Sun has unveiled StarOffice 8, the first commercial office suite using the Open Document Format for Office Applications, the OASIS open standard that makes sharing files easier. Sun also announced today new relationships with leading software publishers Encore Software, Avanquest Software and a continuing relationship with SourceNext to make StarOffice 8 software available to consumers and businesses worldwide.
StarOffice 8 software is an easy to use office productivity suite with powerful word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing and database capabilities. Based on open source technology, OpenOffice.org, StarOffice 8 runs on Windows, Linux and Solaris operating systems. The suite is comprised of five key components: StarOffice Writer, Impress, Calc, Base and Draw.
StarOffice software provides excellent compatibility with Microsoft Office. "The StarOffice 8 software not only allows users to transparently read and write files in Microsoft Office formats, its new default OpenDocument file format ensures their data won't be bound to a single product, now or in the future," said John Loiacono, Executive Vice President, Software Group, Sun Microsystems.
StarOffice 8 Enterprise Edition software builds on the OpenOffice.org code base by simplifying configuration across desktops enterprise-wide with its bundled management tools. Using built-in MS Office file analyzer, users are better able to manage migration from Microsoft Office. StarOffice 8 software includes a Macro Migration Wizard to convert VBA macros, a commercial spellchecker, the Adabas D database engine and additional clip art, fonts and templates on top of OpenOffice.org.
StarOffice software is available in seven languages and StarSuite software is available in another four. The suggested list price for the packaged software product is USD 99.95* and the download price is USD 69.95. For enterprise customers, StarOffice 8 software is priced on a tiered, per-user basis, starting at USD 35/user and USD 25/user for upgrades. Education organizations can continue to obtain StarOffice 8 software at no-charge. StarOffice 8 software downloads are available immediately at and packaged configurations will be available starting in October.
