Feature Story

Liberate Your Office.

New StarOffice suite lets you break free of over-priced productivity programs.

15.May.02--Say farewell to restrictive licensing. Kiss mandatory upgrades goodbye. The StarOffice 6.0 office suite software--a Sun Open Net Environment (Sun ONE) product offering--is here.

With the release of its latest StarOffice office suite software, Sun is changing the economics of the office software game. For the first time, people have a real choice in what productivity software they want on their PCs and workstations, with the support and backing of Sun Microsystems behind every installation.

Need around the clock telephone support? We can do that. We also give you online resources--Sun's SupportForum discussion groups, the SunSolve KnowledgeBase data collection, Web-based training, and technical FAQs--to help you get the information you need about the StarOffice 6.0 office suite, at your own pace, free of charge. Having a problem installing or using the software? Don't be shy. The first call is on us. And if you want help learning how to work with the individual applications, consider taking a Getting Started class in the StarOffice 6.0 Writer, StarOffice 6.0 Calc, or StarOffice 6.0 Impress, and StarOffice Draw software. We're trying to make switching to StarOffice as easy as we can, you know.

The StarOffice 6.0 office suite is easy for first-time users to learn, because it has a familiar user interface, and it is fully interoperable with other office suites on the market today, so files can be exchanged between applications without a hitch. The StarOffice 6.0 applications have all the functionality you need in a full-featured office suite: word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, graphics, and database applications that are fully integrated and easy to use. The StarOffice applications run on multiple platforms, including the Solaris Operating Environment on the SPARC® architecture and Intel hardware platforms, Linux, and Microsoft Windows.

Sun customers are seeing significant advantages associated with deploying the StarOffice 6.0 office suite across their organizations, with cost savings in the short term and, in the long run, flexibility in how they use and access the content of files that use an XML-based format.

"It was not only the cost savings and multiplatform support that raised our interest in [the] StarOffice 6.0 [software], it was also the direction Sun is taking in adopting XML as the default file format," said Michel Barthelemy, chief technology officer for Auchan Groupe, a $23 billion grocer and retailer based in France. "With [the] StarOffice [software], the default XML file format gives us the choice of which vendor to use for our future office productivity and back office needs."

What's New

With the StarOffice 6.0 office suite, Sun has made its commitment to community-based software development a reality. The StarOffice 6.0 office suite is the first version of desktop productivity software that includes the innovative input of the developer and user community at OpenOffice.org. You asked for it, and we responded.

• Removal of the integrated desktop. Sun listened to StarOffice software users, who asked for a clean, streamlined environment that enables them to switch from application to application and open files quickly and easily, with the fewest number of clicks and keystrokes. StarOffice 6.0 applications are seamlessly integrated with UNIX® and Microsoft desktop operating environments.
  
  
• Unmatched interoperability with Microsoft Office files. Sun has enhanced interoperability with Microsoft Office, enabling users to open, modify, and exchange files with Microsoft Office users, including Office XP. Now, the StarOffice software supports metrically equivalent TrueType fonts, so documents retain precise and accurate formatting regardless of what application is used to open them. The StarOffice Calc software now supports equivalent functions in Microsoft Excel, to better support finance and accounting users.
  
  
• Fast and efficient. The StarOffice 6.0 suite supports complete XML file formats, so content created in StarOffice 6.0 version files is portable to XML tools and applications, and we used industry-standard compression technology to shrink file sizes, so files take up less hard drive space and load quickly.
  
  
• Improved font rendering and printing solutions for UNIX. We have built in support for high-quality text display, including text rotation and kerning, embedded bitmapped graphics, vertical glyph substitution, and antialiasing that works with 24-bit and 32-bit video. You asked for better printing support on UNIX-based platforms. So we redesigned the SPAdmin printer administration utility with an eye toward ease-of-use and functionality. Give it a test drive and tell us what you think.

Through the OpenOffice.org Project, Sun has made full use of feedback from highly talented open source programmers. The StarOffice 6.0 suite shares a codebase with the OpenOffice.org 1.0 office suite, future enhancement to the base source code are planned to be available, providing the best of both worlds to users.

Priced to Compete

At an MSRP of $75.95 U.S., the StarOffice 6.0 software is priced at a fraction of the cost of competing desktop productivity suites. A single-user license lets you load the StarOffice office suite onto as many as five individual workstations or PCs, giving you the flexibility to run the software on multiple machines at work, at home. Wherever you want. That's your business.

Available now, the software can be purchased from Sun's Download Center or Sun's retail and e-tail channels. Enterprise pricing is also available, starting at $50 per user with a minimum of 150 users. Visit the Sun Store or ask your Sun sales representative for details. And as always, education customers can receive copies of the StarOffice 6.0 office suite for the cost of media and shipping.

So go ahead. Liberate your desktop. You'll be glad you did.

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