14
Mon, Oct
6 New Articles

Sun's StarOffice: A Promising Alternative to MS Office?

Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

At first glance, Sun Microsystems’ StarOffice suite appears to be just another collection of office productivity applications, but, after using it for a while, you quickly discover that there is more to it than that. The integration of the applications is so tight that you feel as if you are using just one application that does everything. The core of StarOffice consists of a document editor called StarOffice Writer, a spreadsheet called StarOffice Calc, a mail client called StarOffice Mail, and a calendar and task manager called StarOffice Schedule. For most users, this might be enough to persuade them to take a look at StarOffice, but Sun added several other applications to make the suite complete. There are applications for creating presentations, drawings, and database interfaces and for reading newsgroups, and an integrated browser and a desktop tie it all together. Sun’s slogan for the product suite is “Do Everything in One Place.”

First Impressions

One of the most appealing things about StarOffice is that it is free. You can download it from Sun’s Web site (www.sun.com), or you can order the full media kit, which includes the installation CD and user documentation, for $39.95 plus shipping and handling. The download is 65 MB, and the installation process is trivial. After downloading and installing StarOffice, be sure to register it with Sun to receive updates as well as access to the StarOffice Knowledge Database and the Sun Web Learning Center. The Sun Web Learning Center currently offers five online, introductory StarOffice courses. A nice side effect of StarOffice being free is that there is only one version. Microsoft Office 2000 already comes in standard, small-business, professional, premium, and developer editions.

Another appealing feature of StarOffice is that it is currently available in eight languages and runs on Windows 95/98/NT, Linux (x86), Solaris (x86 and SPARC), and OS/2. For Windows 95/98/NT, Sun recommends a Pentium or higher, 160 MB of available disk space, and 64 MB of RAM (although a minimum of 32 MB will do).

Since StarOffice’s release last year, Sun has reported nearly 2 million downloads. Since there are over 120 million Office users out there, Microsoft has yet to lose significant market share.


Most of the individual applications that make up the suite exceeded my expectations. My initial thinking was that, if they are being given away, they can’t be as good as the Office applications you pay for, but I soon found out that, in most cases, the applications are as good and that their integration with each other is excellent. The applications are as follows:

• StarOffice Writer (see Figure 1) has most of the features you would expect from a document editor: automatic spell check, thesaurus, templates, autocorrect, autoformat, multiple undo/redo, tables, and tight integration with the other applications in the suite. It also allows you to open and save documents in a number of formats, including Microsoft Word 6.0, Word 95, Word 97, plain text, and HTML. A few things are missing that you would find in current versions of Word, such as automatic grammar check and word count. However, most of the tools you use day in and day out are there and easy to find. In fact, I wrote this article using StarOffice Writer.

• StarOffice Calc is a fully functional spreadsheet application. The interface is similar to that of Microsoft Excel and yet consistent with other StarOffice applications. The function autopilot is a particularly nice feature for creating complex formulas.

• StarOffice Impress lets you create presentations. You can create new presentations or import them from Microsoft PowerPoint 97. After you have finished your presentation, you can save it as either a PowerPoint 97 file or an HTML file.

• StarOffice Draw allows you to create eye-catching graphics quickly and easily by using drawing tools, templates, or the built-in 3-D engine for texture mapping.

• StarOffice Base enables you to query Oracle, Sybase, and Informix databases as well as ODBC and other databases. It also allows you to drag and drop records into documents.

• StarOffice Schedule lets you track tasks and events. Although the interface and functionality are generally good, it lacks the depth of Microsoft Outlook, especially in the area of task management. However, it does let you synchronize with your personal digital assistant (PDA) and has group scheduling capabilities.

• StarOffice Mail allows you send and receive email using Internet email, Microsoft Exchange, or Lotus Notes. StarOffice Mail uses StarOffice Writer as its editor and is a perfect example of the tight integration of the StarOffice suite.

• StarOffice Discussion is a news reader that allows you to filter, sort, and read news either online or offline.

Overall, the applications are so tightly integrated that you don’t even think about the fact that you are switching between them. You feel as if they are all just part of one large application. You can have windows from multiple applications open simultaneously and drag and drop content between them as either copies or links. This tight integration takes some getting used to, but, once you become accustomed to it, going back to separate applications feels clumsy and awkward.

Feature Presentations

Most users have three primary concerns about adopting a new office productivity suite:

• Can I convert my old files to the new suite?


• Can I exchange files with people using other suites?

• Does it do everything my old suite did?

Sun has put a lot of effort into ensuring that StarOffice can import and export not only to the various Office formats but also to many others. Sun does not claim to be 100 percent compatible with Office; however, it does provide a comprehensive list on its Web site of which features do and do not import and export as well as which features it is currently working on for upcoming releases. While doing research for this article, I converted a number of Excel spreadsheets and Word files to the StarOffice format and found, in general, that I had fewer problems than when I upgraded between Microsoft suites. However, the current version, StarOffice 5.1, does not have built-in support for converting to and from Office 2000 formats. StarOffice 5.2, due out this summer, will have support for Office 2000 formats. The prerelease version of Version 5.2 can be downloaded from Sun’s Web site. StarOffice also uses its own macro language called StarOffice Basic, which, according to Sun, is similar enough to Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) that you will have to make only “minimal changes” to existing code.

I found very few Microsoft Office features missing from StarOffice. And, although I would do an in-depth study before making a recommendation for my shop to make the switch to StarOffice, it seems like a reasonable alternative. Also, it is important to point out that StarOffice offers some unique features, such as an integrated desktop and browser, that are not only convenient but also change the way you work to be more task-oriented.

As shown in Figure 2, the online help system is good for giving you an overview of each of the applications and how they interact. It uses numerous screen shots and hyperlinks to assist you and allows you to set bookmarks for things you find of particular interest.

That’s a Wrap

StarOffice is only the beginning of an even larger strategy by Sun to bring the office suite into the dot-com age. StarPortal, which will be based on StarOffice, will provide you with browser-based access to both your data and StarOffice applications from anywhere on the Internet. By using a portal-based architecture, Sun enables you to access your applications not only from traditional desktops but also from PDAs, Web phones, and many other devices. Using this model, you will, in essence, be outsourcing your desktop to an application service provider (ASP). While this may at first sound new and unprecedented, think about how email has changed from a shrink-wrapped product to a service offered by many Web sites.

My overall impression of StarOffice is very positive, and the product exceeded my expectations. StarOffice is a tightly integrated, reasonable alternative to Microsoft Office that deserves further evaluation. It will be interesting to see if Sun’s strategy of giving away StarOffice will work as well for it as giving away Internet Explorer worked for Microsoft in its browser war with Netscape. It will also be interesting to see if StarPortal lives up to its promise of making us think of office applications as services rather than as products.

References and Related Materials

• Sun Microsystems’ Web site: www.sun.com


Sun_s_StarOffice-_A_Promising_Alternative_to_MS_Office-04-00.png 400x300

Figure 1: StarOffice Writer is an easy-to-use document editor.

Sun_s_StarOffice-_A_Promising_Alternative_to_MS_Office-04-01.png 400x290

Figure 2: The help system contains numerous screen shots.


Michael Floyd

Michael J. Floyd is the Vice President of Engineering for DivX, Inc.

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: