MS, then they might start getting worried.

 

[bizmark]

Sony and HP have been putting WordPerfect on their PCs for some time now. I'm very happy with that I absolutely hate Word, and love WordPerfect. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a complete MS hater, I still like Excel over QuattroPro

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
When the #5 computer supplier in the world(IBM) supplies only 7% of the market share, and sony isn't even on the list, I don't think that Microsoft is trembling much.

Now when dell, and their what, 20% market share drops MS, then they might start getting worried.

dell uses wordperfect office on its cheapest machines

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: vi_edit
When the #5 computer supplier in the world(IBM) supplies only 7% of the market share, and sony isn't even on the list, I don't think that Microsoft is trembling much.

Now when dell, and their what, 20% market share drops MS, then they might start getting worried.

dell uses wordperfect office on its cheapest machines

They include MS Works Suite or Office XP in just about any config I've ever seen.

 

[randomlinh]

as much as i love open office, i've been using it for a while, and well, it just isn't as "smooth" as MS. Things like the envelop printing.. i've found it seems to work every other time I attempt to print. Go figure. And strange small annoying things that seem to have developed for only me (ie, vertical ruler will NOT stay in inches). Also a lot of glitches w/ video and stray artifacts. Like I said, little things. Still a very nice job nevertheless.. especially for the price

 

[Keego]

Originally posted by: N8Magic
Good for Sony.

I personally just installed OpenOffice(same code as StarOffice), and i'm very impressed with how well it has been running. For the occasional Office user like myself, it works great AND it's free!

Did they get rid of that LAME ASSED built in desktop thing that tries to take over Explorer?
Also.. Don't they make you use their version of java when you install StarOffice?

 

[lowtech1]

SO 6.0 costs $90 last time I looked. I use Open Office in Linux environments and I really like Word a lot better. It will be a few versions before Open Office (suposedly the same as SO but SO looks a lot nicer) can touch MS Office.

It is much slower to launch compare to MS-Office, but that be cause it is written in Java. Still with the Java slow launch caveat it is still is light year ahead of Star Office 5 that I painfully try to work with for 6 months 2 years ago. The different that I sees in SO 6 & OpenOffice is that the purple butterfly launch screen vs. blue/white birds, SO have much larger clip art library & some extra crappy templates, but the functions are exactly the same.

how well does it convert from other programs and other fromats?

There hasn?t been a single Office application/word processor that I have use in the last 17 years is as good as OpenOffice or StarOffice 6 with file conversion & inter-polarity. What really surprise me was that excel formulas convert perfectly, so far I haven?t have any trouble with macros that supposedly may make some trouble.

Did they get rid of that LAME ASSED built in desktop thing that tries to take over Explorer?
Also.. Don't they make you use their version of java when you install StarOffice?

Built in desktop is not there any longer, and you don?t think you have to install their version of Java either.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Been using StarOffice now and then for some time. No problem opening Word or Excel files.
It rocks!

 

[Draknor]

I started on StarOffice 5, didn't like it so much, got hooked on SO6 Beta, loved it, and I'm not using OpenOffice.org 1.0.1. There are a few occasional glitches when saving to MS Office formats (usually involving layouts), but otherwise i'm VERY satisfied with Org It may not be perfect, but it works very well for me, and I'm using legal, free software, AND I'm not supporting M$'s monopoly & bloatware. MS Office 2k or XP - what, like 4 CDs now? OpenOffice.org 1.0.1 is like a 50-60mb download. Me? I'm on a software diet ;-)


(Before I get flamed, yes I know there's much more on those 4 cds then you get in OpenOffice.org, I'm just exaggerating a bit to make a point! )

 

[Ryan]

Since when was Sony a big influence in the computer world?

 

[SuperTool]

I use SOffice for everything. It opens my docs nicely, and no problems with MS formats either. Price is nice as well, since I get it free from my employer.