StarOffice

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StarOffice
Developer:	Sun Microsystems
Latest release:	8
OS:	Cross-platform
Use:	Office suite
License:	Proprietary
Website:	www.sun.com/staroffice

StarOffice is Sun Microsystems' proprietary office suite software package. It is based on the free software/open-source OpenOffice.org, and contains some additional features.

The version sold in East Asia is known as StarSuite and is functionally identical to StarOffice, with full file interchange and compatibility, but includes language and font support for Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

StarOffice supports the OpenDocument standard as of version 8.

Contents 1 Features 2 History 3 Pricing and licensing 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Features

The program includes:

• StarWriter — word processor .sdw (StarOffice 5.x) .sxw (StarOffice 6.x) .odt .ott -files
• StarCalc — spreadsheet .sdc (5.x) .sxc (6.x) .ods .ots -files
• StarImpress — presentation software .sdd (5.x) .sxi (6.x) .odp .otp -files
• StarDraw — drawing tool .sda (5.x) .sxd (6.x) .odg .otg -files
• StarBase — database .sdb (5.x) .odb -files
• Star Math — formula generator .smf (5.x) .sxm (6.x) .odf -files

Older programs no longer included:

• StarSchedule — personal information manager .sds -files
• StarMail — e-mail client
• StarDiscussion — news client

StarOffice supports the XML file format, including (as of StarOffice 8) the OpenDocument standard, and can generate PDF and Flash formats. The program comes with templates, a macro recorder, and a Software Development Kit (SDK).

Proprietary components in StarOffice that are not in OpenOffice.org include:

• Several font metric compatible Unicode TrueType fonts containing bitmap representations for better appearance at smaller font sizes
• 12 Western fonts (including Andale Sans, Arial Narrow, Arial Black, Broadway, Garamond, Imprint MT Shadow, Kidprint, Palace Script, Sheffield) and 7 Asian language fonts (including support for the Hong Kong Supplementary character set)
• Adabas D database
• StarOffice-only templates and sample documents
• A large clip art gallery
• Sorting functionality for Asian versions
• File filters for additional older wordprocessing formats (including EBCDIC)
• A different spell checker (note that OpenOffice.org does include a spell checker as well) and thesaurus
• StarOffice Configuration Manager
• Macro Converter for converting Microsoft Office VBA-macros to StarBasic

There are also differences in the documentation, training and support options, and some minor differences in the look and icons between the two programs.

Other differences include: StarOffice only supports 10 languages (compared to over 25 for OpenOffice.org), and StarOffice is only available for the Windows, Linux, Solaris operating systems (while OpenOffice.org is available for 8 operating systems).

[edit] History

StarOffice was originally developed by the German company StarDivision in Lueneburg, founded by Marco Börries in 1986. The development of the integrated StarOffice started at the end of 1994. Until version 4.2 StarOffice was based on the platform independent C++ class library StarView.

The company and the copyright and trademark of StarOffice were acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1999 for US$73.5 million. Sun was seeking to compete with Microsoft Office, and also wanted to save money on licenses for Microsoft Office and Windows:

The number one reason why Sun bought StarDivision in 1999 was because, at the time, Sun had something approaching forty-two thousand employees. Pretty much everyone of them had to have both a Unix workstation and a Windows laptop. And it was cheaper to go buy a company that could make a Solaris and Linux desktop productivity suite than it was to buy forty-two thousand licenses from Microsoft. (Simon Phipps, Sun, LUGradio podcast)

Sun soon offered StarOffice 5.2 as a free download for personal use.

Sun then went through an exercise similar to Netscape's relicensing of Mozilla, by releasing most of the StarOffice source code under a free/open source license. The resultant free/open source software codebase is developed as OpenOffice.org, and is contributed to by both Sun and the wider OpenOffice.org community. Sun then takes a "snapshot" of the OpenOffice.org code base, integrates proprietary and third-party code modules, and markets the package commercially.

In September 2005 Sun released StarOffice 8, adding support for the OpenDocument standard and a number of improvements (based on the OpenOffice.org 2 code).

[edit] Pricing and licensing

Traditionally, StarOffice licenses have been sold for around 70 USD, but in 2004, Sun planned to offer subscription-based licenses to Japanese customers for about 1,980 JPY (19 USD) per year (Becker, 2004). P. Ulander, a desktop products manager for Sun, acknowledged that Sun planned to expand subscription-based licenses to other countries as well.

Sun uses a per-person license for StarOffice, compared to the per-processor licenses used for most proprietary software. An individual is allowed to install the software on up to five computers. For example, a small business owner can have the software on his laptop, office and home computers, or a user with a computer running Microsoft Windows, and another running Linux, can install StarOffice on both computers.

Sun offers educational licensing to academic institutions and individuals for the cost of the media or of a download. They also offer free web-based Training and an online tutorial for students and teachers, free support services for teachers including educational templates for StarOffice, and significantly discounted technical support for schools.

[edit] See also

• List of office suites
• Comparison of office suites

[edit] References

• Becker, D. (2004). Sun readies StarOffice subscription plan. Retrieved January 16, 2004.
• StarOffice homepage
• StarOffice Educational licenses
• StarOffice 7 vs. OpenOffice.org 1.1 comparison (PDF file)
• "StarOffice 8: StarOffice 8 Is Office's Toughest Rival Yet", Jason Brooks, eWeek Labs Review, September 27, 2005
• Free Download of StarOffice 5.2