“By all accounts, it would be unfair to compare any office
product to Microsoft Office 2000. Microsoft Office has a long line
of products – and it has established itself as an industry leader.
But there is a slight problem: like most other Microsoft products
it is available for only the Macintosh and Windows
platforms….”
“Along comes a small company, and they produce StarOffice. Now,
I said it was special, and I will clarify this for you: it’s a
cross platform, Microsoft Office compatible, tightly integrated
product. What does this mean for Joe Public? They can use
StarOffice on a Windows operating system, and then run exactly the
same product on a Linux OS. They can write their work in Word on a
Macintosh, and open it looking exactly as it was designed in
StarOffice in Linux. And yes, it is integrated – from one desktop
(more on this later) the user can launch any part of the office
suite. So the question begs to be asked, if StarOffice has so many
qualities… will it see an end to the Microsoft Office saga, or
will it sink to the bottom of the software pile, not unlike the
Titanic sunk into the sea?…”
“The first thing that will strike anyone is just how much
StarOffice resembles Windows. While the actual desktop is
completely different to that of Windows, you do get a taskbar
sitting in the bottom of your screen. You even have a start
button, which has exactly the same components that tge Windows one
has. And yes, in the right hand side, there is a clock, there is a
tray to place icons in… and finally, all opened windows are
displayed in the bottom.”