SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. TAKES OFFICE PRODUCTIVITY TO THE NETSUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. TAKES OFFICE PRODUCTIVITY TO THE NET'StarPortal' Initiative to Accelerate Transition to Service-Driven Network; Desktop Software Suite Available Now for FreePALO ALTO, Calif. -- August 31, 1999 -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today announced the next stage in portal computing with its unveiling of StarPortal™, a major initiative to provide word processing, presentation graphics, spreadsheet and other office software tools to any web browser and eventually portable devices. Sun announced broad industry support from key Internet Service Providers, software developers, Internet outsourcing companies and others in this effort (see separate release). "The new Service Driven Network is all about accessing the tools you need to do your job anywhere, with any device," said Ed Zander, president and chief operating officer at Sun. "This initiative to 'dot-com' office productivity software and to work with key partners in delivering this functionality via the web will turbocharge this trend." Early-access versions of the StarPortal office productivity software for the web will be available later this fall. It is based on the award-winning StarOffice™ software suite technology Sun acquired in its recent purchase of privately held Star Division Corporation of Fremont, California in August.
Traditional Version Available for FreeSun will continue to offer the traditional StarOffice desktop version for free download at www.sun.com/staroffice. StarOffice software runs on the Linux, Windows, Solaris ™ and OS/2 platforms and contains filters for importing other file formats, including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and others. Users of Microsoft Office and other popular office suites will require little or no re-training to use StarOffice and can instantly access, modify and even export Microsoft Office files."StarOffice has the features and ease-of-use you'd demand in an office software suite," commented Zander. "Users can download it today and get right to work. If you know Microsoft Office, you'll feel right at home. And best of all, you can open, modify and even save files in Microsoft's formats." Zander noted that Sun's actions today, in offering a complete office productivity software suite for free and in transitioning the technology to a web-based version, are in direct response to customer demand for software functionality accessible over the Internet. It also enables users a variety of document formats on the web without having to purchase expensive desktop software. "The Net has revolutionized the way we access information and tools for everyday work," said Zander. "A few short years ago e-mail, calendaring, chat, database connectivity and other software had to be purchased in a shrinkwrap box and had to be installed on your personal computer. Now it's all professionally managed and maintained as part of a hosted service provided by your Internet Service Provider. And in many cases, these tools are free. This will enable broadband service providers to offer complete service packages, including office productivity."
Details of InitiativeSun's plans for the StarPortal initiative include:
"This is a groundbreaking initiative," commented Zander. "Office productivity software has been 'dot-commed' into the network age.StarPortal is truly multi-platform, service provider-ready, Java-enabled, componentized, file-format compatible, scalable, and best of all, the right price." The StarPortal initiative is Sun's latest step in completing a strategy to provide a complete end-to-end software solution to the industry, including tools, client software, middleware and mission critical software for the datacenter.
About Star Division and StarOfficeStar Division Corporation designs and manufactures office productivity tools. Based in Fremont, California, Star Division was a privately held company and responsible for marketing and sales outside of German-speaking countries. Its wholly owned subsidiary, StarOffice Softwareentwicklungs GmbH is responsible for engineering and operations as well as marketing and sales within German-speaking countries. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.StarOffice software is a highly regarded, cross-platform personal productivity suite that has been under development and in distribution for several years. Designed for compatibility, stability, and security, StarOffice is available in eight languages and comes in versions for Microsoft Windows, Linux, OS/2 and Solaris platforms. The StarOffice suite contains filters for interoperability with other file formats such as those created in Microsoft Office, Framemaker, or WordPerfect. StarOffice is the No. 1 Linux-based personal productivity application suite and won the Editor's Choice Award for Best Productivity Application/Suite at the recent LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in San Jose. StarOffice software has a fully integrated set of powerful applications that provides Microsoft Office compatible word processing, spreadsheet, graphic design, presentations, HTML editor, mail/news reader, scheduler, and database functions. With the release of the new StarOffice 5.1 version for worldwide distribution, StarOffice suite provides significant performance and feature upgrades that improve user experience and productivity. StarOffice 5.1 includes:
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer™," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of high quality hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $11.5 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.
Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Java, "The Network Is The Computer," Solaris, StarOffice, and StarPortal are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and in other countries.Press announcements and other information about Sun Microsystems are available on the Internet at http://www.sun.com.
PR Contacts for Press and Analysts:
Press Release Finder
| ||||||
 |
|