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StarOffice

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StarOffice
Developer(s)Sun Microsystems
Stable release
8 Update 10 / 21 April 2008
Operating systemWindows, Linux, Solaris[1]
TypeOffice suite
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.sun.com

StarOffice is Sun Microsystems' proprietary office suite software package. It was originally developed by StarDivision and acquired by Sun in August 1999. The source code of the suite was released in July 2000, creating a free, open source office suite called OpenOffice.org; subsequent versions of StarOffice have been based upon OpenOffice.org, with additional proprietary components.[2]

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 8 supports the OpenDocument standard.

Features

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).

Included programs

  • 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 program .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

Older programs no longer included

Proprietary components in StarOffice that are not in OpenOffice.org

  • Several font metric compatible Unicode TrueType fonts containing bitmap representations for better appearance at smaller font sizes
  • Twelve Western fonts (including Andale Sans, Arial Narrow, Arial Black, Broadway, Garamond, Imprint MT Shadow, Kidprint, Palace Script, Sheffield) and seven 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 import filters for additional older word-processing formats (including EBCDIC, DisplayWrite, MultiMate, PFS Write, WordStar, WordStar 2000, and XyWrite (conversion filters licensed from MasterSoft))
  • A different spell checker (note that OpenOffice.org includes a spell checker as well) and thesaurus
  • StarOffice Configuration Manager
  • Macro Converter for converting Microsoft Office VBA macros to StarOffice Basic

Other differences

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 are that StarOffice only supports 11 languages[3] (compared to over 40 for OpenOffice.org),[4] and StarOffice is only available for the Windows, Linux, and Solaris operating systems,[1] while OpenOffice.org is available for those operating systems and also Mac OS X and FreeBSD.[5]

History

StarOffice was originally developed by the German company StarDivision in Lüneburg, founded by Marco Börries in 1984. They developed the first version of StarWriter for the Zilog Z80 home computer system, the Amstrad CPC (marketed by Schneider in Germany) under CP/M, and later for the Commodore 64 under Microsoft BASIC, which was later ported to the 8086-based Amstrad PC-1512, running under MS-DOS 3.2. Later the integration of the other individual programs followed as the development progressed to an Office Suite for DOS and for Microsoft Windows, which was marketed from then on under the name "StarOffice."

The development of the integrated StarOffice started at the end of 1994. Until version 4.2, StarOffice was based on the cross-platform C++ class library StarView.

The company, 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 every one 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 code of OpenOffice.org 2.0).[6]

Pricing and licensing

Traditionally, StarOffice licenses have been sold for around US$70, but in 2004, Sun planned to offer subscription-based licenses to Japanese customers for about 1,980 JPY (17 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-device 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.

In August 2007, Google started offering StarOffice as a free download as part of its Google Pack application.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Sun Microsystems, Inc. "StarOffice 8 - System Requirements". Retrieved 2007-09-20.
  2. ^ OpenOffice.org. "OpenOffice.org - FAQ - Overview". Retrieved 2007-09-20.
  3. ^ Sun Microsystems, Inc. "StarOffice 8 - General FAQs". Retrieved 2007-09-20.
  4. ^ OpenOffice.org. "OpenOffice.org - Projects - Native Language Confederation Project". Retrieved 2007-09-20.
  5. ^ OpenOffice.org. "OpenOffice.org - System Requirements". Retrieved 2007-09-20.
  6. ^ "Sun Introduces New Version of StarOffice Software" (Press release). Sun Microsystems, Inc. 2005-09-27. Retrieved 2007-09-20. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Sun Microsystems Announces StarOffice Software Suite to be Distributed Through Google Pack" (Press release). Sun Microsystems, Inc. 2007-08-15. Retrieved 2007-09-20. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

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