StarOffice 7

Rating:
Summary: StarOffice 7 a Great Buy for Most
Review: It's disturbing how many of the negative reviews here seem to be planted by Microsoft lackeys. They are obviously trying to scare off potential StarOffice users by blatantly exaggerating tales of Java's bugginess and the suite's inability to convert MS files properly, and how in the end, StarOffice represents nothing more than false savings. That's the message Microsoft is trying to broadcast to the world in order to preserve their incredible monopoly profits from Office (about 75% of 10 billion dollars in annual revenues).

Like many of the more balanced reviewers, I think StarOffice is a polished and competent subsitute for MS Office for most users, even those running solely on Windows OS. It takes longer to load than MS Office and has somewhat fewer features. For example, the spreadsheet application in StarOffice, Calc, doesn't appear to be able to create 3D plots, although to be fair, the ones in Excel don't look terribly good. There are also fewer options for interpolating data when compared to Excel.

Compared to its free OpenOffice sibling, StarOffice 7 has nicer-looking icons, better fonts and additional (minor) features, as well as access to technical support. $70 (Amazon's discounted price) seems a fair price to pay for these improvements, although it is nice to know that OpenOffice is always available for the cash-strapped. However, Staroffice is an amazing deal if you are a teacher, student or academic - it's absolutely free for these lucky people. Obviously, Sun is trying to breed a new generation of computer users who will not be afraid of experimenting with and adopting non-Microsoft products in the future.

I've noticed that many of the home PCs sold by HP, Compaq, Dell and others now come with parts of the Corel WordPerfect Suite. I'm wondering if StarOffice 7 is a sound purchase for owners of such systems. Has anyone trodden down this path?

Rating:
Summary: Going Back to OpenOffice
Review: Glad I did not pay for this. I like OpenOffice functionality better, plus it is free. I like OO as a replacement MSOffice where my clients can't/won't get MS licenses.

Rating:
Summary: Don't be fooled . . .
Review: After buying Star Office, I should have been wise and relized that you get what you pay for. First off, the Java problem, MS does not have Java in their operating system anymore. You have to try to find it or use the buggy mess on your pc. It causes problems on your computer, popping up with Java script errors.

More delight, when converting files from MS Office they change??? What is going on with this, did the people who wrote this live on Mars or something..... More problems, the icons on the screen are un-readable they are so tiny and sometimes they do not display correctly. This was a mistake, I hope it the java un-installs with the rest of this Star Office to the recycle bin on my desktop.

Next stop, buying MS Office something that works, and does not require a computer science degree to operate...

I recommend MS Office, it actually works and is used by ALL home users and businesses!

Rating:
Summary: Great alternative to ms-office
Review: 1) First of all soffice's power-point is I think more intutive and simpler(than msoffice) and hence better.
2) I had a few problems viewing MS-office *.doc files, but soffice7.0 is a considerable improvement over soffice6 in this area.. but hey when everyone switches to soffice or openoffice who needs this feature anyway :-)
3) Bloated files, but again soffice7.0 is a considerable improvement over soffice6.
4)GREAT PRICE!!!!
5)I hope a lot of people switch to soffice so I don't have to bother about conversion problems between msoffice and soffice.Maybe someday we will be talking of the vice-versa feature in msOffice.
BOTTOMLINE: MSoffice has more options, but Sofice7 is getting there...if you are not a power user.... Go for soffice7 or its open-source (free) equivalant.

Rating:
Summary: Missing functionality and unstable
Review: We are always looking for ways to save money, this is just another. BUT, after spending the money to buy this software I was very disappointed. What they do not tell you is this product uses Java! It is very slow, buggy and is almost like a virus on your pc. You have to enable java to run, thus inviting java based viruses on your computer.

Second, the most critical part Star Office does NOT convert files from MS Office correctly. It alters the data, and this can cause big time problems when the information such as tax documents and so on.

Lastly, I wound up spending more money buying MS Office, which I should have done in the first place. Another flaw with this software, NO email client.... How is this a office suite, plus it use to be free. So in other words you get what you pay for and this was horrible!

Rating:
Summary: Now They Are Charging For This?
Review: I remember when this software prided itself on being a 'free' version out to damage Microsoft sales of their Office suite. It sounded too good to be true, but I gave it a try having already purchased MS Office to compare with. After only a few days of testing Star Office, I removed it from my computer. It never ran on Windows 98SE, and was useless to me. Now they charge money for it? After what happened with what apparently was only a BETA to be tested on guinea pigs, I would never fork out good money to only find out it has improved very little if at all... call me a skeptic, but I'd say let the buyer beware and observe it working elsewhere first.

Rating:
Summary: A robust, stable software "office suite" product
Review: Sun Microsystems may be a household name with its Java technology, but it is a rising star (pun intended) with this latest office productivity suite. It is *no* exaggeration to call this product a significant threat/true competitor to Microsoft's Office suite.

While most consumers won't need the included versions for Sun's industrial-strength Solaris (UNIX) operating system for SPARC and x86 processors, it is remarkable to see a single office product released on multiple platforms. I've used both the Windows and Linux versions since version 5.1 (when Sun acquired StarOffice's maker, Star Division of Germany). As with every release, the different platform versions are identical; there are no compatibility issues with the files, formats or usability, in my opinion.

Speaking of which, here's my general thoughts on the product. (Read other reviews for more technical analyses. Think of this as a basic overview.)

StarOffice 7.0 is stable, feature-rich, intuitive (even for previous/current Microsoft Office users) and cross-platform compatible. I can save in StarOffice's native file formats, or work with other formats, such as WordPerfect and Microsoft Office files. And the import/export functionality is clean; I don't have broken files to reformat/re-edit/fix to look right. An office suite is supposed to be your computer's Swiss Army knife. StarOffice 7.0 is finally mature enough to replace MS Office and Corel WordPerfect with its functionality. Read the POSITIVE reviews here about the product; the naysayers aren't justifying their dour comments very well.

As part of Sun's new Java Desktop System software initiative, Sun's StarOffice product is already being used by millions of users around the world. (Yes, millions!) Unlike IBM/Lotus's SmartSuite or Corel's WordPerfect office suites, StarOffice benefits from open source community participation/innovations via the www.OpenOffice.org project. (Yes, you can download a free version, branded "OpenOffice" sans database, clip art, dictionary, etc. if you wish. But support Sun and *buy* StarOffice here at Amazon.com so that it - and OpenOffice - can continue to grow and flourish.)

The only downsides which concerns me? 1.) No version for the Mac platform, which may be rectified by the open source version (OpenOffice) in the future. 2.) I would like to see Sun invest more in quality desktop/workspace icons for this product, too. 3.) Lackluster HTML authoring tools (if you're picky about such things). 4.) Enhancements to accomodate scriptwriters (users of Movie Magic Screenwriter, StoryView, and Dramatica Pro) and technical documentation (Adobe FrameMaker). Create add-ons which permit users to shift into other modes, depending on their needs. 5.) Create a version layer of the interface which *children* can use. In my experience, the numerous bells and whistles within the interface are too daunting for some kids. 6.) Where's the groupware functionality? 7.) Where's the Office/WordPerfect migration tools/wizards?

And #8, which Sun can't fix: Microsoft has no filters for opening StarOffice/OpenOffice files in Office itself (although you can save StarOffice files into native Office file formats, like .doc, .xls, etc. without any problems, which Office users can work with.)

Bottom line: Purchase StarOffice 7.0. It is a solid product for both home and business use. If you're an educational institution, contact Sun directly and get this product for your teachers, staff and students.

Compared to the expensive Microsoft Office suite products, StarOffice 7.0 matches rival MS Office for most beginner, intermediate and (some) advance users. And it's considerably less expensive, too. The five star rating is well-suited.

Rating:
Summary: What They Don't Know .... Won't Hurt Them
Review: I first became interested in Star Office when I learned that it is equally popular with the way more expensive Microsoft Office in Europe and Asia. I have used version 6 for over a year now ... interoperating seemlessly with everyone inside & outside my own company ... because Star Office reads Microsoft WORD, EXCEL, Powerpoint files in their native formats; and what's more ... it writes files in those formats as well as XML, and now in version 7, I can save any file as a PDF, too. I use the same keystroke shortcuts in Star Office that I do in Microsoft Office, and pull up any file in WORD or EXCEL format from the company Intranet with no problems.

It was funny when I brought my own new flat-panel monitor into the office and created a near-rebellion because everyone wanted ".... a PC like mine" when they walked by my cubicle. For a year now, nobody realized that "my PC" is actually a Solaris workstation running the GNOME Desktop ( now called "Java Desktop" from SUN ) and using Star Office. It's truly a case of ... "what they don't know ... won't hurt them!"

( Looks as if our company is now becoming interested in the $25-per-user license fee for the whole enterprise. )

Rating:
Summary: Star Office beats MS Office
Review: Currently I am using the Star Office 7 Beta - Have found it to be exceptional, I have no negative comments at all.

We moved our whole company to Star Office 6 last year, 90 % of our users are low end computer knowledge, but everyone made the transition - with no retraining and minimal support questions (compared to the questions we had when going from Office 98 to Office 2000)- improved network performance do to XML - and 90 to 95 percent of the old office files came over without a problem (those that we did have problems with were because of special MS fonts)

To give you and example of size differences one file under MS Excel was 18 Meg once converted to XML format in Star Office was 2.89 Meg. and when you are sending it on a network that is a BIG difference in performance. (the user did the conversion with no help - and everything worked - the 28 worksheets in the workbook, the linked fields, all calculations everything worked!)

I am going to wait for the upgrade option but the Star Office package is Great!!! We are going to upgrade though. (I provide technical support and software integration)

Rating:
Summary: PEOPLE MUST BE ON SOME TYPE OF DRUG TO USE THIS!!!
Review: Words cannot describe or stars for that matter since I can not go into the negative zone the amount of BS that Sun has spewed out over the years....Keep on try Scott!!!!!!...