“The acquisition of office productivity software maker Star
Division cost Sun Microsystems $73.5 million, but the product
resulting from that deal will be delayed, the company disclosed in
a [SEC] filing today.”
“Sun’s long-term strategy with Star Office, the product acquired
from Star Division, is to offer it as software that resides on a
server computer. Clients–Windows PCs and a number of other types
of computers–could then tap into the word processor, spreadsheet,
and other software components via the Internet.
But that new version of Star Office, called Star
Portal, will be a little late, Sun said. Initially, Sun
expected it to arrive by the end of 1999, but additional
programming and testing activities mean that only a test
version will be available then. The final version will ship in the
first half of 2000…”