“Why pay for software when you can get it for free? Sun
Microsystems is hoping that you’ll buy the logic, at least, and
choose to download its StarOffice suite for free instead of paying
for Microsoft Office.”
“On Tuesday, Sun releases StarOffice 5.2, its first upgrade
since Sun acquired the office suite with its purchase of Star
Division last August and began distributing the software free
online. The initial release, version 5.1, was downloaded more than
1.5 million times, according to figures on Sun’s Web site.”
“Version 5.2 is more compatible with Microsoft Office file
formats, which Sun claims improves both import and export between
the office suites. … Importing a Microsoft Word 2000 file into
StarOffice Writer worked fine. The document suffered no formatting
losses.”