“The indications are that Sun’s acquisition of Star Division is
going ahead, with an announcement expected on 31st August. Star
Division is the maker of Star Office, an office suite rivalling
Microsoft’s. Let’s look at how the suite fits in with Sun’s network
and Java oriented world.”
“The latest versions of Star Office have been designed on the
assumption that a significant part of the processing should take
place on the server. Java can be used to provide a lightweight
client interface with links back to the server. This augments
versions that run natively on a variety of operating systems
including Windows and Linux.”
“An area of uncertainty is Linux. One of Star Office’s
platforms is Linux, and there seems to be a huge pent up interest
in Linux desktops. Yet Sun’s attitude has been ambivalent,
welcoming the Linux phenomenon but pushing customers to move to
Sun’s Solaris at the first opportunity.”