Sun StarOffice 5.2

Many people use there PC's as general purpose machines (for movies, games, writing etc) and therefore a good office package is a must. But which one, and how much do you want to pay? From reading opinions on DooYoo it seems that most people are using a version of the Microsoft Office suite, which is now in it's XP version. The problem with Microsoft Office is it's price, at £300 plus for the new basic XP package. There are other office suites available, notably the Lotus Smartsuite package, but there is an equally viable package that's available and it's FREE. That's right FREE - no charge. StarOffice 5.2 is now ...  Read the complete review

Star Office is a fully features office application suite that is available without charge from Sun Microsystems. For some being free is a major draw for Star Office, but for many professional users it is a cause for concern. If you are going to invest resources for rolling out the key desktop application, investing in money in support and training if not licensing, then you need to be careful. Many of the dot coms offering freebie services have now gone, and if you relied on them for an important service this could leave you in trouble. How can you be certain that Star Office won't suffer the same fate? Fortunately, Star Office is quite ...  Read the complete review

First of all, I know this category is for StarOffice 5.2, but I don't think unlike a future StarOffice 6 there is too much difference between the current two, for me to not post an opinion here. Anyway, Sun's StarOffice is really excellent! It's basically an office software suite (word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentations etc.) that's available for a number of computer platforms, it's really good, and guess what? It's FREE! If I remember correctly, StarOffice was part of Starfish Software. I don't know what happened to them as a company, but Sun Microsystem's (a highly acclaimed company) acquisition of StarOffice was a ...  Read the complete review

Before we begin, I really do have nothing significant against Microsoft. To get 90% market share in the home sector, they must have done something right - no business plan on its own can achieve that, no matter how aggressive. I wouldn't touch Office 2000 with a very long barge pole, as I know exactly how I wish to format my documents, exactly where I want my menus, and don't want a smug, free-ranging paper-clip telling me otherwise. But I am quite happy to use my student-licence copy of Office 97. Or I was. Star Office 5.2 is free. In the proper, no-money sense of the word. You don't even have to register it, as you did with previous ...  Read the complete review

The recent aquisition of Star Office by Sun has lead to the product becoming free to everybody who wants it (which it was before), without registration (which it wasn't). A completely integrated office suite for free? It can't be any good, can it? Well, yes, it can, and yes, it is. If you are used to using Microsoft Office, opening one application for each task, and accessign everything from the desktop or Start menu, then then Sun's suite is going to come as a shock. Firstly, it completely captures your screen and replaces the start menu with its own version. Secondly, everything is done inside one program - the same window is used for spreadsheets ...  Read the complete review