StarOffice 6.0 is relatively inexpensive, but it's unlikely to win over existing users of Microsoft's Office products.
The free ride has officially ended. In the past, Sun Microsystems distributed StarOffice, its fully-fledged office suite, for nothing. But StarOffice 6.0 will cost you AU$209 -- a small sum compared to Microsoft Office XP's AU$300 to AU$1,000 price tag, but a big jump from free. However, don't shun StarOffice because of the cost. Although it can't match Office XP feature for feature (it lacks data-sharing and Web collaboration tools, for example), this tortoise could eventually catch up to the Microsoft hare. If you only need the office-suite basics and want to install your suite on more than two systems, it can't hurt to try StarOffice. You may like it.
With StarOffice 6.0, Sun steps into uncharted territory -- charging money. But that doesn't mean that Sun is getting mercenary. The company gave most of the code to an organization called OpenOffice.org. That group created a free, slightly stripped-down StarOffice look-alike called OpenOffice 1.0. Check it out if you really don't want to pay for Sun's suite.
So why bother paying? For one thing, StarOffice offers traditional technical support, via telephone or email calls or email, unlike OpenOffice.org. In addition, StarOffice comes in versions for Windows, Linux and Solaris. These varied OS versions share file formats, so it's simple to swap documents with people who run different operating systems. Better yet, StarOffice still supports Windows 95, which Office XP abandoned. However, the StarOffice line-up lacks a polished Macintosh version, so anyone who owns a Mac or regularly swaps office files with Mac users should, ironically, stick with Microsoft. Fortunately, OpenOffice.org offers an embryonic Mac OS X edition.
Installing StarOffice takes just a few moments. But like most office suites, 6.0 requires serious disk space. A standard installation demands 215MB, while the minimum install needs 130MB; Microsoft Office's default install, by comparison, requires a minimum of 210MB. To save space, you can choose a custom installation that lets you skip some of StarOffice's applications, such as the spreadsheet or drawing programs.
StarOffice covers most of the office-suite bases. You'll find a word processor (Writer), a spreadsheet (Calc), a presentation program (Impress) and a drawing tool (Draw). However, unlike Microsoft Office, Lotus SmartSuite and Corel WordPerfect Office, StarOffice doesn't ship with a real database. Instead, Sun includes a data-source administration tool that extracts data or data-containing files, such as spreadsheets, from its own applications as well as from outside data sources such as SQL databases, spreadsheets and your email address book. Not only is StarOffice missing a database, don't even bother looking for a Web authoring tool such as Microsoft´s FrontPage, or a PIM/email client like Outlook.
But even with its limited functionality, StarOffice has several slick tricks up its sleeve. Our favourite is the fact that, because Sun built the suite on the XML-based file format, StarOffice 6.0 generates small file sizes. For example, a 540-page document that chews up 1.2MB in Microsoft Word is just 338K in StarOffice Writer's XML format. And the XML format also makes it possible to share documents among the suite's different OS editions.
Version 6.0 also improves upon 5.2. StarOffice 6.0's redesigned Help window permits easier access and searchability. Also, as in Microsoft Office, StarOffice's Print Preview now displays in the window in which you're working, instead of launching a new window. StarOffice 6.0 comes in versions for Arabic, Danish, Dutch, French, German, and -- at last -- Asian languages, including Japanese and Chinese. It also connects to the default emailer on your system, so you can send email documents as attachments directly from any application by using the File > Send command. StarOffice even plants an icon in the Windows Taskbar system tray for one-click access to the suite's applications.
Despite its enhancements, StarOffice 6.0's toolset can't touch Microsoft Office XP's. For example, StarOffice barely makes use of the Web and ignores businesses that rely on workgroup collaboration. You won't find the tools you need to collaborate with co-workers via online discussions or save files to a shared Web work space. Nor does StarOffice offer the tools you need to recover files after a crash, as Office XP does.
But unlike Office XP, StarOffice's license is per user, not per system. You can legally install your copy of StarOffice on up to five different PCs that you use. Office XP lets you install on only two machines -- a major bone of contention among XP users.
Although StarOffice lacks a database of its own, it does include an acquisition tool that extracts data from SQL databases and spreadsheets. The setup process takes a while, though. You must first register whichever data source you're using -- a cumbersome process that requires two separate dialogue boxes. By contrast, in Word 2002, a wizard walks you through the whole data-query process. Since most users will use this tool primarily to mine email or PIM address books in order to mail-merge addresses for form letters, we find this process unnecessarily complicated. Microsoft Word's mail merge function, in comparison, is straightforward.
StarOffice also lacks a dedicated Web authoring tool, although the word processor can serve in a pinch -- you can create pages, and then save them as HTML. However, StarOffice won't help you publish these pages to a Web server.
Since Microsoft Office file formats rule, StarOffice faces a huge compatibility problem. The suite lets you import and edit DOC and XLS files, to name a few, but we can't vouch for StarOffice's formatting accuracy. With simple files, such as lightly formatted Word documents or straightforward Excel spreadsheets, StarOffice usually performs adequately. But Writer had problems paginating a lightly formatted, although very long, Word document. Try to convert a document full of heavy formatting and styles, and StarOffice 6.0 may choke. When we used StarOffice to open Word documents with tables, charts and rigorous formatting for forms, the StarOffice version looked very different from the original. In some cases, Writer stuck blank pages into the document or truncated and displaced lines of text.
And yet, whereas many low-cost suites skimp on technical support, StarOffice offers a surprising number of support options. Sun's online support includes discussion forums, searchable problem/solution databases and email and telephone support. Phone support is offered overseas, but sadly at the time of writing it simply lists 'Coming Soon' under the Asia-Pacific heading on Sun's website. Email support costs a flat US$19.95 (AU$36) per incident. For that investment, Sun claims you'll get a response within four business hours. Also, various Web sites, such as StarOffice.com (not affiliated with Sun), as well as the already-mentioned OpenOffice.org, provide message boards and tools.
StarOffice 6.0 won't give Microsoft Office users who are equipped with Office 2000 or XP any reason to switch. Likewise, the move to a paid-for structure negates one of our strongest arguments for using StarOffice as an alternative office suite. If you just need an inexpensive suite, however, StarOffice provides you with all of the fundamental applications -- a word processor, a spreadsheet, a presentation maker and an illustration program.
StarOffice 6.0
Company: Sun
Price: AU$209
Distributor: Intellitron
Phone: (07) 3257 3211
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