CanadaComputes.com: StarOffice

“A complete suite of free office applications that reads and
writes Microsoft Office files.”

“Pros: It runs uniformly in Linux, Solaris, OS/2, as well as
Windows 95/98/NT, and has solid word processor, spreadsheet and
presentation features.

“Cons: Its database, DTP, and Mail/Web features are well behind
those of Corel WordPerfect Office 2000 and Microsoft Office
2000.”

“The word processor component of the suite, StarOffice Word, is
very impressive in its capability to read a wide range of popular
word processing documents, including those created in Microsoft
Word (in all its varieties including Word 2000), most WordPerfect
varieties, AmiPro (up to version 3.0), and others.

“StarOffice Word’s features and functionality are right up there
with Word and WordPerfect: including columns, frames, images,
word-wrap, borders, font styling, stylesheets (not quite as
versatile as the same feature in Word or WordPerfect), headers,
footers, tables, charts, drawings, and frames that can contain
anything (these do not link as easily). In short, StarOffice Word
is a full-fledged word processor and then some.

“StarOffice Word creates indexes and tables of content with
ease.”

“The combination of StarOffice Impress/Chart very closely
matches Microsoft’s PowerPoint or Corel’s Presentations in
functionality. They have all of the major presentation features:
slide view with nine slide types (missing only Org Charts); outline
view to quickly type in slides with a convenient preview window;
slide sorter view to organize a presentation with scores of
animation and slide transition effects (but lacking fine control of
animation effects); notes view to add speaker’s cues with a
thumbnail of the slide as guide; an extra handout view that
previews printed slide handouts in layouts of two, three or four
slides per page.

“In addition, StarOffice Impress/Chart provides extensive
drawing and charting that goes beyond what is directly available in
either Microsoft PowerPoint or Corel Presentations… In short, the
combination of StarOffice Impress/Chart is impressive in its
presentation capabilities… Likewise, the polish of Microsoft
PowerPoint and Corel Presentations is lacking. Chart lines and
borders are jaggy or don’t always maintain thickness, auto-scaling
of text in slides is unavailable, right-mouse control of slide
shows is lacking, plus half a dozen other small
inconsistencies.”

“I was amazed to discover that Corel’s Quattro Pro had
out-excelled Microsoft Excel in the range and versatility of its
spreadsheet’s formulas and functions. StarOffice Calc does not
exceed Excel, but it certainly matches the Microsoft product’s
range of formulas and calculation capabilities… StarOffice Calc
has the basic core features but not the same ease of use, wizards
or functional extras available in Excel and Quattro Pro.”

“StarOffice Base is similar to Lotus Approach in that it is not
a complete implementation of a database on a PC… StarOffice Base
has only skeleton Forms and Report creation capabilities.”

“StarOffice Draw does not have the 2D polish of Microsoft Office
2000’s PhotoDraw or the wealth of clip art goodies bundled with
Corel’s Print Office…”

Complete story.